heaven's demon | purinz

- 2

"No, Mom, that's not what I said."

Yunjin grit her teeth and held back a sigh that hung in her throat as her words went unacknowledged, quickly switching the phone from one shoulder to the other to instead focus on pulling open the door of the breakroom microwave. The rich smell of spices and sweet chilis greeted her nose, filling her chest with a soothing kind of warmth on her midday break.

Was she a bit of a dick for heating up something so fragrant at work? Yes. But considering the kind of day she'd been having along with everything going on in the office at any given moment, she decided her perfectly normal, if not slightly pungent smelling lunch was more than acceptable.

People would just have to get over it.

Half listening to the words filtering in through the speaker pressed to her ear, Yunjin mindlessly stirred her food without retaining a single word as she waited for her turn to speak again.

She let her thoughts drift to that morning, absently licking at her lips and tasting the memory of sugary sweet frosting with just a bite of bitter chocolate.

A bubble of familiar unease rose in her chest, a cloying sort of wariness mixed with a tingling sensation of want. It was during these quiet moments of reflection that always left Yunjin feeling weaker, these lingering seconds of solitude from the prying eyes of her coworkers when hastily repressed thoughts once again flashed through her head.

There was just something about the new lawyer that didn't sit right in her chest. An indefinable something that caused the hairs on Yunjin's neck to stand at attention.

She was too charming. Too smooth, and entirely too sure of herself, Yunjin having seen her fair share of unwarrantedly inflated egos and self-confidence to notice the difference. Chaewon never, not once, ever seemed to falter in her stride. Not a word or a single step that was anything short of perfection in the eyes of her coworkers.

At least that's what Yunjin had been forced to file in Chaewon's quarter year employee evaluation earlier that day, having slammed the filing cabinet shut just a little more violently than necessary after reading it.

But it was also in these quiet little moments, that Yunjin's mind wandered toward some of its most dangerous recesses. Thoughts she resolutely railed against with every ounce of her better judgement.

Because so what if Chaewon always smelled like some sort of rich spicy incense. Or the fact that when she concentrated, her lips would annoyingly fall into a perfectly bee-stung sort of pout.

So what if Chaewon's skin always had a slight glow to it, the kind that made her seem young and bright, yet effortlessly timeless all at once? Who cared if the pencil skirts she wore hugged the curve of her hips in ways that made Yunjin rethink every item in her wardrobe? Or if suits looked just as sinfully good on her trim frame...

None of that mattered.

Chaewon couldn't be trusted.

Sucking in a quick breath, Yunjin blinked out of the haze of her mind at that sobering thought as the voice in her ear grew louder.

"Jennifer!"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm here, mom. Calm down."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Of course, I am," she lied seamlessly.

"This is exactly what I said would happen. You never listen. If you're having problems—"