Seung Hyun's day was rocky as he watched his Sandara go from warm-noona to cold-boss. And when he says cold he means she was kind of cool. There was a severeness about her, like a sharp knife and she was unforgiving in her stance. He watched her cut down the poor HR assistant who gave him his, in Dara's words, haphazard orientation. The former defended saying she was only on the job for seven months, and Dara had said coolly, and cruelly, that meant she passed her six months probation and know she was slacking. Dara, Seung hyun thought, hits quite hard. Dara was annoyed, she said, that she was expected to take time out of her schedule to make sure her intern was briefed properly. Dara asked, was that her job? On top of all the responsibilities of being director of sales and marketing for a multi department store franchise, should she be expected to give HR a hand in quality control of employee packages?

The conversation was strained, and when Dara had enough of her one-sided argument, she picked up the missing checklist and left. Seung hyun awkwardly bowed to the HR assistant who was on the verge of a well-deserved cry. Seung hyun found himself apologizing for Dara, "I'm sorry, Miss Kang, I mean, Miss Park is a bit stressed, with the promotion and all." Then he bowed again, added a small gesture, and said "hwaiting!"

The woman's eyes glittered with appreciation. "Thank you." She said with a tight lip smile.

Seung hyun followed Dara who gave him a dirty disapproving look. "You don't get to apologize for me, Mr. Choi." There. He thought, Sandara the Spartan.

"I'm sorry." He mutters, "I dislike seeing women cry."

Then Dara goes, "awww. So cute." She grins. There. Sandara the Sweetheart.

He shakes her head at her. "Miss Park, do you think you have multiple personality disorder?"

She chuckles. "No. That would mean I'm disorganized wouldn't it?" She taps her temple. "You question my efficient compartmentalization?"

He pinched his nose bridge, "no, but you're giving me a headache, noona."

"Miss Park," she corrects.

"Yes." He agrees as the elevator dings to announce it's arrival.

---

So the informal intern assessment with the director was making Seung hyun sweat. It would have been better if it was just a strict boss, but then there was inside her, the doting noona, and also his very first love. He tried hard not to think of that, of the conversations they had when he was ten and drawing and telling her he wanted to be a painter or a sculptor or . He remembered giving her watercolour rendering of daisies, then irises, then roses, then orchids. She always looked at them and genuinely nods in appreciation. Thank you, she would say, then ruffles his hair. Ugh. . . Why was he remembering that?

Back then she was taller, and so mature, around their town, she was known as exceptionally kind and an overachiever. She was a goddess. And she liked him and his fat, stuttery, . He told her he was his first love before she left for Seoul University while he cried and snotted, and she said you are so cute while she wiped his snot away without any sign of disgust. Then she kissed his forehead. Then he told him grow up to be a good man, Tabi-cat.

Ah .

So the reassessment felt like it was more than about the job. Was it like measuring his manhood? Or some ?

So when he entered her office, he was literally sweating. Clear beads decorated his forehead. He had rapped on her door and she gestured for him to come in while she dismissed somebody on the phone, "I don't care about your personal issues. If you can't do the job, assign it to someone else. That's what makes you management. I have to go. I didn't make time for your errors today. I will give you a call later."

Seung hyun notes the tiny frown lines between her brows before they disappeared. She sighs then smiles. "Mr. Choi." She greets and gestures to the seats where she joins him and serving him tea. Again.

"That's peppermint." She said, "in case, you have a caffeine threshold."

He shook his head, then bowed. Man, he was nervous. She gives him napkins and slides a finger around her bangs. He follows the gesture and wipes his sweat off.

"You are kind of y." She says off hand.

And Seung hyun coughs out a, "what?"

"No, I mean, off the record. If you didn't have that cat scratch on your brow, I couldn't tell. I mean, your eyes are my Tabi-cats but your y shoulders are not. I mean, where is my Tabi-cat's cute belly?"

His jaw hangs open and she closes it with a finger, "and look at your jawline..."

"Miss Park!" He finally musters.

"Sorry." S