Home for the Holidays | taelice ✓

[01]

[Chapter 1: Mommy]

N A R R A T I V E

Today wasn't just another regular day at the Kim Corp. The usual bustling of papers being punched, files being prepared and the sound keyboards and mouse buttons made were a part of the quotidian workspace, but the atmosphere was full of cheer and enthusiasm. Because today, after a whole year of hardwork, was finally the time to get some rest. Yes, today was the much awaited 24th of December, the Christmas Eve and the offices were closing in for the Holidays.

Lalisa Manoban entered the premises ㅡ balancing her handbag and Mr Kim's morning tea on the other. Her boss, Kim Taehyung was very particular about some mundane things that he followed in a ritualistic manner. Since he despised coffee, he preferred tea from a specific joint before starting his day. And so, secretary Lisa had to ensure she got the beverage before than anyone else did, amidst the hustle and rush the tea shop had.

After wishing the employees a good morning by gracefully bowing down as a sign of respect, the humble secretary entered her boss's huge cabin and placed the drink on the coaster of his desk.

"Good Morning, Sir." She greeted and looked down at her watch.

8:58 am, it read. Just made it two minutes in advance.

"Good Morning, Lisa-ssi." The latter greeted back, his eyes fixed onto his iMac he was then using.

"Could you perhaps read aloud my schedule for today?" He asked in his deep, calm tone.

"Sure." She responded. "Most of your day is free, except meeting the clients to organize the 2021 business meet, which will take place at noon today."

"Okay. The meeting files-"

"I'll get them prepared and reviewed before eleven."

"Thank you."

Bowing down again, she left the cabin, before taking the files from her coworker Soojin, who was responsible for summing up all the points for today's meeting.

She placed her handbag at the corner of her desk in the cubicle, when she found a familiar figure sitting on her chair.

She smiled.

"Hi champ!" Her eyes shimmered with glee as the boy gave her a high five.

"Morning Noona!" He replied in an equally babyish voice as Lisa held the young lad in her arms.

"So how's my Dong Min?" She asked, as the boy played with her golden hair that stopped near her waist.

"I am bored noona. Can you please play with me?" The kid asked with an adorable pout on his face.

"Ah, let's see. If my champ can promise to stay patient then I will play with him during my break time. Is that okay?" Lisa gently asked, but the boy wasn't ready to wait that long for a buddy to play with.

"N-no! What will I do till then?"

"You can watch some videos on your tab, play with your toys? I'll try to be back soon, now promise me you'll be a good boy, hmm?" The poor boy sadly got down from her lap, nodding with his head down as the latter sighed.

"Here's a present for being a good boy." Lisa politely smiled as she handed him a lollipop from her bag, brightening up the boy's mood.

"Thank you, mommy!" He exclaimed in joy and kissed her cheek before taking baby steps towards the cushioned couch behind Lisa's cubicle.

However, the mention of the phrase left the girl in a state of shock. Why so? Because this was quite unusual of Dong Min to suddenly address her as Mommy, which he had been doing for the past few days without Taehyung's knowledge.

The little child wasn't hers; but Taehyung's. Lisa was well aware about this, like all the other employees. The cold CEO Kim Taehyung was a single parent to Dong Min after his ex girlfriend left him soon after the child was born. The four year old would make frequent visits during the work hours and seemed to bond with everyone quite well. Especially with Taehyung's secretary, Lalisa.

Lalisa loved kids, in fact. She always wished to have a beautiful little family with a loving husband, but her dreams of having a fairytale were shattered when her ex-fiance Junhoe decided to walk out of the relationship and leave her for another girl. Lisa hasn't been seeing anyone ever since, until quite recently she started to develop romantic feelings for her boss.

Although Taehyung wasn't quite expressive which often led to a common perception that he was rude, Lalisa had experienced the other and much softer side of the man ㅡ when he was with his son. Working for him for almost five years, Lisa had provided a lot of assistance to him whenever he suffered an emotional trauma.

Lisa noticed Dong Min was already sleepy, so she got up from her desk to adjust his sleeping posture so that the boy didn't hurt his head while sleeping. After she swiftly managed to get the iPad out of the boy's reach, she covered him with a blanket and caressed his hair, before drifting off to attend her unfinished works.

But little did she know, her actions were being closely monitored by her boss who looked at the two from the glass shutter. A smile crept up on his face by seeing the bonding between his son and his secretary.

Although Taehyung wasn't vocal about his feelings, somewhere in his heart he knew he liked Lisa. He maintained a cold persona just so that she doesn't get an idea of what he felt for her and also in an attempt to not make her uncomfortable.

All of which was about to take a great turn today, when someone suddenly showed up in his office.

━

"I'm so happy that we've finally managed to land on the deal, I express my gratitude to everyone who worked along as a team. Our efforts have finally paid off and the company will benefit a 48% profit. Well done, team." Taehyung announced just after the meeting was over. All the employees were stunned since this deal had been a hard nut to crack and hearing appraisals from their boss is that one moment they will be proud of.

One by one, the officials left the conference room after conveying their regards, until only Taehyung and Lisa were left.

"I was especially like to thank you, Lisa-ssi for giving excellent supervision to the marketing team. Without you, this would've only been a dream." Taehyung's eyes bore into Lisa's soul, making her shy under his gaze.

"It's my job, sir. It's nothing much really, hearty congratulations to you again-" Lisa paused midway when she saw change in Taehyung's expression. He looked puzzled, his gaze drifting to the entrance in the ground level, where some of the workers gathered a crowd and the security guards tried to take control of the person trying to enter in.

"I'll go check." Lisa left the room, as Taehyung worriedly looked over.

Pushing through the coworkers, Lisa saw the security was stopping a woman from entering the workspace.

"Move aside for fucks sake." The lady cussed before making her way in, bumping into Lisa and rudely pushing her aside.

Ignoring the offensive behavior of the lady Lisa followed her, taking fast steps.

"Kim fucking Taehyung!" She yelled, before barging into his cabin in anger. The door made a loud banging noise, scaring the sleeping boy who stood upright at once.

"Mommy, what happened?" The boy asked confused, while Lisa tried to comfort him.

"Nothing baby, please go back to sleep."

"I want to see appa."

"No dear, he's busy."

"Please mommy." He didn't wait for an answer before quickly dragging Lisa in with him, where the stone cold individuals stood, passing deadly flares at each other.

In a flash, Lisa recognized the woman standing before her. She removed her sunglasses and her furry overcoat.

Taehyung's ex, Kang Sooyoung.

[A/N: please don't assume this as Joy, I randomly came up with the names lol]