THE PROPHET | JENLISA

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

L I S A

Five o'clock.

Shadows and orange sun rays cast the room as the glorious sun descended the sky. The sound of the ticking clock fills the silence of the room as I sat opposite an office desk. The swivel chair sat empty as I lightly tapped on the surface, waiting.

The sound of stilettos clanking on the tiled floor told me she was already near. I straightened up and faced her when she stopped walking. A lady in her late '20s with her hair on a high ponytail greeted me. Her Prussian blue dress complimented her choice of black stilettos but the pile of manuscripts in her arms certainly did not.

"Sunmi! Here, let me help you," I greeted her and walked to help her with her load. "Oh, Lisa! You're such an angel. Thank you so much," she said as we walked toward her desk and put the papers down. She let out an exhausted exhale as she wiped some sweat on her forehead.

"Why are you carrying these papers? Should your assistant be the one doing these?" I asked in concern, sitting down in front of her as she sat in her swivel chair.

"Oh, Yeji?" She gestured her hand in a 'you-know' way. "That girl always arrives and leaves on time," she said and I glanced at the clock. It's past five already and workers usually leave at this time. I just nodded at her.

"But why do you have so much workload today?" The end of their shift had come and gone but Sunmi was always the last one to leave and looking at the newly added decoration of her desk, she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Well, since you haven't passed any of your manuscripts yet for a few months already," she gave me an eye as she said that, "the chairman ordered me to see through the proofread manuscripts and choose three or four that suit my taste and work on it."

I smirked, "Oh, but what if I said that I'm already halfway done?" I dragged every word just to annoy her, laughter already bubbling inside me as she waited anxiously but ended with a victorious smile as I finished.

"Oh my god, yes!" She exclaimed, "oh, your mind, Lisa. How did you know I needed your help?" She looked so touched. She's such a kid sometimes.

A chuckle left my lips as I shook my head at her. "You should buy me dinner as payback, then," I smirked at her, rolling her eyes at the subtle teasing I did.

"That was one time, Lisa," she scrunched her face at me in playful annoyance and I released a bark of laughter. "Chaeyoung was so worried that they'd force us to clean their dishes," I exclaimed while wiping the corners of my eyes from tears.

"You're never gonna let me live it down, do you?" She pouted at my teasing before I shook my hand, denying it. "No, no. It's just that it's still fresh, y'know? I didn't know a sophisticated woman like you would even forget her wallet." I smiled with a shake of the head.

"That was a year ago," she deadpanned with an emotionless expression and I pursed my lips to suppress another chuckle. "It was?" I gasped in faux surprise, earning me another eye roll from her.

"Tell Chaeyoung too, yeah?" She changed the topic and I nodded with a 'yeah.'

A beat of silence went past as I fidget with my fingers on my lap. How should I tell her?

"Sunmi," I called her when she was starting to go over the first few pages of a manuscript. "Yeah?" She said before glancing at me. "After I submit the manuscript and all the processes after that, can I take a leave? Just for a few months or so because you know, college," I tilted my head, bracing for her reaction.

She nodded her head slowly, contemplating what I said. "Yeah, I could talk to the chairman about that. I understood because this is your last semester in college, right?" She looked like a proud mother to me when she said that.