the smell of cigarettes lingered throughout the office as kokonoi hajime sat down on the table with stacks of folders sitting in front of him.

sanzu haruchiyo decided to visit the man during his working hours, surprised to find him all alone inside of the office when he was typically seen with the young manager.

he didn't know why the man was there in the first place- but he didn't mind a little company after y/n walked out of those doors without a word just over an hour ago.

"you've been working over there for like, an hour now. take a lil smoke sesh with me for a bit." sanzu said, taking a drag on his cigarette and blowing out thick, grey smoke.

the silver-haired man rolled his eyes at this, looking back down on the paperwork that he was doing with more focus- this was supposed to be done by the manager herself but since she isn't here and they needed to documents in an hour, he had no choice but to do it himself.

blue eyes narrowed themselves at his figure, draping himself on the sofa chairs with a loud sigh escaping his scarred lips.

"why're you doing them anyways? isn't that the managers' job?" he asked, turning to look at the focused man who merely hummed at his question.

"need to or else her dad will have her head." this made sanzu narrow his eyes at him even more, thoughtfully humming as he surveyed his co-worker/friend.

"why don't you just leave it for her? you're not even a real staff member here in the company, where is she anyways?"

sanzu did have a point- which kind of surprised the man since he was mostly high and all around the place every time.

it is true that kokonoi wasn't an actual member of the company and he had the right to turn down the paperwork given to him and all that stuff, but something inside of him snapped when he saw y/n sleeping on her table due to her staying up all night doing paperwork.

maybe it was complex of him to help someone out- other than the victims that his co-worker's torture that is.

but just the sight of her tired figure tugged on his heartstrings, caving into their request and doing the paperwork himself.

kokonoi sighed, tiredly looking up from his work as he made eye contact with sanzu.

"don't you have somewhere to be? i don't know, maybe at home helping your wife out?" he said, pinching the bridge of his nose when he heard the strawberry-haired man let out a dramatic gasp.

this is one of the reasons why he'd always choose to become an assistant rather than to deal with them- imagine the headache that he had to endure before working here?

"and here i thought you'd miss and appreciate my presence." not a bit sanzu, not one bit.

"i always wonder why the haitani brother's let you marry their sister."

"it's because of my obvious charms that you don't have."

dark eyes glared at the number two, brows raising in question as he set the pen down and faced him- like what a boss would do to intimidate his workers.

"what'd ya mean by that?"

"oh don't be naive dude, you know what i mean." sanzu said, gesturing towards the empty glass desk in the middle of the room- eyes turning to look at it with a questioning gaze.

"you've got a good-looking boss who works over there and you still can't make a move on her- either you're blind or she's just not into you because you lack the charms."

kokonoi hajime wanted nothing more than to throw his stapler at the strawberry-haired man's direction in his entire life- hand itching to throw the metal object straight at his face.

sanzu raised a defensive hand when he saw the look that the man had given him, putting out his cigar and just sprawled himself on the sofa couch.

"why are you affected by it if you think that i'm lying? i'm obviously stating the facts here."

"you know that i'm a loyal man to akane. unless you're high today, then you'd definitely remember."

the strawberry-haired man didn't know whether to be disappointed at this or to feel pity- he obviously can't feel pity but he can pretend that he does just for his friend.

he completely forgot that the man was still hung up with his childhood crush, talk about mad loyalty skills right there.

and as much as he wanted to applaud him for that- he kind of hates the thought of kokonoi growing old without anyone to continue on his bloodline and all that jazz.

"look i get that you still have feelings for her and all- but don't you think it's time for you to move on?" thank heavens for sanzu's quick reflex or else his face would've met with the stapler by now.

the man didn't have to look up to see the mad expression that kokonoi had on his face right now.

"watch what you're saying or i'll kill you."

kokonoi hajime was more than mad at sanzu for having the audacity on telling him to move on when the man knows how much he loves akane.

the thought of moving on never crossed his mind in all of his thirteen years of living- not once and will never think about it, ever.

but even if he'd tell that to sanzu, the strawberry-haired man knows that he'd break sooner or later- the signs are obvious, all kokonoi needs was a little push over the edge.

"why're you getting so defensive? it's not like i wasn't stating the truth or anything- when was the last time you even had akane on your mind?"

when was akane on his mind?

the last thing that he had thought of her was a couple of days ago- during the night of the banquet when he had kissed the young manager.

but overall, he couldn't really remember when the thought of the blonde girl would cross his mind.

blue eyes studied his figure, sighing through his lips as he sat up properly. boy does this man need a thorough shaping.

"can't remember, right?"

"shut up. she was on my mind the night of the banquet, happy now?"

oh how sanzu wanted to slap some sense into this blond's head so bad- and he doesn't even do shit like that unless it was with one of the haitani brother's!

the man let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in stress.

"we're you really thinking of her, or were you thinking of y/n?"

kokonoi hajime looked at him with his brows raised, clearly confused and slightly insulted by the man's words. of course he would, he's a dense man- the bleach probably getting to his head already.

"excuse me? what are you talking about?"

"oh don't act innocent hajime. kaku and i saw you guys under the wisteria tree- and mind you, the garden is a public place so you can't sue us."

dark eyes widened at this, albeit shocked that someone actually saw the moment that he and the young woman had that night.

"tell me hajime- even before coming here, has akane ever crossed your mind since?"

he was scared to admit it- because he just felt his blood grow cold under sanzu's gaze, blue eyes narrowing themselves on his figure with a calculating gaze.

"koko, tell me."

"no, she has not."

and that's all the strawberry-haired man needed to know- confident that he had won today's argument on whether or not kokonoi hajime was actually in love again or not.

and if he's being honest, he's a bit proud that the silver-haired man actually had it in him.

"see, that wasn't hard to admit- right?"

oh it was painful to admit the truth.

for the past few weeks- kokonoi wanted nothing more than to bury his emotions underneath the thought of akane. because in his belief, if he were to bury his feelings where he's scared to approach- then he'd avoid falling for his manager.

but in reality, his feelings for her were out in the open instead.

in the eyes of kokonoi hajime, he can see inui akane- but in his heart, it beats for l/n y/n.

and even if he buries that fact down the depths of his long-term adoration for the older inui, he knows that at any point in time- he needs to accept that he's catching feelings again.

even though he's scared that he might lose her again, the time to finally accept the truth has come.

the truth that kokonoi hajime has managed to fall in love with his boss, l/n y/n.