By the time the tour with Brian ended, it had been lunch time already and AJ had gotten very hungry.

While Krystal was still busy handling paperwork and pending projects, the other members of the Layout Department like Taeyeon and Tiffany had already left with Hyoyeon and Yuri for lunch, a little earlier than usual as they wanted to get back quickly to complete their layout designs that has to be submitted to Krystal for approval.

AJ dragged her feet along the floor as she trudged lazily, plopping down on her office chair quite tiredly.

“Gosh, I’m famished.” AJ whined out loud as she let her body sink in her chair.

“Yo homie! Do you wanna go grab lunch together?” Brian happened to walk by AJ’s table and rested his palm flatly on the desk as he stopped.

“Erm…”

AJ looked at Brian with a blank stare then allowed her eyes to shift towards Krystal’s office that was strategically located in front of her work space.

The guy in front of her raised his eyebrow as he followed the new JD's line of sight, only to find a very tired looking Krystal still swamped with work.

“Aaah. Hoping to ask our boss out for lunch? You just met her and you’re already smitten by her.” Brian stated with a mischievous grin.

Hearing the accusing tone, AJ snapped her attention back to Brian as she tried to act all nonchalant.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” AJ brushed it off rather coolly. “Come on, I'm hungry. I’ll just go to lunch with you.” She got up and grabbed her wallet and stuffed it into her back pocket.

As the two walked by Krystal’s 'fish bowl' office (it was completely transparent), AJ saw her boss look up at her. And as their gazes landed on each other, the newbie smiled at Krystal and did a playful salute as she continued walking alongside Brian.

AJ and Brian continued walking towards the elevators when Brian brought up something.

“Does she even know you’re a girl? No offense but, she seems to be okay with you. Being the only straight girl in this company, you should've seen her all awkward with us when she first started. It was really endearing," Brian recalled Krystal's first day like a pleasant memory when in reality, the younger girl's first day was nothing but.

"I really thought she's gonna freak out when she sees that the new employee's not like her. Wait, you do know she's straight, right?” The guy continued.

“Yes, I do know she's straight, and to answer your other question, I honestly don't know. She never questioned me about it though, she never asked. Actually, I don’t really care whether she knows it or not. I don't go about talking to someone whom I just met about my private life, more so my ual preference.” AJ quickly pushed the topic aside as she hinted Brian that she doesn't want to talk about it anymore.

“Right," came the brief answer.

Nearing the elevators, the two saw a petite girl got out of one and started walking towards their direction.

“Hey Brian, who’s that?” AJ angled her head slightly pointing towards the petite girl’s direction.

“Oh, that’s BoA, Krystal’s cousin. She works upstairs in the Events department.” Brian answered.

“She’s so… small…” AJ said innocently.

“She is, BUT wait till you see her dance. You wouldn't be able to look at her the same way again. That small body of hers dominates the stage quite expertly. That's how good she is."

AJ nodded in understanding as she tried to picture the petite girl dancing in a stage.

“Hi guys~” BoA walked over to them and pointed at AJ. “Are you the new JD?”

“Uh…Yeah, I am,” AJ replied. “I’m AJ,” she continued as she stuck her hand out for BoA to shake.

“My name's BoA. I'm your boss’ cousin.” BoA giggled as she returned the handshake.

“Hey, I didn’t see you at the meeting today. What happened?” Brian asked.

“Oh, I had to go see the clients for the Marc by Marc Jacobs Runway Show.” BoA explained.

“Don’t forget to attend! It’s next month and we’ll need help from Layouts. Same reason why I’m here, I need to talk to Krystal about it. I’ll catch you guys later.” She smiled at Brian and AJ.

“Oh, and Brian! Get a table for four. Once I’m done here, Krys and I will join you two.” BoA yelled as she continued to walk in the direction of Krystal's office.

“Okie dokie.” Brian answered. “So… where were we?...” He thought to himself. “Oh right! What do you feel like having for lunch?”

AJ pondered for a while as she remembered Krystal's mini lecture about Les Chic's Cafeteria Level.

“Well, Krystal told me that the American food here is good, and I'm certainly feeling homesick already. Shall we have that?” AJ asked.

“Sure! I love the diner here anyway. Feels like home.” Brian reminisces as the two stepped inside the elevator and head for the Cafeteria.


-----------------


Krystal had managed to clear a few folders from her work pile when she heard a knock on her glass door. She looked up and found her cousin, BoA, waving at her like a kid from outside.

“Come in, unnie!” Krystal said as she motioned for her cousin to come in. “What brings you here?”

BoA entered through the glass sliding doors and walked towards her cousin's desk.

“I just came back from the client meeting for that Marc Jacobs fashion show and I would be needing the help of your department together with Sooyoung’s.” BoA sat down on the couch in Krystal’s office with a plop.

“Oh. Okay. Maybe I can put the new JD in to help you, unnie. This could be his first real project.” Krystal beamed. “He’s… cute.”

“He?” BoA questioned, one eyebrow raised.

“AJ. You haven’t met him? I'm going to introduce you two later.”

“You're talking about the one who went to lunch with Brian, right?” BoA asked cautiously.

“Yeah. That's him. He’s really cute.” Krystal repeated herself, her eyes smiling.

“Right. So you like those types.” BoA replied incredulously.

“Why? What are you going to do about- OMG. You’re gonna tell AJ I called him cute, aren't you?!” Krystal started panic and blush.

It was a cute sight, but for her cousin, it was downright ridiculous.

“No, of course not!” BoA giggled rather awkwardly. “Why would I? I'm your cousin! I can't believe you thought that I would do that to you!” BoA faked a hurt expression.

Krystal gave her a 'cut the act, unnie, you're just like Jessica' look, which BoA returned with a hearty laugh. "Fine, fine." The petite girl raised her hands in surrender.

“Anyway, let’s go to lunch. I’m starving.” Krystal got up from her seat and grabbed her coat. “What shall we have today?”

“Oh. That would be a surprise,” her cousin smirked.

'This is going to be fun,' BoA thought.

----------------------

Just a floor below Jung Joori's office and penthouse, the Cafeteria Level burst into life as soon as the clock hit lunch time. Employees from every department started pouring out from the elevators as they all came to satisfy their empty stomachs from the wide range of delicacies as different restaurants, both local and foreign, dominated the level.

Light chatters and occasional laughter filled the level as everyone at the company quite knew each other, it was like a very huge queer family.

If there's one thing that Joori had learned from running the company since its birth, it's treating everyone like a member of the family, and a tight bonded family means more work efficiency and peaceful work relationships.

Finally reaching the level, AJ almost had her eyes pop out from their sockets as she saw the different food choices. It was like being in a mall's food court, but only better.

The two went on inside and chose to sit by the window, the view of Seoul's skyline keeping them distracted as they waited for their orders. It was a good thing that Sooyoung hasn't arrived yet, or else they might have been forced to eat outside.

Just as Brian and AJ turned their heads away from the window, they saw BoA and Krystal walking towards their direction, and the surprised looked that Krystal had on her face was soon masked as they neared their destination.

“Hey Krystal.” AJ spoke first.

Krystal gave out a polite smile as she and BoA took their seats across the two.

“So AJ," BoA began, "What made you decide to come all the way here?” The petite girl continued to ask as she looked at AJ. She and her cousin had just made their orders and everyone’s now waiting for their food to be served.

Krystal had her ears perked as she turned towards the window, obviously feigning interest as she waited for the newbie to answer.

“Well, would you believe me if I said I was running away from my psychotic ex-girlfriend?” AJ couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly as she recalled her current predicament. When she noticed that no one laughed, she cleared out of embarrassment.

“You did?” Brian turned and looked at AJ with interest. “What level of 'crazy' are we talking about here?”

“Hmm... Where do I start..."

AJ propped her elbow on the table as she did a slight 'thinking pose', her chin resting on her close fist, while she pondered on her ex-girlfriend's stalker-ish antics while she was still at L.A.

"Calls come in like, every three minutes, usually asking where I was and who I was hanging out with. Then came the whining cause I couldn’t take her out on dates. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I was really busy with work,” she paused a while before continuing.

“It was all fine until it got really scarier because she’d suddenly call and tell me how good I looked that day, or how the shirt I'm wearing complimented my skin tone when I'm actually nowhere near her. There was a time when she called me telling me that I had mustard dripped on my shirt that I didn’t notice.”

"Maybe she noticed it when the two of you went out for lunch but forgot to remind you when the two of you parted," BoA tried to reason.

"The mustard dripped on my shirt while I was eating in my office late at night as I did overtime work," AJ answered with a blank face.

“Oh my god. That is scary!” Brian started behaving overly dramatic. “So you gave up your life and career in L.A to run away from her?”

“It was my only option,” AJ shrugged. "I just wanted to have my normal life back."

“Psychotic Ex huh?” Finally, Krystal had decided to join in the conversation. AJ turned to her and nodded.

“Plus, a friend here told me about Les Chic and asked me to give it a shot. So I did and here I am,” She smiled dorkily at everyone at that table. “And you guys, might just be my first friends here.” AJ patted Brian’s arm and he returned with a hug.

It turned out that leaving L.A. was a great decision for AJ. Here she was, working in a top notched company surrounded by great people and co-workers, not to mention having a beautiful boss (totally talking about Krystal, not Joori), and she could never ask for more.

“Okay… break it up, Brian. Your cheesiness sickens me,” BoA playfully scoffed.

When the food arrived, the group indulged in their meals and talked heartily about Les Chic and their past experiences before they came to work at the company.

“Brian, how did you get into the company?” AJ asked as she wiped with a tissue.

“Well…” He began after taking sip of his drink.

“I was studying Fashion Design in an art school in L.A. since I planned to work in some fashion related company back home, but my sister who was also studying fashion with me, told me about this big fashion magazine company here in Seoul. She said that it was a really open company who are more than willing to hire gay people, especially those who are dedicated and passionate about their work. You know how society reacts about homouality, right? I didn't want to be wrongly judged in my workplace so as soon as I learned about Les Chic's reputation of housing homoual employees, I applied and I got in,” he took another sip after talking, a smile gracing his lips.

Brian placed his drink down on the table and turned to AJ with a teasing stare.

“So AJ," he started. "You being here... Is either you're really talented, like our dear Krystal here… Or really gay, like the rest of us," he ended with a wide grin.

AJ choked on her food and started to have coughing fits.

“Oh my god AJ, are you okay?!” BoA asked as she immediately went next to the new employee to pat her back.

Krystal quickly took her drink and offered it to the poor newbie.

“Uhm… That question…” AJ was about to answer after calming down when they were interrupted by the waitress.

Saved by the dessert lady.

“Any desserts?” The waitress asked nicely.

“No thanks,” Krystal smiled at the girl then looked back at AJ.

Tension was in the air. AJ started to fidget as she uncomfortably shifted in her seat. Everyone seems to stare her down as they waited for her answer. She tried to formulate the words in her brain but the pressure busted her out.

As soon the waitress left their table, AJ fished her wallet out of her back pocket and took out a bunch of cash and stood up to leave.

“Sorry guys, I have to go. Lunch is on me. I’ll see you guys back at the office. I forgot, I-I have somewhere I needed to be right now,” she apologized profusely as she willed herself not to stutter.

“Yeah… Sure… You can go…” Krystal said as she saw AJ making a dash for it towards the elevator. AJ's sudden change in behavior confused her.

"Maybe the food didn't go well with her stomach," and commented Brian with a shrug.


---------------------

AJ’s POV

Oh… my… god…

That was a close call. Brian… that derp just tried to out me to Krystal. Oh my god, she must be thinking that I'm a creep now. Should I just… Keep it a secret and just leave her to think that I’m a straight guy? It's not like she would care, right?

But...

What if... What if we get into a relationship?

No wait. Why the hell am I thinking of having a relationship with her?

Okay, calm down. She's your boss. Krystal's your boss. Krystal is your STRAIGHT boss.

Sigh. I’ll just let her believe who she thinks I am.

For now, at least.

BUT, I need to find that girl and talk this out. Where the hell is she anyway?

I pulled out my Blackberry and it was then that I realized I was still using my American number. Great.

Ugh. But what the hell. I’ll just Blackberry message her.


AJ
Hey, I need to see you now. Where are you? Can we meet at the guest rooms?

Prankster
Sure. I’ll see you there in a bit. Were you given your keys to your room yet? I didn’t bring mine today.

AJ
Yeah, it’s with me now. My room number is 2409.


I placed my phone back into my pocket as I got into the elevator and hit the button for the 24th floor. Krystal had given me the set of keys for the guest room so I could use it whenever we have to stay over to finish up. I asked if I could use the room temporarily until I could find a place on my own and she said yes.

DING.

I stepped out of the lift and a hotel-like lobby greeted me. It's my second time in this level, the first being with Krystal when she helped me with my luggage earlier, and I swear, it would take me a couple more visits until I get used to this. The building is really something.

I walked towards my room, unlocked the door and closed it behind me. Maybe I could just lie down for a bit until that silly girl gets here. She better hurry up or my mind will explode from all these thoughts.

And I guess I prayed hard enough because a couple of minutes later, I heard a knock on my door.

“Coming~” I stood up and shuffled my feet towards the door.

I opened it and I was greeted with an annoyed Kwon Yuri.

“Hey Yuri,” I pulled her into the room.

“What’s up? You can’t talk to me properly in the office? You have to drag me all the way here? I feel like your freaking mistress or something.”

Great. Now she’s complaining. Ugh. I don’t know how much more my brain can handle.

“Nothing, I just missed hanging out. How are you and your girlfriend?” I started as I sat on the sofa provided. My room looks like a hotel suite.

She stared at me like she saw a ghost. “What? I can’t ask how my friend is?”

“Okay. So you made me come here, asking if you can speak to me in private to just ask ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP?!” Yuri fumed.

Okay. She’s pissed.

“No. Well… Yes… And no…” I had to think about what I wanted to ask before she tears me into unrecognizable pieces. “Just answer. I’ll explain later.”

“Hmph.”

Okay. She’s crossed her arms. Not good.

“We’re doing fine,” she answered eventually. Thank god.

“Her folks know about you guys?”

“What, are you crazy?! No! It’ll be suicide. Her family finding out about us is worse than saying 'babe it’s better if we broke up'. Her folks are a scary bunch of homophobes you don’t wanna go near. Ever.” Yuri gave emphasis on that 'ever' part.

“Then why are you still with her?” I just had to ask. I could see her roll her eyes at me. Why? I had to question to be sure. Right?

“I think your psycho ex-girlfriend had managed to kill some of your brain cells. It's because we love each other. There's no other reason needed. Now will you please tell me what’s up with all these stupid questions? What’s going on between me and my girl CLEARLY has nothing to do with you.”

I knew it. She’ll try to force things out of me. I let out a sigh. No use stalling anyway.

“Krystal thinks I’m a straight guy. And I don't know if I should I tell her the truth.” There, I said it.

I saw Yuri give me an unreadable stare. The sudden silence in the room is seriously suffocating me.

I was about to talk when Yuri bursts into laughter.

“Why are you laughing?!” I scoffed.

“I'm so-sorry. It's j-just... too funny. Omg hold on. Let me... let me breathe for a second."

Yuri doubled over on the couch as she tried to stop laughing. Awesome. Now I feel like the of every joke known to man.

"Okay. It’s just so funny that a straight girl like Krystal can mistake you for a guy. I mean, a gay guy maybe, but a straight one?!” Yuri tried to speak in between laughter. She's laughing at me again.

“Seriously Amber, or should I call you AJ now?" Yuri still continued to giggle. "I honestly thought she’d be able to tell just by looking at you.”

“Yul. Have you seen me?” I gave her an incredulous look as I pointed to my clothes.

“Yeah, I've been seeing you every day for four years back when I was still in L.A.," Yuri tried to stop laughing. “You’re still that same kid I knew back then. Just, minus that psychotic ex.”

“Oh please don’t remind me of Nicole. Brian, BoA and Krystal asked me about it over lunch. They wanted to know what I’m doing here so I just told them, a part of the story at least.”

Finally, she had stopped laughing. I thought she's never gonna recover. She sat next to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. She's in 'unnie mode' now.

“Look, my advice for you? Just be yourself. Let Krystal find out about you herself. You shouldn’t be so bothered by it. You know, I haven’t seen you getting so worked up about people mistaking you for a guy before. Not until now. What’s up this time?"

I saw her eyes widen. Okay, not good.

"OMG... Don’t tell me you have something for that straight girl?!” She yelled at my face as she grabbed the collar of my shirt.

Yuri. Why do you jump to conclusions? Why?

I sighed.

“No. It’s just that… I don’t want another straight girl hating on me just because they thought I was a guy. They fall for me and then you know… it’s like I was bound to break their hearts,” I sighed again. “I’m not saying that she has any feelings for me or vice versa. I’m just trying to be careful, that’s all.”

So am I living in denial now? I don’t know what I feel for Krystal. She’s just… another straight girl… And this... what I'm feeling right now... Must be just another straight girl crush... Right?

Yeah. That’s it. Just another straight girl crush.

"Okay, whatever you say. Just always remember that you can talk to me, yeah? We've always been family, Amber. It's not gonna change."

Yuri stood up as she ruffled my hair. I missed this dork.

“Okay, I think we need to get back to work. I have to submit my designs to Krystal before the end of the day and you better get back too. She might assign your first project today,” Yuri pulled me up from the sofa and out of my thoughts. She does that ALL THE TIME. Sigh.

“Yeah. You go ahead first,” I playfully shoved her.

She ruffled my hair one last time before heading out towards the door. I was about to follow her when she turned to me again, her face looking a little... confused?

“Hey, Amber. Why don't you want people to know that we know each other?” Hmm… good question Yul.

“That’s because, I don’t want people questioning me about my past. Easy as that. I have moved on and I want to start a new life here. I’m still young so… yeah.” I answered.

Yuri nodded in understanding as she opened the door.

"Also, I don't want to be associated with a dork like you," I added before she could completely got out of the room.

"I know you love me, Amber."

I laughed as I saw her smirk before she closed the door.

I waited for about five minutes before I left the room. Yuri must be on the Layouts Department by then. I locked up and jogged to the elevator and hit the button for the 15th floor. Time to work


-------------------


By the time I got back, everyone on the floor seemed to have returned to their respective works. Silence dominated the work spaces, save from the occasional clicking noises, keyboard sounds and that distinct sound of lead scratching on paper.

I was making my way to my own cubicle when I saw Krystal sitting on her couch with Brian. They must be going through some designs.

I walked by when I saw Krystal look up at me at the corner of my eye. I returned the look and immediately saw her beaconed for me to join them in her office.

“What’s up?” I poked my head in.

“Come in, AJ. We want to hear your thoughts on these page layouts for the Youth Fashion section for next month’s issue,” Krystal explained.

She pointed at the table in front of the couch where I saw five pieces of boards neatly lined up.

I looked down at the designs and I gulped a little too loudly. I didn't want to be a jerk but these designs are somewhat... mediocre.

"Uh…" I started.

Okay, calm down. Think of what to say first. Remember, use kind words.

But… what am I to say? What if these designs were by Krystal? I think I'm gonna be fired on my first day.

“AJ, just speak your mind. I wanna know what you really think,” Krystal said to me.

I looked at Krystal then to the designs then back at her. I can feel my sweat trickle at the back of my neck. Damn.

"Oooh, I think someone's scared..." Brian teased. I immediately eyed him gave him a nasty glare.

“It’s okay AJ, even if they’re done by me, I’d like to know what you really think,” she reassured me... with a smile. I can never get enough of that smile…

Damn it, Amber! Stop dazing!

“Okay. I think that this one here…” I picked up the one in the middle, “the colors need to be brighter.” I put down the design and picked up another. “This one, the designs need to be more electronic.”

I picked up another board and stared at it for a while. “As for this one, it missed out the whole point of Youth Fashion.”

I looked at Krystal who still has that same smile on her face. “What is the theme by the way?”

“Electronica,” she smiled again. “What about this one then?” she held up the mood board for me to see.

I pondered for a while as I deduced the elements on the layout.

“Well, I would say that the way how everything is laid out, doesn’t seem to have as much creativity as I would’ve pictured it to be, since you said that the theme’s Electronica,” I started.

“You see here…” I pointed. “The photos are just laid out in a jumble, which is really worse than a slide show. Also, the colors used are not contrasting at all. In fact, they’re the worst set of colors you can use. I mean…” I looked at Krystal again and I noticed that I was babbling.

I closed my mouth in a tight line. She probably thinks I'm a design freak now.

“Sorry, I got carried away with my criticism. This is what Designing does to me,” I found a seat and sat down quietly.

“No. It’s alright. Actually, that’s the best constructive criticism I’ve heard from a newbie, probably the most honest too,” Krystal said. “Really. No one would say that to me. Or to Brian for that matter.”

Oh crap, do I need to clear my cubicle now?

“Yeah,” I saw Brian nodded in agreement as he studied the mood boards again. “Like she said, it’s constructive, straight to the point and downright honest. I’ll go tell those gay girls they need to change it up. Be right back!” He grabbed the boards and left with a skip.

What the hell? Those were done by the girls outside?

I turned my head to look at the work spaces and the busy people quietly working in them. I uttered a simple apology in my head. More work for them.

“So AJ…" Krystal's voice brought me back from my thoughts. I looked at her as she continued speaking. "Getting used to this place yet?” She asked me.

“Huh?” I looked at her for a second before realizing what she asked me.

“Oh… yeah. I’m adjusting really well, despite just being at work for only a day," I told her.

"Hmm, you must be really good for Joori-un... noona… to praise you that well this morning. I’d like to learn as much as I can from you. And from everyone.”

That was close. I should be careful with how I addressed people. One slip could easily end my life.

“Good! Because there’s a runway show coming up and you'll be needed!” Krystal looked all excited suddenly.

It was rather amusing to see her switch her expressions almost immediately. I wonder what’s her blood type. Yuri used to teach me about blood types and how it’s part of the Korean culture.

“The Marc by Marc Jacobs show?” I asked.

“Oh! Yeah! You know about it?” She seemed surprised that I knew.

“Yeah. Before lunch, Brian and I bumped into your cousin and she told us about it,” I answered as I recalled the fateful meeting earlier.

“Okay. So what I need you to do is to go and draw up some sketches for the set design for the runway and then hand it in to me. Nothing too flashy, rough sketches would do. But I would need a top and a perspective view of the venue,” She smiled.

This is just awesome. First project and I'm handling a Marc Jacobs fashion show already. This company sure trusts their employees a lot. But that's good right?

I stood up from my seat and started to walk away when I remembered something.

“Oh, I forgot to ask, when do you need it?” I turned towards Krystal and asked for the deadline.

“Hmm... Anytime this week.”

I nodded and was about to leave when she called me back. “AJ…”

“Yeah Krystal?” I looked at her again.

“Since you’ll be working very closely with BoA-unnie and myself, I’d like for you to move your workspace into my office.”

What? Did I heard that right?

“Uh... Sure!” I gave her a goofy smile.

I returned to my previous seat as she called for some janitors to help move my tables in. It only took about a few minutes when a few able-looking men walked in with a thin looking guy.

I saw Krystal stand up from her seat before she pulled me up and dragged me outside her office. I was about to ask why when the janitors came out of the office with that guy. They all made a 'thumbs up' sign and left.

Krystal motioned for me to come in and I felt my jaw fall to the ground.

Everything was moved in and my tables looked like they were already there from the start. The desks and other furniture were rearranged and everything just fitted in. It was like a new room.

"What just happened?" I asked Krystal with a baffled look.

"That guy who came in with the janitors is our resident Interior Designer," she answered like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Whoa.

After making a fool out of myself, looking all impressed like a lame individual, I finally sat at my workspace and started studying the measurements that Krystal gave me of the venue. I opened my laptop and tried to search for image pegs as I held the measurement sheets with my free hand.

Soon after I started sketching up the top view, I felt a pair of eyes looking at me.

I looked up discreetly and saw her staring at me. Oh crap. Do your work AMBER!

I quickly looked back at my screen and tried to focus. A few seconds later, I let my eyes shift back towards Krystal's direction, at her face specifically.

Her perfect skin seemed to glow and I like how her hair fell in the right places. How I wanted to brush those few rogue strands away just so I could stare at that beautiful face of hers.

Wow, Amber. Creeper much?

I was still gawking at her when she looked up at me again. I really couldn’t look anywhere else so I just continued staring at her. I smiled.

Oh, her cheeks are turning pink. She’s blushing. How cute.

That smile... Damn, my face feels hot. Man… I must be blushing too….

I’m never gonna finish this assignment, am I?

END OF POV


------------


Outside of Krystal's fishbowl and very much transparent office, Brian lazily swiveled in his chair just in time to witness the two blushing at each other. It was an amusing sight.

“OMG. Look at those two! They’re like freaking high schoolers!!!” He said loud enough for the girls around him to hear.

“Say what?” Tiffany stood up and looked in the direction of Krystal’s office. “OMG! THEY ARE SO ADORABLE!” She started squealing.

“That’s super cute,” Taeyeon came and hugged Tiffany from the back. “Right baby?”

“Uh huh,” Tiffany nodded as she turned and gave Taeyeon a peck on the lips.

Unbeknownst to what's happening around her, Yuri was so immersed in finishing her assigned projects and deliberately shrugged off the show that was occurring inside the fishbowl office. Just then, the tanned girl's phone started ringing. Grabbing her device on her desk and never bothering to check who the caller was, Yuri picked up.

“Hello?”

“YURI!!!” Yuri pulled the phone away from her as her ear was greeted by a voice that can rival Tiffany's.

Hyoyeon, who had her expensive noise cancelling earphones on, turned immediately and stared at her with wide eyes.

“Who the hell is that? Her voice is hella loud. I think she just busted my earphones.” Hyoyeon asked as she took out a bud from her ear.

“What the?! Who's this?” Yuri got a little annoyed.

“You don’t even remember me anymore? How could you?! I’m devastated! It’s me! N I C O L E!” Nicole, Amber’s (psycho) ex-girlfriend spelled her name out for Yuri.

“N..I..C…O…WHAT THE HELL?! HOW DID YOU GET MY NUMBER?!” Yuri shouted into the phone. The other girls stared at her and she waved them off. “How did you get my number?” She lowered her voice into a whisper.

“I have all of my Amber’s contacts with me,” Nicole giggled over the phone.

Yuri started to feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

Like opening Pandora's box, Yuri's unpleasant memory of being Amber's best friend crashed into her like a ten-wheeler truck running at impossible speeds. During her stay at L.A., she had witnessed all the craziness that Nicole had ensued on her best friend's life, including hers, and she couldn't, WOULDN'T, let herself be involved in that again.

Amber had once lived in her basement for a month just to get away from her girlfriend when she discovered that Nicole had discreetly injected a GPS tracking device while she was sleeping. After that very painful operation of getting that small device out of her blood stream, Amber had begged her to let her stay in her basement. It was a traumatic experience for the both of them.

“Now will you please tell me why Amber hasn’t been picking up my calls?”

Nicole's high pitched voice brought Yuri back from her rather horrifying reminiscence.

Yuri then remembered earlier that she had prepared a new SIM card for Amber to use in Korea so that she wouldn’t be paying overseas rates. They had changed it while they were in Amber’s guest room.

The tanned girl started to fidget in her seat. Amber had left everything in L.A. just to get away, and she wouldn't let her best friend's new life be disrupted again.

“I have no idea, okay? I’ve tried calling her too but she’s not picking up. Look Nicole, I’ve got a lot of work to do so will you please leave me alone?”

“Not until you tell me where she is,” Nicole threatened her.

The girl wasn’t going to give up so easily, Yuri knew that much, so with one last yell of 'I DON'T KNOW!', Yuri decided to cut the call and just hang up. She saved the number in case she stupidly picks it up again.

“N-I-C-O-L-E. No wait…S-T-A-L-K-E-R… There. That’s better.” She keyed in the name and placed her phone back on her desk.

Yuri got back to working and just as her momentum's picking up, her phone rang again.

“Jesus Christ. Will she give up already?!” Yuri cancelled the call.

Before she could get her hands back on her keyboard, a call came in again.

“OMG! Quit already!” She switched her phone off, took the battery out and stuffed the device into her pocket.

Nicole had stopped calling for the next few minutes and Yuri can never be more delighted. She was down to a file more before being done for the day. Sipping the coffee that Hyoyeon had bought for her while she was on a screaming fit with Nicole, Yuri leaned on her chair and rested her head a bit.

A few minutes later, the phone near her desk rang. Yuri slid towards the phone while on her chair, coffee cup in one hand, the other reaching for the ringing device.

“Layout Department, Kwon Yuri speaking.”

The girl took a sip from her coffee as she waited for the voice on the other line.

“It’s not very nice ignoring other people's calls,” Nicole spoke.

Yuri instantly spat the drink in , the disgusting concoction barely hitting Hyoyeon's head.

"Man, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Her friend screamed at her.

Yuri immediately stood up and yanked the phone cable from the wall and shoved the object inside her drawer with a slam.

“Yuri… are you okay?” Hyoyeon watched as Yuri lost her mind, the tanned girl pacing back and forth while peeking on the windows looking for something or someone.

“Uh huh! I’m really fine! I'm great!” Yuri squealed, her voice a little higher than usual. Her hair was a mess, her desk looked like a hurricane just went by and her cubicle wall now has a brown coffee stain that's still dripping down on the floor.

After taking deep breaths and a few 'Calm down, Yuri' chants, the tanned girl had relaxed and had now returned to her seat. Finishing the last of her assignments for the day, Yuri compiled her files as she signed in on Skype.

 

“Okay. This better not be my baby,” Yuri said dejectedly. “I don’t think I can handle her now.” She rubbed her temples.

Yuri clicked 'Answer with Video'.

“YURI KWON! HOW DARE YOU?!”

Yuri almost fell off her chair as Nicole's face popped up on her screen, thunderous voice blaring from her laptop's speaker.

The tanned girl was so shocked and she didn’t know what to do. She looked around the area and saw a bunch of cutters and hobby knives scattered around Hyoyeon's desk and she contemplated for a while if ending her life right then and there could take her out of this mess.

Hyoyeon was opening a new pair of earphones that was stashed along with a bunch more in her 'earphones drawer' (Nicole trashed her previous one with her inhumanly high frequency scream) with a cutter when she turned to look at her friend, only to find the latter dangerously eyeing her knives. Standing up quickly, Hyoyeon swiftly acquired every sharp thing on her desk, threw them in her drawer and locked it with a click.

"Whatever you're thinking, I'm not gonna let myself be involved with it," Hyoyeon said as she plugged the fresh earphones in her ears.

Yuri frantically look for another way to end her misery when she saw an opened window near her workspace. Too bad it was small and couldn't fit her body.

She sighed. There's no other way to deal with this other than facing the devil herself.

“When will you ever give up?! I told you, I don’t know where she is!” Yuri screamed back with the same intensity.

“Hey Yul, I need help with this. Could you-” Just then, Amber walked into Yuri’s cubicle asking for help and was now unfortunately face to face with her ex girlfriend on the screen.

“OMG! AMBER! AMBER! BABY I MISSED YOU!!! YURI, YOU’RE A LI-”

Before Nicole could finish her sentence, Amber slammed Yuri’s laptop shut and threw it out of the opened window.

CRASH.

CAR ALARM BLARING.

Krystal came running out from her office with a worried face.

“What the hell was that?! What happened here, AJ?” Krystal asked.

“Oh, Yuri was bidding on an item in Ebay and she got too excited when she won it and accidentally threw her laptop out the window," Amber nonchalantly said. She walked towards the window to see the damage. "I'll go pick it up now... or what's left of it. Oh my dear Yuri, you should really be careful with your stuff." Amber shook her head as she walked away.

“YURI! You must be watching o again! No wonder I heard all those noises! God, have you ever thought about using headphones? Hyoyeon has hundreds of them in her drawer. Seriously. Now look where your laptop has landed.” Brian said at the still frantic girl.

“I… I wasn’t!” Yuri was now lost for words. First she was being stalked by Nicole, then Amber threw her laptop out of their department floor, which was fifteen floors from ground level. Now, Brian was accusing her of watching .

Yuri’s phone rang again. She realized it was her back-up phone.

“Great. She’s not gonna give up now that she found her,” Yuri sighed as she whispered to herself.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?! STOP CALLING ME! I SWEAR I WILL CUT YOU IF YOU EVER CONTACT ME AGAIN!” Yuri screamed into her phone without looking at the caller ID.

“Seobang.” A cold voice greeted her.

“Holy !” Now Yuri threw her back up phone out the window.

CRASH.

“OH MY GOD, I AM SO DEAD!” She turned and looked at Krystal who just stood there and watched her break down.

Yuri grabbed her finished paperwork on her desk and shoved everything on Krystal's hand as she dashed off.

Krystal had never seen Yuri run that fast before. The younger girl had to rub her eyes as she saw Yuri's body blurring because of her speed.

“I HAVE TO SAVE MY RIGHT NOW! I'LL EXPLAIN LATER!!!” She ran out of the doors of the Layout Department leaving many confused faces behind.

“What the hell just happened?” Hyoyeon asked as they can still hear Yuri's crazy screaming about her 'beautiful future family not existing' and how 'a certain newbie owed her a new laptop'.


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