#i swear accounts payable just writes checks for whatever they feel in their heart because they have paid every single invoice wrong

[just-in-cays]

i NEED to start getting drunk at work

[yehet-me-up]

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Pairing: Donghae x reader

Genre: fluff, office!AU, based on The Hating Game 

Rating: PG13 because I can’t help but swear 😂 Kissing, but nothing explicit

Word Count: 2,478

Summary: The company carnival was your idea. The kissing booth was all his. What happened that night is definitely both of your faults.

Request: donghae from super junior with either 11, fluff! (almost nobody writes for them, youre a godsend) I hope you like it, love!!! <3

The energy is palpable as the employees file through the gates into the field. You can’t help but smile and feel proud. 

When Mr. Turner entrusted the annual company party to you, it felt like a test. A big test. Pull this off and the promotion was practically guaranteed was the unspoken message. 

Too bad you had to work with the biggest flirt in the entire office and your perpetual rival - Lee Donghae.

‘Watch out, nerd.’ A man shoulders past you unnecessarily. 

The gate is at least four people wide, but Donghae never misses an opportunity to ruffle your feathers. You make an angry noise, not unlike the sound your cat makes when he watches the neighbors dog eat from his bowl.

‘Oh. I’m so sorry. Did you not see me, old man? Misplaced your glasses?’ You can’t deny taunting him back is one of your favorite hobbies, and the fact that he’s six months older than you brings you enormous joy. ‘Do you need me to call the nursing home to come and get you?’

He turns to face you full on and you bite your lip to contain your groan. Of course he looks good. He always looks good. But tonight he looks extra delicious in black jeans and a light blue button down. He even rolled the sleeves up in the early May heat. Bastard. 

His hair is brushed casually off his forehead and he watches you with amusement in his dark eyes. ‘Only if they pick you up at the same time,’ he volleys back. ‘I care about the environment, you know.’

You snort and throw your hands up, walking towards the carousel and leaving him in the dust. He might think this promotion is his, but he has no idea. Over my dead body.

He follows you, slinging a casual arm across your shoulders. ‘I think we did a fantastic job, nerd. Thanks for the assist, I can’t wait for Mr. Turner to see this.’

Shrugging his arm off you face him and narrow your eyes. ‘I should be thanking you for the assist. This was my idea.’

He gives you a lopsided smile of victory and runs a hand through his annoyingly luscious hair. You want to smack him in the chest. Or yell at him. Or push him to the ground and kiss him so hard he can’t breathe. Any of those will do.

‘Whatever,’ you spit at him, looking at your clipboard to distract yourself from your raging anger and lust. ‘Just stay out of my way tonight. Everything needs to go perfectly.’

He pulls a length of thick red fabric from his pocket and waves it tauntingly in your face. ‘Don’t worry darlin’, I’ll be occupied and out of your way all evening. I’ve got a job to do. Unless you want to trade.’

You swallow harshly. Somehow in the chaos of the rides being delivered and the vendors asking millions of questions this afternoon you’d forgotten that he volunteered to run a kissing booth to raise donations for the Employee Support Program.

Half of you loved how thoughtful it was and wanted to sing at getting to see the heart of gold you know is buried in there, somewhere, under layers of sarcasm and arrogance. 

Half of you wanted to break something at the idea of him kissing Amanda from accounting and Zora from marketing and every woman, and probably man, in the company in-between.

‘Well. I hope you brought some mints,’ you say in a strained voice. ‘Wouldn’t want to subject anyone to your terrible breath.’

‘Hey, you okay?’ He frowns, reaching a hand for your shoulder that you easily dodge. He’s already touched you twice tonight and you feel like you’ll explode if he does it a third.

You cough and clear your throat. ‘Fine. Just have a packed schedule. Have fun making out with Kevin Williams in accounts payable.’

When you push past him this time, he doesn’t follow, just sighs in defeat. You’ve won this round, but at what cost?

The night goes smoothly. Spectacularly, even. Everyone’s kids seem to love the magic show and the row of old-school carnival games. Miraculously Jacob Donaldson avoids throwing up on the ferris wheel. The specialty popcorn and hot dog stations are a hit.

‘This is so fun! You did amazing.’ 

You turn and see Michelle beaming and carrying an enormous cotton candy.

‘Aw, thanks. I’m so glad, I’ve been a worried mess about it.’ You sigh and re-check your list.

‘Stop worrying and enjoy yourself!’ She slides an arm around your waist and gives you a half hug. ‘Has Mr. T raved to you yet? He was just telling me at the bottle toss that this is the best company party he’s been to in twenty five years.’

‘No way,’ you gasp.

‘Yes way,’ she teases and gives you a squeeze at your waist. ‘That promotion is yours babe. You got this.’

For the first time all night you let your shoulders relax and you take a deep breath. ‘I know Donghae’s going to try to take all the credit though.’

She snorts. ‘I think that man has his hands full right now.’ She motions past you to the kissing booth.

The line snakes all the way from the booth to the popcorn vendor three spots down. ‘Oh my god.’

‘I know, right? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Beth happier. She’s had a crush on him for ages.’ She says, raising her brow at you in a knowing way.

‘I do not have any feelings for Lee Donghae,’ you protest. ‘Other than seething hatred of course.’

‘Mhmm keep telling yourself that,’ she says, taking a big bite of her cotton candy.

‘Ugh. What an infuriating man.’

‘You really should do something about that.’

‘No. It will all be over soon, regardless. Either I get that job and he’ll be my employee. Or he’ll get it and I’ll fling myself directly into the center of the sun. Problem solved.’

‘Yep, you’ve clearly got it under control.’ She barks out a laugh and walks backward with a taunting raise of her brows. ‘Don’t have too much fun.’

You groan and lightly smack the clipboard to your forehead. ‘Fantastic.’

‘And let’s give a huge round of applause for the people who put this event together tonight!’ Mr. Turner claps his hand awkwardly to the one holding out the microphone while the rest of the employees join in.

The lights facing the stage are bright in your eyes and you can feel the heat coming off the man next to you. Donghae looks over at you with a wide, victorious smile. Lipstick is smeared in the corners of his mouth and you’re torn between laughing and crying.

He winks at you and steps up to take the microphone. ‘Thank you Mr. T. We couldn’t have put on this event without such excellent leadership.’

‘Kiss ass,’ you hiss under your breath.

‘My wonderful colleague and I are so thankful to you all for coming out. As you know we’ve been working hard to make this event special. I’m so glad you’re all enjoying it. Don’t forget to come and give me a kiss!’

He hands the microphone back to Mr. Turner and swaggers back to your side amidst thunderous applause, particularly from the women in the audience. You want to scream. 

For long seconds the two of you stare down each other while the crowd breaks up. Michelle calls it the Running of the Bulls whenever you’re together. All these years later and you’ve never asked her which one of you is the bull and which is the runner. It probably depends on the day.

You huff and storm off the stage. When you turn and look back at him he’s waving the red blindfold in your direction. Well, at least tonight you know you’re the bull.

The line at the damned kissing booth finally dwindles down as the night wraps up. You said goodbye to Mr. Turner and his wife chatted happily with you for ages about how much fun their family had, so you hope he remembers that when the promotion is decided.

Most of the food vendors are closing down and you realize you haven’t eaten all night. ‘I should go and eat a garlic chili dog and go make out with that jerk,’ you say to yourself with a laugh.

Maureen Jones is currently kissing the object of your woe slash secret desire. Her hands clutch his defined biceps and you can see he’s doing absolutely far more than necessary.

‘Better yet, I’ll teach him a lesson. With my tongue.’

You set the clipboard on a table and march over to the short line, heat and a desire for revenge swimming in your veins. He kisses another three women and two men before you’re finally at the front of the line. And the last of the line, you think, looking behind you at the stragglers leaving the fairgrounds.

‘Well, don’t keep me waiting all night,’ he says in a low voice. ‘I know you’re there.’

The blindfold appears thick as you step close. At least you hope it is. God only knows how much he’d delight in the fact that you caved and finally kissed him first. 

What if he’s genuinely just been messing with you all these years? 

What if everyone is wrong and he actually does dislike you? 

Oh, no. Bad idea.

Before you can step away he reaches for you blindly, his hands finding your waist and one of your elbows, pulling you closer. With him sitting on the stool you’re finally the same height. His lips are even fuller up close than you thought, or perhaps it’s just the sheer amount of work they’ve put in tonight.

He pulls you to him and lifts a hand to find your chin, guiding your face to his. The kiss is brief, far quicker than you thought it would be. A firm warm pressure and then it’s over.

You lift your hand to your lip. You should let him know the night is over. You should say something, anything. A cutting remark. A sarcastic apology. A joke about his kissing skills. 

But if he knows it’s you standing there... Oh lord what have I done?

After a beat he interrupts your thoughts by lifting his other hand and holding your face. It’s so quiet in the corner of the carnival that you can hear his breath and yours as he strokes your cheeks with his thumbs. 

With a soft hum he stands and seals his lips to yours once more. In surprise you fist your hands in his shirt. All you can do is cling to him as your world shifts off-center. 

He works his mouth against yours and your knees go weak. You were right, fortunately or unfortunately for your incessant fantasies of him, his lips are perfect - full and soft and achingly right against yours.

You try to speak, to give voice to the confusion and delight coursing through you, but the only thing you can focus on is the way he feels and tastes as he claims you. 

Slowly your grip loosens and you run your hands up his chest, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt. You wind your hands through his hair and want to moan - it’s just as thick as you always thought it would be.

His hands caress your neck, slowly undoing you as they trail down your back to hold your waist firmly. Thank goodness there’s hardly anyone around to see the way you press yourself against him, moulding your curves against his hardness.

This is wrong. I shouldn’t do this. We shouldn’t do this. He gently bites your lower lip and you feel your eyes roll back in your head. Oh fuck it.

Rational thought slaps you upside the head and you remember who you’re kissing. You back up several paces, breaking the kiss. 

He slowly takes off the blindfold, blinking in the lights from the nearby rides, watching you carefully. He doesn’t look surprised at all to see you standing there, in fact, he looks like he was expecting you.

‘What on earth was that?’ you ask, breathless. It helps that he looks just as undone.

He gives you a lopsided smirk. ‘I kissed you, nerd. Finally.’

You fold your arms and fix him with your most intense stare. ‘What do you mean finally? How did you even know it was me?’

He laughs, looking up at the sky dotted by stars. ‘Darlin’ I’ve been smelling that perfume of yours for so many years I would recognize it anywhere. I think I even smell it in my dreams.’

‘Oh.’

You reach for any of the familiar feelings that normally rise in you around him - anger, hostility, sarcasm, joking, lust. But all you find is softness. The absence of dislike is so shocking you feel like you’re floating in air.

‘Oh? That’s all you’ve got? I can’t believe I rendered you speechless,’ he says with a grin. ‘It’s a day for the record books.’

That does it. ‘I’ll show you speechless.’

In two steps you’re against him and in one breath you pull his lips to yours by tugging on his ears. You can taste his surprise and savor it, kissing him with all the passion and heat and desire you’ve kept hidden just beneath the surface for years.

You feel him smile into the kiss and you make a noise of excitement and pleasure against him. He hums in response and wraps his arms around your waist, lifting you off the ground and spinning you around.

Pulling back, you grin down at him. ‘Wait. You don’t even like me,’ you protest, pushing his hair off his face so you can see his eyes clearly. ‘In fact, I’m pretty sure you hate me.’

He laughs, the bright and rich sound wrapping around you. ‘I feel a great many things for you, darlin’. But none of them is hate. Why do you think I suggested a kissing booth?’

You frown at him in confusion. ‘So you could make out with half the staff and live up to your playboy reputation?’

He presses a quick kiss to your chin. ‘So I could finally kiss you, duh. About time we figure out what this is between us, don’t you think?’

If he was joking or being a dick you would have easily told him to screw off. But the sincerity in his face holds no teasing for once. 

‘Yes, I think you’re right.’ He opens his mouth and you cover it with yours, giving him a hard kiss. ‘But if you make any sort of joke about me admitting you’re right-’

He cuts you off with another kiss and you laugh against him. Oh, screw it.