A/N: Hi, friends! Welcome to day one of five of Mystic Messenger bomb week. *Final Fantasy style fanfare* We'll laugh, we'll cry, we'll probably blow shit up. But for now, we're going to go through this week's chapter. I'll be waiting at the end, ok? And as a side note, I listened to a LOOOOOOOOT of ASMR videos writing this chapter and some of them were…a bit weird to say the least. For pennies a day, we can stop that strange injustice (Actually, they were really nice, too. Sweet Jesus, did they make those delightful tingles…).

What did I ever do to deserve this painfully comfortable bed? I must have saved a nun in a past life or something. No. It's not the first time I've napped on Jumin's bed. It's just the first time he's given me permission. I even got Elizabeth to sleep with me. When I laid down, I had no intentions of falling asleep. I felt kind of bad about it. Here Jumin invites me over for a drink and to talk about whatever the hell we are or are going to be. And what do I do? I take his bed and his cat and fall asleep on him. Although he did insist, the guilt still loomed over my head.

Just as I was starting to regain consciousness, I noticed a strange tingling sensation up and down my spine. I'm not complaining. It was actually kind of soothing. I followed it, paying attention to each pass. Back and forth...and back and forth...The feeling damn near lulled me back to sleep. But then, a soft, gentle voice broke the silence.

"Yes...So nice...So sweet..." my chills only grew stronger, "Wake up, MC."

"Do I have to?" I groaned, still a bit out of it, "Another five minutes would be absolutely fantastic."

"No," Jumin demanded, "You need to wake up, MC. Our food has been here for the last half hour. And you need to eat. Wake up."

"But this feels really nice," I babbled in my delirium, "Please?"

"I'm sure it does," he continued to run his fingers up and down my back, "But eating is important. You still need to take care of yourself, MC. If you don't, your health will suffer. And we can't have that now, can we? So please...Wake up. Just a little. For me."

I really didn't want to. Jumin was making it difficult almost as if it were on purpose. But I did feel a grumble in my tummy coming on, so food wasn't totally out of the question, "Are you sure I have to?"

"Come on," Jumin purred in my ear, "I want to see those big, pretty eyes of yours. Please?"

He made a compelling argument and a worse guilt trip. Slowly, but surely, I opened my eyes, wanting to shut them again. All the late nights and the hard work must be finally catching up to me, "There. Happy?"

"Quite," Jumin smiled, "Good morning, MC. Did you have a nice nap?"

I nodded, trying not to fall back asleep, "Very nice. I'm sorry."

"What would you have to apologize for?" he wondered.

"I've slept in your bed twice in the same day," I pointed out, "Once, I was on the clock."

"And I told you," Jumin reminded me, "It's alright. When I was watching the monitor, I couldn't stop smiling. You were both so cute. Honestly, it was a highlight of my day."

Still not quite sure how to feel about knowing my boss watched me sleep this afternoon. Or just now, for that matter. If Jumin's hands on my back didn't feel so damn good right now, this would probably creep me out, too. But honestly, everything was ok. Except for one little problem.

"So," I asked, "What did you get for us?"

"Nothing too complicated," he told me, "Just hot soba. Although, because someone decided to take a nap, I'm not sure how hot it is now. No matter. It's just as good cold."

"I'm..." I stopped myself. Something tells me that if I apologize again, he'll yell at me, "I couldn't help it."

"It's alright," Jumin allowed, putting his hand to my cheek, "You're not getting sick, are you, MC?"

"No," I shook my head, "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Well then," he got up from the bed, "In that case, you stay here. I'll be right back."

"Wait," I stopped him, "Where are you going?"

"We have dinner waiting for us," Jumin stood in the doorway, "You're tired, but you still need to eat. We can eat in here. I'm going to get it."

And just like that, Jumin left his bedroom for our food. Elizabeth bundled up in my lap, purring softly. Such a good kitty. She's so pretty. Before I woke up, it almost sounded like Jumin was talking to you. Yet, I knew he was talking to me. You just came in here. What's Jumin got planned, Elizabeth? Tell me. Share with me your great wisdom. That's right. You don't speak.

"I see you've made a friend," Jumin came back in with two bowls stacked on top of each other, "Elizabeth III isn't much of a people person."

"She likes me," I pet her gently, "She has since the day she and I met. Isn't that right, Elizabeth?"

"It's nice to see her so loving," he sat back down, taking his cat off my lap, "But she needs to eat, princess. I hope soba's ok."

"Soba's fine," I allowed, taking my bowl from him, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jumin handed me a fork.

"Honestly," I chuckled under my breath, "I feel more tired now than when I fell asleep. I don't get it."

"Are you sure you're not getting sick?" he worried, "MC, if you want, I can call you a doctor right now."

"Jumin," I settled him, "I'm fine. Relax. I appreciate the concern, but really. I'm ok."

Jumin looked me over with great skepticism, but then, he relaxed, letting out a heavy sigh, "Ok. If you say you're ok, you must be ok."

Ring, ring.

"Hold on," I took my phone off the nightstand. And my stomach dropped, "I have to take this."

"Go ahead."

I slid my finger across the screen and put the speaker up to my ear, "Hello?"

"Hello, MC," Jaehee's voice chimed, "I'm sorry, but did I wake you? You sound tired."

"You didn't wake me," I assured, "But yeah. I dozed off for a minute or two. What's up?"

"I was just curious," she asked, "But those projections you've been working on..."

"I know of them."

"How close are you to finishing them?"

"I already have them done," I took in a mouthful of noodle. Between the look of confusion on Jumin's face and the adrenaline rush from being on the phone with Jaehee, I'm not sure what I love more. I don't think she likes how close I've gotten with him, "They're all ready to go."

"Really?" Jaehee gasped, "And what about the presentation? How is that coming along?"

"That's almost done," I reported, making myself more comfortable, "All I need to do is add a few stickers and some glitter. Maybe a little puff paint, if I'm feeling ambitious."

"MC..." she scolded, "Please keep your presentation professional."

"Yes, I know," I giggled a bit, "Relax, Jaehee. I got it. I told you in my interview that I was a quick study and I tackled this project head first. I got it."

"I suppose you're right," Jaehee let it go, "Forgive me. If you need any help with the presentation, I could be at your place in twenty minutes. Besides, if you don't mind me saying this, I do miss Apollo."

"I told you," I grinned, silently freaking out. However, the thought of my big baby boy back home put me at ease, "Once people meet him, they can't help but love him. But you have enough to deal with. And God only knows when Mr. Han's going to have another random idea to act impulsively on."

"You're too kind to me, MC," she awed while Mr. Han gave me a dirty look, "I'm glad I can rely on you."

"Anytime," I shot Jumin a wink, "Don't worry about it, Jaehee. I got it."

"Good," Jaehee let out a heavy sigh of relief, "I want to see those sales projections on my desk tomorrow, ok?"

"Can do, boss," I promised.

"Thank you, MC," she praised, "Have a good night."

"You, too." Click.

"Assistant Kang, I presume?" Jumin poured me another glass of wine.

"Yes," I confirmed, "She's worried about the hotel project and I told her I can handle it."

"And any other random idea I act impulsively on?" Someone needed to back off the salt.

"It was a joke, Jumin," I assured, "It's fine."

"Just for that," Jumin took a long sip from his wine, "I should take the choice of our arrangement away from you. But that'd be wrong. I'm not that twisted. MC..."

Jumin turned rather serious very quickly, leaving me with a strange taste in my mouth, "What?"

"You understand," he spoke softly, "that more than anyone else, you really couldn't tell Assistant Kang about us if it gets to that point, right?"

"Oh, God, no," I agreed, "Could you imagine? Jaehee would kill me. If she doesn't die from the heart attack first."

"She asked me not to see you," Jumin admitted, "In any sort of personal sense. No getting drinks after work. No doing anything outside the office. No inviting you to parties for the...Well, never mind that. For now anyway. Not even saying hi if we bump into each other at the grocery store."

"So," I thought it over, suppressing the little feeling of being pissed off as much as I could, "She basically said we could only see each other in situations where she could supervise?"

"Essentially, yes," he nodded, "You know, I've heard people jokingly refer to Assistant Kang as my nanny for years now. Only now am I starting to truly see where they're coming from."

"I know she means well," I took the high road, "Jaehee probably doesn't want to see either one of us get hurt. And if things were to go south, it'd be bad for business, too."

"Assistant Kang does have that kind of motherly quality about her," Jumin figured, "That's why I'm giving you time to think my offer over. If you come to the conclusion that we should move forward, then I'll trust your judgment. If you think we shouldn't mention it ever again, then so it shall be. Until then, we'll keep this our secret."

"Yes, sir," I got to the bottom of my soba bowl, feeling delightfully satisfied.

"You know," he suggested as I balled back up on the bed, "If you're still tired, despite what I said earlier, you could stay here. I wouldn't mind. Please?"

"I don't know, Jumin," I already felt like I was overstaying my welcome, no matter what he said. If I stayed any longer, I would end up going back to sleep, "I might be tired, but I'd like to sleep in my own bed, too. And I need to be getting back to my big, special boy."

"I understand," Jumin ran his hand down his sleeping beauty's back, "I don't like leaving her alone for long either. Then, at least let me take you home. I'll call the driver and bring you back."

"Ok," I saw no harm in that. It's not like Jumin didn't know where I lived.

After he made the call to Driver Kim, Jumin and I rode back to my building with no words between us. I had a lot of thinking to do about our possibly future, so he didn't want to plead his case. Jumin wanted me to base my decisions off my own opinions. If he were to say anything further, he'd sound like he was begging and Jumin Han does not grovel. His words, not mine. So, we swept him asking me to stay at his place under the rug.

When we stopped, Jumin took the elevator up with me and walked me to my door. Where the night started and where it shall end. It's damn near eleven o'clock. I'm sure Apollo's either in bed or about to be, so at least I won't have that to contend with. I'm too tired to deal with that right now. I just wanted to go to bed. Sure, it won't be the same as Jumin's, but I'll be able to make do.

"Well," Jumin stood with me outside my door, "I'd hate to invite myself in..."

"Jumin," I shot him down, "I know you want to meet Apollo, but chances are, he's sleeping. I'm not waking him."

"How about this?" he suggested, "When you make your decision, no matter which way it leans, I get to meet Apollo?"

"Ok." That seemed fair, "Good night, Jumin."

"Good night, MC," Jumin gave me a little smile, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure will," I sent him off and slipped inside, just in case Apollo wanted to maul me as per usual.

He was waiting for me…Apollo stretched himself out on my couch, waiting for Mama to come home. It's times like these where I'm glad I had a wide couch. I laid down next to the blob of gray in my black couch. Apollo's ear twitched a bit and his eyes opened up. He nuzzled his giant head in my shoulder, happy as a clam to see me. I missed you, too, buddy. Come on. Let's go to bed.

A/N: So, Jumin's already into it. I would be, too, honestly. It sounds so nice. If I could wake up to Jumin rubbing my back like that every single day, I would be so happy. Also, we have Mama Bear Jaehee's opinions coming to light, courtesy of one Jumin Han being chatty. Although, I do like how MC phrased her response. While I was writing it, I could see the game screen in my head with one option being what she said and the other one being her fly off the handle and talk about how much of a nosy bitch she was being. But I liked the first one better. There were purple and gold hearts shooting off that answer. Now, if you'll excuse me, my office is currently in a bit of disarray and my bulletin board where my entire week is already plotted out is in the hall. I need to put some shit back together. Feel free to chime in with thoughts, questions, opinions, and things of the like and I'll see you tomorrow! xx