“What kind of jobs did you work? Were they fun?”

“..fun would not be the right word to describe my job.”

---

Seulgi often wondered what it would be like if she had actually pursued her dreams of becoming a performer. It might have been more interesting, she thought. It wasn’t as though she didn’t have the voice for it. She could if she wanted to. But, alas, her parents were against the idea and she had failed the audition at a local talent show. She took it as a sign from above and buried that dream, taking up a normal desk job like everybody else.

Anything would have been more interesting than desk job she had at the moment. It wasn’t as though she had much to choose from either. Times were bad and companies were picky in their new hires - demanding years of work experience but wanting young employees at the same time. Hypocrites, she mumbled to herself while looking through an online job search portal.

It took a while but she managed to find herself a job that paid decently and, from what she observed during her interview, had a good-enough office environment to work in. Her would-be boss also seemed like a nice-enough person during the interview, she decided working there might be quite the experience.

From what she gathered during her first few days at work, her company was a consultation company. They had quite an array of clients from various industries and their job was to provide them with suggestions on how to improve their management and operations. It seemed simple enough, or so she thought.

One of her superiors, Taeyeon, gave Seulgi a quick briefing on their job and subsequently handed her a mountain of old case files to read through to prepare for her first fieldwork. Seulgi watched with envy as her colleagues left the office in teams to go on fieldworks while she was stuck at her desk reading day in and day out. At first it all seemed interesting, but even the most eager person would be bored after going through dozens of reports of similar nature.

After a month of studying old case files and complaining to her new friends, Seungwan and Joy, about being bored, she was assigned to go on a fieldwork with their resident ice queen, Jessica. The two had snickered and wished her good luck.

The task for that particular fieldwork was simple on Seulgi’s part. Her manager, Jessica, was going to be interviewing some of the client’s key personnels in order to pinpoint which part of the organisation needed to be improved while Seulgi was there to assist her - namely, to take down whatever was being said. Jessica had told her that the interview was called a risk assessment and the notes Seulgi took down would be used to draft a proposal that would be submitted to their client for consideration.

Seulgi felt better after hearing the explanation, even if she did think that she was just a glorified secretary for that few days. Still, it was good to know that her work was important.

The interviews were as boring as Seulgi had imagined. The people they had been interviewing were mostly uncoorperative and only interested in boasting about how well their company was doing and how they did not understand why the higher ups had insisted on contracting some outsiders to assess their company’s performance. Ridiculous, one of them practically shouted to their faces.

Seulgi was taken aback and gasped audibly. Jessica shot her a look that said please calm down before turning back to him and explained. Things escalated quickly as he lost whatever patience he had left. He called his assistant to take his place, grumbled about having better things to do as he exited the discussion room their interview was held at.

“I’m so sorry about my boss. He has a very big ego and doesn’t like to be questioned,” his assistant apologised on his behalf.

“It’s alright. We’ve seen worse, to be honest. This is nothing.” Jessica tried to remain professional and exchanged name cards with newest occupant of the room.

While the two of them had busied themselves with some idle conversation, Seulgi found herself staring quite shamelessly at the new arrival. Beautiful was not enough to describe the girl that had replaced the pompous man from before.

“I’m sorry, what?” Seulgi replied when she felt Jessica nudge her arm.

“We’re about to begin. Do you need a break? You seem very out of it.” Jessica sent a subtle glare her way and Seulgi snapped out of whatever shock she had been in because of the girl’s good looks. The girl cleared and averted her eyes, a grin was slowly forming on her face.

“No, I’m fine. I’m sorry. Please continue. Oh. Before that, I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name earlier. And your designation, please,” Seulgi blurted.

“My name is Irene Bae. I’m Mr Jung’s assistant manager. And you?”

“K-Kang Seulgi. I’m her assistant for the day.” Seulgi gave her an awkward smile. Ms Bae nodded and Jessica took it as her cue to begin.

***

If Jessica had asked if she was paying attention during Ms Bae’s interview, Seulgi would have admitted straight away that she wasn’t. Ms Bae was a distraction, a huge distraction - everything from her face to her voice and to that thing she did with her eyebrows when she spoke.

Seulgi looked over the notes she had absentmindedly typed on her laptop and cringed at the amount of typos she saw. Red, squiggly lines decorated almost the entire page. Jessica glanced at the screen and shook her head.

“Make sure you tidy it up before sending it to me tonight, alright?” she patted Seulgi’s shoulder and stood up. “Will you be ok having lunch on your own? I’m meeting up with a friend. Can I count on you not to get lost and be back here by 2? Oh, you can leave your things here. It’s ok. Just grab your wallet and phone when you go for lunch.”

“Oh, ok. Sure. I’ll be fine, no worries. Thank you.” Seulgi gave her an okay sign. Jessica nodded and left the room.

Seulgi gathered whatever she needed and closed the door behind her. Remembering the way they came into the maze-like office earlier, Seulgi found her way to the elevator. She fished out her phone from her pocket and started scrolling through her social media before somebody tapped her shoulder.

“Alone for lunch? Where’s Jessica?”

It was Ms Bae. The very distracting, very pretty, Ms Bae. Seulgi awkwardly smiled and pretended to read the directory on the wall next to the elevator door.

“Are you going to the cafeteria?”

“Huh? Oh yes. That’s the plan.”

“The food isn’t very good there though.” Ms Bae pursed her lips and her eyebrows furrowed.

Seulgi swore she had never seen anybody that adorable in her life.

Before she could string any coherent sentence together, Ms Bae asked, “Would you like to join me for lunch?”

Seulgi’s eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline.

“Eh? I’m sorry. I mean, pardon? Come again?”

“Would you like to join me for lunch?”

Seulgi mutely nodded and that settled that.

---

“A lunch date?”

“It was not a lunch date.”

---

Once they had gone pass the initial awkwardness of being newly acquainted, Seulgi realised that the two of them clicked very well. By the time their food had been served, Seulgi was no longer a bumbling mess and was able to speak casually with Ms Bae while trying to maintain a certain level of professionalism. As much as it felt like she was chatting with an old friend, Ms Bae was their client after all. Jessica would have taken off her head if she found out Seulgi had been unprofessional. She shuddered at the thought of facing Jessica's silent, icy wrath.

However, whatever mask of professionalism Seulgi had tried so hard to maintain crumbled the moment Ms Bae had asked about her hobbies and soon Seulgi found herself rambling about what she loved best.

Irene looked at her lunch companion in amusement. Gone was the quiet, stuttering girl from before and, in her stead, replaced by somebody who was very passionate about her hobby - music - and was going on and on about how she was once inspired after watching one of Beyonce’s videos to be a performer. It then went on to a comparison of which album the singer had put out was her best work to date and how she was robbed of Album of the Year award every single time. Seulgi hit the table in frustration before she realised other patrons in the shop were starting to stare and immediately bowed to the general vicinity to apologise.

She’s adorable.

Irene rested an elbow on the table and settled her chin on her palm, listening as Seulgi continued. It had been awhile since she has met with anybody who had that much passion about anything and had that much zest for life. Working in a corporate environment tend to the life out of people, something Irene had seen happen many times to her new colleagues. She could only hope that Seulgi won’t be affected by it.

They were only about half an hour into their lunch break but from what Irene had gathered in that short amount of time was that Seulgi seemed to be an outgoing person, easily loved by others and is utterly adorable. Irene also knew that she was staring quite a bit at the younger girl, not that Seulgi had noticed, yet.

“Irene.” Ms Bae corrected Seulgi in the middle of one of her sentence.

“Sorry?”

“Please call me Irene. We’re not at work and it’s just us so there’s no need to be so formal. Right, Seulgi-ah?” Irene leaned in a little closer, surprising Seulgi, who immediately moved backwards in reflex. She allowed herself a triumphant smirk when she noticed Seulgi’s face had started to colour slightly.

It took Seulgi a few moments to compose herself. After taking a sip from her drink, Seulgi smiled at her lunch companion, ears bright red.

“Alright then. Irene. Where was I? Oh right..”

Irene was more than happy to listen to whatever else Seulgi had to say about Beyonce.

---

“So you kept talking?”

“...yes. You know how I get when music and Beyonce are involved.”

---

If Jessica had thought Seulgi was in a good mood after lunch, she didn't ask about it either and she appreciated that. Seulgi was slowly growing fond of her manager despite being very intimidated by her. The icy demeanor and her higher post made it difficult for Seulgi to approach her, even if it was to ask about something work-related.

Jessica was always professional around them, Seulgi had only seen her laugh once since she joined the company. Taeyeon had whispered something to her during lunch and Jessica simply cracked up. It was refreshing to watch the stone cold face break into a grin and then into a full blown laugh.

Seulgi wished that Taeyeon was with them at that moment because the atmosphere was tense and silent in the discussion room as their last interviewee left. Seulgi busied herself by tidying and editing the notes she had taken throughout the day. Jessica cleared a little while later, breaking the silence.

“Seulgi..”

“Y-yes?” Seulgi’s head shot up from her laptop.

“Seulgi..” Jessica sighed. “Can you keep your staring down to a minimal? Or do it subtly? I don’t want to hear any complains about this from Ms Bae or her superiors. We have to be professional, no matter how good looking the client is. This is our job and I hope I won't have to remind you again.”

Seulgi’s eyes went wide, face burning in embarrassment. Of course Jessica noticed. Heck, she was pretty sure Ire-Ms Bae had noticed, too.

“I’m sorry, Jessica. It won’t happen again.” Seulgi apologised weakly.

“See to it that it doesn’t. Now let’s pack up. We’re done for the day. Send me the notes later before 9.”

Seulgi packed up in record speed and bolted out of the room to wait for Jessica at the elevator, only to bump into Ms Bae who was also on her way out.

“Seulgi! Going home? Wait, why is your face so red? Are you ok?” Ms Bae was about to place her hand on her forehead but Seulgi saw it coming and avoided it like a pro, skirting around Ms Bae and headed straight for the stairwell.

“Please tell Jessica I’ll meet her downstairs!!” Seulgi’s voice echoed as she practically ran down the stairs, leaving behind a very confused Ms Bae.

What happened to the adorable Seulgi from lunch?

Jessica shook her head and sighed when Ms Bae conveyed the message. She assured the assistant manager that her colleague was fine, probably just over excited about going home after a long day of interviewing people. Ms Bae seemed to have believed the excused and didn’t ask any more questions.

When Jessica and Ms Bae stepped out of the elevator, they were greeted by the sight of Seulgi seated on one of the sofas in the waiting area, looking much calmer than she did a few minutes ago.

The run down the stairs must have done something to her.

Irene mused as she bid Jessica goodbye and went on her way, giving Seulgi a small wave before disappearing through the main entrance. Seulgi waved back and when she saw that Jessica was walking towards her, she gulped.

“Ready to go?”

“Y-yes.”

“You feeling ok?”

“Yes.”

“The trip down the stairs helped?”

“Surprisingly, it did.”

“Good. Come on.” Jessica nudged her head. “We don’t want to be caught in traffic.”

TBC

a/n: Thank you reading. Comments are appreciated. Do let me know if you find any errors. I apologise for the mistakes.