“Oh, my god! He took you to the Wonder Mall, didn’t he?” Soojin sighed in agony when she was greeted with few more of the curious female employees at the lounge area. At first, she was thankful to have a few minutes to get away from Wu Fan. That guy was getting on her nerves. He keeps ordering her around to get coffee for him or to arrange this and that. And whenever Soojin finally takes the time to rest, she gets called before she even sits down.

Kim Hyoyeon, another employee from the Strategic Design Department, came over to their table. When she looks at it from afar, Soojin was surrounded with women prettier than her. They were unlikely tall individuals, too. No wonder Wu Fan told her to dress up nicely. They’re all so pretty, she thought, feeling a little hopeless.

“He did, didn’t he?”

Soojin was heavily immersed to her self-conscious thoughts when Taeyeon’s chirpy voice brought her back to reality. “Huh?”

“President Kris brought you to the Wonder Mall,” Taeyeon stated like it wasn’t a question. “That’s how you got that Darcy Lace layover dress? Because I saw that one yesterday and, I swear, it costs like thrice of my salary. I couldn’t buy that using my credit card even if I wanted to.”

Soojin pinched her eyebrows. “He said he wanted me to look like a real secretary.”

Song Qian pursed her lips, giving Soojin a curious look. “But you know, Soojin-ssi, I haven’t seen your resume even once,” she explained. “And I didn’t even see you come at the company for an interview with the President. How did he hire you?”

Soojin looked baffled. Was she supposed to tell them the truth? “Well, you see—”

“But you should be thankful, Vic.” Im Yoona threw Song Qian a lopsided smile. “At least you’re saved. Even if President Kris comes to you for his schedule, you’re spared from his disparagements.” She turned to Soojin. “I’m not saying this to discourage you, Soojin-ssi, but you really have to be careful towards President Kris. Though I’ve known him of my life, thanks to Luhan, he’s kind of… antisocial.”

“Antisocial?” Kwon Yuri, an employee from the Costume Design department, scoffs and rolls her eyes. “More like allergic to human emotion. It’s like he can even barely stand his employees around. He’s always looking for perfection and he doesn’t even want to admit his mistakes. I think I would have preferred his father over him anytime even though his father scares the out of me.”

Soojin laughed. “You guys are too much.”

“No, we’re serious, Soojin-ssi,” Seo Joohyun adds, nodding her head eagerly. “Every day is a torture when he’s around. I’m grateful that I don’t get to be at the same floor as he is. There was that one time when we had to depict our presentation for a new event. The props were two minutes late so we kindly asked him to wait. But he didn’t. Instead, he walked away the moment he knew it was going to be late. Then he said some harsh things like we weren’t good enough and all that stuff.”

“He lacks manners!” Choi Sooyoung added, shaking her head in annoyance. “Yes, he may be one of the most gorgeous men I’ve ever seen but his personality is definitely a turn-off. I would date Heechul oppa than President Kris. At least he has good manners.”

Krystal heaved a sigh. “I remember the previous secretaries who worked for President Kris,” she declared, giving a sympathetic shudder. “They looked so miserable after going through hell with him. President Kris doesn’t even mind his words. He doesn’t even care what he’s saying. As long as that’s what his mind thinks, he’s going to say it. You can’t stop him.”

Luna groaned, scowling. “I also recall that one time when I was carrying a lot of binders and documents from the first floor up to my office. I rode the elevator with him and I was hoping he would help. He’s a man. The least thing he could was to help me before I bury in total embarrassment. When I reached my floor, all that I was carrying fell off my hands and he had the time to scoff at me. He told me I was too weak. I wanted to punch and attack him but I… I didn’t want to lose my job.”

“That’s awful,” Yoona commented, scrunching her nose. “Thank God I married Luhan then.”

“I was in a good mood once,” Sulli began, waving her hands, “because Taemin and I were getting married in a week. I actually had the decency to bring him coffee just because I want to be friends.” She emphasized the word friends and gave a ‘what the hell was I thinking?’ look.

“Oh, yeah!” Song Qian exclaimed, pointing at Sulli. “I remember that! And I remember telling you not to do it because he was in a bad mood but you didn’t believe me. In the end, he threw all the anger at you. You were crying so much.”

Sulli threw a disgust look. “I’m never doing that again!”

“Maybe he’s just trying to abide by the rules?” Soojin suggested, smiling clumsily. “You guys talk like he’s the worst person in the world. I don’t think it’s good to judge a person just because of how he acts towards you.”

Song Qian shot me a quizzical look. Few seconds later, all of them burst out laughing.

“Honey, that’s because you haven’t stayed here for more than a year,” Song Qian says between laughs. “You’re so innocently cute. But that’s okay. Since you’ve just started, you didn’t taste the deepest pit of his wrath yet. And if one day you do, you can count us to be there and share with your troubles.”

A sneer touched the corners of Soojin’s lips. “Uh, thanks? I guess.”

“So, how did your first day go, unnie?” Krystal asks, smiling impishly. “I heard President Kris was really mad at you when you protected Taeyeon unnie.”

Taeyeon nods, shooting Soojin a grin. “Oh, yeah. I’m really thankful for that, Soojin. It was so nice of you. I was worried that President Kris would really go after me and make me pay for that shirt. But I think he forgot about it. I made sure I was going to avoid meeting his direction at all costs.”

Soojin shrugged casually. “It’s fine.”

“And I heard you bruised President Kris’ car on purpose?” Sulli inserted happily. “You got some self-confidence girl!”

Soojin chuckled, waving her hands dismissively. “No!” she exclaimed. “Where did you hear that? I didn’t bruise his car on purpose. His car was too close to mine that is why I bumped on his bumper. Where do you people hear that?”

Luna shrugged her shoulders. “It’s what people talked about for weeks.”

“Especially when some of them said they saw you two going inside his car together,” Song Qian added, sipping her tea. “You went to Wonder Mall on the same day, right?”

Soojin laughed in disbelief, wondering how people know things swiftly. Was President Kris really that influential on them? They seem to be updated more about what’s happening then doing their works. It baffles her on how people would want to talk about things such as these. And the way they talk about him, it was as if they have this strong abhorrence against President Kris.

Is he really that bad of a person? Perhaps, he’s just a misunderstood human being. It happens all the time anyway.

Like your stepmother?

Soojin groaned inwardly at the thought of her stepmother being misunderstood. There was no way that there are any remnants of kindness left beneath that old woman.

Nevertheless, she answered Song Qian’s question. “Yes, we did.”

“Tell us how it went!” Luna urged.

They all leaned forward, their eyes getting a little watchful. Soojin flinched, causing her to lean back surprisingly. It was amazing how they get so chatty in a minute and then all ears the next. But what would she say anyway? How was she going to describe it?

It went rather normal for her.

Except for the part when they went to their last stop, which was at a shoe store. She forgot the name though. But after Wu Fan bought her everything, he made her change and that’s when he started to act strange. Once Soojin was finally allowed to go home, she had to carry all the papers bags with her on her way home.

She swore to herself that she was going to take her revenge on President Kris but the next day, she forgot about it. She wasn’t the type who resents a person for a long time anyway. Except maybe for her stepfamily.

She was more than willing to make an exception.

“Well, he—”

“Soojin!” Saved by the bell, Soojin thought as she sighed in relief. Honestly, she didn’t even know what to say. Why do they try to make it a big deal anyway? She got to her feet the moment she recognized that awfully gruff voice.

The employees immediately scattered at the sight of him, leaving Soojin alone. Wu Fan walked inside the lounge area gracefully, like he owns the place. Oh, wait. He does own the place.

“I need you,” he declares, shooting her a serious look. For a moment there, she had thought he meant it in an intimate way.

“For paperwork,” he added, giving her a pointed look.

Soojin blinked, giving herself a mental slap. “Oh, right,” she replied lamely. Oh, right.

oh hiiiiii, sorry xoxo

prelims are keeping me busy. sorry for the lack of updates, but i'll make it up to you guys, i swear.

;~; comments? o u o