Forget Me Not

Chapter 12: New beginnings

**Author's note**

I'm so sorry for the delay. For that one person who always reads my chapters, thank you! For the 33 reads I have on this book so far, thanks to those readers. So, I had a really tough time at work these past couple of weeks because it's the end of financial year and we were discussing bonuses. Turns out your girl (the only girl on the team of 13) outperformed more than 80% of them. So, I got a good bonus check. :) I also got into a hit and run car accident, so I have to buy a new car now. So, that's how I am spending my bonus, I guess :(

Anyway.. now to the story.. 

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"Nope! Not going to happen! I don't want to go there Arnav", Aishi says defyingly.

"What do you mean No? You are leading the project, the design is finally approved and the shops will start manufacturing them. We need you on site to guide them. You have to go to Seoul.", Arnav argued.

"The shop is not even Seoul, it's some province in the middle of nowhere. So, it's not that big of a difference working in the office, be it in Bangalore or Seoul. I am a computer and textbook kind of an engineer, I do not want to be on the shop floor. I know nothing to guide them on."

"Seungcheol's team will help you out. They need you there to make sure that they understand your drawings to the necessary level of accuracy. Stop bringing your personal issues to the table. You have 3 people relying on you don't let them down". Arnav says with finality.

Aishi stops arguing at that point. He was right, she is letting her personal fears of running into her past get in the way of doing her job. She sighs and give up, "Okay, but I will only stay there for 3 months"

"Till entry in service. 2 years."

"1 year"

"Deal".

"And will my team travel with me?", she asks expectantly.

"What do you think this is? Some Rajamouli's set? We don't have that kind of a budget. You will go alone, they will support you remotely. Seungcheol is your primary point of contact." Arnav clarifies.

Aishi accepts her fate and prepares to go towards her impending doom, which is her upcoming move.

The company has put her up with a plush apartment close to the stakeholder office. She arrived in Seoul 2 days before her first day in the Pledis Aviation office. She sits down amidst the unopened suitcases and covered furniture in her new apartment, going through her client contract. She will be working as part of a joint venture with Pledis Aviation, the company Seungcheol works for. She highlights the important information taking mental notes about the Non Disclosures, Proprietary technology exchange, and the confidentiality clauses. She makes herself some Maggi, calls it dinner, and goes out for a run.

She goes down to a neighbourhood playground that she saw on her way in. The bus stop right next to the playground had a bright ad board featuring Joshua, and some luxury bag brand.  She walks past it and starts running along the perimeter of the playground. She has already seen Joshua's face way too many times since the time she landed, in airports, on hoardings and in stores. The fact that it is his birthday week did not help her. "He must be doing well. Jacob must be proud. Maybe I should wait for his label to go public so I can buy some stocks.", she lets out a dry chuckle. His thoughts didn't hurt her anymore. It was almost like a faded memory.

She runs a few more laps before walking back to her apartment. Her apartment is a collection of high rise buildings in multiple wings, with a tiny lawn in between them. She takes the elevator to the seventh floor and finds that her apartment door is slightly open. She definitely remembers locking the door shut and pulling the door handle to make sure it's locked. She is terrified at this point and imagines the worst case scenario: she is being robbed. She contemplates running away but suddenly remembers that all her documentation is inside, her passport, her work permits, her company laptop with all the military data on it. She decides to tap into the Karate classes she took when she was in middle school. She walks stealthily into the apartment and finds that the lights in the living room are turned off, with just the light in the bedroom switched on. She tiptoes into the kitchen and picks up a pan, because knives need precision and pans can cause blunt force trauma with very little accuracy requirement.

With a surge of adrenaline, she tiptoes into the open and lit bedroom and finds a man hunched over her desk. She is convinced he is stealing her computer and identity documents. "Identity theft is not a joke Jim!", Dwight bellows in her mind. She lifts up her pan to hit him on the head and just then he senses that someone is behind him.

He spins around in a swift motion, stands up, and twists her raised arm around her back. He forces his other hand onto her neck and pins her against the adjacent shelf door, her cheek pressing against the cold wood.

She closes her eyes in fright and he moves his face closer to hers to get a closer look at her. She is convinced that she will wind up dead, in a cold, distant land, and her family would only hear about it after her body decomposes in a landfill somewhere.

"Aishi?", she hears him say.

She opens her eyes and twists around to face her attacker. There he was, his hair brushed down, drops of sweat trickling down his forehead, and a bewildered look on his face.

"Choi Seungcheol?"