paste you to the pages of my heart

Chapter Two

"Sunbae-nim, here are the sketches you asked for last week."

Nayeon nods without looking up from her own sketch plan. "Thank you, Ryujin. Just put them on my table, please."

Ryujin obliges and she leaves Nayeon's office with a quiet, "Don't work too hard, sunbae."

Nayeon wants to disagree; she has to work hard today. After all, the whole reason she's rushing everything right now is so that she can pack up early and pick Minji up from school.

Yes, Jihyo will babysit Minji while Nayeon is still at the office and Sana most likely moved her early evening shoots to be there for Minji as well, but it's different for Nayeon.

Jihyo and Sana are Minji's godmothers.

She's her mother.

Just because there are others who are willing to pick up where she slacks off doesn't mean Nayeon wants it to become a habit.

She can already hear Jeongyeon in her mind saying, "Don't be stupid. You know that's not how it works."

Even still, Nayeon skips her lunch and break time to ensure that she can clock out before five.

"Im, I'm not paying you to pass out on me."

At first, the words don't penetrate Nayeon's steel focus on her sketch but then there's a hand that grabs her pencil and Nayeon all but lunges out of her chair to retrieve it.

That is until she sees just who grabbed her pencil.

"Jennie."

Jennie only raises a brow at her before she sits down at the edge of Nayeon's desk. "What's with your assistant telling me that you haven't taken any breaks today?"

Ryujin, that snitch.

"Don't give me that look, Im," Jennie warns her, already too aware of how Nayeon reacts to people meddling with her business. "She was just concerned."

Nayeon steals a glance at the clock on her desk—16:15—before she sighs and leans back in her chair. With Jennie holding her favorite pencil hostage, Nayeon can't finish any work anyway. "I must've forgotten. I was busy."

"Busy starving yourself? Are you heartbroken again?"

"Yah!" Nayeon exclaims, feeling a blush creep up on her cheeks at the reminder of how she used to act in college after her breakups. "I just need to get off work before five."

That piques Jennie's interest, and she gives Nayeon a suggestive smile. "Who's your date?"

Nayeon makes a face, appalled at the mere thought of going out on a date with someone. With Minji as the number one priority in her life, the last thing she needs is a distraction in the form of a lover. "No one! I need to pick up Minji from school. It was her first day at kindergarten today."

Now, Jennie is confused. "She gets off at five?"

"They have a lot of breaks."

"Ah." Jennie nods as if that explains it, which it kinda does. "That still doesn't mean you had to starve yourself. You're no use to me hungry and weak."

Despite the seemingly biting remark, Nayeon knows Jennie means well. Having been friends since their junior year, Jennie is one of Nayeon's most trusted friends outside her inner circle.

And with Jennie as her boss at Kim Interiors, their friendship and professional bond have only become stronger.

Still, Nayeon waves off Jennie's concern. "I'll eat on the way. I have to take a cab, anyway."