“What?” I answer my ringing phone.

“Good morning, Mr. Oh!” Finally, that annoying voice filled with enthusiasm. I smile to myself but don’t say anything like I normally do and wait for her to continue talking. She goes through my scheduled meetings today and I just take a mental note of the things she’s telling me. I honestly missed this voice but only because she does the reminding part well. Yes, just the reminding part. She’s good at reminding me things. Is it really just that?

“Alright,” I tell her after she’s done. I stay on the line and wait for her to hang up but she just clears , “What?” I ask.

“I think this is the part where you tell me…” She urges and I roll my eyes at her even though she can’t see me anyway, “Sir? Come on, let’s hear it,”

“Do I have to?” I ask her, annoyed. Not that I’m not thankful or anything but I’ve never been verbal—at least with anything good. I’m verbal when I’m harsh. I know that. It’s been a problem, heck; even my parents are having a hard time making me say these things. I don’t hear her say anything and this is how I know she’s waiting for me to expel those words, “Thank you.” I mutter.

“Really? That’s it?” I hear her scoff, “Come on sir, you’re better than that!”

“Yah, Kim Haerin!” I scold and click my tongue.

“And of course you’re mad,” She sighs at the other end of the line and I roll my eyes, “We had a deal. You even sealed it with a hug,” I’m caught off guard with her statement and her nonchalance about the matter. Seriously, this girl.

“Alright, fine.” I tell her and take a deep breath, “Thank. You. Kim. Hae. Rin.”

“There you go!” She exclaims cheerfully and I can’t help but break into a grin even though this girl is annoying as hell, “You’re welcome, Mr. Oh. See you! Take care,” She chuckles enthusiastically and I hang up on her. I picture her smiling widely on her desk with the phone pressed on her ear and I, myself, cracks into a smile.

She’s got this happy vibe around her that makes me feel at ease inside when I see her smile. I may look as hard as a rock and deadpan, but I won’t deny that Haerin has made me smile over the small things. Like how clumsy she is around the office sometimes, how she’s always attending to everyone with that forced smile (with my full knowledge that she’s probably cursing every person on earth inside her head), how she’s talking to a client over the phone when rescheduling meetings are necessary and when she’s just being her bubbly self around the other bosses. Haerin tends to be this joker and hyper girl around the other department heads, especially Jongin. They’ve been friendly with each other, much to my dismay. I actually feel a bit—as in tiny bit—jealous that she isn’t as carefree when she’s with me. She answers me back, but she’s still very cautious with me compared to the others. Heck, she can even joke around Joonmyeon hyung and Kyungsoo hyung a lot more than she does with me. I frown at the thought.

I take my phone and give my cousin—Jinhee—a call. It rings for a while and I look at my watch. She should be awake at this time. She’s a doctor. She’s supposed to never sleep, actually. I bite my lower lip and tap my fingers on my thigh while growing impatient for her to pick up her phone.

“What do you want?” I finally hear her say.

“Hello to you, too,” I scoff and roll my eyes at her, “Listen—”

“Sehun, if this is your girl problem again, I’m telling you the only way to take her back is if you tell her how you honestly feel about her going and as for your terrible replacement, just fire the damned woman if she’s really that bad,” She tells me sternly, obviously done with me.

“Okay, okay. Slow down. Damn,” I sigh and I can almost see her roll her eyes at the other end of the line, “First of all, it’s not girl trouble. It’s an intern trouble. Two different things, thank you very much. Second, you were right, all I had to do was be honest. So I told her how I felt. She didn’t bite that quickly and made a deal but that’s better than not having her around, right?” I tell her and she doesn’t reply anything. I just hear her breathing.

Actually, that day Haerin came back for her documents and left without taking the offer I made, I called Jinhee for a quick advice because she’s usually good at this. At least I’d like to think she is. Jinhee’s point of view is the only female point of view I can use ever since my mother re-married and decided to act half younger than her actual age. This is why she’s the first girl on my speed dial list. Any trouble, whatever it is—especially female related troubles—Jinhee is the person to call.

“So you mean you did what I told you?” She asks and I nod even though she can’t see, “You chased her down 40 floors down and told her…what? Spill the beans,” I hear her say with her intrigued, enthusiastic voice.

I roll my eyes and release a sigh, “That I don’t want her anywhere else but with me and that she’s the best I got so I can’t let anyone else have her,” I mutter and I hear Jinhee crack into the loudest laughter I have ever heard, “You told me to be honest, okay?!”

“Yeah, but not to a cheesy point,” She laughs, “Oh my god, you really told her that? Gosh, that girl must have gotten the wrong impression, Sehun!” She reprimands me yet still laughing.

“It’s Haerin. Her impression over everything is generalized. Besides, she thinks I don’t like her.”

“Yeah, but you told her that you don’t want her anywhere else but with you. That can change even my perception of how you see her,” She tells me and I’m caught dumbfounded. I gape not knowing how to deny this, “Sehunnie, is there anything else you’re not telling me other than the fact that she’s—and I quote—the best you got?” She chuckles at the other end of the line.

“Don’t put any meaning to it. If you see Jongin around her, you’d think they are an actual thing,”

“Yeah but that could be just the jealousy talking you know,”

“What? Don’t be immature. I’m not jealous,” I scoff, “Please.”

“Yup, definitely jealous.”

“It’s only because my intern is friends with pretty much everyone except me, alright? How would you feel if Jinyoung is closer to the other doctors except you?” I tell her.

“Of course I would be raging,” She tells me, that’s right. So you get how I feel. She chuckles again, “But sweetie, Jinyoung is my boyfriend. Not just my nurse,” And she cracks into a laugh again.

“Whatever. You’re useless.” I say.

“No but seriously, if being friendly is your problem—as usual—just try and be nicer. Stop giving her such a hard time like what she’s doing isn’t already hard enough. Plus, try getting to know her in a friendly level. Eat lunch together or something and ask about her family or something like that,” She says and I don’t say anything but take mental note of everything she’s saying, “Do you understand?”

“Yeah, whatever,”

“Call me if there’s any progress,” She chuckles. What progress? I swear this person has a malicious mind. I sigh and hang up on her anyway.

The car stops to a red light and when I look out the window, it takes me another look until I realized that a flower shop had just opened. An idea pops in my head. Hmm. I can be friendly, too, right? I ask the driver to pull over for a second.

Dugeun. Dugeun.

I look down on the bouquet of colorful daisies. Maybe I should have just gotten the white roses. No, that looks like something else when you give it to the opposite . Daisies are fine. Yes, daisies are fine. Besides, this represents her. At least to me. Bright and colorful. This is definitely her style. Roses are too formal. This is just right.

I convince myself until I reach the top floor. Dugeun, dugeun. This is a friendly gesture. People are staring as they see me carry the bouquet all the way from the lift towards the entrance of the Creative Office. Even the guard is looking at me like she had seen me with a ghost. Well, flowers and I are usually a pretty rare sight. I keep my composure and ignore the eyes trailing me. Employees here are very nosy. When I make my way to my office, I see Haerin’s desk empty. Her absence makes me wonder where the hell could she be. She’s already here when she called me, right? She usually calls me when she arrives in the office. I stop by her desk and see that her bag is already here and my organizer is open. Calm down, she’s around here somewhere.

I place the bouquet on her desk and decide to leave a note. I take a pen and a post-it from her office materials and bend down to write a note. Hmm…what do I write?

Welcome back. Work hard. No. Too serious.

Work hard. No. Too heartless.

Thank you. – Sehun

Seems fine. I settle for the two words and my name at the end and stick it on the bouquet. I look at it and feel like something’s wrong so I move the post it quite a lot until I’m satisfied with where it’s taped—back to where it was from the first time. I like it. I take a deep breath and wonder what could be her reaction. She’ll probably flail like she always does over the smallest things. That girl likes to flatter herself with simple words and simple gestures. I smile at the thought of Haerin seeing this. She better like this. It took me a while to choose the set fitting for how I see her as a person—bright and happy.

I hear laughter from the other end of the room and when I look, it’s Haerin laughing with Jongin. It seems like they just left Jongin’s office. For some reasons, there’s a bitter taste in my mouth although I’m pretty sure I ate nothing for breakfast. Something catches my eye, the bouquet of white roses in her hands. Haerin’s carrying it with care and my heartbeat slows down to a normal pace and I feel like reprimanding the first person that will approach me. Let it not be Haerin. They start to make their way here and I quickly take the bouquet of daisies with me. I enter my office and decide to peek at my slightly translucent glass. I see Jongin’s blurred figure stand next to her and he leans forward to tell her something and she laughs it off. I feel my brows crease. They talk a little more until another person comes and from the looks of it, Jongin is needed somewhere. Yes, stay away from my intern please.

I observe Haerin’s figure put down the white roses on her desk and she fixes her stuff. Someone tells her something and she looks at my office. . Someone must have told her I’m already around. I quickly run to my desk, settle the daisies on the table, take my coat off, sit on my office chair and open my laptop. Just in time, she walks in with a warm smile on her face and I clear my throat. Damn. That was close.

“Good morning, Mr. Oh!” She greets enthusiastically.

I remember our deal so clear my throat once again and I mutter back, “Good morning, Ms. Kim,”

“Any news about the re-scheduled board meeti