“You said Mr. Severance agreed to sell his celadon pieces from the Joseon Era to us. You said yourself it was a done deal. What the hell happened!?” Hyun Joong asked his assistant icily. Hyun Joong tried so hard to keep his cool but something this big should’ve ran smoothly. He’s been trying to buy the Korean artifacts from the Severance Family of the United States for years. It would have been one of his great achievements to bring back those artifacts back to Korean soil.

“Someone intercepted our deal and offered Mr. Severance a hefty offer Sir.” Hyun Joong’s lanky assistant said meekly. Hyun Joong took a deep breath and tried to absorb what his assistant just told him.

“Who might this person be?” Hyun Joong finally asked.

“A woman named Park Bom sir…she specifically sent our office a message for you sir…” His assistant was trembling from the eerie silence of Hyun Joong’s office. Hyun Joong looked at his assistant and waited for what he was about to say. Instead of telling his boss what the message was, Hyun Joong’s assistant slipped in a post it note and slid it over to him.

“My offer still stands…lover boy. –Park Bom”

Hyun Joong crumpled the paper and threw it on the trash can right away.

“That manipulative despicable woman…” Hyun Joong uttered with much vehemence. He was seething in anger and his assistant could only step back in fear.

“I want a full on investigation on this woman. Hire an investigator to find out everything about her!!! Give me a damn report about that woman ASAP!!!” Hyun Joong’s assistant scurried away from his office immediately.

*****

Jaejoong arrived thirty minutes earlier than his usual the following morning after the GQ Event just to make sure that he’d be able to catch his boss’ arrival. He wanted to talk to her and make sure she wasn’t mad at him. He wanted to greet a good morning and make sure she was okay. But when Sandara arrived, she didn’t even look at him nor did she speak to Jaejoong that morning. She just went straight to her office and started working.

Jaejoong softly knocked on Sandara’s office and brought her coffee.

“Here’s your black coffee Ms. Park…” Jaejoong said in a half whisper voice and smiled at her sheepishly. Sandara looked at him and then to the coffee.

“When did I ever ask you for coffee Mr. Kim? It’s not on your job description to make me coffee. I can make my own coffee…” Sandara replied. She tried to be as cold as she could but having noticed that Jaejoong paid attention to the littlest detail, even how she likes her own coffee made her blush. She looked away from him and focused on the great view of Seoul City in her office.

“I was making my own coffee anyways, so it’s not much for me to make yours too. I know you can’t start your day without your caffeine fix.” Jaejoong replied and grinned like a boy. Sandara had to bite back her cheeks to keep herself from smiling back.

“You can go now.” Sandara dismissed Jaejoong as fast as she could because having him near her makes her nervous.

“Uhmmm…Ms. Park, I was wondering if you could give me the chance to take you out to lunch later? I made reservations for this new Italian restaurant…” Jaejoong’s voice trailed off as soon as he met Sandara’s eyes. It frustrates him sometimes because he can’t seem to get through to her. He’d give anything just to read through her mind.

“No.” Sandara said instantly. Jaejoong felt disappointed because Sandara didn’t even stopped and think about it.

“You know I don’t eat out for lunch. I’m busy.” Sandara didn’t really mean to snap at him and reject his offer out right but just the thought of being seen with him in public made her feel insecure and nervous.

“This is why I’m worried about your health Ms. Park. You don’t eat much. You eat a sandwich for lunch. You don’t eat dinner and you go home late. You’re so thin and you look pale.” Jaejoong was surprised at himself for ranting his worries about Sandara. He’s never really worried about anyone at all and yet there he was worrying every little detail about his supposed enemy.

“It’s not your job to worry about me.  I’m fine.” Sandara replied and turned to her laptop and opened some files for her to work on. She didn’t dare look at Jaejoong anymore and she just let him get out of her office quietly.

It was already twelve noon when Jaejoong knocked into her office again. This time, Jaejoong came with two paper bags that looked like take outs from a restaurant. Sandara smelled the food the moment Jaejoong stepped into her office. Jaejoong smiled at her and placed the two paper bags on her table. He took the papers Sandara was holding and she didn’t even have the chance to protest anymore because she was shocked and overwhelmed with what Jaejoong was doing.

After clearing Sandara’s table, Jaejoong took out the contents of the two paper bags on her desk. He placed one huge bento meal in front of Sandara and he sat across her on the table and grabbed one bento meal for himself. There was a kani salad and some sushi and two large red ice teas for both of them.

“Since you weren’t willing to go out for lunch with me, I’m taking lunch to you. I hope you like Japanese.” Jaejoong said smoothly.

“You shouldn’t have bothered.” Jaejoong frowned at Sandara.

“Is it so hard to say thank you?” Jaejoong leaned forward and opened the lid off of Sandara’s meal. He grabbed her right hand and placed the wooden chop sticks in her palm. Sandara felt the jolt of electricity that shot all over her body the moment she felt Jaejoong’s hands on hers. She withdrew her hand right away, taking the chopsticks with her.

“Thank you.” Jaejoong didn’t fail to notice the gasp that escaped Sandara’s mouth when he touched her.

“There! That’s better.” Jaejoong smiled widely, feeling utterly satisfied with himself for earning a thank you from his boss.

“Let’s eat!!!” Jaejoong chirped. They started eating their meal.

“Ms. Park, why do you always have sandwich as your lunch? Doesn’t your boyfriend make sure you eat properly?” Jaejoong asked curiously. He didn’t even care that he was already asking personal questions because he wanted to get to know Sandara more.

“Given that I always go home alone at night and don’t receive any personal calls here, you should already know that I’m not seeing anyone.” Sandara replied sarcastically as she took a mouthful of the tempura.

“Well, last night you were out on a date…” Jaejoong said sheepishly.

“It wasn’t a date.” Sandara answered. She immediately looked down feeling embarrassed and she didn’t get to notice Jaejoong’s face lighting up when he heard her say that it wasn’t a date. He’s been thinking about imagining Sandara out on a date last night that he couldn’t sleep. He wanted to see how she looks like out of her horrendous office clothes and just be simple and casual but he somehow, he didn’t want to see her out with another guy. Now that he knew Sandara wasn’t out on a date last night, he couldn’t explain why he felt so relieved.

“Then who were you with last night? A friend? Guy friend? A suitor?” Jaejoong followed up. Sandara raised her eyebrow and looked at Jaejoong.

“You know what, you’re more nosy than my former assistant Kevin. He used to insist giving me different kinds of nail polish and keeps on convincing me to go