Chapter 32

 

"Mail this document to the managing department."

 

"Shred this paper right now."

 

"Where's my coffee, Ms. Oh?"

 

"Redo the meeting minute."

 

"List all the investments that we invest last week."

 

"File all information for the shareholders and contact their personal assistant to get it."

 

It has been a week since the incident. Mr. Park really good at putting it up. He still order me to do this, to do that. He still make me run any errand as usual instead of getting a dispatch to do it. He still comment on my coffee. He still throw mean remark everytime I come late.

 

Like usual.

 

While me on the other hand, I flustered everytime we make eye contact. I stumbled on my words a lot like I have two tongue or something. I blushed everytime he called my name. I felt my heart doing a crazy dance that will put Queen Latifa in shame everytime he was near me.

 

Nothing like usual.

 

It was so obvious that everyone would sense the different. Mr. Park especially since I've been working with him for months now. But everytime I do any of the things I just listed above, he would just commented on how I should behave at work or how I need to focus on work. Sometime he would just overlooked them and act like nothing happened.

 

Like he doesn't care at all.

 

"Ms Oh!" Mr. Park voice boomed, snapping me back to reality. I blinked a few times before I felt pain striking my hand. I looked down blankly at the overflowing hot water from the cup that I was holding. I pulled my hand quickly and the cup shattered on the floor. I looked at my reddening hands and before I could do anything Mr. Park pulled my me to the sink and put my hands under the cold water from the pit. I flinched in pain that I almost pulled my hands away.

 

"Hold on hold on." He said, held onto my hands even tighter. "We need to cool the heat first."

 

I nodded merely at that and just shut my eyes tightly, helding in the pain. The pain slowly decreased and Mr. Park closed the pit after a while. Rolling up his sleeves, he took a clean towel on the counter and dabbed on my wet hand.

 

While I just stood there, looking at him.

 

"What is wrong with you these days, Ms. Oh?" He snapped as he threw the towel away to the table in the middle of the pantry. "You are not focusing on your work at all."

 

Yeah, thanks to you.

 

"Is there something bothering you?"

 

Can't you see you dimwit?

 

"Should I give you some days off? For you to clear up your messed up mind and all the... issues you are dealing right now?"

 

That's not what I need.

 

"It's not like that." I muttered.

 

"Really? Then what is it?" He demanded, still looked quite pissed off.

 

"It just," I hesitated. "It about what happened... last week... between us." I looked away, feeling embarrassed about what I just said.

 

"Oh, yeah. About that." He said and leaned over the counter casually. "First of all, I'm sorry for my abrupt behavior. It was an accident. A mistake. I don't mean any of things I said or did. So if that is what had been bothering you all this while, I truly am sorry."

 

That is not what I expected him to say.

 

"Now that we already cleared all the mess, would you mind going back to your work? Time is not really our friend, you know?"

 

I couldn't help but to feel disappointed. Although I knew that it was too good to be true, I had a little expectation about him. I knew more than anyone else to not keeping my hope high but it's a girl stuff, alright? When you say or think of something, you actually mean the complete opposite. When we said, "Nah, he doesn't like me that way.", we actually mean "I hope he really do."

 

In my case, that definitely it.

 

Maybe because I really do feel something when we kissed. Something real. Something explainable right. Something like, there are actually possible for us to be more.

 

And that's why it hurt me a lot.

 

"You know what," I said and forced a smile. "Some days off would be nice."

 

*

 

"I will leave first then." I bowed down to him. Mr. Park didn't say anything or even looked at me. He just simply nodded with his fingers typing swiftly on the keyboard.

 

I looked down to my still quite reddening hand and sighed as I exited the company. I already left a list of something that Mr. Park need to organize in a week to Caroline, a new girl at the mailing department. She was this typical Australian girl with silver blonde straight hair with green eyes and very stunning. I don't know where they dig her up but she was really nice and pretty much the only person that would come and eat with me at the company's cafeteria.

 

Since both of us were new here, we matched up pretty well.

 

I went to a nearby 24 hours shop and got myself a bandage and cloth tape. As I was about to exit the shop, my stomach made a weird grumbling sound. I winced in embarrassment and took a quick look at the cashier. Lucky me, he wasn't looking since he was too busy typing on his phone. I headed back to the shop and took a cup instant ramen. After paying it off, I went to the hot water machine to fill my cup before marching to the seat at the window facing the road and settled down comfortably on the high stool.

 

After a while waiting the noodle to soften, I split the chopstick apart and began to gobble down the ramen, I ate it quickly since it was hot but then chocked myself. I coughed a few times as I hit my chest with my fist, forcing the food to went down smoothly through my esophagus. Hitting it like that don't actually affect anything but since people do that a lot in drama, I found myself following them.

 

Suddenly, a can being shoved to my direction. I looked up. Dae Hyun gestured the motion of drinking with his hands. I opened the lid of the can and drunk it. After the stuffy feeling gone, I put the can aside and saw that Dae Hyun already sat down on the stool beside me. He unwrapped the instant triangle kimbap before stuffing the whole thing inside his mouth.

 

"What don't you have some fancy restaurant to go?" I joked.

 

"Don't be a meanie." He spoke with his full mouth as he threw the wrapper in the small basket beside the table. "Being rich doesn't mean that you can't eat a triangle kimbap that will expired the next day in a 24 hours shop."

 

"I don't say it did." I shrugged with a smile and Dae Hyun laughed. I continued eating my ramen deliciously.

 

"What with your hand?" Dae Hyun asked, concern. I looked at my hand that was holding the cup and sighed before examining it.

 

"Just a small accident happened." I answered. "It's all fine now."

 

"Did you went to the clinic?" He asked again.

 

"Nah, no need for that." I replied. "It's all okay now. Beside I already got a bandage."

 

"Yah, bandage alone is not enough." He said. "You need to get some cream or lotion so the red mark disappear quickly."

 

"I told you it's fine-janha."

 

"But still." He insisted.

 

"No. It's okay."

 

"Wait here." He ordered and walked to the shelf without me being able to say anything. A minute later he came back with something looked like hand lotion. He pulled my hand and began to apply the lotion on my hand.

 

"Yah." I said. "It's fine-geodeun."

 

He ignored me and continued to rub the lotion around the red mark smoothly. He looked really working on it as he even blew it sometimes, being all cautious I might feel any pain although I barely feel anything then. I smiled at the sight and found it rather funny that he could be this serious over this mere matter.

 

He suddenly looked up and caught me staring at him. I blinked a few times, startled and embarrassed. Instead of chuckle or smile, Dae Hyun stared me back in the eye. It lasted for a couple of seconds until I broke it.

 

He finished it off with a wrap of bandage that I got myself. Looking at the neatly wrap he did, he nodded in content and satisfaction. We talked for some other minutes until he decided to excuse himself.

 

Seeing him walked away to his car, my mind suddenly stirred with some thoughts. Jung Dae Hyun, my first and last high school crush was just applying lotion on my hand and this was the first time he touched my hand or any part of my body for that sake, I mean like hair and stuff not that kind of part. Are you kidding me? This is Jung Dae Hyun! Even a quick glance he would accidentally give me whenever we passed each other on the hallway could make me go crazy.

 

A glance.

 

And just now, a concern look, an intense gaze, a warm touch.

 

That could be the sign of the world end of me. Heart beating fast, the sudden urge of fainting, the feeling of overload saliva in my mouth, the non-stopping backflips in my stomach.

 

But no. I don't feel any of that. I probably just looked flustered and all but not more than that. I don't know why because I pretty sure I still had that kind of attachment when we met few weeks ago. At the jam or at the dinner. But not a minute ago.

 

Before I could realize, I found myself comparing what he just did with with someone's.