Sea of Radishes

🟡 8 Letters, 3 Words, 105, 210 Hours 🔵

I love you. The three words composed of eight letters that Ahn Hyejin wanted to tell Kim Yongsun.

105, 210 hours. That was the gap between Hyejin and Yongsun. If only they weren't so far apart in age...

"Ahn Hyejin, concentrate."

Hyejin snapped out of her thoughts when Yongsun spoke out of the blue.

Silence enveloped the office.

Hyejin looked at Yongsun but she did not even lift her head. She sighed. The usual Yongsun, colder than ice and as apathetic as can be. She wished she could turn that frown upside down.

Yongsun continued going through paperwork on her desk. She was well aware that she was having Hyejin stand in front of her desk without doing anything. She knew that she could let the girl sit down but she didn't want to.

"Yongsun unnie..."

"That's Ms. Kim for you," Yongsun corrected Hyejin. She stopped what she was doing and checked the time on her watch. "It's 11:57. You have exactly three minutes to get to the elevator and twenty seven minutes to get lunch."

Hyejin's eyes widened. Whatever happened to the five minutes instead of three? She then remembered that it was Monday.

Mondays always had something that stirred Yongsun's attitude. Something that made her grouchier and grumpier than she already was.

Before Yongsun could say anything more, Hyejin decided to go down to the office cafeteria. She was hungry and her stomach was grumbling.

Now in the cafeteria, Hyejin sat down on her usual seat. She placed the tray filled with her food down on the table. She was about to take a bite when the ever-so-playful Moon Byul-i sat beside her.

" 'Sup, Hyejin-ah? You're frowning over food," Moon Byul pointed out. She grinned, her nose wrinkling and her eyes shrinking.

"Moon Byul unnie, I wouldn't be frowning if you weren't so annoying. Why are you disturbing me again? Can't you please let me enjoy my meal in peace?" Hyejin turned to Moon Byul with a sharp glare. She looked at her food and brought some to her mouth.

"Woah! Calm down, lion," Moon Byul uttered. She sensed hostility in Hyejin's voice. She was quick to guess what the reason was behind her irritation. "She snobbed on you again, didn't she?"

Hyejin stopped chewing for a moment. She didn't move. She didn't say anything and only stared at space.

Hit the nail on the head. Moon Byul smirked. It was always a bliss to get things right.

"I mean, it's not your fault, you know? Yongsun's always been like that. You've worked for her for a whole year and she doesn't seem to be warming up to you," Moon Byul pointed out. She felt sorry for Hyejin as she was also curious. "Why are you still working here, anyway? You must have the patience of a saint to be her secretary."

"Yongsun unnie wasn't always like this.. She used to be a warm person.." Hyejin admitted. When her parents told her that Yongsun needed a secretary, she didn't hesitate to accept the job.

Hyejin's parents were friends and business partners with Yongsun's parents. It was one of the circumstances that helped her get the job. She had thought that it was a good idea to get closer to the woman she had always admired. But it turned out that the public and the media were right. Especially when they claimed that Yongsun was a merciless, heartless businesswoman.

"My father always said that one should not sigh in front of food," Moonbyul uttered. "Besides, you still haven't answered my question." She turned to Hyejin and faced her with a raised brow.