𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐑 | 𝖫𝖧𝖲

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲: collision

"miss woo! punctual as always!"

kyungjun patted my shoulder and greeted jake as well, feeling happy to see the two of us again. i took out my phone and checked if my brother had any meetings.

"my calendar says you'll be having a little talk with kim gaeul in an hour, i suppose it's about your new suits she's going to design. other than that, you have a meeting with... jake? 'golf club at 7?'"

jake snuck his arm around my waist and looked over my shoulder what the phone displayed.

"since when do you have a new phone?"

"oh, it's just the phone i use for work. dad said it'd be a good way to separate all the storage, documents and all that stuff.", i replied calmly and looked up to give him a smile.

"what the hell am i seeing here? get off of my sister!", kyungjun gasped.

"why would i let go of my charming girlfriend?", jake answered and pulled me even closer, "it's our first day, we hope to get your blessing." i suppressed my smile and continued checking for more news regarding the company.

"you two are what?", kyungjun blurted out, causing some of the passing employees to stop and stare. "no worries, go ahead. i'm sorry.", he apologised and turned back to us. "i said 'take care of each other', not 'fall for each other'."

"at least be happy for us." i smiled. "after a massive heartbreak, i'm trying to get on my own feet again and jake would be really glad to help, jun. who else do you trust if not him?"

my brother's strict face finally loosened up as he slowly nodded and looked at his best friend: "if you do anything wrong, it's on sight."

"chill, i've been taking care of your sister like she was my own."

"alright then! unfortunately, i need miss woo in her office now since it's already time to work. CEO sim, you should get going as well."

jake pecked my cheek real quick before jogging away from us. "yah, this scumbag.", kyungjun raised his fist and walked away afterwards, leaving me chuckling in the middle of the lobby.

when i sat down and began to work, kyungjun came in and put a cup on the desk: "jake said you've been drinking too much caffeine lately. here you go, a vanilla chocolate. i don't need you to collapse."

"thank you, mister woo.", i mumbled and scrabbled something on the piece of paper. "jieun.", he softly called, making me look up, "you should take a break earlier today. you don't look well."

"pff, what are you talking about? i'm working till lunch break only today and i am completely fine. you're overreacting again."

"just follow my order for once, ji. you deserve a little break, you've been working a lot lately."

"alright, thank you. now if you excuse me, i need to make a call now.", i smiled and sent him away.

——— 𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑬 𝑺𝑲𝑰𝑷

"jieun? i'm sorry to bother you since you're done now, but we have a minor issue you might have to deal with.", haewon from the reception came in as i packed my bag.

"sure, i'm getting picked up anyway and he's running a bit late. what's the matter?"

she remained silent and just opened the door a bit further, revealing someone behind her. "someone was looking for you! i'll leave you two alone if that's alright, i'm starting my lunch break now." haewon innocently smiled, which was fair. she didn't know about my past after all and simply thought he was a customer or else.

"jieun.", heeseung exhaled and just stared at me for a while. i didn't even dare to give him a reaction; in fact, neither did i have an idea what he was doing here nor did i actually want to see him, right where i finally got over him and decided to start a relationship again.

this is still a working place. stay focused.

"i'm very sorry for the inconvenience, but i go by miss woo.", i put on a smile, "is there anything wrong? i am actually finished with work, but i can get mister woo if you want to!"

"jieun, please stop acting like that. you know i'm not here for kyungjun. don't neglect me after i spent so much time looking for you." he slowly went towards my direction.

"i'm calling the security if you don't leave immediately."

my hand already laid on the phone on my desk, waiting to take action.

"heeseung-ah!"

a young woman suddenly left kyungjun's office. i grew suspicious. who is she?

"everything is fine now. the contract will be sent to us by mister woo in a few days.", she nodded happily and tucked on his sleeve, "should we go for lunch now? i bet your parents are waiting."

ha, a girlfriend.

i gulped down the desire to burst out in tears, which heeseung might have noticed. but in fact, he didn't do anything against it and just bowed to me before leaving with the woman.

a sigh escaped my lips, right when kyungjun entered my office with a smoking head: "whew, i can't believe she is such a smart woman. even i am overwhelmed."

"who was this? i didn't know you had an appointment today?", i curiously asked and watched the couple get into the elevator. "an yujin, she's the daughter of a very kind man. if i remember correctly, it was announced that 'lee nation' and 'an charity' would start to work together in order to raise funds and stuff, i think it was around one year ago. not even a week later, they announced heeseung's and yujin's engagement."

"engagement.", i mumbled while fiddling with my fingers. maybe that's why he broke up with me. was i perhaps not good enough for him, personality wise? did he start meeting up with her and saw something better in her than in me? i felt quite worthless, now that kyungjun told me about everything. why did i even try in the first place?

"ji, oh my god. i'm so sorry, i didn't want to tell you.", my brother pulled me in his embrace.

"don't feel sorry. at least some questions of mine are solved now." i broke off the hug and took my bag: "i'll get going now. jake must be waiting for me, we wanted to have lunch together."

"are you really feeling okay? i didn't want to ruin your mood, seriously. you know it was unintentional."

i assured him that i was completely okay with everything and bid goodbye afterwards.

but honestly, the moment he mentioned it... something broke inside of me.

———

new characters unlocked: an yujin & kim gaeul!