"How to say sorry ? Really ??"

He only glares at his friend with a glare.

"I mean, how is that so hard ?" Hanji chuckles, "you just have to say 'sorry' !"

Levi squints at her, "do you know what 'sorry' is in French ?"

She shrugs.

"It's 'je suis désolé'," he said, "now try saying it."

At first, Hanji was quite unsure about where the topic was going, but she decided to just go with the flow, "je.. je suis d-de..." The woman struggles to pronounce the words correctly since it's completely foreign to her, "oh forget it shorty. You're wasting time, do you want me to take a French course-"

"Doesn't really roll off your tongue, right ?" Levi points out, "because you've never said it." He inhales,

"That's what the word 'sorry' is like to me. I've never said it."

This puts Hanji in utter silence, it's unusual to see Levi conveying something like this in private, "oh..."

"Is there a way to patch up relationships without saying sorry ?"

She laughs like a mad scientist, before coming to an abrupt stop, giving him the only answer possible.

"No."

"Then.." Levi fiddles with his fingers, "what if I never say it ?"

-----------------------------------

Everything's going well for (Y/n) today, well, at least after their.. unpleasant argument in Levi's office. Other than that, things are going smoothly, at least her work is not affected. So there she is, still busy typing some reports that needs to be done by evening and-

"HIYA !!"

The woman nearly jumps out of her chair upon the sudden loud voice. With a hand on her chest to collect her composure, (Y/n) looked up, a bit irritated at whoever startled her.

She immediately stands from her chair behind the desk, "Oh, Ms. Zo- I mean, Mrs. Smith ! Is there something you need ?"

"Actually yes," Hanji bent forward, "I ordered two cups of coffee from the cafe in the lobby. My secretary, Moblit, was supposed to deliver them to me but it seems like he's having a constipation inside the men's lavatory. He also didn't bring his phone with him. And I have a meeting in 8 minutes, now could you please be a dear and fetch my orders from the cafe downstairs ?" She rambled with a pleading face.

It took a few seconds for (Y/n) to absorb everything, "O-oh alright. Do you want me to bring back Moblit too ? In case you need his assistance in the upcoming meeting-"

"No no no. Let that poor guy take a dump in peace," she grins, "just grab my coffee please."

"Sure thing, Mrs. Smith." (Y/n) sends her a polite smile before leaving.

The clacking sound of the secretary's shoes come to a cease as (Y/n) slowly disappears from Hanji's sight. Going to fetch the mad woman's coffee. The brown haired worker smirks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

With hurried steps, (Y/n) strolls through the humongous lobby where some employees are having their lunch. It's not just a lobby. It has various restaurants, small shops, and cafes. The chairman of the Ackerman Company, Kenny Ackerman, provided those on purpose since he knew that sometimes there isn't enough time for them to go out and buy food. So he invested in some restaurants inside the office.

In her hold, there's a bag of two cups of freshly brewed coffee. In sealed cups of course. (Y/n) turns on a corner and about to head to the nearest elevator. But then, a certain someone just had to be there.

What a bad timing..

The 5'3 feet man appears, walking into her direction.

And he seems surprised too.

The two created an unplanned eye contact as they walked closer towards each other, still in a daze. But then, (Y/n) decides to just focus on the floor and keep walking forward. She chose not to acknowledge her boss' presence.

And so, they crossed paths.

Thick tension covers the lobby. To their luck, no one's there. It seems like everybody is occupied at this hour.

"Ms. (L/n)."

(Y/n), who's now already ahead of Levi, slowly comes to a stop and turns around. So does Levi. He nudges his head down a bit, beckoning her to come closer.

"..." With baby steps, (Y/n) obeys. Now standing right in front of him, "is there something you want to..."

He holds up his hand.

"I... Tch"

Levi looks straight into her (e/c) eyes, "I apologize."

"...huh ?"

"I'm sorry." This time, it sounds more sincere.

Baffled, (Y/n) struggles to respond to her boss, "n-no, I should be the one saying sorry. You're not someone to get mad without any reason, and I took it too personally."

"But please understand.." (Y/n) lowers her head, "that I did it all for you."

"...."

She looks up to Levi, "Uh, Mr. Ackerma-"

(Y/n) gasps.

The corner of his lips lifted up slightly as he glanced at her. Even if it's just a bit, he actually.. smiles !! It's more like a relieved smile. It seems that the weight from his chest has been lifted now.

Seeing the cold man smile a little, (Y/n) couldn't help but smile back at him.

Happy that they both have finally made up.

------------------------------------

11.45 P.M

"To make it up to you, I'd like to take you to dinner at a nice restaurant. But there's just so many things to be done right now," Levi groans, scrolling through a shitload of important reports.

Hold on, why are they staying up late again..?

Ah that's right. To contrive the remaining preparations for the Ackerman Company Art Center that'll open soon. Most of the employees have gone to their homes, Levi took this chance to order her to work inside his private office. Just the two of them.

(Y/n) sends him an assuring smile, "I'm fine. No need to take me to a such nice place."

"Of course you should be." He muttered.

She scrunches her eyebrows.

'The fuck did you just say shithead ?'

Levi proceeds, "It was because I was too preoccupied with you."

"Pardon..?"

It would be a lie if (Y/n) says she didn't get offended. She was just trying to be nice for fuck's sake ! To make it worse, her boss only replies with a bored, questioning glare.

He clearly doesn't notice his mistake huh ?

(Y/n)'s eyes roam around the room. Spotting every object, everything but him. She then comes up with an idea to make the tension less.. intimidating, "um.. would you like some caffeinated tea, sir ?"

"I have one right here." He pointed out.

"...oh.."

'Think dammit.. Do something !'

"Should I open the window ? It's getting hot here."

"Tch, what kind of blouse do you even wear ? It's not even hot. The air conditioners are all turned on."

She blinked, "...you're right.."

Without a warning, Levi stands from his seat with a pair of (e/c) eyes following his movements, "Ms. (L/n)."

"Yes sir ?"

"Earlier on.. You told me not to shake you up anymore. Is that correct ?" He looked down at her, who's still sitting perfectly still.

She nods, "Yes, well..."

"I want to shake you up."

Like a fish out of the water, her lips parted open in surprise. Shivers run down her spine in a split second, "P-pardon..?"

Instead of clearing things out, the vice president took some steps towards her, inching closer and closer as his body bent down a little to meet her sitting figure. His face is dangerously close to her. Levi's arms caged the chair's armrest, leaving no space between them.

While his secretary is still processing what the fuck is happening, Levi's face inches closer and closer each second towards her. The man then closes his eyes.

And so does (Y/n).

They both lean in towards each other, nearly closing the distance between their lips.

The two are ready to receive their first moment.

Until...

"Ackkk !!??!"

Out of consciousness, Levi's arms moved on their own and shoved away her chair with all his strength. Sending her swivel chair to roll away from him with a slight spin here and there.

(Y/n) rolls away helplessly on the swivel chair, her eyes are opened wide as she moves further from her boss who was about to kiss her. Utterly dumbfounded.

Him too, was shocked as hell. Levi couldn't believe what he just did. The vice president went agape.

*BAM !!*

The swivel chair has stopped rolling and finally hit a bookshelf.

(Y/n) remains on her seat, limp as a doll. Her pair of mesmerizing eyes turn lifeless after the shit that her boss just pulled on her just now.

"M-ms. (L/n)..?"

Oh now Levi's scared shitless. The man stammered as he eyed the immobile sitting secretary, thinking he had hurt her or something.

The secretary hung her head low, before suddenly snapping her head into his direction with a pissed of glare. Several strands of hair fell in front of her face. Steam began to come out from her head as she glowered at Levi. Her eyes show nothing but angry glare. (Y/n) puffs out a breath, locking her gaze on him. Clearly pissed upon his actions. She literally turns into an angry cat.

'Oh now I see what happens if someone kisses you. I fucking hate you short stack..'

Levi still stands there, statue. Unsure of what to do now.. The clueless vice president gulped in fear as he witnessed the look on (Y/n)'s face. He's not aware of the damage he has caused on the poor woman.

Loss of trust.

'What the hell have I done... I just pushed away the woman I've always wanted to kiss so badly in my life... It's just.. I- I..... DAMMIT !'

Poor Levi,

This man really screwed up...