1.4 | If The Shoe Fits ✓

04 | the one with all the choking

  

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the one with all the choking

"—I'M JUST SAYING, he's so into you."

Soft giggles followed that remark, and the girl in question blushed. "You really think so, Amy?"

"Oh, yes. Don't you see how he looks at you whenever he comes down to admin?"

More titters, until Stella broke in with a loud scoff. "Please. He looks at everyone whenever he comes down to admin. That's his job as the boss—to address all of us. Besides, he obviously fancies the knickers off his assistant. She's the only one he danced with at the gala."

Several faces fell at that. Then one of the girls's eyes lit up again. "At least there's still his best friend. He's single, right?"

"Which one?"

"The blond one. Oh, the brown-haired one's kind of lovely as well, too."

"Why don't you ask Nala? She went to school with all of them."

Nala paused mid-bite as she found everyone focused on her. Honestly, she'd been perfectly happy in her little bubble, listening to the gossip while stuffing her face with chocolate. She'd probably have to throw in a couple extra hours at the gym once her period was over, but it was totally worth it. "Wha—uh?"

"Didn't you go to uni with Kaden Bretton?"

"And Nolan Mortez and Parker Collins?"

Nala swallowed. "I guess...? I mean, our university had so many people. I don't really..."

"Lay off her, ladies," said Stella, with a smirk. "Our Nala's only got eyes for one man, and it's not any of those blokes."

Nala flushed, even as Amy wrinkled her nose in obvious distaste. "That delivery man? Isn't Nala miles above his league?"

"Absolutely." One of the other girls hummed in agreement. "I mean, it's delivery. He's not even an executive, or a manager. He's just the bloke who runs errands for one of our intermediaries. Kind of like a mailman."

"It's still a job!" Nala cried. She'd been listening with growing anger, and had it just to about here with their stupid condescension. "So what if he isn't rich? So what if he doesn't bathe in money? So what if he doesn't poop gold or pee silver?—"

The other girls's eyes went wide, and Stella let out a delicate cough. "Nala..."

"—At least he smiles at me and talks to me and is nice to me. And he knows I exist, which is more than I can say for any of those men you're all mooning over!—"

"Nala, honey..."

"—You know, I'm really glad that he's nothing like Parker Collins or Nolan Mortez or Kaden bloody Bretton. Because he doesn't have to be—he's Kim Seung Jae, and that's perfectly fine with me!" she declared, and took a vicious bite of her chocolate.

There was a short pause, until Stella cleared her throat again. "...hello, Seung Jae."

Nala choked.

The other girls scattered, each muttering some variation of an excuse. Stella remained just long enough to pat Nala on the back before she left. Still coughing, Nala turned to the man who was several feet away from her desk. How long had he been standing there? How much had he heard?

"Hey," he greeted quietly. For the first time, his usual sunny expression was closed-off, and she couldn't for the life of her tell what he was thinking. He set the clipboard down on her desk, and she signed off it without a word.

"So I heard what you said," he remarked at last. Her cheeks flushed a brilliant red. "Did you mean it?"

She almost opened her mouth to reply, then remembered what a fool she'd made of herself every time she spoke. She took another bite of chocolate to keep her mouth busy and nodded.

"And...my job—it doesn't bother you?"

She shook her head as vigorously as she could.

"Thank you, I appreciate that." He took the clipboard from her and shoved it into his satchel. But still he lingered and picked at the frayed strap of his bag. "Do you...do you maybe want to go out for dinner sometime? With me, I mean."

Nala choked all over again.

"Shite," Seung Jae swore, and dove for the bottle of water on her desk. He popped the cap and held it to her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"N-no, it's—" She sputtered a bit more, sipped on her water and blinked back the tears that sprung to her eyes. It really was adorable how he seemed torn between helping her and maintaining his distance. When she finally regained her composure, she rasped, "—yes."

He blinked. "Really?"

"Yes," she breathed. "I'd love to."