Chance Encounters

Clash

Ji Sung strolled in the office he would be staying at for at least the next year. As he waited for the elevators, he recalled the conversation he had with his father.

"Is that all you want to do with your life? Travel around the world and date women?"

"That is not all I do. I work," he said, defensively.

"Modelling? That's work?"

Ji Sung resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If only his father knew the effort it took to book gigs in that industry, not to mention the money it brought when he got big jobs. Knowing his father would never respect that, he chose to keep quiet and let the old man continue in his tirade.

"What more do you want to hear, Father? I already promised Mother I would come home and stay in Seoul for a little while," Ji Sung said.

"Work for the company I recently invested in. At least learn how things are ran so that one day you can take over as agreed with my business partner who is the current Chairman."

He initially wanted to join the advertising team but manpower complement was already complete and a role couldn't be created quickly so he would first join real estate sales. As this would deal with premium property, it piqued his interest a bit and was a much better fit for him than the finance role.

He needed to wrap up some business in London so for a little while, he managed the team assigned to him remotely. He quickly found out that his assistant, Mr. Jang, seemed to be afraid of Ms. Yoo Jin Ah from Brand Marketing Department.

"Hwang Ji Sung-ssi, they already need the document signed. This is the tenth document that they sent where we didn't meet the deadline set," the assistant pleaded.

"Tell them they need to chill! It will all be alright," Ji Sung assured. He knew how the timelines worked after reading the process flow and decided to push it to the last possible minute before sending over the document just to mess with the other area. "They need to get a life."

He was purposely trying to be annoying so that awful reports would be sent to his Father then maybe he'd leave Ji Sung alone. But just that morning, he checked his email and saw a message from said Yoo Jin Ah requesting a meeting.

Hwang Ji Sung-ssi,

I am requesting a meeting this afternoon, around 2pm, to discuss the timelines we work with when we have ad campaigns. I think it needs to be clear with our teams so that we deliver the materials that are up to standard.

Yoo Jin Ah

He smirked. The meeting was already booked and confirmed by Mr. Jang so he didn't have much choice.

Finally, the elevator doors opened and he stepped in. As the doors were about to close, a voice pleaded, "Hold the doors please!"

Immediately pushing the buttons open, the woman stepped inside, gave him a grateful look then turned away. Checking the floor button pressed, she didn't push another one so he assumed they were headed on the same floor.

Ji Sung couldn't help but look at the woman who was now tapping her foot furiously and looking at her watch.

"Time's not going to move faster," he commented.

She gave a half smile. "Running late."

"Ah. Unprofessional."

"Excuse me?!" She looked directly at him, her eyes wide.

Holding both his arms up in surrender, he smiled, "I'm kidding." Then, staring at her again, recognition dawned on him. "Hold on, you're Ms. Leaving!"

"What I am not — wait what?"

"At the coffee shop! You took my coffee," he smirked.

"Excuse me! You took mine. And my name is NOT 'Leaving'," she replied still incensed.

"Well, what is it then?"

Before she could reply though, the elevator lurched to a stop throwing her into his arms. "Careful, Ms. Leaving. First, holding my hand, now this? At this rate, we might be married by the end of the day."

Pulling herself upright, she blushed then gave him a death stare. "Are you always so arrogant?"

Ji Sung gave her a smile but said nothing.

She pressed the call button and alerted security that they were stuck. "Could someone help us please?"

"We're checking it now, Madam. Are you alone?"

"No, no. I'm here with —" before he could give his name out, the elevator started working again. "Nevermind! All good. Thank you!"

The doors soon opened to the floor of their destination. Ji Sung headed straight to his office since she had already been ignoring him.

A few seconds later, barely settling in his seat, Mr. Jang came in. "Your 2pm is here, Hwang Ji Sung-ssi."

"Ah the meeting I am not looking forward to," he said, rolling his eyes.

Mr. Jang looked horrified and Ji Sung soon found out why.

The person he would meet with was behind him. Their jaws dropped at the same time, "YOU?"

Ji Sung recovered quicker. "Hello again, Ms. Leaving!"

"This is Yoo Jin Ah," Mr. Jang introduced them and then left.

Jin Ah remained by the door still unable to process the coincidence of today.

"Do you intend to just stand there, Yoo Jin Ah-ssi? Do not tell me you intend to leave again?" Ji Sung teased.

Shaking her head, she took the seat he offered.

"So, tell me. You wanted this meeting because you're annoyed with me," he started.

Remembering the agenda she had, she pulled out her notes. "No, I just want to clarify timelines."

"You have enough lead time," Ji Sung said.

"No. You're not taking into account potential revisions. We need that buffer," Jin Ah justified.

Ji Sung huffed. "You don't need that if you do it perfectly the first time."

She blew out a measured breath. "No. It could be perfect for my team but your team might have a different idea and we need to execute it."

"Why are you so worked up? It's a brochure and few email blasts. It goes straight to spam."

As soon as he said it, Ji Sung felt an ounce of regret because he saw hurt in her eyes, though she quickly hid it. "Still. A lot of people work hard on them and they do their best. I would appreciate if you could respect that and the timelines agreed upon with the previous head."

"He's no longer here. I am."

"Are you always so difficult?"

Ji Sung shrugged, crossed his arms and leaned back. Smiling brightly, he said, "Not really. I just think these things you're mentioning could be reviewed."

Jin Ah regarded him. The more she looked, the more she had a sinking feeling she could not figure out. Those dimples, she thought. "That's fair. If we consider to review and look for opportunities to streamline, would you agree to follow them?"

He nodded. "If we deem it fair, then yes."

She extended her hand. "Alright. We'll look into it. It was nice meeting you."

He shook her hand. Very pretty and soft, he noted of Yoo Jin Ah's hands. He frowned trying to figure something out but Jin Ah spoke, "I'll leave now. Thank you for your time."

As he watched her walk away, he thought, I've seen this at the coffee shop. That's all it is... Right?