Waiting for Anpanman

CHAPTER 2: Transition

"Wake up! Eunsoo-yah!!!" Nam Joohyun screamed at the door of his apartment's guestroom, trying to get his secretary to come out. He tried the knob and was surprised when the door gave. Inside, he couldn't find the person of interest – just the mess of a bed that told of a sleepless night. This made him distressed.

Perhaps... She lapsed into her old ways, when she was still newly hired. Thinking this, he looked for her in her unusual hiding spots. Inside unnoticed or neglected house corners or large pieces of furniture. Under the bed. Locked up in the bathroom.

No luck. Eunsoo was not in any of those places. In a last ditch effort, Joohyun tried the apartment complex's rooftop. Eunsoo used to climb to the roofs of their villas when she felt cornered and needed to plan out her next move when she first came to the Nam's. He found her there, sitting at the edge of the roof with her feet dangling over the side of the building.

Joohyun was really sorry that it had to be her that witnessed what happened to his father. Though she had a tough exterior, Joohyun knew she was soft as a marshmallow inside – he frequently witnessed this soft side of his tough secretary during family days at the company or when they visited his younger sister who had two small kids.

For a moment, Joohyun thought Eunsoo might be prepping to jump until she turned to look at whoever was approaching. He saw how upset she looked. It seemed that she was considering something... her next move?

"Boss," she said as she stood and looked at Nam Joohyun. "I am very sorry. I failed to protect the Master. I think I can fix this. Just... send away CEO-nim the way he always talked about. The way he wants to be let go."

"Ay... Not so fast. I already have something planned or at least bits of a plan. But that's not what's important right now! What ever you've got planned cancel it. Let's handle this by the law so it doesn't back fire. Okay?" Joohyun looked her in the eye and grabbed her shoulders reassuringly. He gave her a painful little smile. This punk was so loyal to his father that she was willing to try to "fix" his family's mess. He was d**n touched.

"I still have Omma's contacts. I can-" She was cut off as her boss placed a palm over her lips.

"No. I want justice too but let's do it properly, okay? Besides, I think someone would see it soon and then the police will be called. I'll file a case to put that bastard away for good and you have to help. Okay? But for you to help, we need to make sure you're safe. I have to hide you where they won't think to look..."

"I'll help you in any way I can, Boss. You already know that. But why do I have to hide?" Eunsoo was confused. All this talk of going into hiding was reminding her of her days on the streets of Itaewon before Jaerin picked her up. It made her uncomfortable.

"When he realizes that you're a witness, he will come after you."

"I can protect myself."

"No, you can't. He plays dirtier than your underground fighting mates. He kills people just because he didn't get what he wanted." This made Eunsoo look at her boss weirdly.

"How did you know...?"

"I used to follow you around when you were off duty, especially at night, because I didn't trust you back then.

"And one night you went to a fighting den. I was so shocked when I saw you step up. You were even shirtless!" Joohyun exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood.

"Any ways, that's where I got the idea. You really looked like a pretty man back then. You even have the moves for it – acting all manly, I mean. Seriously! If I wasn't so in love with myself already I would have fallen for the guy you! I even heard a high class Madame wonder out loud if you were a recording artist, singer, maybe. It's sad that you never went back. Would have loved to build Lee Yoon Soo an official fan club."