Eleven months later

Eunsoo looked up at the huge building towering before her. People were walking in and out of it, some looking busy, some in discussions with another, and some looking preoccupied. She took a deep breath and brushed her pale pink pencil skirt, and straightened her coat of the same colour, which she wore over a white chiffon blouse. And clutching the hand bag and file in her hands, she walked into the building.

“Excuse me, can I know where the interview for the laboratory department is?”

The young receptionist lifted her head from the document she was working at, to meet Eunsoo’s nervous gaze. A professional smile appeared on her face at once, and she answered politely.

“It’s in the laboratory department in the eighth floor Miss.” She said.

“Thank you.” Eunsoo slightly bowed at the receptionist with a smile and made her way to the elevators. A sigh left her lips as she waited for an elevator to arrive.

* * * * * * * *

“Miss Choi Eunsoo, what made you choose ZK Pharma as your working place?”

The middle aged lady, who was seated at the middle of the interview board asked Eunsoo. Eunsoo was nervous. Her heart was pounding and she gulped before answering her first question, and looked at the interview board seated in front of her. The first person she saw was a middle aged gentleman, with a serious but pleasant expression on his face, then in the middle was this strict looking lady who had the looks of a girl’s high school’s head teacher, and the last one was a neat looking man in his mid-thirties. He looked absolutely like a scientist from the nineteenth century, and Eunsoo figured out that he must be a scientist who worked in their laboratories.

“Well I have heard about the reputation of this company, as the leading pharmaceutical company in Asia, so I thought I must try to get a chance to work here. And I think I have the qualifications for it with the first class degree I have in chemistry.” She finished her answer with carefully chosen words and a confident smile. Yet the actual reason she chose this company was, because it was the only company to reply her application. For some reason, she was never called in for interviews from any other company she applied, for the past two months. And to her surprise, she got the reply letter calling for an interview from ZK Pharma, when she was facing a huge crisis without a job and having to carry half the burden of her family. Her dad was barely managing the daily expenses of the family with the restaurant, and her sister Jisoo was doing numerous part time jobs to cover her school expenses. Meanwhile her brother Yeongsoo started falling sick frequently, which made things harder for the whole family. Eunsoo had to give up hiding and return to Seoul, and start looking for jobs. And now here she was, expecting her one and only hope to become true. That was to get a job in ZK Pharma.

The elderly man smiled at her answer. “Well in that case-“

The door of the interview room opened and someone stepped in. Eunsoo was seated with her back turned towards the door, so she didn’t see the person. But all the three members in the interview panel stood up automatically, and it didn’t take her a second to realize it was a superior person. She also stood up slowly, and before she could turn to the door, the elderly man spoke out. “Good morning Mr. Kim.”

“Good morning Mr.Jung, I’m sorry I got caught in the traffic so I’m late...”

That voice.

It was the voice which Eunsoo could recognize at any corner of the world, and forget a several months, she would remember it for years.

She froze the moment she heard his voice. She didn’t want to, but without even realizing, she whirled around to see him at the door.

The young man standing at the door also turned his eyes to the girl from the interview panel. And his eyes widened, as he too, froze on the spot.

He was right I front of her eyes. Kim Junmyeon, the person she least expected to see at the moment, was staring right back at her. The two were staring at each other, both holding their breath in, and soon after Junmyeon took a step back, while Eunsoo started trembling visibly.

It didn’t take much longer for the rest of the people in the room to realize the tension in the room. It was the lady who broke it, by clearing and speaking out loud.

“Um...It’s not that much late Mr. Kim. We just started the interview.” She quickly said with a smile.

Junmyeon snapped out of his daze in and unbelievable speed, and switch back to the business mood at once. And with a smile plastered over his lips, which did not reach his eyes, he spoke to her.

“I’m sorry Ms. Jeong, but I suddenly remembered this. I have an online meeting with our new Canadian partner in a few minutes. So I have to leave. You can carry on the meeting by yourselves.” He nodded to the two gentlemen quickly, and without even sparing the slightest glance at Eunsoo’s way, he closed the door and disappeared.

Eunsoo didn’t know how she managed to answer the rest of the questions asked from her within the next few minutes. She just answered them because there was no way she could leave the place and run away, and when the younger gentleman said she can leave and they will inform if she’s selected, she shot up from her seat chair bowed hurriedly, and literally ran out of the interview room.

She didn’t stop until she reached the bus stop near the ZK Pharma head office. She sat on a bench in the bus stop and heaved a sigh. Why did he had to appear in front of her after all this time? And why on earth did she chose this company like an idiot? Then the thought struck her, that she had never asked Junmyeon anything about his family business. She knew that his dad and Yixing’s brother had a joint business and it was something huge, but she never was interested in those stuff and neither did Junmyeon. So such kind of topic never was brought p to discussion between them ever. She heaved another sigh and took out her phone. The phone she bought after working part time in Jeju for some time. She had to have one in order to keep contacts with the companied she applied for, and that was the sole reason she bought a mobile phone. She feared that Junmyeon would find the number and then track her whereabouts, and come to find her. She did her best to avoid him for the past months, but now here she is, running straight into him without knowing. She bit her lower lip in frustration and her phone. Her eyes widened when she saw fourteen missed calls from Jisoo.

“Hey Jisoo, what’s wrong?” she quickly called back her sister.

“Unnie...!” Jisoo’s trembling voice was heard from the other end.

* * * * * * * *

Junmyeon dragged his feet into the living room and flopped on a couch. Brushing his hair back with both hands, he leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eye to take a deep breath. In a few seconds, he was brought back to his senses with a soft touch on his head.

“Is anything wrong darling?”

He opened his eyes to meet the kind gaze of a beautiful middle aged lady. “Omma,” he mumbled in a voice with unreadable emotions, which made Jiwon to sit beside him and place her hand on his thigh. “What happened Junmyeon? You look terrible.”

Junmyeon looked at the floor beneath his feet, trying to find words to explain what happened. “I....I met her today.”

It took Jiwon one or two seconds to understand what her son said. And her eyes widened at once. “Eunsoo? Where? How? I mean, what did she say?” she asked excitedly.

Junmyeon let out a sigh, making her excitement fade away slightly. “Did you see her from afar? From a place you couldn’t reach?” she asked in a low voice this time. Junmyeon shook his head. “She was at the interview of the laboratory department. She was inside the interview room when I entered.” He mumbled, making Jiwon’s eyes widen again. “But omma, I couldn’t talk to her... I didn’t know what to do when I saw her, and I just stared at her for a while like an idiot.”

“And then?” Jiwon asked softly. “Then I left the room giving Mr. Jung a false excuse.” He muttered, totally disappointed in himself. “I can’t believe what kind of idiot I am omma, I didn’t even turn back and look until I drove home. I couldn’t gather my thoughts and felt like I was lost again. This is not myself I hoped to be when I met her someday. I just don’t know what to do omma...” He raked his fingers through his hair again.

Jiwon placed her hand on his shoulder lightly. “That means you still love her Junmyeon. That’s nothing to be frustrated about.”

“Ain’t I pathetic? I can’t even hate her after leaving me like that.” he said. Jiwon shook her head. “You know, it’s a great thing that you don’t hate her. If you did, it’ll only ruin yourself. So Junmyeon be calm now, and be patient. If she came to our head quarters,