얼음꽃 (Frost Flower)

Chapter Fourteen

“Hello there, Miss Jung!”

Jessica’s head shot up from her desk to see a cheery Yoona half-skipping towards her, two boxes of mixed fruits in her hands.

She almost wanted to scold the girl for barging into her office like that but brushed the thought aside, reminding herself promptly that she should appreciate being bought lunch instead.

Sinking into the chair before the woman without asking, Yoona grinned widely, pushing one of the boxes towards her, “Bon appetit.”

Watching the girl open up the other box, Jessica asked, “You’re having your food here?”

“I’m sorry, am I not wanted here?” The girl looked almost ready to pack up and leave.

“No. It’s just that I’m rather busy with a report now so there won’t be any conversation and it might be a little boring for--”

“Please go ahead. Don’t worry about having to entertain me. I’ll just… watch you.” Placing both elbows onto the table, Yoona propped her head up with her hands, lips tugging into a cheesy smile.

But before Jessica could come up with a response, the girl quickly added, “Joking. I’m hungry so I’m just gonna…” Gesturing her fork towards a chunk of apple, she picked it up and pushed it into her mouth, doing her best to chew as softly as possible so she would not distract the CEO.

“You seem really energized today.” The woman commented before flipping through the dreadfully boring papers in front of her.

“Really? I guess Hyomin’s enthusiasm is rubbing off on me well.” Yoona shrugged, sniggering inwardly when she noticed a slight change in Jessica’s expression at the mentioning of the girl’s name.

“That’s… nice.” Eyes not leaving the documents, the woman acted like it was none of her concern although she felt her heart sink a little. It was funny how she was incognizant of the fact that her facial expression was not matching the words streaming out of her mouth. Taking that as further confirmation of what she heard from Tiffany, Yoona chuckled out loud.

“What is it?” Jessica was still not looking at her.

“Oh, nothing.” The girl pursed her lips together at once.

“So you randomly laugh to yourself? Creepy.”

“I’m just happy, is all. You wanna know why?”

“Actually, I’d rather not.” Jessica fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. The paragraphs of text were no longer making any sense to her because she was too busy thinking about why the heck she placed Park Hyomin in Yoona’s department in the first place.

Man, she had no idea why she was so jealous over something so trivial.

“Because although you keep pretending like you don’t give a damn, I know you’re starting to care about me, Miss Jung.” Yoona stuffed a couple of strawberries into her mouth, chomping away with her cheeks puffed out while managing a slight grin.

“I’m trying to finish vetting this report here so if you don’t mind, I’d like a little peace and quiet. Thank you.” The woman cleared her throat and refocused her attention back on the text. Sure, she remembered Tiffany’s advice on reciprocity and baby steps but she refused to bring herself into a banter that involved some other girl.

Seconds of silence dragged by, with Yoona happily munching on her food and Jessica finally finding enough self-discipline to continue ploughing through the seemingly endless stack of papers.

All of a sudden, Yoona stiffened in her seat, hands banging on the table frantically. The CEO lifted her head at once, “Y-Yoona?” The girl now had her hands around her throat and was looking rather desperate. It seemed like she was having difficulty breathing. It took a few seconds more for the woman to realize she might be choking.