Chapter 7: For A Moment

10 minutes later, I walked into Lee sonbae’s office with my files and laptop.

“Sierra,” he smiled. “Pull up a chair.”

I nodded and did as I was told.

“Lynn, can you please bring in lunch,” he said to his secretary as he held down the intercom button.

“I really don’t want to take up your time, sonbae,” I said apologetically.

“You won’t. The main reason I wanted to help you was because I wanted to know more about the project myself.”

“In that case, let’s get to work,” I smiled.

Lunch consisted of sandwiches and coffee, and after that, we buried ourselves in the project. Working with Lee sonbae turned out to be a really enjoyable experience. He wasn’t stuffy and narrow-minded like some of the other editors, who always wanted things their way. He was open to my ideas and he gave me lots of constructive criticism. I also realized that his communication skills were excellent. I have yet to receive a critique from him that I did not agree with.

We were so absorbed in our work that we’d lost track of time. It wasn’t until Lynn came to inform Lee sonbae that she was going home that we realized the time.

“Are we done?” he asked me.

“Not quite,” I replied as I continued typing.

“Then I’ll stay until we finish,” he said.

“You don’t have to, sonbae. You should go home.”

“I’ll stay,” he said firmly, and I decided not to argue.

We continued to work and out of the blue, he called my name.

“Yes,” I said, as I looked up.

“Why do you keep calling me sonbae?” he asked.

“Isn’t that what I’m supposed to call you?” I asked him.

“You know what? From now on, call me Min Woo,” he said.

“Why?”

“I think we’ve worked closely enough to be on a first name basis.”

“The other seniors will frown upon it.”

“This is an order from me,” he said in mock seriousness. “You will call me Min Woo, or you will cease to be an employee with this magazine.”

“In that case,” I said. “Min Woo it is.”

“Good… now get back to work,” he smiled.

“Yes, Min Woo,” I laughed.

My phone rang at about 8pm. It was Jeong Hoon.

“Where are you?” he asked me as soon as I picked up.

“At work,” I replied.

“Didn’t you get my message?” he asked me. I moved the phone away from my ear to look at the screen. Sure enough, there was the indicator that I had a new message.

“Sorry,” I said. “I was so busy, I didn’t hear my phone.”

“We’ve been waiting for you for the past hour. Are you coming?” he said impatiently.

“I’m still working. I’ll meet up with you guys for drinks later?”

“Whatever,” he said, and he hung up.

“Boyfriend?” Min Woo asked as I flipped my phone shut.

“Yep… and he ain’t happy,” I drawled.

“If you need to leave, just go. I’ll finish up here,” he said.

“Twaeso…” I smiled. “Is that how you say it?”

“Yep,” he laughed.

“Yea… whatever. I’m meeting him later. So let’s just try to get this finished. I don’t want to face Karyn tomorrow, unprepared.”

It was 10pm when we finally shut down our laptops and packed up.

“You need a ride?” he asked me.

“I’m fine. I’ll take a taxi home.”

“You haven’t had dinner,” he reminded me.

“Oh, right! I’m supposed to meet my annoyed boyfriend,” I giggled.

“I’ll take you to him. I insist,” he said.

“Alright. Can I just zip to the loo for a moment?” I asked.

“Go ahead. I’ll wait at the reception area for you.”

After freshening up and reapplying my lipstick, I picked up my stuff from my desk and met up with Min Woo. We walked down to the car park and stopped in front of a black BMW M6 convertible. Min Woo unlocked the doors with his remote control, and opened the passenger door for me.

“Ma’am,” he bowed a litte, and I laughed at his exaggerated act of chivalry.

He got in on the other side and started the car. As he did, the top of the convertible opened up.

“Nice car,” I said.

“This old thing?” he laughed as we pulled out of the parking lot.

As we stopped at the first traffic light, I turned toward him to ask him a question.

“Min Woo… there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask a convertible car owner,” I said.

“What is it?”

“Have you ever been pooped on by birds flying past?” I said with a dead serious look.

He burst into laughter as I tried to control mine. In the end I gave in and laughed with him.

“That’s the first time I’ve had that question. All the girls who ride in my car would usually ask questions about my paycheck, the size of my apartment, stuff like that.”

“That’s so sad,” I smiled. “They’ll probably go through life with all such little niggling trivia unanswered.”

“Yes,” he agreed.

“So… have you ever been pooped on?” I asked.

“Well… it happened once, but I wasn’t in the car. And when I’m driving, the probability of this happening would be less, since I drive real fast.”

“How fast can this thing go?” I asked him.

“You want me to show you?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Ok, hang on. I’m just gonna put the top up. Or our faces might get rearranged by the force of the wind,” he laughed.

He turned out of the main street, onto the highway, and as soon as the top was up, he started accelerating the speed of the car. The scenery by the road started to speed by, faster and faster.

“Is this fast enough?” he asked me.

“Erm… I guess…” I said. I was a little nervous now. The speed was starting to get a little too scary for me.

“I think that’s enough,” he said. “I can see you’re a little freaked out.”

“I am…” I laughed nervously.

“Alright,” he said and he slowed the car down to a cruise. He brought the top back down, then he turned on the radio. Fly to the Sky’s Namjadapgeh was playing, and he sang along.

“I like this song,” I said.

“You do?”

“I have the album at home.”

“Mine’s playing right now,” he smiled. “We have the same tastes in music.”

“What a coincidence,” I replied.

“Actually, I guess not. FTTS are pretty popular. Many people listen to them.”

“In Korea, you mean. Not in Singapore.”

“Right…”

We finally arrived at the cafe where Jeong Hoon and his cousin were waiting for me. I actually felt a little dizzy as I stepped out of the car. Too much wind in my head I suppose.

“Thanks, Min Woo,” I said.

“No problem. You’re becoming a natural at saying my name.”

“I have an innate ability with languages. So names are a piece of cake,” I said.

“Right,” he smiled. “See you tomorrow,” he said and he drove off.

As I turned around, I saw Jeong Hoon standing on the sidewalk, glaring at me. He did not look ecstatic to see me.

Chapter 6: Give Me

We were in the car park in the basement of my office’s building. Jeong Hoon’s hands were on my hips as his lips roamed across my neck and down to my collar. We’d had a quick breakfast at the nearby Delifrance had ended up here right after that.

“Why did you have to wear a blouse with such a high collar today?” Jeong Hoon grumbled as he continued to kiss me.

“Cos I knew you’d want to do this?” I giggled. My blouse’s collar ended with ruffles above my collarbone and there was no way to unbutton it, save for taking off the whole blouse.

I climbed over to sit on top of Jeong Hoon, my legs straddling him from either side and I returned his kisses as he lay there in the seat, slowly dragging his hands down my back, across my butt and down to my thighs. Thank got my skirt had high slits.

“I have to go,” I whispered as I nibbled his earlobe.

“Not yet,” he groaned and guided my head so that our lips met.

“I really need to go, or Karyn will have my ass,” I said.

“Tell her… your ass is mine,” he laughed softly as he gave me another hard kiss before he pulled away.

“I don’t think she cares,” I said as I climbed back to my seat and started straightening out my outfit.

“Bitch,” he laughed.

“Yes…” I agreed as I reapplied my lipstick. “I’ll see you at lunch,” I said as I turned to look at him.

“Okay,” he smiled. I reach over to rub of some of my lipstick which has ended at the corners of his mouth.

“Love you,” I whispered.

“Saranghae,” he replied and leaned over to kiss me gently and slowly. “You’d better go before I get started again,” as he nibbled my lips before he pulled away.

“Yep,” I laughed as I opened the door.

I walked into the lobby feeling giddy from all the passion earlier. So giddy, that I didn’t notice Lee sonbae until I walked right into him. I felt myself losing balance, falling to the ground and I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the impact of it. That’s when he caught me by the waist and pulled me up. We were face to face and glued to each other from waist down. I could feel his breath fanning softly against my cheek and I blushed as soon as I realized the compromising position we were in.

“Choesonghamnida,” I said and quickly pulled away.

“No harm done,” he smiled. “Just be careful next time. Someone else might not have such quick reflexes,” he winked.

“Nae,” I bowed a little and I started walking really quickly towards the elevator. It was a little silly of me to do that in the first place, since he was going up too, and we’d definitely have to share an elevator.

“Did I scare you back there?” he asked as he fell into step beside me.

“Erm… no. Why do you say that?” I replied.

“You were running away from me,” he laughed softly.

“I was? No I wasn’t.”

“Then it must be your great enthusiasm in getting to work,” he smiled.

“Hmm?” I looked at him.

“You must be dying to get to your desk and start working,” he said.

“Oh… yea,” I smiled. This was getting a little too awkward for me. Sure I wasn’t one of his fans, but somehow, today, he’d managed to make my heart go pitter-patter. ‘It’s just the shock from almost falling!’ I told myself as I took a deep breath.

The elevator finally arrived and we descended the floors in silence. I heaved a sigh of relief when I arrived at my floor.

“See you later,” he smiled as I walked out.

“Later?” I repeated after him.

“The meeting, remember?” he smiled as the elevator doors closed.

Damn! I forgot about the meeting. I’ll have to cancel my lunch plans with Jeong Hoon today, since the meeting was a lunch meeting. I dumped my bags onto my desk and whipped out my phone to call him.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Jeong Hoon, I can’t have lunch with you and your cousin today,” I said.

“Why?”

“I have a lunch meeting.”

“Oh… dinner then?”

“I’ll call you later,” I said.

“Okay. I’ll be fine. Call me once you’re able to get off work.”

“Right! Love you,” I said. I sure used it a lot today. Must be my brain recognizing the permanence of Jeong Hoon in my life.

“Saranghae,” he said, and I could picture him smiling his sexy smile as he said it.

“Saranghae…” I heard Skye mimic as soon as I flipped my phone shut.

“Shuddup!” I said as I started to unpack my laptop from my bag.

“You sure turned him into a blob of mush,” Skye laughed. “I’ve never known Jeong Hoon to be so mushy and romantic during our school days.”

“Then I guess I’m what he’s been missing in his life,” I smiled.

“And why would you think that? The last thing a guy needs is a girl to turn him into a useless blob of mush. I’d rather stay a man and be without a woman.”

“I’ll be sure to tell your next target what you’d just said.”

“Hey… keep that between me and you. The ladies have me pegged as a sensitive male and I don’t need you ruining my rep for me.”

“Player,” I said as I turned on my laptop. Hundreds of emails popped up in my Inbox as soon as I logged on. I groaned as I started to go through them. With the concert and Fashion Week coming, I had my hands full. Mails from sponsors, event coordinators, fashion houses, I was swamped. I let out a loud sigh.

“Sighing so early in the morning?” Shoei said as he appeared beside me.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get on track with my work,” I whined.

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“I can’t even finish clearing my emails.”

“Clearing emails? There is a way to clear them all at once.”

“How? Show me.”

“Okay,” he said as he leaned between my and my laptop. He click on one of my emails in the list, hit CTRL+A to highlight all the mail, then hovered the mouse over the delete button. Before I could scream, he clicked it and the mails started to disappear.

“Shoei!!!” I screamed and he just laughed. “What did you do?” I exclaimed as I stared at the screen in shock.

“I cleared the mails away,” he laughed.

“I meant clear in the sense of reading them. Not deleting them!”

“Chill… They’re still saved in your recycling bin,” he laughed as he started clicking around my screen and the mails reappeared. “There you go.”

“Not funny,” I said as I hit his arm.

“You really need to relax. You’re so high-strung today.”

“Gah!!! Leave me alone!” I said.

“Okay, grumpy…” he laughed as he walked away.

I worked feverishly all morning until someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up and saw Skye peering down at me.

“What?”

“It’s time for the meeting,” he reminded me.

“Oh…” I said as I stood up quickly and started gathering my stuff.

“What’s with you today?” Skye asked me.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re so nervous and blur.”

“I’m just… not having a good day,” I said. It was a lame excuse. I had no explanation for why I felt like that today. It certainly wasn’t a bad day, but I wasn’t sure why I felt so unsettled.

“Not a good day?” Skye smirked. “I saw you and Jeong Hoon this morning. Not a good day?” he smiled knowingly.

“Where did you see us?” I asked him.

“In the parking lot,” he coughed and winked at me.

“Omigod!” I exclaimed. “You stalker!”

“Hey… who would missed his pimped out Mitsubishi. I’d recognized the license plate and walked over cos I saw that the engine was still on. As soon as I saw what you both were up to, I turned and walked away. I’m a gentleman. I don’t stare.”

“Fine… whatever… let’s go,” I said as we walked quickly towards the conference room.

Everyone was seated and waiting when we entered.

“Sierra-shi,” Karyn’s voice grated. “You had to be fashionably late hadn’t you?”

“She should be the Fashion Editor then,” Lee sonbae joked and everyone laughed. Despite Lee sonbae’s effort to lighten the mood, Karyn didn’t look amused.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away with my emails,” I explained.

“Don’t we all,” Karyn replied. “Let’s see your presentation.”

Shoei helped me hook up my laptop to the projector and I started my presentation. As soon as I finished, I looked at the senior editors, waiting for some input and comment. Finally, Karyn spoke.

“Redo it,” she said.

“I beg your pardon?” I said. I was in shock. Did she just ask me to redo weeks of research?

“Redo everything. This is utter rubbish!” she said as she looked at me challengingly.

What had I done in my past life to deserve a boss like her?

“Yes,” I sighed and just then, Lee sonbae cut in.

“I don’t think it needs to be redone,” he said.

“Why? Don’t you think it's all nonsense?” Karyn exclaimed, surprised that Lee sonbae defended me.

“It just needs improvement. Come see me after lunch, Sierra. I’ll help you fix it,” he said.

“Well…” Karyn huffed. “In that case, it’s your call. Meeting dismissed,” she said as she got up and left the room.

I packed up my stuff as everyone else filed out of the room. Lee sonbae just sat there and looked at me.

“Sierra,” he said.

“Yes?” I replied as I looked up.

“I think we should have lunch in my office. Come over with all your materials. I’ll get my secretary to order in some lunch,” he said.

“I don’t want to inconvenience you, Lee sonbae.”

“You won’t” he smiled as he got up. “Be in my office in 20 minutes,” he smiled as he walked out of the conference room.

Chapter 5: Patch It Up

“Jeong Hoon,” I exclaimed. “What are you doing?” He looked at me and his face darkened.

“Waiting for you, what do you think?” he said.

“Didn’t you say you were going home?”

“Would you forgive me if I did?” he said. I kept quite for I knew the answer to that question. He knew me well. He knew that if he wasn’t here now, I’d be pissed for the rest of the week. I opened the door and walked into the apartment without another word as he trailed after me.

“Have you eaten?” I asked him.

“Yea,” he replied curtly as he sat down on the sofa.

“I’m gonna have my dinner and I’ll be right out,” I said.

“Okay,” he said as he switched on the television.

I ate quickly and took a shower before I came back out to the living room. I didn’t think I would be able to pay attention to him while I was sweaty and grimy from my walk home from the bus stop. I walked into the living room and sat beside him, facing the television. We pretended to watch the television in silence for the next few minutes, or at least I did, and Jeong Hoon finally spoke.

“So are you going to hear me out?” he asked.

“Mm…” I murmured, not looking at him. He turned off the television and adjusted himself so that his body faced me.

“The girl who called yesterday… she’s my cousin,” he said.

“So why couldn’t you just tell me that when I asked?”

“I was panicking myself because she wasn’t supposed to be here.”

“What do you mean?”

“She sort of ran away from home,” he explained.

“How old is she?”

“She’s only 17.”

“So what are you going to do about her?”

“I’ve called her parents to inform them that she’s safe with me. I’ll let her stay a couple of days before I try to persuade her to go home.”

“And meanwhile, who’s entertaining her when you’re at work?”

“I’ve taken the day off tomorrow to bring her sight-seeing. You want to come along?”

“If you’d told me earlier, I could’ve taken the day off tomorrow. It’s too late now.”

“No problem, I’ll be fine. I can show her around myself.”

“Hey!” I exclaimed as I suddenly remembered. “If you didn’t know she was coming, why did she say that you were supposed to pick her up?”

“She sent me a text message before she boarded the plane in Korea. I didn’t see it until after her phone call that morning,” he reasoned as he took my hand. “You doubt me?”

“Mian,” I said as I leaned over into his arms and he put his arms around me. “You have to admit it was pretty sudden. Any concerned girlfriend would behave like that.”

“Mian,” he whispered and kissed my hair. “I’ll be quicker at explaining stuff the next time.”

“So where are you taking her?”

“Shopping,” he sighed. “Where else?”

“You can meet me for lunch,” I suggested. “I’d like to meet your cousin.”

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll call you when we arrive. I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay,” I smiled. I pulled away from him and stood up. “You’d better go home,” I said.

“Chasing me away?” he grinned.

“No… it’s late and you’ve not showered and stuff.”

“Araso, I’ll go now,” he smiled. “Naeil payo,” he said and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

“Is that all I get?” I said, pretending to be annoyed. “That’s what you call a make-up kiss?”

“Mian,” he said and he pulled me to him and kissed me slowly. I put my arms around him, not caring that he’d been out the whole day and had not showered. We pulled away sometime later and I noticed his eyes looked like they were half-closed.

“Are you sleepy?” I asked him.

“Nah,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Just felt so comfortable that I could just relax and fall asleep.”

“I make you sleepy?” I asked him.

“No,” he said, putting his arm around me and dragging me along as he walked to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and he kissed me again before walking off.

Danae came back an hour later, with Dong Wook in tow.

“Where did you go?” I asked her.

“We went to the opening night of this new play. Hossan Leong was hilarious!” she grinned.

“I don’t know what she sees in him,” Dong Wook sighs.

“She has weird tastes,” I replied.

“Hey… are you trying to imply that I’m weird?” Dong Wook asked me.

“Hmm… maybe you are,” I laughed as I walked into my room and closed the door.

I turned on my laptop and began my nightly ritual of scouring the internet for the latest news on TVXQ. I’m not some stalker fan, mind you. This is research… so that I will be prepared when I interview them at Sentosa. I stared at Jae Joong’s photo, the one taken for the Prince in Prague photo book. He looked mesmerizing as usual. I could drown myself in those eyes of his. How could someone look so gorgeous all the time? How could someone have that kind of intensity in his eyes all the time? I flipped my laptop shut at 11pm. Time for bed. As I snuggled against my bolster under the covers, I imagined myself hugging Jae Joong.

My phone rang and I opened one eye to peek at it. It didn’t sound like my alarm. I looked at the time on my radio clock; it’s too early for my alarm to ring.

“Hello,” I mumbled into the phone as I flipped it open.

“Sierra, you awake?” Jeong Hoon asked.

“What do you think?” I said as I yawned and stretched.

“Do you wanna go for breakfast together?” he asked. What’s up with him? Feeling guilty?

“Breakfast? We’ve never had breakfast on a week day,” I don’t get down that easily :P

“Have you forgotten?” he said.

“Forgotten what?”

“It’s been a year already.”

“A year? A year of what?”

“Gawd!!! You’re so dense in the morning,” he said, exasperated. “It’s been one year since we’ve met!”

“Oooh…” I giggled. “Mian.”

“I’m not gonna do the remembering for our next anniversary,” he complained. I could almost imagine him pouting as he said that.

“You think we're gonna last that long?” I teased.

“Yaah!! What are you getting at?”

“Mian,” I laughed. “I’ll get dressed. Come pick me in half an hour.”

“Ppali,” he said.

“Araso,” I replied and hung up.

30 minutes later, I stood at the gates of the condo’s compound waiting for Jeong Hoon. I was dressed in a feminine blouse adorned with lace and a simple pencil skirt. I decided that today since today was a special day, I was allowed a new pair of shoes. I happily unearthed my new pair of kitten-heeled ballet shoes that I bought a few weeks ago. They felt wonderfully comfortable. It pays to pay more because my feet didn’t feel pinched and I didn’t feel any blisters coming. Jeong Hoon pulled up minutes later in his pimped out Mitsubishi. I remember when he first got that car. I was wondering if I’d dated the wrong guy. I hadn’t imagined him to be like that. I thought that he’d just buy a nice, classic European car.

“Hello,” I smiled as I got in. I reached over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and turned to put on my seatbelt.

“That’s all I get?” he asked.

“You’ll get more, later,” I winked.

“I’d better,” he laughed as we pulled out onto the main road.

Chapter 4: First Craze

“Sierra-shi… were you late today?” Karyn’s voice grated like nails on a blackboard.

“No, Karyn. I was on time.”

“Good. We wouldn’t want to be late on our first day as an editor.”

“Is there anything else, Karyn? I have a meeting in 10 minutes.”

“Yes, your first huge assignment,” she said as she dumped a thick file in front of me. “It’s an upcoming concert to be held on Sentosa. We expect you to cover it. You’re allowed to bring a partner.”

I flipped through the file and scanned through the artistes invited. Wang Lee Hom, Guang Liang, Wu Yue Tian, Edison Chen, Eru, Bada… and my heart stopped in my chest… TVXQ! I struggled to maintain my composure. “Erm… I’ll be sure to do a good job. Can I go now?”

“Yes,” she said and immediately turned to face her laptop.

I dashed out of her room to my cubicle. I sat down and I started to flip though the file again. Were my eyes deceiving me? Lee Hom, Guang Liang, Wu Yue Tian… I chanted in my mind as I flipped through. And there they were again, right after Bada. TVXQ! I stared at their photo; it was the one on the Version B of their 3rd album, the one where they all looked dangerous and manly. Can I scream? I want to scream with joy! And I did. Immediately, Skye’s head popped up from his cubicle.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with a shocked expression. “Did you get your period or something?”

“No!” I said, apalled. Sometimes Skye could be really crude.

“Then what is it? People are going to think you’re nuts.”

“TVXQ’s coming!!” I squealed in excitement.

“Where? Here? Our office?”

“No, silly. I’m covering the concert they’re gonna perform in.”

“Concert? Can I come? Who else is on the list of performers?”

“Your favourite, Bada,” I said and mischievously added, “I’m allowed a partner, and I’m not bringing you with me.”

“Sierra-yah…” Skye said as he came over to my cubicle. “Please take me with you! Chebal!!” he wailed and he shook my arm.

“We’ll have to see if you behave yourself for the rest of the week,” I winked.

“Aaahhh… Sierra-yah… You’re so evil.”

“What’s going on?” Shoei said he walked over.

“This girl…” Skye started.

“What about me?” I said as I batted my eyelashes.

“What’s with the screaming just now?” Shoei asked.

Just in case I’ve not described the two of them, they’re both tall and have great figures, but I’m not interested. Shoei’s a little darker than Skye since he loved to surf. Shoei reminds me of Hyde from L’arc en Ciel, the Japanese band with a hint of Takeshi Kaneshiro going on. He wears a pair of thick framed glasses to work. He’s serious to the point of being able to have a straight face, a deathly serious face, even when he was obviously cracking a joke. We’d laugh our heads off after he was done and he’d just smile. He had a mysterious smile, so it’s no wonder that he was one of the most revered guys in the office, apart from Lee Min Woo sonbae. Skye? Skye’s like part Won Bin with those eyes of his and the rest of his face fulfills the prerequisites of being a Korean pretty boy; the nose, the bone structure down to the jaw line. However, because he didn’t maintain an air of mystery about him and was almost too approachable, he wasn’t the most popular, but he still had his fair share of fans.

“Her idols are coming to town,” Skye sniffed. “So is Bada…”

“I’m going to cover a concert and TVXQ are performing in it.”

“Your dream come true,” Shoei smiled. Everyone knew about my obsession with TVXQ.

“Can you believe it?” I beamed at Shoei.

“Right, great, calm down… you’re gonna get a stroke,” he laughed.

During lunch, Jeong Hoon called while I was happily eating my pasta.

“What do you want?” I said in a surly tone as soon as I flipped the phone open.

“Sierra-yah,” he drawled sweetly, obviously trying to be cute. “You’re not still upset, are you?”

“That’s an understatement,” I said. “What do you want? I’m in the middle of lunch.”

“Will I see you tonight?” he asked.

“I thought you were busy with your fiancée from Korea,” I replied.

“She’s not my fiancée,” he said. “Stop acting like that.”

“Then who is she?” I half yelled into the phone. Several people in the restaurant started looking at me.

“Pipe down,” Shoei hissed at me and I rolled my eyes at him.

“I’ll tell you everything tonight, I just wanted to know if you had time to meet me tonight,” he said. He was starting to sound a little impatient, but I didn’t care. I was still hurt.

“Whatever,” I said and I flipped my phone shut before he could say anything.

“Can you not do that in public?” Shoei said as soon as I’d hung up on Jeong Hoon.

“Do what?” I said innocently.

“Make a scene,” Shoei said sternly. He was the kind of guy who liked to be inconspicuous and yet he possessed an aura which demanded everyone to look at him. It was truly ironic.

“I’m not making a scene,” I defended myself.

“No, you’re just making noise,” Skye snorted.

“Shuddup, Skye,” I said and made a face at him.

We were back at the office within the hour and bumped into Lee sonbae on our way up. I just keep bumping into him all day.

“Where did you guys go?” Lee sonbae asked.

“This Italian place nearby,” Skye replied.

“The one beside the Vietnamese restaurant about a block away?”

“That’s the one,” Skye smiled.

“I was there yesterday, they served great appetizers,” Lee sonbae said.

“We didn’t really have time for appetizers,” I said.

“Has Karyn been on your cases for having long lunches again?” he asked.

“Nah… we just prefer not to aggravate her,” Shoei replied.

“She’s a capable woman. She just doesn’t know how to be nice, that’s all,” Lee sonbae laughed.

“See ya, Lee sonbae,” Skye said as the elevator doors opened on our floor.

“See ya,” Shoei and I said as we waved at Lee sonbae and walked out.

It was 7pm. There was so much to do today that I’d been glued to my laptop ever since we came back from lunch.

“You’re not leaving yet?” Shoei stood beside my desk. He’d his laptop bag slung over his shoulders, ready to leave.

“In a moment,” I said as I continued to reply a mail.

“Do you want me to wait for you? I’ll walk you to your bus stop,” he offered.

“I’ll be fine. You go on ahead,” I looked up and smiled at him.

“If you say so,” he said and turned to walk off.

“Bye,” I called after him, and he raised an arm in response, without turning back.

I continued to type for another half hour, and my mobile phone rang. It was Jeong Hoon. I scowled at his caller ID before I answered.

“Wae?” I said, grumpily.

“Open up!” he said.

“What?”

“I’m at your door and I’ve been ringing the bell for ages. Are you in the shower?” he asked.

“No, I’m still at work,” I said.

“What?” he yelled and added some expletives.

“Hey! Don’t use that sort of language on me!” I yelled back at him. “You didn’t tell me what time you planned to go to my house and you didn’t bother to call before going to my house either.”

“Are you coming back?” he asked me, and he still sounded pissed.

“I’m leaving in a moment,” I replied.

“I’ll come pick you up,” he said.

“It’s gonna take you like half an hour to get here,” I complained.

“Fine! Get home yourself!” he yelled and hung up on me.

I stared at the phone. What was up with him? Was he going through hormonal changes?

I packed up and left within the next 15 minutes. It was a bit past 9pm by the time I’d gotten my takeaway dinner and reached home. As I walked out the elevator, I saw a figure crouched in front of my apartment’s door.