Note: Sorry for mistakes or misspelled words. Italics are for inside thoughts. Please do comment and upvote!

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III

“What happened to her?” Yuri simply asked Seungwan, seeing Taeyeon’s head down on her table while her arms drooping at her sides.

Seungwan hesitated, she didn’t know if she should answer their CFO. She bit down her lower lip, looking sideways at Taeyeon’s side. “Uhm…”

Yuri chuckled, understanding Seungwan’s reluctance to answer. Walking towards their COO’s table, she put down the folder she was holding on Taeyeon’s head. “Yah!”

Taeyeon didn’t budge.

“Oi, Shorty what happened to you?” This time, Yuri intentionally hit her head by the folder. “Here’s the monthly report that you requested. I added there my draft for our prospective budget regarding the propose development of Incheon branch.” Yuri paused a bit. Taeyeon stayed still on her seat, not moving. “By the way, me and Sunny were waiting for you in her office. You didn’t come.”

“Pleash pusth thach onchg tthech tabchle.” Taeyeon’s voice muffled.

“What?”

“Pleash pusth thach onchg tthech tabchle.”

“What??!”

Taeyeon didn’t reply.

Yuri turned to look at Seungwan again, helplessly asking. Seungwan glanced down at her boss, still unsure to tell Yuri the truth. “Oh, c’mon, Seungwan. Just tell me about it. What happened to this kid here?” Yuri gestured the secretary to talk, through her hand.

Seungwan left with no choice. “Uhmm…well, s-she i-invited Ms. Jung in a dinner la—.”

Taeyeon sat up straight briskly, hands on her table. “Yah! Seungwan!”

Seungwan winced at her boss’s loud voice, quickly looking down. “I’m sorry, Ms. Taeyeon!”

Yuri blinked. “Wait. Who’s Ms. Jung?” Her left brow up, wondering. 

Seungwan lifted her head a bit, sending message through her eyes. As if the young CFO got the invisible message, her eyes light up.

“Ms. Creative Director?” Yuri’s voice mixed with excitement and anticipation; her index finger pointed at Seungwan, making sure if her guess was right.

“Yah!” Taeyeon shouted, trying to stop her own secretary to give answer.

Seungwan peered out at Taeyeon but Yuri was so quick to block her sight, leaning forward. “Seungwan.”

The secretary panicked, seeing Yuri’s face so close to her that she immediately answered the CFO’s guess. “Y-Yeah”.

Taeyeon slumped on her seat as if she was lost in a game. Her palms covered her face. ‘This is so embarrassing!’

“HAHAHAHA.”

“Stop laughing, Yuri.” Taeyeon’s growled, lacing her voice with annoyance. “It’s just a dinner anyway.” Taeyeon mumbled, averting her eyes from her friend.

Yuri couldn’t contain her laugh and sit on the couch inside Taeyeon’s office; her hands on her stomach. Taeyeon seeing her friend’s reaction rotated her chair away from her desk, facing the glass curtain wall of her office.

It took seconds before Yuri finally stopped laughing. She stood up from the couch, nodding her head to Seungwan to leave them for a bit that the former elatedly complied.

“Yah! Shorty!” Yuri went around, sitting on the COO’s desk, hands on her pockets. Her lips still curving with a smile, fixing her gaze at the back of Taeyeon’s head. “It’s better if you look at me at least.”

Taeyeon rotated her chair, facing Yuri. She sulked. “You’re still laughing.” She said, pouting.

“Haha. Stop acting like a kid, Tae. You’re already asked a beautiful woman out.” Yuri chuckled, still wanting to laugh again. She couldn’t explain the feeling why it’s so funny to her.

“I said it’s just a dinner.”

“But still, you’ve got guts. Do you know how many male employees wanted to make a move on her? I heard, even Lee Donghae of Marketing & PR and Ok Taecyeon of International Sales eyeing her. That woman really attracts these types of men, hah.” She smirked, staring at Taeyeon. “I wonder how Tiffany will react on this news. My God. At last. Our turtle finally out of her shell.” She moved her hands in front of her.

“God. Don’t tell her. You alone are enough teasing me.”

Yuri laughed. “But you know? You’re so cool, Taeng. Honestly, Ms. Jung seems unapproachable but duh, you made a move. That was smooth, dude.” She kicked Taeyeon’s chair.

“Aish!”

“I thought you’re going to be celibate your entire life.” She leaned, patting Taeyeon’s face. “I’m so proud of you, Kim.”

“Yah! Kwon Yuri. I said it’s just a simple dinner tonight.” She insisted.

Yuri leaned back. “Yeah I know. That’s the third time you said it to me.”

“A-And don’t think that I l-like her.” She said in a small voice while looking away, her face starting to heat up again.

Yuri’s laugh reverberated around the room. “And who’s believing you? Haha.” She smiled widely.

“Aish.” She exhaled, giving up. They fell into silence for seconds. Taeyeon bit her lower lip. “W-What do you think? What restaurant should I bring her to?” Her fingers fidgeted, plucking her polo’s button. “I- I suddenly feel nervous.”

“Oh, c’mon, Tae. You’re not a teenage boy who wanted to impress his crush. You know what to do; this is not the first time that you date.”

Taeyeon’s face flushed with crimson color. “It’s not a date! It’s just a dinner. A dinner! How many times should I repeat it to your face?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Her left brow up.

“Well, a dinner between co-workers.” Taeyeon scratched her head. “So?”

“So?”

“Give me ideas!”

Yuri straightened, raising her arms to stretch. “Trust me, Taeyeon. You don’t need my advice. You know what to do more than me.” She beamed after, walking ahead towards the door. She held the knob to open, looking back over her shoulder. “Oh, and by the way, I never have been wrong on you, Kid.” Yuri smiled cheekily, teasing again. “You always have good eyes for someone, Tae.” And she winked.

Taeyeon opened to retort but Yuri already left, closing the door behind her. Taeyeon shook her head, leaning back on her seat. ‘Sigh…’

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Taeyeon checked her face in the mirror. Eyebrow, checked. Eyeliner, checked. Lipstick, checked. Teeth, checked. Hair, checked. Polo, checked. Blazer Jacket, checked. She sighed, feeling elated for what she saw in the mirror. Now, her heart is the only one that remained uncheck. It needs to be calmed down, or else she’s going to have heart attack first— probably in front of their new CD— right before they could reach the restaurant.

Taeyeon’s hand patted her chest— closing her eyes, murmuring something on herself. What can help her is to utter a mantra. A mantra, a mantra. And it’s as if Taeyeon finally soothed herself, she decided to open her eyes only to meet a pair of beautiful eyes in the mirror. Taeyeon felt like her heart dropped on the floor. She thought, she needs to pick it up or else her body won’t function fully again. There. Inside the same space she was in. Jessica Jung staring at her reflection in the mirror, curiously. Surprised by unexpected presence, Taeyeon’s jaw left hanging, unable to speak a word. It didn’t help that her brain cells failed to work as well.

“Ms. Kim?”

‘Did Jessica call me?’  Her eyes slightly wide open.

“Ms. Kim?”

Taeyeon’s eyes grew round, realizing that it was indeed Jessica’s voice. ‘She’s talking to me.’ She turned to face the woman. “Y-Yes?” She was thankful to have found her voice though it was quivering.

“Are you okay?” Her voice worried.

“Y-Yeah.” Taeyeon brushed her hair through her fingers. Her bangs fell over her forehead. “W-What are you doing here?”

Jessica’s brows crooked up, pondering. She smiled hesitantly. Though, she was certainly amused. “Uhm, I’m going to use the restroom too?”

She grimaced, feeling embarrass. “Oh. Hehe.” Taeyeon wanted to knock herself. ‘Way to go, Kim. Of course Jessica uses this restroom. It’s on their floor!’ She scratched her thigh while averting her eyes from Jessica.

Silence.

Jessica smiled a bit. She has a hunch that the COO was a bit uncomfortable with her presence. She again noticed, Taeyeon’s habit of scratching her thigh, or to put her hand on the back of her neck when the atmosphere turned awkward.

“Uhm…” Taeyeon peeked at her wrist watch. ‘10 minutes before 7 o’clock.’

Jessica stared, waiting.

“Uhm… a-about the dinner…”

She nodded. “Yes, Ms. Kim. You invited me earlier, right? Unless I heard you wrong and—.”

Taeyeon shook her head vehemently. “No. No. Ah… I mean, it’s still on, right?”

Jessica couldn’t help but giggle. Her hand on . “Yes, it’s still on.”

Taeyeon’s smile widen, hearing Jessica’s distinct voice all over again. Taeyeon's dimple and white teeth show. Her eyes never left Jessica. “O-Okay.” She moved, gesturing to leave the room through her thumb. “I-I’m going to wait outside.”

“Okay. Give me 5 minutes to fix my make up.”

“Sure. Take your time.” She put her hands on her back pockets, nodding while walking backwards.

Taeyeon headed out of the room, feeling excited. Elation, enthusiasm, eagerness, anticipation. She could name every emotion she was feeling right now. If not only for the people outside, she already jumped up high with bliss. Taeyeon could certainly say, meeting Jessica Jung was undeniably, giving her well-being a different level of cheerfulness.

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Jessica was obviously a bit shocked that the