First Love

Chapter 4

Few days later.

"What the hell were you doing!" shouted Yoo Myung Dae the senior accountant at Jae who practically jumped in surprise. The whole department was looking at them and some pretended not to hear.

Yoo Myung Dae was a loud and obnoxious man in his late thirties. Everyone was quite used to his outburst of temper that they just ignored him most of the time. Interns feared him and tried as they could not to make him angry. He was a sharp accountant, never missed a number nor decimals but a complete slob when it comes to his work station. Everything was piled up and there was only a space small enough for him to do his job.

It was no secret that he hated anyone touching or moving his things. Jae was cleaning under the desk next to his which was unoccupied, careful not to touch anything and he was not around. Just as she was finished he came shouting at her.

"You stupid cleaners never could understand the word DON'T TOUCH MY THINGS!" he shouted again.

"I'm sorry, sir," Jae bowed, knowing full well she did not do anything that required an apology. No matter how hateful nor demeaning it was, she just wanted to get the job done. She really hated when it was her turn to clean the floor. The main reason the cleaning service did the rotation because no one would go willingly to that floor because of him.

"You went around touching my things and then it gets lost and this is all private and confidential! Do you know that? TOP SECRET!" he continued on.

Jae cursed mentally. Of course she knew. It was their procedure to shred anything in the department before disposing it. She can only take the papers that were shredded and clean under the desk. She didn't clean Yoo's desk as it was as good as flooded with crumpled paper. The bin under his desk was overflowing and she could never navigate her mop without touching anything in the process.

He kept on ranting about her incompetence and stupidity until he was spent. He then sat and dismissed her with a scathing remark. Jae collected her things and continued clearing the shredded paper bin as if nothing happen. Her red ears showed otherwise.

To people in the accounting department, that was a normal occurrence.

No one bothered to stand up to Yoo knowing how big of a bully he was. The head of the department didn't care that much as long as Yoo did his job.

It was not a good day.

Jae really hated that floor.

At 3 p.m. sharp, she left her trolley in the store room and headed up to the staircase. It was always deserted at that time, especially the top floors as most of the staff prefers the lift than the stairs. She only have 30 minutes for her much needed nap to be able to function properly. She would be as good as a zombie if she didn't get 15 minutes minimum of shut-eye. She would be surly and moody without. She went to her usual sitting position and put her head to the wall and slept in an instant.

She was awake before her alarm went off. Jae rubbed her eyed and stretched out. Her eyes were directed to a bottle of black coffee placed next to her. It wasn't there before she slept. It also made her uneasy as it also meant someone knew her nap spot and saw her sleep. The thought freaked her out. Maybe this was just an aberration. A one timer. She would not know until the next day.

She lamented on the thought that she maybe have to find another nap spot. The stairs were just nice.

In the end, she just left the coffee where it was. She didn't feel good taking it, not knowing who it was from. Was it even for her? It gave her the chills.

The next day, she went to the spot cautiously. The coffee was not there anymore. Did the person take it? She was also on stairwell duty, so she knew it wasn't one of the other cleaners who would go and clean that spot. She was wary but she needed to sleep. As she woke, she was glad there was nothing around her.

The day after, she felt relatively safe as nothing turned up after her nap.

Yup, it was a one timer and her sleeping spot was safe.

For now.