MY BRIGHTEST STAR

chapter 58: i like you for you

"Where shall we look first?" Jieun asked once they had separated from the rest. "In the villa itself? Or the area surrounding the villa? I think I kinda saw some yellow ribbons around the gate earlier."

"So we're just gonna ignore the face you made when you saw my paper earlier?"

"What face?" Jieun laughed awkwardly, trudging forward and pretending to look for the yellow ribbons amongst the bushes surrounding the pool. "I didn't make any face."

"The face of doom, Lee Jieun," Jungkook pursued the topic further. "What's wrong with partnering your boss, Lee Jieun? Do you hate it?"

"I don't, sajang-nim," Jieun laughed nervously. "I like it, okay? Now can you help me look for the yellow ribbons? I'm hungry, I wanna eat a lot for dinner."

"That sure was as half-hearted as half-hearted can get," Jungkook grumbled as he half-heartedly pushed through the bushes to find yellow ribbons. "Seriously though, it looked like everyone was trying to avoid partnering me earlier."

"No wonder," Jieun mumbled under her breath through gritted teeth. "Kim Jisoo, that-"

"What did you say?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Jieun stood up straight and smiled brightly. "Honestly, that's not true, Boss. There may be a lot of them who don't wanna partner you but well, there was quite a plenty of them who wished they got you as well."

"Like you?"

"I mean," Jieun smiled obligingly. "I was actually referring to many of our female staff in our company. Wow, I bet a ton of them would love to be your partner, sajang-nim."

"Not surprising," Jungkook shrugged nonchalantly. "Like what I told you last time, I've have been rather popular amongst girls since I was little. I guess some people are just born with that kind of gift. Fair enough."

Jieun almost cringed at how narcissistic his words made him sound.

Jungkook stopped in his tracks suddenly. "You don't seem to agree?"

"Oh, no, not at all, sajang-nim," Jieun laughed loudly. "I just felt like something went into my eye, yeah."

"I'm just wondering about the remaining people though," Jungkook continued, uselessly smashing at the bushed, overwhelmed by his own thoughts. "The other people who don't wanna be paired up with me, why is that so?"

"Well..." Jieun hesitated, watching Jungkook's expression carefully. "I can't speak for everyone, but you wanna hear my honest opinion?"

"Yeah, sure," Jungkook turned to look at Jieun. "I do, actually. I always thought I was like, a pretty great boss."

"Yes, you are indeed, let's get that right," Jieun began. "But you're still our boss, sajang-nim, there are certain boundaries we cannot cross. I think that's why a lot of us feel uncomfortable partnering up with you to do such activities."

Jungkook cocked his head to a side. "Even you too?"

"That's..." Jieun looked away, her heart thumping fast once more and all the blood rushing to her face all of a sudden. "That's a different story. I've known you for literally years. Of course I'd be comfortable with you."

"Why then?" Jungkook walked behind her slowly, completely forgetting about their task at hand. "Why did you look like you didn't wanna team up with me? Tell me honestly, you're still uncomfortable around me, are you? Even after all these years, you still feel a kind of barrier between us-"

"No," Jieun turned around to look at Jungkook despite how nervous she felt. "No, that's definitely not true. That's not the reason why I didn't want you as my partner and it's also not the reason why I was avoiding you before this."