It was the fourth morning since coming back from Hallstatt when Seungwan finally felt the appalling weight of her first big breakup. She had woken up with a bad hangover after drinking passed her limit all throughout Junmyeon’s birthday party the night before, and she thought her head was about to explode. A few more days she would be out drinking again but this time with broken hearted Baekhyun who had also broken up with his girlfriend not too long ago. They drank the night away, brooding about their supposed ty love lives before becoming completely wasted for the nth time that month.

Looking back, for the six months after Eunwoo and Seungwan had broken up, the latter was in a sort of dazed state. After her many drinking escapades, she nonchalantly got herself an apartment in Hannam, The Hill ― one of the most expensive and luxurious apartments in Seoul ― that was two train rides away from work. The lavish purchase shocked quite a lot of people including Seungwan’s parents because she was never really known to be a gallant spender. She doesn’t even buy herself a decent meal, let alone an expensive apartment.

There was also a time when she bought ten thousand dollar worth of makeup and dresses on a spontaneous shopping spree while in Hong Kong only to get rid of them a week later in a drunken fit. Joohyun cried so much the next day after finding out Seungwan had burned all of them. Who wouldn’t? They were all high end makeups and clothing.

Seungwan also attended cooking lessons. She got off work on Tuesdays and Fridays early (something she had never done before), and diligently practiced at home. However, practicing can only do so much. Seungwan, sadly, is just no good in the kitchen. Baekhyun had the unfortunate experience of tasting one of her dishes and he thought for sure he’d die of food poising right there and then. Kyungsoo, Sehun and Joohyun, on the other hand, took upon themselves to never accept an invitation to eat at home from Seungwan. Thankfully, her cooking obsession was just a momentary phase. Seungwan realized that cooking was and will never be her thing, and learned that you simply can’t force something that is just not meant to be.  

Seungwan was all over the place ― feeling emotions more intensely, watching movies more attentively, eating food more appreciatively, and listening to songs she normally doesn’t like ― and she acted a new life. She was eating three meals a day, stayed away from convenience store bought foods and started taking Sundays off to relax. She smiled, chatted and joked around at work, stopped her habit of reciting a litany of curses whenever something goes wrong, and minimized her angry fits. In short, Son Seungwan tried to live like Cha Eunwoo. She tried but failed.

Can you blame her though? It was six months of Seungwan getting used to her old self (pre-Eunwoo) and she felt lost. If she had to put what she felt those few months to words, it would be jamais vu: the overwhelming feeling of unfamiliarity one feels during a certain situation despite knowing very well that they have been in the situation before.

Over a year on and she finally started living again. Not as post-breakup Son Seungwan but as Empire Builder’s CEO and Project Manager, Son Seungwan.

“That’s actually a pretty good idea.” Sehun told Seungwan. “A subcontractor agreement with a big company like Build Works will be a really good place for us to start and better our business.”

“That’s right. As long as we don’t take unfair risks in the agreement and properly define our scope of work, we’ll be benefiting a lot by accepting subcontracts.”, said Seungwan before continuing “And Build Works is the way to go. It won’t be easy but compared to other small companies we have a slightly bigger chance of signing a contract with them because one, we have Minseok, Junmyeon, and Jongdae on our side, and two, working with us will be smoother since we already know how their system works.”

“But Build Works is notorious for the delays in paying their subcontractors. Remember that time Mr. Kim stormed the office because his company wasn’t getting paid on time for working on the sprinkler system?” Kyungsoo added.

“That’s true but getting delays is better than nothing, Kyungsoo. What we need now is to focus on building our reputation. The more contracts we finish, the more contracts we sign. The more projects we finish, the bigger they will get.”

Kyungsoo looked Seungwan directly in the eye and gave her his approval. “You really thought this through, huh Son Seungwan?”

Baekhyun pumped a double thumbs up. “I knew you’d come around sooner or later. As expected, Son Seungwan is Son Seungwan for a reason.”

Seungwan laughed and glanced up to the clock to see what time it is. “It’s lunch time. Meeting adjourned. Let’s eat outside, my treat.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about! Heehaw!” Baekhyun cheered.

The fivesome scurried outside the conference room. They had spent the whole morning brainstorming and their stomachs are growling vehemently. They quickly grabbed their bags and walked towards the nearby station where their favorite Japanese restaurant is located. It didn’t take them long to order. They have frequented the store for well over three months now and they know the menu like the back of their hands.

“Oh, come to think of it ―” started Baekhyun, salivating as he eyes the steaming nabemon (winter hot pot dish). “I talked to Chanyeol the other day. He said an acquaintance of his is currently looking for a building contractor and asked if we were interested to attend the bidding.”

“Of course we’ll attend.” Sehun answered. He gulped and hungrily watched the waiter place a plate of takoyaki on their table. Seconds later, the waiter came in again but now with a tray of shabushabu and the group couldn’t help but gawk at how scrumptious it looked.

Seungwan grabbed her chopsticks, diving first thing into the plate of thinly sliced meat and vegetables and then carefully putting them onto the simmering pot. “What’s it for?” she questioned.

“Apparently, it’s for La Yeon’s new flagship restaurant.”’

The group is suddenly flanked with uncomfortable silence. The joyous atmosphere fluctuated in a blink of an eye. Baekhyun took a deep exasperated breath after realizing he had committed a grave mistake. He tried to laugh it off in an attempt to keep the mood up but it was without success. Joohyun on the other hand nudged Sehun to speak up but the latter was too immersed in his food to care.

“Yah, Byun Baekhyun! Why didn’t you mention this earlier?!” Kyungsoo angrily asked. He gave the guilt stricken man a you-made-a-very-big-mistake look before worriedly switching his gaze to Seungwan.

“I’m sorry.” Baekhyun grimaced. “I forgot.”  

“Let’s do it.” Seungwan said, breaking the silence that had swamped them. All eyes were on her. “This isn’t about me or anyone else. This is about Empire Builders and what I, we, can do to help keep it  growing. Didn’t we all agree that no matter how small the scale of the project is or how little we get from it, as long as we’re not losing anything, we’d welcome the challenge wholeheartedly? We don’t have the luxury to choose. Plus, I know what all of you are thinking right now. Don’t worry about me, I’m okay. You know me, I never mix business with personal matters. Work is work.”

"Well that hit me right in the feels.” The tense atmosphere started to lighten up as Sehun chortled. He figured that Seungwan must be either too ambitious to let the opportunity go or too coldhearted to get affected by an ex-boyfriend. Must be both, he thought.

"We’ll start preparing for both the restaurant bidding requirements and the subcontract agreement with Build Works later. For now ―” Seungwan said as she heaved a sigh before breaking into a huge grin. “Let’s get back to eating, I am starving.”

"Now that’s what I’m talking about! Team 7.2, let’s get it!” shouted Baekhyun.

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