euphorrae

Bright was strolling down the office hallway when he heard some noise from Dew's office. He gave a casual knock, and when Dew opened the door, there he was, in messy clothes, with his girlfriend trying to hide her red face.

“Hey, Bright. What's up?” Dew asked, looking a bit flustered.

“Just wondering if you wanted to grab lunch,” Bright replied, trying not to stare at the messy scene.

“Oh, sorry. We were just, um, talking,” Dew said, a tad embarrassed.

“Got it, no big deal. I'll leave you to it,” Bright said, feeling a bit awkward. “Catch you later.”

“Sure thing,” Dew replied, visibly relieved, and shut the door.

Bright walked off, shaking off the awkwardness of the moment. Glad Dew and his girlfriend worked things out, he continued down the hallway. Suddenly, he bumped into Win.

“Hey Bright, what's going on?” Win asked.

“Nothing much, just heading to my office,” Bright replied, trying to keep things casual.

“I was thinking of catching up with Dew, maybe grabbing lunch together. You in?” Win suggested.

“Bad timing. Dew's in a meeting right now,” Bright said, throwing out a quick excuse.

“Ah, got it. I'll hit him up later then,” Win said, turning to leave.

Bright let out a sigh of relief, happy that Win didn't press further. He didn't want to spill the beans about Dew and his girlfriend's private moment. Feeling a tad guilty for the fib, Bright just wanted to keep things smooth for everyone.

“Hey Win, do you want to grab lunch together with me, just in case?”

Win was hesitant. He was used to spending his lunch breaks with Dew and wasn't sure how he would feel about spending time with Bright instead.

“Mmm... I don't know, I'm not sure how I would feel about hanging out without Dew.”

“Come on, it'll be fine. We don't always have to do everything together as a trio. What do you think?”

“Okay, let's do it. Where do you want to go for lunch?

“How about that new sandwich shop down the street? I've been wanting to try it out.”

“Sounds good to me. Let's go!” -

Honestly, either Bright or Win was a little nervous but also excited to spend some quality time together. They stopped at the sandwich shop and ordered their usuals: a turkey and cheese for Bright and a veggie wrap for Win. As they sat down at a table by the window, they both felt a little awkward at first.

“So, um, what do you want to talk about?” Bright asked, trying to break the silence.

“I don't know,” Win replied. “We've never hung out without Dew before. It feels kind of weird.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Bright said.

Surprisingly, Bright and Win had never really talked about personal stuff before, but today was different. Over lunch, they went beyond work talk and chatted about everything – favorite TV shows, future plans, even stuff they never shared with Dew.

Bright spilled about his family and dealing with anxiety. Win, being a good listener, shared his family tales and life challenges. Turns out, they had more in common than they thought – both art lovers and nature enthusiasts.

As they walked back to the office, they felt a stronger connection. Hanging out without Dew wasn't weird; it was unexpectedly cool. They left the sandwich shop feeling closer, planning to do this again soon. As they strolled through the lush green grass, back way to their office, Win asked Bright something that always stuck in his head.

“Hey, Bright, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what's up?”

“Why do you always talk to me only in the group chat, but you never text me personally?”

“Oh, I just thought it's easier to include everyone in the group chat so no one feels left out.”

“Kind of feels like you're avoiding one-on-one chats with me.”

“No way! I value our friendship. Sorry if it seemed that way.”

“Before today, it was always work stuff when we hung out.”

“I didn't realize that. My bad, Win.”

“It's cool. Just know you can talk personal stuff with me too.”

“You serious? Didn't know that was an option,” Bright laughed.

“Totally. We're friends, after all.”

“Friends, got it.”

As they both reached their office and Dew's room door was still closed, Win opened the room passcode with the employee card, he turned his head to Bright and said, “Just text me personally, ok?”