What's Wrong With Assistant Kang?

9. So Many Memories

Soon enough, Jaehee found herself sitting inside a casual restaurant alongside her friends and fellow RFA members, Zen and Yoosung.

She had to admit it was pretty exciting dining with no other than her favorite celebrity in person, but she knew things between them weren't like that.

Even if it hurt a little whenever she said it.

"Cheers!" the group concluded with a toast, clinking their beer glasses together animatedly.

Yoosung chuckled. "For a better life, Jaehee!" He smiled to the woman; who was wearing a pastel yellow blouse and a white pencil skirt, putting her unnecessary lenses aside for once.

Jaehee couldn't help but laugh softly as well, feeling herself slowly cheer up from her very hard day. "Hopefully..."

The pale-haired man and the amethyst-eyed boy glanced at each other with smiles, feeling good over the fact Jaehee seemed happy about everything.

"I have to thank you again for planning this for me, seriously, I'm very grateful," Jaehee told them, holding onto her vase respectfully. "You didn't have to..."

"We wanted to," Zen retorted, friendly as always (as long as Jumin wasn't involved). "You deserve it after all your hard work."

"Aren't your co-workers preparing a goodbye party for you, too?" Yoosung inquired curiously, taking a sip from his drink.

"Well... I'm not sure about that." Jaehee scratched her cheek nervously. "We were never too close."

"Why is that?" the rising actor questioned this time, tilting his head slightly.

"Hm..." She looked downwards, clearly not knowing exactly how to answer. "I was always much too busy with work to be able to interact properly with any of them..."

"Wow!" Yoosung exclaimed, genuinely surprised. "Three whole years and during all that time you never made a single friend...!"

The brown-haired woman gulped, feeling cornered.

"Let me guess, the Trustfund Kid didn't let you talk to anybody?" Zen growled, getting irritated by the mere mention of him.

"Well, I don't blame it on Mr. Han..." Jaehee admitted, gazing sideways. "But both our schedules were way too occupied to make friends... Except for the RFA, of course." She smiled warmly at the thought: they were really her family.

"It's Jumin being possessive of Jaehee as usual!" Yoosung accused, setting both his hands firmly on the table. "It's not such a dumb idea, is it?!"

"Yoosung!" Jaehee reproached him, narrowing her eyes exasperatedly as she did whenever she was annoyed. "I told you Mr. Han isn't like that."

"Oh, really? Then what's that Seven told me about him proposing to you just 'cause he didn't want you to leave his side!" the college student retorted, sending a sharp gaze at Jaehee's shocked face.

"How did he know that?!" she questioned inside her head, truly speechless. Luciel really was something else.

"Wait, wait, wait a second there!" Zen's silver ponytail flew in the air as he suddenly got up from his chair, astonished and angry. "The Trustfund Kid did what?!"

Both men turned their intense stares at Jaehee, who basically shrinked under their upset eyes.

"He... Proposed to me..." she confirmed quietly, barely able to believe the words herself.

At that Zen's hair stood up with a cold shiver and he saw red. "That cursed jerk! What was he even thinking...!" he yelled at nobody in particular.

"Did he even kneel or give you a ring?!" Yoosung asked, suddenly curious of the answer: imagining Jumin going all romantic for Jaehee all of the sudden seemed unreal.

"No... It was definitely more like proposing a business deal," she responded, not sure of how to feel about anything anymore.

Since any anger she had over the incident was already being displayed by her two overprotective friends.

..

Afterwards, the woman of short hair and honey-colored eyes made her way back home, gladly finding no Jumin Han standing around like last time.

It was actually strange, that on her very rare day off, Jumin hadn't called at any moment. Not after or before the marriage proposal.

It seemed suspicious to her, as if suddenly all the secretary work was being taken care of by itself...

Or Jumin was too distracted with something else.

Before, she would have quickly assumed that "something" to be his beloved cat, Elizabeth the third.

But now...

Yoosung's words didn't look so dumb after all.

She mindlessly opened the doorknob to her apartment, head in the clouds. She slowly walked over towards her bedroom, plopping on her bed once again.

Only this time, Jaehee felt her hands not wanting to rest beside her, but to search through the cabinet that stood next to her bedside table.

She pulled open the small door, checking inside for any old documents she might find from work.

Many of them were disorganized, due mostly to her lack of time to organize them in the first place. And under all of the C&R papers, Jaehee found something that actually interested her.

Her childhood sketchbook.

She remembered the notebook full of colorful drawings from way before...

Way before her parents died.

She frowned at the grim memory, wanting to remember the good ones instead, like this one.

Jaehee's fingers went through it quickly, reminiscing about each time she drew her mom or the family cat that they used to own, but passed away when she was around four.

She smiled bittersweetly at a comparison of her old cat and Elizabeth the Third: both were very different, though.

Then... She saw something she couldn't recognize.

A young boy, a little bit taller than her, standing next to her long-haired child self.

They were holding hands and had wide smiles on their faces, as all her drawings, but this time... It seemed more special, more real, somehow.

But also stranger: who was this kid? She couldn't exactly remember having a friend like that.

Then again, it had been a long time...