Chapter 16. Gift

“Joohyun to earth.”

The sound of Taeyeon’s voice snapped her out of her apparent reverie. Shaking her thoughts off, she hurriedly hid the pamphlet that she was unconsciously doodling at. Looking at her unnie, she feigned ignorance, “What?”

“You have been here for the past three hours but your gaze is so far away,” Taeyeon replied nonchalantly.

“I’m thinking about Euna…” Joohyun sighed watching her unnie take the couch across her, “Yonghwa-ssi hasn’t called me yet.”

Taeyeon eyed the younger girl with interest, “Any reason for him to call you?”

“Nothing… I mean, I was there when she was brought to the hospital—“ Joohyun stopped midway. Listening to herself, it sounded absurd. Yeah, why does he even need to call her? She couldn’t understand what she was talking about anymore, “It’s just that…”

“Why don’t you just call him instead?” Taeyeon knows Joohyun well enough that her actions for the past days have been very different. She couldn’t push her much to it because she knew that her sister is still trying to recognize her own feelings— more importantly, put a name to it.

“He’s in the office…” she sighed obviously still pondering.

“And you’re going there later,” Taeyeon gave a playful grin just to lighten the mood, “Why bother?”

“Yeah, you’re right…” Joohyun finally smiled but not without a shrug.

“Joohyunyah, I’ve known you for a long time. You are basically, for the lack of other terms, my younger sister… so I can’t help but think— tell me the truth,” she walked towards her, leaned on her table and then asked giving emphasis on the last word, “Are you going out with Yonghwa-ssi?”

“Me?” Her eyes widened incredulously as she pointed at herself, “Aniyo! I’m going out with his daughter, yes, but not with him!”

“Woah! Why so defensive?!” Taeyeon laughed, “I’m just asking, why are you so guilty?”

“Guilty?” She rolled her eyes shaking her head. She couldn’t even laugh with her unnie, “Your question is hilarious…”

“Hilarious but you aren’t laughing. How about this question,” she lifted Joohyun’s chin, “Are you, by chance, interested in your boss?”

“Unnie!” She grumbled then stood raising both hands in the air, “No more questions, you’re giving me headache…”

“Hey! I’m just asking!” Taeyeon called back when the latter walked out of the room, “And you haven’t answered me yet!”

Joohyun decided to go to the office earlier since she was dying to know about Euna. She could not make herself call the little girl’s phone because her grandmother might answer and she still feels awkward talking to Yonghwa’s mom. He was not in his office when she arrived so she talked to Hyoyeon outside but, after a little while, he passed them by the hallway looking haggard and grim. They bowed to him but it seemed like he didn’t even see them.

“Bad mood…” Hyoyeon whispered taking her seat and Joohyun nodded then decided to follow their boss.

“Hi,” she said as soon as she entered the room, “How’s Euna?”

“A little better, thanks,” Yonghwa murmured impassively without taking his focus off the documents he was studying then continued, “Read your report. You did it well but be careful in generalizing some data, we need to be more specific here.”

“Yes, Director,” she nodded feeling stupid for a moment when she realized that she was still standing in front of him as if waiting for him to say something else. Joohyun turned to her table and started her own work. ‘Maybe he didn’t get enough sleep, it’s been a long day anyway,’ she convinced herself then decided to start working on the proposals she needed to check.

Yonghwa carefully placed the documents back on the desk and his eyes drifted on her— he was at it again. Why does he feel like he has been throwing all his problems to her? He loosened his tie and massaged his temple after peeling his gaze off the woman who looked bothered herself, evident of that creased brows and tight lips.

“Are you okay?”

He looked away when she suddenly lifted her attention to him but it was too late so he just nodded casually, “Yeah…”

“Maybe you should just go home and rest,” Joohyun spoke softly and rather cautiously afraid that he might take it wrongly but it was better than staying quiet, “I’ll take care of everything here.”

“No,” he managed a small smile with a shake of his head, “It’s better that I’m here…”

Judging from his expression and the way he answered her, she knew that he was not really in a good mood but there was this need to know anything about Euna’s condition. She sighed realizing he was not going to say more so she could only ask, “Are you going to the hospital after work?”

“Yes.”

“Can I go with you?”

“Yeah.”

Joohyun was about to say something else but dropped it considering his obvious mood. She needed to leverage the better treatment he has been giving her and understand what he is going through. Setting aside the thought of him, she tried to focus on work until her phone rang and she smiled when she saw who it was. Joohyun managed to keep her tone down afraid to distract the other man in the room, “Hello? Yoong, I have been waiting for your call…”

The ringing of her phone startled him but he pretended not to notice. Yonghwa could tell though that she sounded as if she didn’t want him to hear her conversation. ‘Yoong. Must be her boyfriend.’ He scoffed to himself.

“Oh really? That’s good. Okay, let’s talk while Oppa is still out of the country….”

He raised his brows. ‘Is she cheating on her boyfriend?’

“No, not in the office, let’s meet outside instead. I have a few things to discuss with you in private.”

‘Yeah, she’s cheating on him, alright.’ Yonghwa couldn’t help the annoyance boiling in him.

“That’s fine…” she smiled. She has always liked working with this very talented yet very humble artist, “Okay just call me.”

Yonghwa was not in a good mood that day because he had been worrying about his daughter. He knew that he shouldn’t let his emotion rule how he respond to everything but right that moment he was more than pissed. He stood and walked out—banging the door behind him. ‘Why are there peop