Kai strolled into the building, whistling a Christmas tune while holding two Starbucks coffee cups in his hands. Shiira sighed, sitting straight in his swivel chair. "You're late."
"That's because I had to get us coffee," Kai explained, sliding a cup to him as he sat down next to him.
"They have coffee here. If you remembered that you wouldn't be late all the time." Shiira grabbed the cup anyway and took a slow sip. "Thanks."
"I don't feel like setting up the coffee maker, you know."
They were the first people inside Wistal Headquarters, setting up the security cameras and checking the daily agenda for scheduled client meetings. It was their responsibility to know each and everyone going in and out of the building, know where everyone was at and what they were doing.
"Are you bringing a date tonight?" Kai asked as he stapled the blank sign-in sheets.
Shiira shook his head, eyes glued to the glass doors of the building. "Are you?"
"No."
A few early bird employees trickled in. The cleaning lady Marina was on time today, nodding her head toward the two guards as she walked straight through the office doors behind them. Shiira glanced at the small video screen in front of him, watching Marina head to the kitchen and prepare the morning's coffee pot.
There were clicking and beeping noises at the front door, like someone trying to get in the building without permission. Shiira dropped his head, sighing with second-hand embarrassment. "Shirayuki! You have to swipe, wait for the click, then pull!"
Shirayuki swiped her badge and pulled the door handles immediately—not waiting for the click. "It's not working, Shiira!" she shouted, voice muffled by the glass between them.
"Fuck it, just press the button and let her in," Kai huffed out, swirling his coffee cup. "There's a line forming behind her."
"No, she has to learn. Besides, that button is for the handicap," Shiira explained, facepalming, walking toward the doors. What will they do without him, he thought.
Before Shiira could manually open the door, there was a commotion behind the growing crowd. "Excuse me, I got this. Morning, Shiira." Obi shoved his way to the front of the line. "You're an embarrassment, Miss." He grabbed Shirayuki's badge, tugging it harshly and nearly crashing her face to wall.
"It doesn't work, Obi," she insisted, a tinge of red growing on her cheeks.
Obi swiped her card, waited half a second and pulled the doors open. He glared down at Shirayuki, his face so close they could almost kiss. He flicked her badge out of his fingers, letting it smack into her nose. "It works."
Shiira wedged the door open, letting the rest of the cattle in. He nodded lightly at each one, softly greeting them a good morning.
Shirayuki and Obi dragged inside, bickering on their way in. "You're such an ass, Obi," Shirayuki snapped, arms crossing against her chest. "Morning, Shiira. Morning, Kai," she said chirpily, her tone completely different from a second ago.
Obi whistled, hands behind his head, hips grazing Shirayuki's as they walked side by side. "You mean a hot ass," he said, winking at Kai. "Whatever you say, Miss." He opened the office doors for her, one hand gently placed at the small of her back, corralling her in.
Shiira caught Obi's impish smile toward Shirayuki and watched the doors slam as they went in.
"Oh, my God. Those two hate each other," Kai chimed in, elbowing Shiira. "Seriously, they have so much tension, you could cut it with a knife."
Shiira gave him a quizzical look. "You mean sexual tension."
Kai nearly choked on his last drops of coffee. "Yeah, right! Obi and Shirayuki? When pigs fly. She's in love with Zen."
Shiira shrugged and kept his next thoughts to himself. They were security guards, fo goodness sakes. Water-cooler gossip was for the bored and useless workers... they were professionals.
"Speak of the devil." Shiira darted toward the entrance.
Zen walked in with so much confidence like he owned the building. He practically did—owning thirty-five percent of shares in the company.
"Good morning, you two. Did my package arrive?" Zen said coolly.
Shiira nodded his head, ducking down to the desk and taking out a large, but lightweight, package. "It arrived late yesterday, sir."
Zen shook it like he was guessing the contents inside.
"What's inside, if you don't mind sharing," Kai asked. He was nosey, but always polite about it.
Zen flashed him a smile. "A suit I'll be wearing tonight."
He headed toward the office doors but stopped suddenly like he had forgotten something. "Oh, by the way, hold my calls around noon," he started, a hand on the doorknob, "I'm having lunch with Shirayuki."
Kai nodded fervently, a giggle forming at the back of his throat. When the door had finally shut, he squealed like a little girl.
"Oh, my God, he's so in love with her."
Shiira shook his head. "They're just having lunch, idiot."
"Yeah, but he asked to hold his calls. When has Zen ever asked to hold his calls on his lunch break?"
Shiira lifted a finger, but Kai interrupted him instead. "Never. The answer is never, Shiira."
The caterers and decorators checked in at different times. It was already a busy day for the two guards and it was barely 1:00 PM.
The interns had their lunches delivered to them—a perk Izana gave them earlier in the year.
"An ice sculptor? For reals?" Kai lifted an eyebrow, double-checking the guest list. "God, the boss is a little extra this Christmas."
"Why are you complaining? It's not your money he's flashing."
The room echoed in giggles and laughs. Shirayuki and Zen smiled brightly at each other, both carrying doggy bags from the Italian restaurant across the street.
"The tiramisu is amazing," Shirayuki said, green eyes lighting up.
Zen narrowed his eyes down at her, a coy smile tugging at his lips. "I figured. You ordered two of them!"
Shirayuki hid behind a hand, face turning red as her hair. "Well, I wanted to save one for..."
"Hey, you two!" Kai shouted, waving them toward him. "You guys should check out the room! There's fake snow, dude! And mistletoes everywhere!"
Zen and Shirayuki exchanged shy looks, then turning their heads to the side.
"Well, I got a lot of work to finish before the party," Shirayuki blurted out. "Thank you for lunch, Zen."
Zen nodded, one hand massaging his neck as he cleared his throat. "Yeah, no problem. See you tonight?"
Shirayuki smiled at him, walking inside the office without another word. Zen followed after, chuckling to himself as he closed the doors.
"Oh, my God. They are so in love," Kai chirped.
Shiira lifted an eyebrow, his lips straight as a line. "More like friends. Did you see how far apart they were?"
The conference room transformed into a Winter Wonderland. NSYNC's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" blasted through the speakers, and Shiira found himself bopping his head along.
"Money can buy you happiness," he observed, grinning from ear to ear.
"It's a wonderful feeling, with the love in the room from the floor to the ceiling..." Kai sang along, snapping his fingers on beat. His eyes darted to the bar and he stopped singing. "Shiira, I gotta go. There's a drink over there that's eyeing me."
Shiira walked around the room, watching people immersed in their conversations. There were a lot of them wearing Santa suits. How original, he thought. He headed toward the photo booth, adjusting his tie like he was going to take his school pictures.
The booth was occupied. Red Santa pants with black shoes peeking right below where the curtain stops. There was a giggle and a soft moan inside.
Shiira hesitated to move, but wondered if he should come back in a few minutes to give the two occupants some privacy. The moaning continued, two lips smacking against each other as Shiira patiently waited for his turn.
The shutters stopped clicking, but the two occupants continued their romp inside the booth. Shiira glanced over to the dance floor, catching Kai's gaze. Kai was goofily dancing, arms flailing over his head. Shiira was ready to join him when his eyes dropped to the photo strip that fell on the floor.
Holy shit. Shiira picked up the photo, his eyes flew open in surprise. There was only one red-head in the building, and the pictures showed her face buried inside a fake white beard. It was impossible to recognize the Santa, especially since the four pics had his face underneath Shirayuki's jaws, neck, and behind her ears.
He placed it back inside the printing station and bolted toward the dance floor. Not my business, he said to himself.
"This party is lit, Shiira!" Kai shouted into his ear. It was electronic music, remixed in between Christmas tunes by Nat King Cole.
Shiira glanced over to the DJ Booth and saw Mitsuhide—Zen's assistant—controlling the knobs. "Of course he's playing electronica." Everyone in the building knew Mitsuhide had shitty taste in music. But it was Christmas and he was smiling brightly and Shiira couldn't help but smile as well.
Shiira and Kai grooved to the beat, popping and locking like two goofy robots with no rhythm. It had been a while since Shiira had let loose, and today was special.
"Hey, have you seen Shirayuki?" Kai asked, swaying his hips to "One More Time," by Daft Punk. "Zen is looking for her."
Shiira shrugged, moving his legs side to side. He loved this song and his body moved along naturally.
"No, I haven't seen her," he lied. He didn't like lying to Kai, especially since he trusted him the most. This was big gossip and he did not feel like partaking in this kind of drama.
"Hey, Kai," Shiira started, grinning from ear to ear. "Wanna take a shot? I Ubered here."
Kai nodded violently, a squeal escaping him. "Fuck yeah, Shiira! It's about time! Holy shit, it's a Christmas miracle!"
They high-fived each other, eagerly walking to the bar, side by side.