Irene thought that her days couldn’t get any worse after hearing about Seulgi’s engagement and eventual marriage news with Krystal. But after that dreadful meeting and being slapped with the reality that she doesn’t have that much time left to relax, Irene is now facing the whole brunt of the situation. But Irene is slowly getting back on her feet. The days went on as usual with her slowly transforming back to the person she was before all of this. She is becoming CEO Bae once again. And it greatly satisfied Solar that her bestfriend is really living up to her words. Irene has been giving a 101% of herself in the project. This enthusiasm went on for a few days that is until the day of Seulgi’s official deployment in the company.

As much as Irene tried to be unaffected by it, she cannot help but become worried.  Back then the CEO has her office as her refuge- her safe haven. A place where she could focus on work and not think about Seulgi. If being away from Seulgi hurts Irene but being within arm’s length with her ex-wife is beyond torture. Back when Seulgi ended the marriage, immersing herself with work prove to be a great distraction for her but now, it’s not effective anymore.  Not when Seulgi is now working in the same company, is sharing the same workspace, the same floor, and almost even the same air in the building. It feels suffocating, to be honest.

“Hi everyone I’m Kang Seulgi, the newly-appointed Managing Director “She saw how the younger confidently introduced herself to every employee present. The way she proudly holds herself in front. And the way she looks good, perfect in fact while wearing her white blouse partnered with crisp black pants and blazer. If it was any other day, then Irene would’ve probably drooled from where she was standing. But no. Not this time. Definitely not. Especially when she saw how Seulgi has her arms around Krystal’s waist the moment she stepped down from the makeshift podium.

That was the day when Seulgi was officially introduced. As much as possible Irene wanted to not cross paths with Seulgi because seeing her smile and the way her face lights up whenever Krystal is involved whether it is by seeing her, talking with her, or even just thinking about the girl makes her smile so bright.

Maybe even brighter than when it was Irene she was interacting with before.

It just drives the knife deeper and deeper to her badly bruised heart.

But Irene reminded herself to sulk it up. She reminded herself why the hell she is subjecting herself to such cruelty. She reminded herself who she is doing this for.

For Seulgi

Still for Seulgi

Only for Seulgi

 So it’s not that surprising when Irene can still appear normal. She can now reciprocate Seulgi’s curt, “Good morning Ms. Irene” or when she still gave a small smile when the two of them used the same elevator. She can will herself to not look at Seulgi when she was presenting at a meeting. The CEO wanted to internally pat herself in the back for maintaining her composure…

…if only she is not exerting almost all of her willpower not to break down each and every time they crossed paths.

But still, Irene is proud of herself because she can now successfully hide her true feelings and face Seulgi with her head help up high.

***

“Hey are you okay?” it was her bestfriend Solar who broke her reverie. They are now in their office strategizing what they would do for the proposal. She just came back from the meeting, well more like she came back an hour ago and is now sitting in her chair with Solar, and the rest of their team strategizing for the proposal with the Dubai company.

“Uhmm yeah. Sorry, I got sidetracked” She managed to say, she then focused her attention on the meeting only to get shocked that the ward of people previously talking before is now gone. The only person that remains is Solar. Before Irene can voice out her query, Solar was quick to answer her.

“We already finished the meeting. The team is all dispersed to do all of those tasks assigned to them.” She saw the worry and guilt that is now starting to paint on Irene’s face and she knows that woman enough to guess what she is thinking.

“Don’t worry about it. The team knows what you wanted to achieve. You have been very focused on this project and we can all see that. You have been amazing these past few days, you supervise every detail of the project so it’s understandable to get distracted for a bit. The team recognized your effort and also understands your position.” A moment of silence stretched between them before Solar broke it.

“It’s Seulgi isn’t it? She is the only one who can manage to make your mind fly off in space.” Irene is not taken aback because if there is anyone who can read her like an open book, it will be the person in front of her.

“I saw them this morning. Krystal dropped her off and I saw how affectionate they are with each other. Then when our meeting ended, I heard Seulgi call her and tell her to meet her outside for lunch. I mean I know I should get used to seeing them together but I can’t help but be envious of it every time. Once I was done being consumed by that green monster, I can’t help but blame myself for everything wrong I did in the past. The regret and jealousy are eating me from the inside.” Although there are no tears present in her eyes, Irene has a faraway look in her eyes.

“Oh, Irene. I might not understand the depth of your pain but let me tell you this over and over again. You are strong. Just hang in there for a bit more. Once all of this is over, you can finally let your heart rest. Go on vacation, meet new people, and heal. And maybe you can find someone who will completely mend that broken heart of yours.” Irene felt grateful for her friend.

Solar is right. Once this is all over, she will definitely leave. Go on some paradise abroad and heal herself. And yes she is hoping too that by that time, she can meet someone whom she can love freely. Without being interfered to by fate.

Once her little daydreaming is done she remembered something else.

“Is Joy…” She started asking but Solar was quick to answer it for her.

“Yeah. She is now fetching the security footage in your office from the person handling your private server. It took a while because you haven’t really known that exact date when you asked the papers to be disposed of so they painstakingly surveyed almost 2 weeks’ worth of videos. Thankfully the papers have a distinct envelope so we managed to find it still. We can finally have a lead on who the mole is.” Irene clasps her hand together hoping that Solar is right. That they can finally have a clue on who is responsible for the huge mess that caused that huge misunderstanding between her and Seulgi.

Not even an hour later when Joy arrived at the building and went directly into Irene’s office. It did not take long before the three of them are all hunched up against Irene’s computer showing the enlarged image of the video. Wasting no time at all, Irene pressed the button and the video came to life.

It shows the office empty for a minute before a man at least based on his built came into view. He is wearing a white cap and white attire, the typical uniform of maintenance and housekeeping personnel. At first, he started cleaning out the office, arranging the papers, wiping the tables and a few other ornaments. Then he arrived at the bin with the documents intended to be shredded, the trio saw how he started flipping the pages one by one a