Broken Cause [Book 1]

Chapter 1 (Part 7)

Lisa heard the bedroom door open. She turned her head to greet Chaeyoung but was met with a sight that made her grin widely.

Chaeyoung stumbled out of her bedroom with a pouty frown on her face, messy hair and closed eyes. She was holding a towel in her hands.

Not always so perfect after all, Miss Smartypants? Lisa chuckled when the bathroom door clicked close. Strangely very cute though. She sighed and stood up to stretch long and hard. She cracked a few bones and loosened her tense muscles before taking her coffee mug to the kitchen. Her mind was a bit jumbled from all the thinking she had done all night. There was a slight throb in her head thanks to the excessive amount of coffee she had consumed to be able to stay awake.

Lisa washed the mug and splashed some water on her face. She used to be able to handle such sleepless nights on the jobs a lot better. I'm growing old, aren't I?

"Lisa?"

She straightened up with a jerk and turned around.

"What are you doing? Are you okay?" Chaeyoung approached Lisa.

"I'm fine. Why?" Lisa answered with an innocent look.

"You've been standing there for a while now." Chaeyoung had a small smile on her face.

"H-huh?" Lisa then realized that Chaeyoung had changed her clothes although her face was still bare. "Oh. Must've fallen asleep." She sheepishly admitted - walking past Chaeyoung to the living room while keeping her head down.

She fell asleep standing up? Chaeyoung had to chuckle. "Are you hungry? I have cereal," Chaeyoung offered. She was still standing in the kitchen, observing the uncharacteristic behavior of the usually composed and strict Lisa with amusement.

"No thanks." Lisa turned the TV off. "Yun-o will be here soon. He will take you to the office and stay with you until dinner." Lisa went to unplug her phone from the charger. She then walked towards Chaeyoung with the charger in hand. "Thank you."

Chaeyoung took it. "No problem."

"May I use your bathroom?"

Chaeyoung chuckled. "Go ahead." She then went to her room to finish getting ready.

Lisa came out of the bathroom feeling a bit better. Her phone suddenly rang. "Hello?"

"Hey Lisa. I'm here. You want me to go up or should I just wait here?" Yun-o asked.

Lisa checked her watch. "I think you can just wait in the car. We'll be right down."

"Okay then."

Lisa hung up and went to the bedroom. She was about to knock on the open door but ended up just standing there, frozen in place with her hand in midair. She saw Chaeyoung humming to herself while fixing her clothes and final checking her make up. Lisa gulped. Why does she look so attractive today? Or is it just my lack of sleep?

Chaeyoung stopped humming when she felt Lisa's eyes on her. She turned around and met Lisa's gaze. She was surprised to see what she thought was admiration and... She gulped - stopping her thoughts. She was rarely wrong about people so she knew she should stop right there. She broke the eye contact and grabbed her bag. "Is Yun-o coming?"

Lisa snapped out of it. "H-he's downstairs." She quickly went to the living room to gather her stuff, scolding herself for acting so unprofessional towards someone she would be working with. She stopped at that thought. Oh damn... how am I supposed to work with her?

"You ready?"

Lisa turned her head to see Chaeyoung standing at the door, already wearing her jacket and shouldering her bag.