A door opens and shuts, echoing in the silence of the office. One woman sits at the desk overlooking the room, writing and typing rapidly on the documents and laptop in front of her. It’s not until the clearing of a throat that she looks up at the intruder. 

“Mina?” Her friend, and secretary, Momo calls.

“So? What happened?” Mina pushes her work aside, resting her arms on the desk as she leans forward, very interested in what Momo has to say. “Did she sign? What did you think of the studio? Did you take a closer look for me?”

“Mina, calm down.” Momo laughs as she walks around the desk. “She didn’t sign, she said she wanted the afternoon to look it over. She actually asked that I stop by again before they close.”

“Did she not like the contract? I knew the terms might have been too weird, tell her we can offer more money.” Mina said almost desperately, she needed her soulmate to sign this contract.

“Relax, you’re too stressed about this. She liked the contract, I think she liked it so much she was mad about it actually. She probably asked for time so she didn’t seem reckless for signing right away.” Momo said, putting a hand on Mina’s shoulder to comfort her.

She sighed, Momo was right. The contract was too good for an artist to pass up, even with the odd terms. She was lucky that this branch hadn’t been revealed in the media yet, so if Chaeyoung did research the company she would only see that there was going to be a branch in Korea and that her grandfather ran the company. Mina’s photo wouldn’t be anywhere in the media about it. Not yet at least, so she was safe in that regard. 

“The studio?” She suddenly remembered the other reason she had sent Momo, to go scope out the place and get to know her soulmate’s world a little better. There was only so much she could look into while she was in Japan. So she knew where Chaeyoung worked, but since they didn’t have any social media she hadn’t known what it looked like until she walked in. Not that she was allowed to get a good look then, her eyes had been only on Chaeyoung. 

“It’s actually really nice! I liked the vibe, it was empty when I got there. I don’t know how popular it is, but there were plenty of unfinished projects and paintings on the tables. Your soulmate seems sweet.” Momo gave her a soft look, Mina knew that look was only reserved for when Momo talked about Chaeyoung. “She didn’t kick me out, despite the fact that she seemed like she was about to leave when I walked in. She even offered me a drink before I gave her the contract. She seems nice, Mina.”

Momo knew everything that had happened, and hated that Mina had just left her soulmate without another word. She never forced Mina to reach out, just let her know that she thought Mina was making a mistake each time she avoided her soulmate. It was why she was Mina’s closest confidant, she always gave her honest opinions to her. She wasn’t very good at the other secretary duties, but that was why Mina had her second closest confidant, Tzuyu. She excelled at managing the CEO’s schedule and keeping her on track, along with helping her manage the people working under her. 

“I’m glad you think she’s nice. She is nice. She’s so nice . . .” Mina could feel tears welling in her eyes. “She’s so nice but she hates me.” One hand covers her eyes while the other clenches into a fist, turning her knuckles white.

“It’s okay, it’ll be okay Mina. She’ll sign the contract and you’ll have six months to change her mind about you.” Momo comforted her, pulling Mina into her arms as she pats her head.

*****

“So? What’s the google search say?” Dahyun's voice cuts through the receiver. 

“They’re spotless. All the artists that have worked under them say they’re amazing and really accommodating.” Chaeyoung replies, a little shocked. As soon as she got back from lunch she sat down at her computer and called Dahyun. The enterprise had a great reputation in Japan, they were really successful as well so a Korean branch made sense. It helped that the media had been talking about it recently, so she knew the contract wasn’t a scam. 

“Sana said their products are like everywhere. I guess they’re in charge of a lot of big brands, but they keep the different companies separate so their name isn’t on everything they sell. What’d you say they wanted you to do again?” Dahyun’s voice rings out, there’s shuffling in the background and Chaeyoung assumes it’s Sana packing for the trip. 

“I don’t know, they need a graphic designer for products or something. The contract says they’ll tell me after I sign since they’re not sure what they need me for.” Chaeyoung rests her head on one hand, that’s the part that really makes her hesitate. If they try to overwork her, she can’t afford to break the contract. Especially now that she’ll have two extra mouths to feed in her apartment, two mouths that’ll pay their fair share but still. 

“Are you excited to stay up all night gossiping and eating junk food?” Sana says on the other side of the line, telling Dahyun to go pack already as she grabs the phone. 

“Of course I am! I have so much to show you guys, I really want you to help paint that mural too. You still want to, yeah?” When they worked out the details, Chaeyoung had said they could cut costs by staying at her apartment since she had a two-bedroom one anyways. The catch was that they had to help her with the community art project, and they’d both agreed.

“Yes, I’m excited! And we get to talk about your soulmate!” Sana sounds so happy, but Chaeyoung feels her blood run cold for a moment. 

“Ah, yeah. I guess we have to, huh?” She weakly replies, hearing Dahyun scold Sana through the phone as Sana apologizes for bringing it up. “I love you guys, I have to go. It looks like some of my students are coming back.” 

******

Chaeyoung sits on one of the tables near the entrance, leaning back with her arms supporting her. It’s near closing now, most of her students are already gone. There’s one or two making finishing touches, but they always keep headphones in once dusk hits. Everyone wants to focus to get home early, she would’ve closed up shop already if she wasn’t waiting for Momo to come back.

Right as she’s getting ready to give up and help the students so she can leave, she spots Momo walking down the street towards the door. A big smile is on her face, and Chaeyoung is a little unsure if she’s that confident about the contract or if something else happened. The door opens and Momo walks in towards Chaeyoung. The business woman is about to start talking when she notices the other people in the studio. Chaeyoung hops off the table, dusting off her clothes before she gestures at a chair for Momo to sit in.

“They won’t bother us, they probably won’t even hear us with how hard they’re focusing.” Chaeyoung sits across the table from Momo, the folder closed in front of her. Momo nods in response, so she keeps talking. “I made a decision regarding the contract.” 

“What did you decide?” Well if Momo was smiling before, now she’s beaming. She leans forward, fully immersed in listening to whatever Chaeyoung is about to say.

“I’ll sign it, if you can guarantee I get to dictate the amount of projects I handle at one time. I refuse to be overworked, even for this amount of money. I’ve already written an idea of a clause to add about it, I don’t know if you need to show your boss or anything.” Chaeyoung takes a piece of paper she had written on earlier and slides it across the table to Momo. 

“Of course, I’m sure we can add it. Let me just,” She takes out her phone and snaps a photo before sending it to someone. The reply is almost immediate. “Yeah, we can add it in no problem. Do you have a pen? I can probably write it in right now.” Chaeyoung hands Momo the pen she brought to sign the contract, and the folder along with it. 

That was so quick, do they have a good relationship? Or have they really been wanting me to sign this contract? Chaeyoung thinks to herself as she watches Momo fill in some of the blank space in the contract. Before she knows it, the contract has been passed back to her with the pen resting on top. She knows the enterprise is trustworthy, and it has a great track record. Something about this is still fishy to her, but the contract seems worth the risk. So, a little bit reluctantly, Chaeyoung signs the contract and shakes hands with Momo. 

“Alright, when am I expected to show up? Do I start next week?” Chaeyoung asks as Momo happily closes the folder and stands up.

“You start next week, the building will be open all week though so you can come in anytime from Monday through Sunday.” Momo starts to walk to the door, before turning back to Chaeyoung. “Actually tonight, we’re having a party for the new hires. It’s just an informal ‘yay you work here now’ event. Are you interested in going? There’ll be good food.”

Chaeyoung is about to decline the offer, she wanted to organize her apartment a little bit tonight and get some stuff out of the room Dahyun and Sana will be staying in. Plus a few of her students are still here working on things, and she doesn’t want to force them to leave early. Of course as soon as she thinks that, said students walk past her saying bye as they leave. 

“Alright, let me close up the studio and we can go.” It’ll be good to get an idea of the kind of people she’ll be working with, and to find out where the building is.

*****

After closing up the studio, Chaeyoung had gotten into Momo’s car and they had driven not too far away to a four story building. It was sleek and simple, the only identifying factor being the metal lettering next to the door where ‘Myoui Enterprises Korean Branch’ was printed. Momo told her the party is on the second floor since that’s where the meeting rooms are, so it was the easiest place to keep the food. 

They make their way through the lobby to the elevator, there’s no one else on the first floor so it’s a little eerie. They wait for a few moments for the elevator to come down to them, and Chaeyoung takes a look around. It’s nice, there’s what looks to be a small coffee bar and the cub wonders if she’ll have to buy it or if it’s free. There’s also a nice seating area nearby and a sleek front desk. It looks very professional, and a little bit intimidating. She’ll just have to get used to it, since she has to be here so often. 

“Your office is probably not going to be on this floor.” Momo started as they got into the elevator. “Most likely, you’ll be on the fourth floor. If you want, before you go someone can show you around up there.” 

“Why can’t you?” Chaeyoung’s brows furrow.

“O-oh, uh.” Momo seems surprised at the question and attempts to quickly recover. “I can, just someone else might want to. No one specific, just if you meet anyone you get along with. I probably won't work with you that much because I'm a secretary. So you might want someone else to show you around.” 

Chaeyoung arches a brow at Momo, feeling extremely skeptical now. Before she can say anything, the elevator dings and the doors open to show a decent group of people. It seems that there’s at least forty or so people mingling about with plates in their hands. 

“Oh good, we’re here. I’m gonna grab food, I’ll see you.” Momo practically darts away, quickly disappearing into the crowd of people. Reluctantly, Chaeyoung steps out onto the floor and a chill goes down her spine. 

The cub’s eyes dart around looking for the source, but after a minute of being unable to find anything she decides to let it go. She squeezes past people, not ready to meet anyone yet since her stomach is rumbling at her. She had expected to see Momo in the meeting room holding all the food, but there’s no one else in here. Chaeyoung goes through the one open door and her lips at the sight. As she grabs a plate, she hears the door shut and lock behind her. 

Chaeyoung whips her head around to see what just happened, and standing there is the source of the chill. Now, her body lights on fire, trying to push her closer to the black haired beauty in front of her. She’s dressed casually, a button up collar sticking out over her gray sweater. She stands blocking the door, staring at the cub with her hands behind her back. Presumably holding the doorknob. 

“You’re joking.”

AUTHORS NOTE: Hope yall liked it. This is sort of like a pet project of mine so I've been writing it for awhile just in my spare time. I know Mina and Chaeyoung haven't really interacted much yet, but in the next few chapters there will be a lot more interactions like the one hinted at near the end of this chapter. have a good week yall, see u sometime next thursday.