I'm in love with you, ain't gon' tell no lie
They don't want me to say I'm not your type
What I'm born to do, you stay on my mind
Every second of a minute, every day and night, ooh


Boy, they don't know nothing they hatin' cause I'm into you
If I had a dollar for each time they say things that ain't true
I'd be a billion-heiress, no perrie on in Paris
Rich in the sense of our love

Let's just runaway
Let's just runaway now
We can find our way, I don't really care how
You just name the place I'll be on my way out (on way out)
You call my name, I'll be there waiting
Let's just runaway
Can't we runway now?
Hear me when I say
I don't wanna waste another day with you away from me
So, let's just runaway right now

Runaway, runaway now, runaway now
Runaway, runaway now, runaway now
Runaway, runaway now, runaway now
Runaway, runaway, run-runaway right now

I can't help the way I feel each day (you don't have to explain boy)
I've never felt this way (I know I feel the same)
I'm so glad that you do
You know I'm crazy about you, baby, oh


Boy, I'm so glad you got me and I got you (got you)
If I had a dollar for each second that I think of you
I'd be a billionaire-heiress, no perrie on in Paris
Rich in the sense of our love


Let's just runaway
Let's just runaway now
We can find our way, I don't really care how (no)
You just name the place I'll be on my way out (on way out)
You call my name, I'll be there waiting
Let's just runaway
Can't we runway now?
Hear when I say
I don't wanna waste another day with you away from me
So, let's just runaway right now

Girl, I'll be there
Boy, I'll be there for you (for you)
To love and care for you (to love and care)
And I won't change boy
It don't matter what they say about you, boy
Let's just get away
Let's just runaway right now

Let's just runaway
Let's just runaway now
We can find our way, I don't really care how (really care how)
You just name the place, I'll be on my way out (on way out)
You call my name, I'll be there waiting (no)
Let's just runaway
Can't we runway now?
Hear me when I say
I don't wanna waste another day with you away from me
So, let's just runaway right now

Let's just runaway
Let's just runaway now
We can find our way, I don't really care how
You just name the place I'll be on my way out (on way out)
You call my name I'll be there waiting
Let's just runaway
Can't we runway now?
Hear me when I say
I don't wanna waste another day with you away from me
So, let's just runaway right now
And runaway

-

My arms around hers; her lips lingering on mine; our foreheads rest against each other; her eyes sparkle and my heart leaps. Things she does to me; things she says to me; everything about her sends a jolt through my soul; through my heart and I can never get enough of her.

Things happen; but not according to what I planned. It just happened and I get caught with it. It came unwelcomed yet I embraced it well and loved. It took me tons of courage before I chose to accept this fully.

Being brought up in a strict Christian family, I was told that homouality is a sin. Yes, it is and it will always be but there must be a reason why God makes us this way. Okay, maybe he’s testing us and I failed him. I would probably go to hell.

But I couldn’t run now. It was nobody’s fault but mine. It wasn’t even her fault too. Even my parents couldn’t deter me anymore. I need to get to be by her side right now.

I left my home and travelled down to the city. A young country girl with not much life experience; I decided to carve for a little opportunity to earn money for my family. I know I had to leave my hometown and find a job in the city. And so I did.

City life was so vast different than the rural side. I was in a terrible culture shock and I thought devil wasn’t real; it turned out to be true. There were real devils in the form of humans. Praying wasn’t enough now. Jessica, my childhood friend from home, had started working in the city for the last 3 years. She did well and got a good job with a good office. She lived in an apartment with fancy cars and wearing fancy clothes.

“Tiff, you need to change your fashion sense.”

“These clothes are too expensive, Sica.”

“These are mine. Don’t worry so much about the prices. I’ll lend you my clothes. Once you earn your money, you can buy on your own. I have lots of them which I hardly wear anyway.”

Jessica put me up at her apartment. I thought she would change but my childhood friend is still the same girl I used to know 15 years ago. I was grateful to her; thankful for her thoughtfulness. But of course, Jessica didn’t let me stay for free. I insisted to chip in.

“Okay, you will buy the monthly groceries.”

“Great! Now I feel better.”

“You silly toad. You can stay here for as long as you want.”

And I stayed on for the next 6 months.

-

The first 2 months I found a job as a waitress at the nearby bistro. It was like 10 mins walk away from Jessica’s apartment. I didn’t like the job. I mean, I don’t mind working as a waitress but those boys from across University were so rowdy, rude and touchy. I hated it when they grazed their dirty palms on my buttocks or waist.

Yet I couldn’t do much; my manager was a sly fox too. I bit my tongue; kept my anger within me and tolerated those indecent gestures and touches. But all that was about to change when someone came to my rescue one evening.

Kwon Yuri is the CEO of her father’s company. She would always be in her tie and suit; black, blue, white and the last time I saw her – she was wearing baby pink suit with white tie. Her black jet hair and her tanned bronze skin glowed under the sun. She’s tall and slender; and I found out she’s a former baseball player at her high school.

She was watching these boys for the past few weeks. But she never made her move. Until one day; one faithful day when she stood up and walked over to my side; pulling me closer to her chest and then threw a sharp glare at one of the boys. He flinched instantly.

“Noona!”

“This is what you do after school huh?”

“Please, don’t tell Daddy!”

“Apologize to this lady and go home. I don’t want to see you hang around here. Now scram!”

The boys left immediately, and my manager almost peed in his pants. Yuri went up to him and demanded him to release me from his service.  I was stunned; my manager was bewildered but nevertheless, he released without any conditions. I didn’t even need to return my one-month salary for leaving before my probation period.

“Yoona, arrange for her to work for me.”

And then suddenly I found myself at her office.  Her secretary was efficient.

-

I found out. One of the boys was her step-brother. Her mom passed away and her dad remarried. And her new mom had 2 boys and they were rotten spoilt. But Yuri’s father was a strict man. And he was fair and never judgemental. There was one more thing that set Yuri aside from her step-family –Yuri is her father’s angel. Her father puts his daughter first no matter what the situation would be. And Yuri’s grandfather is protective of his one and only granddaughter much to her step-mother’s wrath.

Yuri had fair share of dealing with her unscrupulous step-mother who had been siphoning funds from her father’s company to her own. She was worried that her sons could never get anything, but Yuri thwarted her evil-doings. Yuri caught her red-handed; took over her company and she put Yoona in charge of that new subsidiary firm.

And that was why I was hired as her secretary now. Yoona had too much things on her hands; so I was tasked to assist Yuri in her daily operations and schedules. Let’s just say, it was hectic, and I was extremely busy till I couldn’t find time to sit down for lunch. My CEO is one busy woman.

Yuri is always serious. She hardly smiles. And I found out. She loves to work out at the gym. And I must follow her every where she went and that was how I somehow ended up at the gym with her. She changed into her sporting gear; and I couldn’t focus. She is so lean that her abs were so amazing. And I could see the outline of probably six pecks.

But one thing for sure, she’s so ing flexible. Her exercises were routine consisting of weight training, cardio training and at times, she would run 10km on the thread mill or some hills behind her apartment.

“You can head home or office whichever you prefer. I’ll see you at the parking lot in an hour’s time.”

However today, I decided to join her. I was in my sporting gear and spotted her at the far end of the gym. She was with her trainer. Yoona was with her too.

“So, who’s going for the hardcore cardio training?”

“No, not me. I’m done.”

“I should have known. Ok, Yoona. Hit the showers. Yuri, are you ready?”

“Hang on, I’m joining in.”

The trainer, Yoona and Yuri looked over their shoulders. Yuri was stunned to find me in my sporting gear. I could see that she was checking me out discreetly.

“Tiffany, you will regret this!”

“I need to work out too.”

“But these two idiots are hardcore gym s. You will die or faint after half an hour.”

“It’s okay. I used to train in my father’s farm too.”

I could see the trainer was judging me and Yoona continued to dissuade me. But to my surprise, Yuri stood in front of me. Since she was a little taller; she was practically staring down at me.

“Let’s go easy since Tiffany is joining us. We can access her stamina too.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you alone with your secretary. Yoona, let’s go out and pig out!”

“That’s more like it! Stop asking me to carry weights!”

“Fine, fine. Let’s go.”

Yoona and the trainer were gone. I learnt his name was Taecyeon. He’s best friends with the girls but he was a tough trainer. Yoona hated him when he became Ok Taecyeon the trainer. So, the gym was left with me and Yuri. She smiled before she stood up and grabbed her bottle. Even drinking from her Reebok tumbler made her looked so good.

“Okay, let’s do crunches – set of 14?”

“Sure, let’s do it.”

We started training together. It was totally pure endurance and Yuri was taken aback at my tolerance level. I was so close to dying. We had an hour of training and Yuri finally stopped. She sat next to me; she looked at me.

We were in a total silence. I kept drinking from my bottle while Yuri did some stretches on her own. It was a good workout though. It had been a long time since I did heavy work out like this. Dad would be proud of me.

“You have good stamina. You could really endure the pain.”

“I’m not exactly a gym-goer but I do run at times.”

“We could have done work-outs together if I had known.”

“Well, we can start from today.”

Yuri smiled. It was the warmest smile I ever got from her.

-

It had been 6 months since I started working with Yuri. I got used to her schedule and her hectic routine. It was insane but I enjoyed it. Somehow, I love it that my schedule was filled with Yuri’s meetings, appointments and business lunches. Sometimes I had to accompany her to dinner functions and people often commented how good we looked together.

I thought Yuri might explained to them that I was just her assistant but no, she introduced me as her secretary. She mentioned that it sounded more professional than just an assistant. There were a couple of times people mistook me for her girlfriend.

“Kwon! Is that your new girlfriend?”

One of Yuri’s business partners was clearly teasing her. And I thought she would feel offended but to my surprise, she retaliated in a peculiar way.

“Don’t touch her. She’s mine. Keep your hands off her, Choi Soo Young.”

And she wasn’t joking about that. Her eyes were menacingly glaring at Miss Choi but the tall woman was undeterred. She stuck her tongue out before stretching her hand out to me.

“You must be Tiffany. Kwon Yuri talks a lot about you.”

With no warning, Soo Young almost fell to the floor. Yuri kneed her from the back. The taller woman was amused but kept daunting Yuri over me.

“Ah, one-sided love?

“Shut up before I kick you to a pulp.”

“I bruise like a whiner. So, don’t you dare! I need this face tonight. I will let you hit me when the party’s over.”

“Just get up.”

Yuri rolled her eyes but nevertheless pulled her business partner up. Later in the evening, I found out that Choi Soo Young is Yuri’s best friend. In fact, they were childhood friends; grew up together. They might belong to the elite families but these two were just dorks.

After the dinner function, Yuri invited Soo Young and her secretary girlfriend, Sunny Lee back to her apartment. Yoona was there too and to my big surprise, I saw my childhood friend, Jessica too! Apparently, Jessica has been dating Yoona for the longest time.

Of course, I was asked to accompany Yuri.

“So, Jessica is Tiffany’s childhood friend?”

“Yeah, she is. We grew up together back in our hometown.”

“I see. Your village must be really blessed. The two of you look so good.”

“Excuse me, Miss Choi.”

“Of course, Sunny Lee is the best!”

The rest of us jeered at Soo Young while Sunny gave her that deadly glare. We were sitting around the pool area; dipping our legs into the pool and drinking wine. Jessica was comfortable in Yoona’s embrace while Soo Young laid on Sunny’s lap. Yuri was sitting next to me; the two of you watched the other couples having their own intimate moments.

“I asked you guys over to drink, not to have intimate moments.”

“You have Tiffany.”

“Choi Soo Young, I will kill you!”

Well, I was a little disappointed. Yuri didn’t seem to like it when Soo Young paired her up with me. I mean, I didn’t have any expectations, but it felt like Yuri wasn’t interested in me at all. Probably it was just my imagination that she somehow likes me.

Maybe I wasn’t good enough for her.

-

The next morning, I arrived at office 3 hours earlier than the usual time. I couldn’t sleep. Yoona stayed over at our place and those two were crazy. I couldn’t sleep; it was too hot, and I was bothered by it. So, the moment the dawn broke into the dark sky, I got up and went for a run before heading to office.

It was just too much to handle. Probably office was a safer place. As expected, there was nobody in the office. It was almost 6am so I decided I should take a nap before everyone starts streaming in. I hid in the staff lounge and laid on the sofa.

I was about to close my eyes when I heard noises near to the entrance. At first, I thought it was the security officer, so I ignored it. But the noises got louder, and I finally got up on my feet. I grabbed an umbrella nearby the pantry and went to investigate. A person was hovering over my table; looking all suspicious.

I crept slowly behind the stranger and was seconds to swing my umbrella at the stranger when that person turned. I was so shocked that I dropped the umbrella. It fell right above my head.

“Ow!”

I went down on my knees quickly with my hands on my head. Damn the umbrella. It hurt like hell.

“Tiffany!”

I heard my name and I saw someone knelt in front of me.  Due to the pain, it was still blurry. But her voice was familiar.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yuri?”

“Yeah, it’s me. What are you doing in the office in such earlier hours?”

“Well, what were you doing hovering above my table?”

“I bought you breakfast.”

“Your ex-secretary is having a ball of her time with my childhood friend.”

“Oh, that bad huh?”

“You won’t even imagine. Hey, help me up. My head still hurts.”

“Oh! That’s right! Hang on!”

I yelp as I felt Yuri scooped me off my feet. She carried me in her arms and rushed back to her room. She gently placed me on her sofa, and she scooted off somewhere. I watched her as she rummaged through her mini fridge for something.

“What are you looking for?”

“Something that will help to alleviate your pain. Oh, found it!”

She took out an ice compressor from her fridge and pressed it against the top of my head. The cold surface touched my bloody bump. I winced instantly.  Then I felt warmth palms cupping my cheeks; I looked up and Yuri’s gaze was penetrated mine.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, the bump will subside somehow.”

“You need the doctor to check on it?”

“Nah, I will be fine.”

“Okay, stay here.  It’s still early. You can sleep on my sofa. I will get your breakfast from your table.”

Yuri left the room; leaving me alone on the sofa. Honestly, I was glad that she has moved away. My heart was thumping like crazy when her face was so up close to mine. Her lips were just inches away from mine and damn, her gaze – got me almost instantly.

. This is not right.

I’m in love.

-

Few days later, I had soon forgotten about our short encounter in that early dawn in the office. Yuri went on; doing her things as she always did. And me, I was nursing a crush for my boss. Soo Young came by in the afternoon; she was flirting with me much to Yuri’s wrath.

“I’m going to tell Sunny.”

“Oh, come on! It was just for fun! Tiffany isn’t even complaining. Why are you worrying so much?”

“I told you to back off, didn’t I?”

“Kwon Yuri, you’re acting weird. Is Tiffany your girlfriend? Why are you so protective of her?”

Yuri didn’t say anything. She just grabbed Soo Young’s arm and pulled her out of our office. For some reason, Yuri didn’t look happy when Soo Young instigated her.

And I, I somehow knew I had to get over this crush as quickly as I could. Before I get hurt even more.

-

I decided to quit. After that confrontation with Soo Young, Yuri was acting strange. She was avoiding me; she had stopped asking me to follow her for meetings or dinner functions. It was really annoying at one point, but it was clear for me. Yuri doesn’t like me the way I do.

I stood outside her office door; letter gripped tightly in my grasp. I wasn’t too sure if I was doing the right thing, but I knew I had to do this before I lose my mind. She was buried in the depths of the files and documents on her table.

“What is it?”

She didn’t raise her head at all. She was too immersed with the documents and proposals on the table. I placed my resignation letter on her table. She noticed it and finally looked up. She was frowning.

“What is this?”

“I’m resigning.”

“Why?”

“It’s complicated. I don’t think I can work here anymore.”

I was holding back my tears. There was no easy way, but I had to do this. She finally stood up; walked over to me and held my arms. Her questioning eyes were evident. She wanted to know.

“Why can’t you work here anymore?”

It was more like a whisper.

“It’s too complicated for me to explain.”

“Try. I want to know.”

“Yuri, it’s not appropriate.”

“Then the more I should know.”

She was adamant to know the reason why I was leaving her. She grabbed my arms and pulled me closer. Crap. I tried to pull away, but she was too strong for me.

She held on tighter.

“I’m not letting go until you tell me.”

“I can’t work with you.”

“Why?”

“Not when I have feelings for you.”

There, I dropped the bombshell.  But I was just greeted with silence and her grip on my arms loosened. What else did she expect me to say? It hurt even more when she had no reactions to my so-called confession, so I pulled away immediately.

I apologised for my brazen actions and ran out of her office. I grabbed my handbag and took off. It was such a humiliation yet heart-breaking moment for me. I never knew a confession like that could hurt me to core.

And I made a mistake. A terrible mistake to give in to her just like that.

-

I was in a wreck for the next few days. I didn’t turn up for work and Yuri didn’t attempt to look for me either. Jessica stayed by my side and Yoona would come over sometimes. She has never mentioned Yuri; she just genuinely comforted in the way she would do best – making fun of me.

“Stop making fun of Tiffany!”

“She’s laughing!”

“Sica, don’t worry about me. I know Yoona is just cheering me up. I appreciate it.”

“You must have been hurt so badly. Yoona calls you a pig and you have no reaction towards it.”

“I didn’t call her a pig!”

“She’s stuffing so much food because of your good friend, Kwon Yuri!”

Yoona pouted. She knew she would be at the losing end because Yuri’s her friend.

“I’ll kill that woman when I see her. I swear I will.”

That caught my attention. I thought those two were inseparable.

“What do you mean by when you see her?”

“She hasn’t been coming office for the past few days either. I tried calling her, but her phone was turned off.”

“And you’re not worried?”

“She has done this a couple of times before. She will suddenly turn up when she feels better.”

I was confused.  And Yoona noticed it. She pulled me closer to her and hugged me. Of course, after seeking permission from Jessica.

“Tiffany, just wait for a couple of days and all this pain you feel inside will be over. Yuri just need to set things straight.”

“What do you mean?”

“Kwon Yuri is a complicated woman. She will get around and I can assure you. She’ll be looking for you.”

-

Much to Yoona’s words coming true, I found Yuri at my apartment.  I was out for a run and came back to find Yuri sitting on the steps of our apartment. She couldn’t get in without the passcode, so she had to resort to wait outside. Her face brightened up the moment she saw me. And she was wearing her sweatpants and haggard-looking sweater.

She looked worn out.

“Tiffany!”

And she was clearly excited to see me.

“Hi Yuri, what are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Don’t you have work today?”

“I got a new assistant.”

My heart fell. Sheesh, she was quick to find an assistant to replace me. The pain just intensified after realizing that my departure didn’t have much impact on her. I wasn’t tangible to her.

“Tiffany, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t replace you.”

I looked at her.

“It was about time for me to train my step-brother if he wishes to take over my role.”

“Wait, you’re planning to step down?”

“No, I have other plans in mind, and I have discussed with my father.”

I looked at her warily. She was all smiles; and something in her that sparked the fire in my heart again. I thought I was walking away from the heartbreak but no, I was just putting it on hold. I was still trapped in her world.

But this time, it was different. She took my hands and gripped them tightly. She was clenching her jaw as she took a deep breath. She was restless.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“I have a lot of things on my mind. I just need a minute to organize them properly before I start babbling nonsense to you.”

“To me? Why do you need to reorganize your thoughts for me?”

“I don’t wanna risk of losing you.”

My heart stopped. The heart-strings were tugging. But I kept my cool. I wasn’t going to break down in front of this woman once again.

“I let you walk away once. I’m not going to let it happen the 2^nd time.”

“I didn’t walk away.”

“You did. You quit.”

“Is this conversation going somewhere, Yuri?”

“Ah, it. It’s giving me more headache the more I try to put in systematically. All these thoughts just lead to one thing that I know I must rectify.”

“And that is?”

“Stay with me. I like you a lot to just give up and let you walk away from me.”

What the hell.

-

Apparently, Yuri likes me too. But she was too engrossed with her family business that she overlooked little things such as happiness in her life. The day I quit was the day she realized that she needed me.

Honestly, it felt good that she wanted me. But I never thought she was willing to give up everything so that she could stay with me, forever.

“You have requested for your step-brother to take over the family business?”

“Yeah, it was about time though. I never like to work in the office. I prefer outdoor activities and probably would love to find a job related to that.”

“So, you applied to become a gym trainer?”

“And Yoga instructor.”

“And your father agreed?”

“I’m his little princess. I can do whatever I want, and he will support me nevertheless.”

“And he knows you’re gay.”

“He has known me all his life. I don’t think it matters anymore. My haraboji even tried to matchmake me with his friend’s granddaughter. That was epic.”

I immediately frowned. The thought of having some other woman who almost become Yuri’s wife was something that I never thought would affect me so much.

“Relax, we are just friends. That granddaughter of his friend is Im Yoona.”

“Oh. That’s why she’s working with you?”

“Yeah, her grandfather wanted her to learn some ropes before taking over his company. But this girl prefers to work on her way up alone. The family business is transferred to her older guy cousin instead.”

I found out a lot of things about Yuri on that day itself. I mean I already knew her but there were more to her which I never knew. All this while, this straight face woman was just so intimidating in the office, but she turned out to be a dork.

A dork of many different levels.

After that confession, we got closer. We spent time together and she got me a job with Yoona as her personal assistant. She had offered to Jessica before, but that woman hates office work. She could never sit still so I took over.

And when she said runaway, she meant literally. 2 nights after that confession, I was whisked in her personal yatch and we were in the middle of the sea; only god knew where I was. I could even see sharks lurking underneath the yatch; that scared me a little.

But she was such a pro; she didn’t even care about their presence. She said they would go away after a while; they did. They just swam away. Probably just curious with our presence in their territories.

After that shark scare, the yatch continued to cruise and Yuri had prepared some candle light dinner on the deck of the yatch. I never had such luxury to be on a yatch like this; let alone having a date with someone like Yuri. Suddenly, she reached out for her hand. I looked at her but nevertheless put my hand out to hers.

“Tiffany, I have a question to ask out of sudden.”

“Hm?”

“Do you want to run away with me?”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes, I mean it. I don’t care where it will bring us just as long as you’re here with me.”

We literally ran away in our yatch for the next few days.

-