Touch your Heart

XVI.

"Isn't Hyewon a little out of herself today?" Taeyeob speaks, and the other people in the place pay him a glance.

They look at the direction of Hyewon's office to confirm whether what he has said is indeed something to believe. He watches the person in the office, tracing the lip of the cup with her index finger. She looks tired according to Taeyeob's perception of her different actions.

"I know, right? She's been like that since they came back." Haeyoung butts in behind him. This surprises the guy, flinching and taking a step back from her.

"Can you stop creeping behind me like that?" Rather than annoyed, he sounded playful. He then proceeds to walk towards the copying machine for his business to tend to, leaving the girl alone.

The stillness of the atmosphere remained for a short period of time until Hyewon left her office, holding an empty cup. With a single glance, one can easily think that she is having troubles, which might be work-related or something about herself. Taeyeob isn't dumb enough to let that slide, her antics piqued his curiosity, following every step she takes with his eyes.

Hyewon walks towards the lounge room, still wearing the same expression she had when she left her, like an empty shell. As she reaches her destination, she takes a seat on one of the couches, staring into oblivion while fiddling with her fingers as her hands rest on her lap.

"What's the problem, Hyewon-ssi?" The sound of a manly voice comes from behind her, startling her, which makes her glance in the direction.

"Y-yeah?" A brief silence, a little slow of her to understand the words that were stated to her. "No, no. It's nothing, Daepyonim, just kind of tired, probably. Yeah, tired." The guy didn't buy her reason, however, he considered the reason she is hiding the truth behind those transparent words.

"It's not because of Yongwoo, isn't it?" Jaden takes a seat across from her, holding his knees to support himself, then releasing a heavy sigh afterwards. Is he giving you a hard time again?"

Her expression quickly changes after the mention of his name from soulless to somewhat flustered. "Mr. Gong? No! Why him?"

"Nothing, I just thought that you guys had a fight again." He crosses his legs, tapping it afterwards.

The conversation between the two people is interrupted by another person joining them in the room.

"Hyewon-ssi, Daepyonim, you're here!" Haeyoung exclaims with excitement and surprise. She takes the seat beside Hyewon, still with the biggest smile she has.

A silence has fallen upon the room, and out of the blue, the atmosphere that was light a few seconds ago felt a bit more tense now, no one dares to speak yet do something, awkwardly taking a short glance at one after another. Haeyoung can't bear the silence she has brought in the place, being the original sunshine and rainbows of the firm, she has decided to break the thickening borders of the ice building at them.

Hyewon's expression has faltered from the empty shell, and it seems like she's back to her usual self after the short conversation she had with Jaden.

"How's your day, Hyewon-ssi?" A question from Haeyoung, she looks to her side to meet Hyewon's eyes.

"Me? It's going good so far, we get to settle a matter, and I don't think I have made any mistakes. Overall, it's great." Hyewon replies casually, a smile on her face that invites anyone to do the same with how alluring her smile is.

Not even a few minutes into the conversation, and their co-workers also join the room, filling every available space one by one, Myungdae sitting along with Yooah, while Jinsol sits on the other side of Hyewon, and Taeyeob across from her. The slight awkwardness turns into a bright and light atmosphere in just a second after everyone joins the room.

A break time that everyone shares in their schedule apart from the other person who's still in his office rummaging through every document he gets his hands on, a usual activity from the ace of the firm. Every one of them engages in conversation, enjoying their short break to the fullest before drowning themselves once more in the reality of adult working life, a non-stop labor for almost every day of their lives until the day of their retirement.

Everything is going smoothly, sharing laughter here and there as they exchange conversations about any topics that one may bring to a work-related situation that requires immediate attention to help the person asking for assistance regarding the topic.

"Woah, that guy is really just something." Jaden exclaims as his eyes accidentally land upon the office of Yongwoo, who can be seen searching the document on his table. Everyone in the room follows the gaze of their superior personnel in the room. "We've been working for four years, and I still can't get used to his behavior. I mean, you can't catch him lacking, and all he cares about is his work."

"I definitely agree with you, daepyonim. Luckily, our Hyewon is here to help him with his work." Yooah added a statement to Jaden's statements.

"Is he always like that even before I came here?" Hyewon's eyes darted from the guy in his to the both of them.

Jaden's eyes meet hers before speaking. "Yeah, unfortunately and fortunately." His voice sounds somewhat disappointing, a tone that she doesn't expect coming from him. His eyes move from her to Yongwoo once again before a sigh. "Thanks to you, I have seen this guy going home much earlier than usual. Do you know, that guy has been working overtime almost every day these past years? He can't catch a break, sometimes he even gets a case on the weekend forcing him to work alone in this firm. And I bet that guy will leave his office a few minutes from now to attend a business he needs to tend to."

Hyewon empathizes with him about the unexpected yet expected situation that she has also experienced before.

"Doesn't that sound like you before, Hyewon-ssi?" Taeyeob asks with enthusiasm in his voice. Everyone in the room darted their eyes on him like he's a culprit or some sort. "I mean, isn't that how a celebrity's life? Don't tell me I am wrong." He defends himself after folding with the pressure their glare sends to him.

Hyewon chuckles as she remembers the days where she experiences the same situation, having a compact time, sacrificing some activities in her life just to finish some business. "Yeah." Her short reply earns a discerning look. "Why the look? It's fine, y'all. After all it's in the past."

The current flow of the situation swerves from the current direction because of one person's question. A slight poke on his side causes him to flinch in his seat and wince, still completely oblivious of his own mistake. Well, they can't do anything any more since everything has changed because of Taeyeob, and there's nothing they can do but embrace the situation.

"Do you miss it?" Haeyoung asks.

"Surprisingly, I do not, maybe a little, but I prefer my time here than I had before. I get to meet people like you and I am more than thankful for that." Unknowingly, a smile that holds a lot of longing draws on her face. Not everyone can notice the difference from the usual smile, but Jaden, along with Yooah and Myungdae, has understood the meaning behind that warm smile.

"Still, I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to make a great comeback in the industry. I can say you'll probably shake it much more than you have before."

"Thank you, daepyonim." This time, everything from her is genuine.

"Oh, I almost forgot that you were once in a group. You were a member of IZ*ONE, right?!" Jinsol exclaims with excitement.

"Right, are you still in contact with them?" Taeyeob asks.

"Yeah, why?"

"Woah, I just still can't believe that we are working with such a big celebrity, who had such a great history. Is there any chance that I can ask you to sign my albums?" Yet another poke on his side, but this time he doesn't choose to be quiet. "Daepyonim!"

"Come on, she's here for work. We set aside those things and refrain from doing that. I'm sorry about that." Jaden stated.

"No, it's fine." Hyewon responds to Jaden before she faces Taeyeob. "You can bring it here sometime, and I can sign them for you, Taeyeob-ssi." She replied, causing the guy to explode with joy.

Hearing the words from her, Jaden didn't hesitate to follow. "Can you sign mine as well?" Everyone laughs at him as he betrays his own words, and Hyewon couldn't help but chuckle.

"Who's your bias, Taeyeob?" Jinsol asks suddenly, stopping the guy from having his joy of the moment. These words from her trigger a memory that Hyewon ought to forget, she bites her lip, trying to stop her mind from replaying the memory.

"Any, you know, bias?..."

In an instant he feels pressured on the spot once more, his prolonged answer causes everyone to look at him anticipatingly, waiting for the name he's to mention. "It's... E..." His voice trails down.

"What?" Jinsol asks once more.

"It's Eunbi! You happy?!"

"Bias?..."

"Minju..."

The usual bicker between the two makes everyone brim with joy once more. However, Hyewon on the other hand, is suffering on her own as she keeps having a flashback that she's desperate to forget. She clenches her hands on her lap, along with a hiss coming from her. The noise Hyewon made brought everyone's attention towards her, a concerned one.

"Hyewon-ssi?" Myungdae asks.

The call out of her name brings her back to reality. The pressure has been transferred to her. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just remembered something I want to forget. Don't worry it's nothing serious." A chuckle comes afterwards to ease the situation. "Also, don't worry, I'll still sign the albums even if I am not your bias." Her words make the guy jump on his seat and throw a little party for himself.

An awkward situation for them to behold, a guy jumping out of his seat, cheering for his success but it is only him who interrupts the silence that is filling the room's noise. This action of him causes Hyewon to chuckle under her breath, containing it as much as she can by lowering her gaze down to the floor so that she can't embarrass the guy even more. He sits while his voice fades while the wave of embarrassment waves in his body.

"He seems excited." Jinsol retorted, adding a little more salt to his wound.