His Match

Chapter 1 - Bad Attitude

The moment I knew it was a mistake to go out and party with my best friend the night before was, when I was woken up, not by my alarm, but by an angry Mrs. Choi, asking me where the h*ll I was, because the meeting was about to start.
My first thought was: Oh my God, he's gonna k*ll me. You have to know that the meeting, which was scheduled that morning, was very important and I was going to be very late. So I showered as quick as possible and grabbed the first outfit that I got my hands on.

Totally out of breath I arrived at Babel half an hour late. Sh*t. I hurried to the conference room and took a couple seconds to calm my breathing before quickly slipping through the door in hopes of no one noticing. But nonetheless, all eyes were on me.
Straightening my back and head held high I went to the only free spot at the table: Next to Jang Han-Seok, who attended as Wusang's intern Jang Joon-Woo. Han-Seo, who sat at the head of the table, threw me a boyish grin.

It only lasted for a split second though, before he slipped back into his role of Chairman Jang. „Alright. Now that Miss Kim also graced us with her presence, we may continue." Did I mention that Chairman Jang was an *sshole? "And we'll talk about this later, Miss Kim. Come by my office after we're done here." A real *sshole. Forgive my language.
I glared at him like "Really?", but he simply ignored it and proceeded with the meeting.
The additional stern look that Han-Seok gave me was also unnecessary in my opinion. Him being so super tense lately definitely had something to do with Vincenzo.
Ever since his appearance, everyone had to tread carefully around Han-Seok at all times, because even the most insignificant things caused him to explode. Nevertheless I was intrigued by Vincenzo and hoped, that I would meet him in person soon. But God forbid me telling that to anyone.

When the meeting concluded, I grabbed my things and was about to leave, but Han-Seok stopped me.
„Miss Kim, may I have a minute, please?" Reluctantly I turned around and sat back down.
He turned his attention to his brother. "Would you leave me and Miss Kim to talk in private?" Even though it sounded like a question, Han-Seo wasn't asked, he was told to. So he left the conference room without arguing, closing the double doors behind him. Han-Seok now took the seat at the head of the table, which was rightfully his as the actual chairman.
„Miss Kim, I don't tolerate my employees being tardy. You were very well aware of how important today's meeting was. To be honest, I'm seriously considering to fire you."
To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. I knew that I messed up, but he was totally overreacting. He didn't need to scold me like a little girl because I was late this once. Only once!
"But, Mr. Jang, it was the first time this ever happened -" I stopped myself as I saw the look on Han-Seok's face. Like he wanted to strangle me. Right. I had the audacity to speak up. My bad. Unfortunately I needed this job so my cover wouldn't be blown. That was the only reason why I decided to swallow my pride. For now.
„What I meant to say was, that I am very sorry, sir. It won't happen again", I humbly corrected.
„You're right. It won't." Was he really going to kick me out? Seriously?
„I won't fire you though, because you always did extraordinarily good work so far. But if you slip up again, you're out. Got it?"
*sshole!, I thought, but instead I said: „Yes, sir. Thank you." I threw him what I hoped would look like a thankful smile and tried to not let my anger get the best of me.
His eyes wandered up and down my body with a pleased smile, the whole tough boss demeanor gone. Yeah, you like it when people grovel at your feet, don't you?
"And quite frankly speaking, I would be stupid to fire you. I mean, you're such a fine piece of *ss. It makes working so much more pleasant if you have something nice to look at everyday."
Excuse me?! I thought I must have misheard. But he didn't stop there.
„You know, Miss Kim, we don't know each other that well yet, but I can already tell that you are a feisty one. I might have a little firecracker on my hands now."
You have no idea. He slowly leaned over the table towards me.
„I'm sure it's going to be fun working closer together from now on", he said with a sly smile.
Well, two can play at this game. Let's see how much fun it is when I decide to join.
Then he leaned back in his seat, acting like nothing happened. „Go back to work now. I expect the lawsuit concerning Pharma Care to be ready by tomorrow and on my desk first thing in the morning", he ordered. "But don't forget to stop by the Chairman's office. We want to keep the facade up after all. Don't we, Miss Kim?"
„Yes, sir, of course."
And with that, I left the conference room to do just as I was told.