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Sangyeon stared at the ceiling. He wished that his office chair gave him more support to lean back and possibly let his eyes close and drift off into a slumber.
The lack of sleep the last few nights was beginning to show on his face.
It was as though any time he did manage to close his eyes he could see the face of Jangmi enraged simply by his presence. It bothered him.
It was as though she could hear his thoughts as he spoke the word 'yes' without even realising when he heard the knock on the door, revealing no other than her. "How may I help you?"
"Can I ask why I have been given ten spreadsheets to work through and Jacob has none?"
"What are you even saying?" He mumbled, his hands reaching to tug on his hair as he looked at his computer.
A few clicks later and he realised exactly what she meant.
"Well, he's only a temp," he tried to reason, the girl muttering something that sounded similar to 'bullshit' under her breath - but he let it slide. "You're just better at them."
Jangmi cocked her tongue against her cheek, sure that her finger nails had dug a hole in her palm by now. "That's your excuse?"
"That's my reasoning," Sangyeon argued, watching as she narrowed her eyes at him ever so slightly. "I trust that you'll do them well, alright? If you're stuck, give him one."
"I'm giving him half," she stood up taller, her sweaty palms now flattening against her suit trousers. "I can't do all of them today."
"You can any other day," Sangyeon retaliated, standing up as he walked around his desk.
She watched as he now decided to lean against it, his large frame making the table look tiny. He looked intimidatingly big these days, just not to her.
"What's stopping you now?" He tilted his head, watching as she remained silent.
Jangmi wanted nothing more than to wipe that growing yet minuscule smirk off of his lips.
"What's stopping me is that aside from treating me poorly as per usual, you're now resorting to treating me completely unfairly in comparison to your best friend."
Her words stung a little, he couldn't lie. He knew that's what she must have thought of him, but hearing her say it out loud made it sting all the more.
"I've gave you the benefit of the doubt, I don't know what you've got going on outside of here-"
She continued, her eyes showing something other than anger for once. Sangyeon could have sworn there was sadness in there somewhere.
Jangmi sucked in a deep breath, taking one step back as she headed for the door again. "But keep this up, and I'll report you to every single person above you."
Sangyeon remained silent, watching as she left without even sparing him another glance.
Maybe it was selfish, but Sangyeon had to make sure he wouldn't get reported.
He worked hard for this, much to Jangmi's disagreement. His life would ultimately fall apart if he lost this job, and he was sure losing a management position meant losing the job altogether. People wouldn't look at him the same.
It had been days since their argument and she hadn't looked his way ever since. He wondered if it really was better this way.
Jangmi sighed as she looked towards the clock, seeing it tick over to five minutes until she was free.
She watched as Jacob furrowed his eyebrows at his computer screen, confusion on his face.
With a sigh, she smiled sadly to herself at the thought that maybe she was being too hard on him because of Sangyeon. It wasn't his fault, per se.
She realised that she shouldn't steep to his level either, being harsh for no reason. She was once the new girl too. "Need any help?"
"Could you take a look at this?" He asked kindly, smiling of relief when she nodded and walked over.
Her eyes trailed the screen, her finger clicking the mouse as she read his formulas on the screen. "This number here-"
"I'm just helping Jacob with this," she shook her head, not even bothering to look at him. "If you-"
"You should head home," he interrupts again, a groan of frustration threatening to leave her lips. "I can help him, just get yourself home."
Jangmi stood up straight, her eyes widening ever so slightly.
He watched as she nodded, awkwardly looking towards her desk before she began gathering her things. "Thank you, Jangmi."
"I didn't do much," she chuckled, shaking her head as she put on her coat, pulling her bag over her shoulder. "Apart from that, everything looks good. Well done, Jacob."
Sangyeon watched as the boy smiled warmly at her, his eyebrows furrowing.
She was kind to everyone but him. "Yeah. Thank you for helping him, Jangmi."
Her eyes and expression were blank when she turned to look at him now, simply bowing ever so slightly as she walked towards the door.
Sucking in a deep breath, as much as it pained her to say it to just one of them, she found it in her to smile over her shoulder.
