She touched her cheeks and looked away from him. He did not stop preparing the drink with the smug smile. She turned around and was startled as someone entered the kitchen, "Manager Hong..."
The confused man bowed at Seri as Jeong Hyeok turned around to check who it was and saw a middle aged man looking at them. "I was just here to check on the branch myself." he explained. Jeong Hyeok could tell he was intimidated by Yoon Seri.
"Can I talk to you outside, Miss Yoon?" he asked. She gave Jeong Hyeok a look as if checking on him first before she nodded back to Manager Hong. "I'll be back." she said to Jeong Hyeok as he smiled at her.
"I'll continute here."
As they stepped outside, Manager Hong scratched the back of his head. "Miss Yoon, I'm just worried on how hands on you are with this launch. I mean, the department appreciates your hard work but I could send out a person to manage the remaining details for this launch. Just tell me what else we need."
She looked at him with a straight face. She would like to think he is worried about her but a better part of her knew he is just afraid of her father. "Isn't this what a trainee should be doing, Manager Hong?" she asked keeping the cold expression on her face.
"Yes but you know you could delegate, right? I'm sure you have better things to take care of..." he said.
Seri shrugged, "I don't, I will email you the report and the status update of the other suppliers and the complete list of the influencers and sponsors who would attend later. If you're done, you could go. I have coffees to taste."
He could only nod as he watched her retreat back to the kitchen.
Seri found Jeong Hyeok still brewing the coffee.
He also felt her entered the kitchen but he waited for her to talk again but she didn't., instead she just watched him prepare the drinks. He finished with the one drink and nudged a cup to her.
She did not respond and that's when he noticed she was staring blankly ahead of her. "Seri, are you okay?" he asked which brought her back to reality. She picked up the cup of coffee and took big gulps. "Is there a problem?" but she did not respond still.
Jeong Hyeok watched her finish the cup. "That was really good." she said as her face lightened up. "Did you add something else?" she asked. He shook his head and showed her the coffee beans, "I just made use of the usual recipe of the shop as instructed with the beans you are launching."
"Well, I did not expect it to be this good."
"Should I make the next one?"
Jeong Hyeok continued brewing the coffee as he made frap, iced coffee and other blended beverage using the coffee beans, they continued the taste test as Seri keeps on taking notes for minor changes and improvements she would suggest to the team.
"I think this would be the last one."
Seri took the cup as Jeong Hyeok watched her go through her notes. He never saw her like this in their few encounters before. She is focused and unbothered jotting down words as she tried the last drink he made.
"I still think the first was better, right?"
She looked at his direction and caught him staring. He could not respond to her at first as he knew he just saw him staring at her, "Isn't it?" she asked still waiting for his opinion. "I think the second one was better but that's probably because I liked the stronger coffee taste better."
She nodded, "Well, I guess it really depends on the personal preference." she said as he watched her focus on her notes again. He decided probably it is better if he cleans up already while she's doing her thing. He busied himself with the blenders and the kitchen as he tried to stop thinking about every move she makes.
