Soojung knows she should be forever grateful to Heo Youngji because that new acquaintance of hers is so patient with her crap for the whole day (kind Youngji even ran few blocks to buy Tylenol and got their-wicked-supervisor-Goo Hara yell at her) but sometimes the girl whines too much. And pushy. And noisy.

“He looks worried like a cute puppy.” Between her endless cramps, awkward adaptation attempts and feeling to run home because one hour is like a million years before they can be officially dismissed—Heo Youngji whispers against her ear, for the umpteenth times. “He’s genuinely worried, Soojung-ssi.”

Soojung shuts her eyes, suddenly exhausted (she should be, her record of walking back and forth from her desk to the bathroom in the first day of the work is sole victor) and begins chanting her mantra in her head.

Heo Youngji is a kind soul. Don’t harm her. Please refrain yourself from killing people in the first day of your job. . I wanna die. Ugh.

“Soojung-ssi, are you getting better?”

When she looks up Gong Chansik is asking her from his desk, eyebrows lifted up in concern. Soojung snaps from her mantra and weakly nods toward him. “I am.” She sighs.

“Good. Supervisor Goo said we needed to attend welcoming party today after work to get some positive points from others co-workers.”

Crap! Her face turns pale instantly.

“She can come?”

“Yeah.”

She hears Jinyoung ask in shush tone to Chansik as Soojung doesn’t care anymore of her surrounding (she just wanna go home! And hiding under her fluffy blanket!) when Youngji leans to her side, whispering again.

“Just tell him.”

Soojung groans, her head turns to look at lazily at her noisy neighbor-desk-worker. “What?”

“That you can’t go to the party. I think you can get permission not to attend if you talk to him.”

“What, who?!”

“Kim Jongdae-ssi. I think he’s gonna understand and help you.” The way Youngji suggests is like she’s really innocent and doesn’t pull anything fishy which Soojung gets hard to believe.

Apparently, Heo Youngji is one delusional girl who believes Kim Jongdae actually has something for Jung Soojung, although Soojung already corrected her mistaken of Jongdae’s kindness as first love reunion act is because basically he is very nice person, but once delusional is forever in delusion.

Soojung frowns. “I am fine, I can attend the party!”

Getting an unfriendly retort affects the cheerful girl a little, because Youngji then draws back and shrugs her shoulder, grinning playfully. “Okay then.”

“Besides, who needs help from him anyway?”

Soojung adds a mutter under her breath to no particular one.

***

She usually likes every kind of parties, with cheers and indistinct noises and sojus or beers and slurry conversations but not one on her period. Jung Soojung suddenly becomes an allergic prude who almost pukes at her first glass. She doesn’t know why her taste bud can’t enjoy the addicting bitterness of soju like it used to, as she sets aside her glass and orders for mineral water instead.

But with everyone surrounds her it’s like almost impossible to avoid getting dizzy of the smell of soju and the chaotic itself. She taps Youngji’s shoulder to get her attention—the girl is grinning from mouth to mouth while Park Jinyoung and Gong Chansik already joined another crowd which required unnecessarily laughing loudly. The Supervisor Goo herself doesn’t attend the party and Soojung curses her bad luck.

Soojung whispers to Youngji’s ear.

“I need to go to the toilet.”

She earns repetitive nods from grinning idiot Youngji and quickly gets up from her seat. Her stomach knots in unpleasant way and she brings her hand to cover , forcing her legs to move fast toward the only destination in her mind.

Soojung reaches the empty ladies restroom and enters one of the stalls hurriedly.

She chokes on her own saliva once again as face helplessly lowers down to the toilet bowl. Tears are hung onto each corner of her eyes and Soojung feels the sting. Her eyes are red and her stomach is still grumbled unhealthily.

Jung Soojung promises herself that she never ever goes to drink again.

A series of knock on the restroom door can be heard at the same time Soojung throws up again—she’s already tired yet it seems like will never end.

She heard the door opened and instinctively, Soojung lets out her hoarse voice.

"I'm okay, Youngji-ssi. Though I think I will leave early."

There's a shuffle of steps and next thing she knows, a hand gently massages the back of her neck.

Soojung thinks Heo Youngji must be the sweetest person ever to treat a stranger puking this considerate. And after a heck of minutes, Soojung thinks her stomach finally gets better and she can stand up on her two feet.

Her eyes involuntarily bulge out as realizing the one who previously massaged her and has been accompanying her is not the sweet Youngji.

It's none other than Kim Jongdae and Soojung thinks her luck is running out here.

"Jo-Jongdae-ssi?" She stutters, unsure about what to do. "Ho-how come? This is ladies restroom!"

Jongdae moves back a bit as hands out the tissue, chuckles nervously.

"I'm sorry. I got worried."

"But,"

"Feel better? Should I take you home?"

Dumbfounded, Soojung can only stare at him with mouth opened. The tissue he gave earlier is in her hand but still unused.

"Youngji seems already passed out." Jongdae fills her in, as if that's what she really wants to hear.

"Oh? But still," She catches a glimpse of her reflection on the big, wide mirror and grimace automatically painted on her face upon witnessing her not-so-wonderful-appearance. She looks horrible. "I, I'm fine. You don't have to take me home. I... I'm fine, Jongdae-ssi."

He must sense her uncomfortable feeling because without further arguments he then leaves the special girl's room. Once the door closed behind his back, Soojung runs toward the sink and splash the water to her face.

What the hell?! She curses mentally. He seems so concerned about me. Is it because I was her junior in college? Soojung glares at her reflection. It's just because he's too kind to everyone.

Right.

She decides and makes a satisfied expression at her own deduction before finally walks out of the room. She gets more baffled upon finding the kind sunbae is waiting for her beside the door, hands full of her belongings and one plastic wrap.

"What... are you doing here?" Soojung doesn't hide her surprised look.

"Here," Instead of giving the answer she wants, Jongdae hands out the plastic wrap to her. "I hope this will lessen your pain."

"What?"

"Drink it. It's medicine. I got it from the drugstore in front."

When Soojung takes the suspicious thing from his hand, Jongdae still has this look on his face—he’s like watching over her. And another thing Soojung doesn't understand.

"Are you really okay?" He sounds worried, there's a frown attached on his face while his eyes staring at hers.

"Really, sunbae. I am okay. I will be okay." It looks like she is assuring her own self, and Soojung still can't push away the strange feeling whenever she's around Kim Jongdae.

Mostly because flashback she doesn't want to remember automatically swarm up into her mind again. And she's more concerned about his being rather than her own self.

"Still, I can't just let you go home alone in this condition." His soft voice soothes her, although Soojung is kind of scoffing at him because one, she isn't drunk and two, she surely can take care of herself (she still can even when she's drunk).

"Taxi will pick me up, I'm not alone," She forces out a small grin.

"There's no one that can pick you up? It's dangerous, Soojung-ssi."

They stare at each other’s eyes deeply before Soojung breaks it with barely audible mumble.

"I'll have Jongin come here then."

Jongdae's eyes widen for a second hearing that particular name. He responds her, "So you two are going strong." His eyes nail on the street as smiling bitterly.

Carefully, Soojung asks him out of curiosity.

"What did you mean by that?"

"You and Jongin. The baby belongs to the two of you, doesn't it?"

Jung Soojung wants to die badly. Before that, maybe she can kill this man in front her first.

"What's nonsense are you talking about, Jongdae-ssi?!"

"Aren't you... pregnant?"

He looks like a wounded puppy—cautious yet still curious. But how come a cute puppy telling something that offending to a perfectly fine single lady?!

"What?!" Soojung widens her eyes, glaring as fiercely as she can, wishes she just could burn the man in front of her with her eyes' laser. "Are you saying that I am fat?! I have a potbelly?"

This is utterly humiliating. Soojung folds her hands into fist, itchy to turn into brutal creature to her sunbae.

The way Jongdae's eyes rounded and his mouth gapes largely are a sight to see. He seems shocked, but he shouldn't be. He's the one who assuming something about her, she should be the one who looks like that!

“No! No no no no!" He frantically tries to explain his previous words. "That's not what I mean! Gosh, Soojung you're beautiful as usual, it's just I saw you looked pale since the morning and came back and forth to the bathroom, and you didn't even drink, then you keep puking—”

Soojung pinches the bridge of her nose—of course, Kim Jongdae will always be this innocent.

"So you're saying I'm pregnant." Ugh, why did I casually utter that funny thing?

"I thought you're pregnant. I'm sorry, Soojung-ssi. I never thought you're fat or have a potbelly." He sighs, now seems realizing his mistake and how weird it must be. His face is deep in red. "No, you are far too perfect to have such a flaw."

Wait. WAIT. Is that pickup line?!

"Oh, I am sorry, I didn't mean it like that, wait, you're still beautiful for sure—God, what am I talking about?"

Both Jongdae and Soojung now looking down at the pavement, can't bring their selves to meet each other’s gaze or make sure a shade of pink painted on each other face now.

"Umm," Jongdae breaks the silence. "I think you should call your back-up now," His mouth twitches slightly to the side, presenting her a strange smile that could be misunderstood easily as insincerity.

“Right!” Soojung replies too eagerly, also grins like a robot. She accepts her purse from his hand and then fishes out her phone. Jongdae doesn’t even look at her, but Soojung is sure he’s watching her.

Nervously, she calls KamJjong from her contact and explains briefly her situation, trying to act as casual as possible talking to her childhood friend, her boyfriend for quite a long time, and now her apartment neighbor Kim Jongin.

After she ends the call, they just stand there waiting in silence, watching the cars come and go lighting up Seoul’s street at night. She doesn’t have a heart to shoo her sunbae away, while she silently prays Kim Jongdae won’t slip a word about the past Kim Jongin has no clue about.

Yeah, apparently, Jung Soojung and Kim Jongdae are bounded by a secret from the past.