Lisa
Joe led me through the building and up to the floor which Taehyung worked on. My mind was going back to the look on Joe's face after he said those words to me. We walked into a small reception area where a red-headed woman was tapping away on the computer.
"Good morning, Janice." Joe spoke, "Lisa is here to see Mr. Kim."
She looked up from her computer and gave me a tight smile, "I'll go let him know." she said while getting up from her chair. Joe and I were left in the waiting room at the reception, the whirring of the air conditioning and muffled voices filled the air and it gave the office an unwelcoming atmosphere. I looked up at Joe who still had a pained expression on his face but before I could question him, Janice came back.
"Miss Manoban, if you'd please follow me." her voice low. I chanced another glance at Joe but he didn't make any eye contact, so I followed Janice down a hallway past some glass offices of people working behind the computers. She held the door open for me and it was only when I walked past her that she smelled familiar. My head tilted in confusion, wondering where I recognized that scent from.
"Excuse me." I started, "Where did you get your perfume from?"
She gave me a surprised look and it looked like she was going to answer but instead, she pursed her lips and closed the door, leaving me alone with Taehyung Kim.
"Miss Manoban." he spoke from behind me.
I turned around, we haven't seen each other since that night at the party where Jennie got angry at me for defending her.
"Have a seat." he gestured to the empty chair in front of his desk.
I crossed my arms, "I'll pass. I don't plan on staying for long."
I watched him bite down with a hard expression on his face but he sat back down. We stared at each other, with a silent showdown.
"Well?" I put my hands up frustrated, "Is there a reason you wanted to see me? Because I have better things to do than to be here."
"Jennie has been distant with me and I think you're the sole reason for it!" he snarled.
"No, don't go trying to play the victim in all of this. You're the sole reason why she's distant. Has it ever occurred to you that you should maybe treat her..." I shrugged exaggeratedly, "I don't know with some basic respect? And you know, not stand her up and be embarrassed to be seen in public with her."
My anger rose now that he got me started, "Like asshole, you had Jennie freaking Kim as your girlfriend. Do you know how many people would kill to be able to say that? And if I'm being honest, you were definitely punching above your weight but you also single-handedly ruined quite possibly the best relationship that you'll ever have."
I took a breath, "But Jennie is happy now, with me." For the most part, I mean I don't think I had anything to do with what she was feeling right now. I could see him try to suppress the anger inside. Instead of acting on it though, he went into his suit jacket and pulled out a check book, "How much will it take for you to stay away from Jennie when the contract is up?"
For the first time since I stepped into his office, I laughed and when I finally calmed myself down, I laughed even harder seeing his serious face. "Not going to happen, don't insult me." I said simply.
"Oh come on, everyone has a price!" he put his pen down on the check book waiting for my answer, "What is yours?"
I glowered at him and he put the check book down, "I have a better idea." he slid the check book towards me, "Why don't you fill out the amount." He leaned back in his seat looking so proud of himself, "Money is not an issue here."
I pursed my lips, but I willed my legs to move forward. I gestured to the pen and he grinned widely as he gave it to me. I tried my best to keep a neutral look on my face as I wrote $ 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 in the space.
His grin slid off of his face smug face when I didn't stop adding zeroes, eventually running out of room, I flipped the single cheque over and continued scribbling zeroes. I slid the ruined cheque back to him, "Can you give me this amount?"
He laughed without humour and crumpled the paper in his hand, "I don't know what she sees in you. You're loud, disrespectful, disobedient, have no sense of boundaries, and the list could go on."
I smirked, "Doesn't change the fact that it's me standing beside her and not you. It hasn't been you for a while actually." I raised an eyebrow at him, "This is your problem, you think throwing your money at me will get you whatever you want. Jennie is a person, a wonderful person with thoughts, opinions, and feelings. People aren't bought with money, asshole!"
He had a smug grin on his face that I wanted to slap off, "So, what are you proposing? That we simply let Jennie decide who she wants to be with?"
"Yes." I said slowly, red alarms going off in my head because this idiot was starting to think logically. He clapped his hands, "Done." he stood up from his chair and stuck his hand out, "May the best man win." I took his hand, squeezing it hard, "May the best woman win." Without another word I turned on my heel and left his office.
