Nepenthe ( Ateez Mingi)

Chapter 13

Mingi's POV
I heard a knock on my door. And before I could respond , mrs.lee rushed into my room.
" didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" I was about to scold her.
" she's here," mrs.lee stuttered.
I widened my eyes, " what?"
" she is..."
Before mrs.lee could finish her words, I rushed out of my room and directed to her room. I opened the door without knocking and, there she is, unpacking her staffs.
..............
Ari's POV
I heard the door opened and turned around to see mingi, looking at me with disbelief eyes. He was a mess. His facial hair had grown, his hair were directing in all directions, he had lost weight, and his eyes were hollow, with dark circles around, his face was pale.
He slowly took step after step.
" Ari?" He called my name, " am I not dreaming ? Am I?"
He touched my face with his fingertips softly, " you are really here."
He broke down, " you are back."
He kneeled down hugging my waist, " I am sorry, Ari. I am truly sorry. Please, don't leave me," he cried.
I crouched down in front of him and cupped his face, " I am here now."
He pulled me into his embrace.
Oh, how much I missed this.
" I am sorry, my love. I thought you are never going to be back. I thought you have left me forever."
" I was going to," I answered, " but I decided you deserve a second chance."
He pulled me away from his body slightly, and looked at me with wide eyes.
" yes," I said, " I am going to give you the second chance. So, show me. Prove me that you will always going to protect me from everything as you said."
He cried, hugging me again, " I will, my love. I will." 
" thank you. Thank you," he kissed the top of my head.
I pulled myself away from him this time, " and clean yourself. You look like a walking corpse."
He chuckled, " I will, my love.. Thank you so much. Thank you"
..................
A year later,
Everything is going well. I have been in touch with everyone, including jongho. And my relationship with mingi is also going strong.
I lied on my stomach, next to mingi, who is reading, leaning on the headboard, on his bed.
" mingi!" He hummed as a response.
I was hesitating and he asked, " what do you want?"
" how do you know I want something?" I asked.
He laughed, " sweetheart, I know you more than you know yourself," he answered. " now, tell me."
" are you really going to give me what I want?"I asked.
" even if you want my heart, or my liver, or my lungs , I will let you open my chest,"he replied.
I rolled my eyes, " what should I do with those heart and liver? They are not even edible."
He laughed until his head was pushed back, " then, what do you want?"
I looked up at him, " a job."
His expression changed immediately, "No."
I sat up and whined, " why?"
" just because," he answered, moving his attention back to his book.
" what kind of reason is that?," I complained, " please, let me work, huh? The doctor also said that I can be back to normal life. Please ," i whined.
He sighed and closed his book, " why do you want to work that bad? I can give you everything you want. Your boyfriend is rich, you know?"
" this is not about money," I said, " without something to work on, I feel like I'm useless and also I want to socialize with more people. I want to interact with the world. I want to live a life."
" then, I'll tell Yunho to give you one," he said.
" no," I replied, " I don't want it to be like that. I don't want to get a job just because I am CEO's girlfriend. I want to try by myself."
" you demand too much," mingi sighed.
I chuckled, " please?"
" ok, fine," he leaned back, " but promise me that you will tell me everything happened to you everyday and you will not continue if that work tires you out too much."
I jumped over him and give a quick kiss on his lips, " promise!"
He smiled and ruffled my hair, " so, have you thought anything for your job hunting?"
" actually," I looked down, playing with the button of his shirt, " I already got one."
" what?" He widened his eyes, " and you are telling me this now?"
"I'm sorry," I said, " I didn't think I will get the job. So, I just applied for it and it just turned out like this."
He sighed heavily, " what's the job? Where is it?"
" in a marketing department," I said, " that company was calling for a lot of positions , and they thought I would be suitable with marketing. I have to work as an intern for a month and then after that, they will decide if I will become permanent or not."
He nodded, " and the place is?"
I looked down again, " that's another surprise."
I closed my eyes, " your company."
" what?" Mingi shouted again.
I hugged his waist, " don't be mad."
He breathed in, " I am not mad. But don't you think you deserve a scolding for this, huh?" He continued, " you got a job behind my back, and that too in my company, and telling me this only now. You could have just told me and I could get you one, and that too in a higher position."
" I didn't mean to," I looked at him with puppy eyes, " I already told you I want to depend on myself for the job."
I continued, " so, don't you dare tell Yunho to move me to another department or tell the staff to treat me differently . Actually, it's the best if we keep our relationship secret."
Mingi stared at me with narrowed eyes.
" at work, we will pretend we don't know each other, I'll just be a normal employee.ok?"
He sighed and kissed my forehead, " you are lucky that I love you so much."
..................
This is my first day at work.
I was greeted by a cute girl , smiling sweetly to me.
" hello, nice to meet you. I'm sejong."
" I'm hong Ari."
She smiled, " ok, can I just call you ari? I saw that we are the same age so you can also just call me sejong."
I nodded, she sure is a cheerful girl.
She introduced me to the workplace and people. Then, she took me to my place and explained about my jobs, " if you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
..............
I was having lunch at the cafeteria with sejong and saw Yunho passing by.
" he's handsome. Isn't he?" Sejong said. " he's everyone's crush in this company."
" he is?" I asked. Well, as expected of Yunho.
" yes," sejong answered, " he's the assistant of CEO. I have a friend, working directly under CEO and she always told me about how kind and helpful he is," sejong added, " opposite to the boss he is working for."
" opposite?" I questioned.
" oh, right! You are new so you may not know," sejong sat straight, " now, I will tell you all the dark secrets and know how's to survive in this tough world , so take notes. Listen carefully since unnie will not repeat again."
I chuckled at her action.
" so, our CEO , song Mingi, whose nickname is devil douchebag, is known for his merciless action and heartless behaviors. He spares no one ,and anyone in this company would choose to jump off from the rooftop of the building than facing him. My friend whom i mentioned ,always tell me about how easily he got angry, and how sensitive he is."
I nodded,
She continued, " but you don't need to worry too much. Since we don't have any reason to deal with him anyway. Just do your work and avoid him if you see him on the way. That's it."
" so, you haven't met him yet?" I asked.
" of course," she answered, " he never comes to places like cafeteria or lounge, and also he only meets with higher positions. So, I've only seen him from afar like twice or thrice. And everyone tries to avoid him at all cost,so,"
Well. Song Mingi, the news I heard about you are not that pleasing. And it's only the first day.
....................