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“Sometimes all you have to do is tell people the truth.  They won’t believe you. After that, they’ll leave you alone” – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Saenz.

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JUNHO

I walked to the elevator and pressed Floor 14 to Minjun’s office. He couldn’t just reject the designs before even seeing them. It wasn’t just me who put efforts into this. My subordinates had stayed up and put hard work into it as well. Even if Minjun and I had a pathetic past, I wouldn’t let him ruin my subordinate’s efforts.

More than that, I was hurt. I felt like I’d break down with every word he said there.

Thankfully his room’s walls weren’t made of glass. So I wouldn’t get intimidated by him before he even sees me. I placed my hand on the door knob and took a deep breath. Before I could turn the door knob I heard Minjun say “The Board came up with a proposition”

I held my ear close to the door though eavesdropping wasn’t really my thing.

“What?” Wooyoung and Hosung asked together. Wooyoung was also there.

“This current hotel is their demand. If I’m successful in making this project a success, they’ll finance me for an overseas project. They’ll finance it. ALL of it. They wanted to know if I have the potential to make a hotel out of their financial requirements. They’ve allotted me amounts for each aspect. Interiors stand for 3 Million”

“You should have told us earlier” Hosung said.

“It’s supposed to be confidential” Minjun said.

“When did this happen?” Hosung asked.

“A few days before Junho was appointed. That’s why I needed an international designer. Because he’d have better ideas and he’s had a good experience of it”

“Now I get it” Wooyoung said

I don’t know why, but my stomach churned when Minjun said my name. I heard him say it after 12 freaking years. A smile crept on my face. Even though Minjun hated me, he saying just my name and not calling me a selfish jerk was more than enough for now. I could almost imagine him say ‘Before that selfish jerk came into my company’

I walked away from the room understanding the situation. As the elevator closed, I saw Wooyoung come out of the room looking down at his phone. He never wore formals to work.

As I got out of the elevator my phone rang and it was Wooyoung. I picked it up instantly.

“Hey” I said.

“Are you free after work?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Let’s meet at the restaurant outside the office”

“Okay”

And he hung up.

I entered my room and saw the sulking faces of Jackson, Jinyoung and Suzy. I gave a small smile and walked to the big table.

“I didn’t know he was that rude” Jackson said.

“He looked so cool when I first saw him. All men who look cool turn out to be rude all the time” Suzy complained.

“Relax. Let’s just improve the designs instead of changing the whole thing” Jinyoung said.

“Good idea. Let’s update the furniture” I said.

Nobody moved. They still had sulky faces on.

“We only have a week. Let’s start” I persuaded them. I understood Minjun’s situation perfectly. He had such a big opportunity in front of him, and for once, I had the chance to help him. I could do anything for that.

They slowly started moving and gathered their files together to assess them.

“We’ll start with looking for their updates. If there aren’t any updates, then we’ll look for replacements” I said.

They nodded and switched on their laptops and then I joined them.

Wooyoung and I sat at the same place in the restaurant. I was scared if Minjun would see me again. Wooyoung hadn’t said anything since I came. He looked like he was contemplating something.

“Minjun rejected your designs in a rather harsh way” he said slowly.

“Yeah…It’s okay” I said. He probably wasn’t not expecting that reaction because he looked up surprised.

“I thought you’d be…sad, frustrated and angry”

“I am. A little. We really worked hard on it, you know. But it’s my job”

“Hmm. I just wanted to check on you. He generally isn’t that mean, but when he is stressed he tends to ignore people’s feelings and stuff. So don’t take it to heart”

I smiled back wondering if I could tell him my past. But I kept quiet.

But there was something which made me wonder. He always tried to make me think well about Minjun. Like a tiny mistake from his side would make me leave this place. When it was supposed to be the other way round. Well, currently Minjun needed me for the project. Probably that’s why he hadn’t fired me yet. If, under normal circumstances, he’d realize I was going to work at his place, he’d fire me right away.

“I’m happy you came to check on me” I said. I was genuine when I said that. I never had a friend who’d check on me when I was sad or upset. I wasn’t even allowed to have such feelings.

He smiled and said, “And I’m glad you didn’t take it personally, and you understand the situation. But honestly, you put up a good argument there with Minjun. You looked so confident like you’ve been working here since forever. Though you’ve been here like for like 5 days. It was impressive”

I chuckled and took a bite of my burger. Burgers were the only thing I missed about US. And Chansung. That reminded me, I had to call him.

It was 12:30 in the night by the time I reached home. I wanted to just fall on my bed and go to sleep but I had to change, freshen up, have dinner and call Chansung. The good thing about Chansung was I could call any time. He always picked up my call and he never sounded like he was s