**

Irene's attention, usually laser-sharp, flitted like a nervous butterfly. Seungwan, or rather, Wendy, sat across the desk. She couldn't shake off the memory of the younger woman telling that she preferred not to be called Seungwan. A pang of sadness, quickly squelched, twisted Irene's gut, but Irene acknowledged that she had no right to feel that way. This woman before her was not the same person from years ago.

"So, Wendy," Irene cleared , forcing her voice back to its professional drone, "any questions before you settle in?"

Wendy, eyes beneath flawlessly brows, met Irene's gaze. A faint smile played on her lips, something both familiar and utterly foreign. "Nope," she said, her voice a cool melody that sent shivers down Irene's spine. "I think you've covered everything, Ms. Bae. I'll reach out if anything pops up."

"Okay, that's good then." Irene stood up, the click of her heels echoing in the sudden silence. As she turned to look at Wendy, her peripheral vision caught a glint of silver. Her gaze landed on Wendy's collar, where a stray thread from her silk blouse clung defiantly.

"There's something on your collar," she mentioned absentmindedly.

Before realizing it, without conscious thought, Irene's hand reached out. Her fingers, cool against the warmth of the delicate fabric as she brushed the thread away.

Irene swore she hadn't planned it. It was a reflex, a muscle memory honed by years of being a neat freak. What brought her back to reality was the realization that she was now just inches away from Wendy Shon, catching the intoxicating scent of Wendy's perfume, a swirling mix of citrus and rosewood that seemed to steal the breath from her lungs.

Irene felt a sudden surge of panic, her heartbeat accelerating, but her acting skills kicked in. She maintained a calm demeanor while subtly observing a faint blush creeping onto Wendy's cheeks.

Turning towards the door, "Let's go, Wendy," she said, her voice deceptively calm "I'll introduce you to the team," effortlessly wearing her usual composed mask.

Wendy stood up from her chair, the blush still noticeable to Irene. It left Irene uncertain—was Wendy genuinely feeling something, or simply the light playing tricks?

**

(Open working space)

The room hummed with the frenetic energy of working individuals. The air was filled with the voices of people engaged in discussions and conversations, blending seamlessly with the rhythmic tap of fingers on keyboards.

Irene arrived at the primary team space, standing beside Wendy as she introduced each member of the team.

“Wendy, this is the primary team, as I mentioned earlier, specifically formed to handle high-profile brands and clients,” Irene explained before starting with the introductions.

“That’s Kim Yerim, the designer of the team. You'll be working closely with her,” she pointed to a young woman with a cheeky smile, appearing more like a kid.

“Next, meet Solar Kim, our copywriter,” Irene directed attention to a woman with long blonde hair. Solar offered a warm smile to Wendy. “And over there is Park Chanyeol,” she continued, indicating a tall figure, "the project manager of this team."

Irene briefly introduced each team member. Turning towards Wendy, she continued, “Team, this is Wendy Shon, our new addition. She will be working alongside Yerim,” Irene paused for a moment, assessing the team's reactions.

“Yerim, you can learn things from Wendy. She spent the last two years in LA, finishing her master's and contributing to some interesting projects there.” Irene, always the fair boss, made sure to commend achievements when needed.

“and Wendy, you can ask Yerim if you’re unsure about the works. She already understand all of the work flow here,” Irene said to Wendy.

“I’ll leave you now, and you may start to work on materials I briefed at my office earlier,” with that Irene concluded Wendy’s onboarding.

**

Seungwan could still feel the warmth on her cheeks from moments ago in Irene's office. She couldn't understand why Irene had done such a thing. The lingering scent of jasmine from Irene's perfume added to the complexity of her emotions, a scent that had once brought comfort to Seungwan.

Suddenly, a cheerful voice sliced through her turmoil. "Hi, Wendy-ssi!" A bubbly young woman with cascading dark hair beamed at her.

"Hi, Yerim-ssi, right?" she tried to recall the name of this kid-like colleague.

"It’s nice to have you here! You don’t know how stressed I am lately because of the work," Yerim complained.

"Don't exaggerate, Squirtle!" A deep baritone boomed across the table. Park Chanyeol, with his tousled dark hair and mischievous grin, interjected.

"Shut up, oppa! You don’t know how hard being a graphic designer in this team is, especially when you're reporting directly to Ms. Bae," Yerim pouted, crossing her arms.

"Don't let her scare you, Wendy-ssi," Chanyeol chuckled. "Sure, work's been a bit intense lately with deadlines for the new campaign, but Yerim tends to dramatize things."

Solar, perched at her desk with a serene smile, chimed in, "Chanyeol's right. Most days are manageable, but lately, Ms. Bae's pushing us all to our limits."

Seungwan laughed, thoroughly enjoying the banter among the team members. She could feel the vibrant energy of the team, making her think that joining this company might not be such a bad decision.

After a bit of chit-chat, Seungwan got to know each team member better. Yerim was two years younger than her, and she told Yerim to call her unnie comfortably. For Solar and Chanyeol, they were the same age, three years older than her. Solar suggested to address her as unnie, and Chanyeol, not wanting to be left out, asked Seungwan to call him oppa just like what Yerim called the older guy.

As she opened the laptop provided by the company, Seungwan began working on the tasks Irene had briefed her on. She hunched over the device, fingers flying across the keyboard, occasionally pausing to look for some inspirations and brainstorm with Yerim.

When it was 12 PM, Yerim and Solar asked Seungwan to join them to the cafeteria for lunch on the first floor. She readily agreed, her own stomach grumbling after hours of preparing the concept deck for Irene.

(Cafetaria)

Carrying a tray full of food, Seungwan looked for Yerim and Solar. Turning her gaze to the right, she saw her two new colleagues waving. From a distanc