The following morning, Jae Kyung was up and ready for her first day of work. In the kitchen, she drummed her fingers on the counter as she impatiently waited for her bagel to toast. The toaster finally popped with two pieces of lightly toasted bagels and she grinned happily while reaching out to grab one. But before she could take it, another hand came from behind and snatched it.

"Hey!" she protested, turning around to find Jun Hyung heading over to the fridge to take out the cream cheese. "That's mine!"

"We did agree we would fend for ourselves for food, right? That's exactly what I'm doing," he nonchalantly explained before taking a seat at the table.

Jae Kyung glowered at him and roughly grabbed the second slice of bagel before joining him at the table. As she spread the cream cheese on her slice, she eyed Jun Hyung's attire. He was in a sleek black suit and a blue collared shirt. His brown, side-swept bangs fell perfectly on his forehead, and she would never admit this to him, but he looked very suave. A white tie folded on the table next to his elbow caught her attention. "Why haven't you put your tie on?" she asked.

Jun Hyung quickly glanced at the completing piece of his business attire that she was referring to. "I…don't know how to tie a tie," he mumbled.

Jae Kyung thought he was joking, and waited for him to say so, but seconds passed and he simply continued to chew on his food. She broke out into a fit of laughter, a piece of bagel flying out from and landing on Jun Hyung's face. He shuddered in disgust and hurriedly grabbed a nearby napkin.

"You can't be serious!" she chortled. "Didn't you wear a uniform in school? How can you not know how to tie a tie?"

After wiping his face, Jun Hyung had a slight pout of embarrassment. "My mom always tied it for me. I didn't have to learn," he defensively muttered.

Jae Kyung shook her head with a mocking smile. "So I guess the real Yong Jun Hyung is a 'mama's boy'. But you know, you're not really complete unless you have a tie on. And since I'm such a nice person, I'm willing to tie your tie for you, even if you did steal half my bagel."

Jun Hyung eyed her skeptically. "You know how to tie a tie?"

"Of course!" she assured, grabbing the folded cloth and standing up.

Jun Hyung was hesitant, but stood up and walked over to her. Jae Kyung placed the tie around the collar of his shirt, and pulled him towards her using the ends of the tie better reach him, given the discrepancy in their heights. But the resulting distance between their faces was too close for comfort for either of them, and she awkwardly cleared while his eyes stared at anything but her face just inches away from him.

While he waited, Jun Hyung recalled the conversation he had with his mother just before the wedding, about Jae Kyung taking her place to tie his tie. He dared a glance at her. Jae Kyung's brows were wrinkled in concentration and for a slight second, he felt a similar comfort to the one he experienced when his mother stood in front of him and performed the same task. Meanwhile, Jae Kyung found herself struggling slightly as she tried to remember which side of the tie went on top and what hole to pull the end through. She fumbled for a good 5 minutes before Jun Hyung grew impatient.

"Yah, you said you knew how to tie a tie!" he complained.

"I do!" she defensively answered. "It's just been a while since I've done it," she muttered to herself.

Finally, after another 5 minutes of guess and check, she produced a professional-looking Half Windsor Knot. "There," she said, grinning in satisfaction at her work.

Jun Hyung scoffed at how easily she became proud herself. "Took you long enough."

Jae Kyung had the urge to punch him for his ungratefulness but held back. Jun Hyung looked down at his watch and gasped. ", I'm going to be late," he said as he headed to the front door and put on his shoes.

"Hey, do you think you could drop me off too?" Jae Kyung asked, following after him and putting on her own heels.

"Are you kidding me? I'm already running late because of you and now you want me to waste my time dropping you off?" Jun Hyung asked in annoyance. Jae Kyung gaped in disbelief, and before she could respond, he was out the door.

"What a jerk," she finally said at the shut door. She blew her bangs away and finished clasping the buckle of her shoes. She stumbled out the door and made her way to the bus stop, cursing whoever came up with the notion of heels for women's work attire. It only served to make walking more difficult and give sore feet at the end of the day. It was going to be a long first day at work and she could already imagine the pain in her legs when she returned home.

Jun Hyung parked his flashy red sports car in the specially designated employee section of the Star Plaza Mall's three-floored parking deck. To say he was nervous would be an understatement. Since Jun Hyung's older brother decided to become a lawyer, the position of future CEO of Star Plaza Mall was left to him. It's not that Jun Hyung didn't have an interest in business, he did study it in college, and even made highly respectable marks in his classes. But his father was a difficult person to please and given Jun Hyung's previous track records, Mr. Yong would set an even higher bar for Jun Hyung to pass before his son was back in his good graces.

At the top level of the building, where the executive offices were, Mr. Yong's secretary promptly permitted Jun Hyung to pass through to the CEO's office. Jun Hyung took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping in. His father was sitting in his regal, leather office chair, signing some paperwork. He looked up to see his son and new employee in front of him.

"On time, with a few seconds to spare," Mr. Yong noted. He didn't waste any time with encouraging words or compliments for him as he started explaining his job in the company. Since Jun Hyung was his son, he was able to get him a reasonable position on the corporate ladder, but he would still have to prove himself before he was allowed to move any higher, and eventually take on the position of CEO.

After being debriefed, Jun Hyung sat down at his own desk in his private office. He didn't have much time to take it all in before a knock on the door was followed by a middle-aged man entering. He introduced himself as Manager Kim, Jun Hyung's personal assistant, and continued to give him various files to look over.

The day progressed with Jun Hyung getting acquainted with the finances and workings of the company, which proved to be a little difficult given the year gap he had taken after graduating college. But Jun Hyung was determined, and he would show his father that despite the reckless behavior of his past, he was not a lost cause.

Jae Kyung stood in front of the large CUBE Publishing Company building, where her in-law, Kim Tae Hee, was a chief editor, and where she would be starting her first official job. Oddly, she didn't feel that special about her first day of work. An intern at a place that made books…it just didn't sound appealing to her. But it was all she could get with such short notice. And who knows? Maybe publishing would become her niche. Chief Editor Song Jae Kyung did have a nice ring to it after all.

"So, how was your honeymoon?" Tae Hee asked once Jae Kyung stepped into her office.

"It was…good," she answered nervously, her voice trailing as the unwanted memories of her near death, drowning experience came flooding back.

"I'm glad to hear that," Tae Hee replied with a shrewd smile, mistaking Jae Kyung's timidity as shyness from her "intimate" vacation with her new husband. "I'm sure you must think it was too short." Jae Kyung forced a smile in agreement, which came out as more of a grimace. "So, why don't we get started," Tae Hee exclaimed with an excited clap of her hands.

Tae Hee proceeded to explain Jae Kyung's duties which included answering phone calls, filing, making copies, running errands for the staff, and other tedious things. The more Jae Kyung thought about it, the more she imagined herself as a servant rather than an employee.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't give you a better position," Tae Hee continued after describing Jae Kyung's job description. "But it was all I could do since you didn't graduate with an English major. However, if you work hard and prove yourself, I'm sure you'll be promoted in no time." Jae Kyung looked up at Tae Hee with a hopeful glint in her eyes. 'Chief Editor Song Jae Kyung' kept repeating itself in her head. "Maybe in a couple of years, you'll have your own cubicle," Tae Hee finished with an encouraging smile.

Jae Kyung's expectations quickly fell. A couple of years before she even got a cubicle? Suddenly, the real world was starting to sound less appealing to her. And things only got worse later that day as Jae Kyung started on a streak of errors, from mis-transferring phone calls, to messing up the staff's coffee orders, to even breaking the copy machine.

When Jae Kyung returned home that day, she was in a mess. Her hair was out of place, her blouse untucked on one side, and the heels of her feet blistered from all the running around she did. She fell onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling with a frown on her face. A day of failures was putting her in a discouraged mood. She couldn't think of a single thing she had done right that day…except when she tied Jun Hyung's tie.

Sitting back up on the couch and after contemplating for a few seconds, Jae Kyung got up and went to Jun Hyung's room, grabbing all the ties off the rack in his closet. She placed them on the coffee table in the living room before taking one and wrapping it around her neck to tie it with a Half Windsor Knot. Once she was done, she loosened it and pulled it off her head, retaining the tie's knot so that it only had to be tightened when Jun Hyung put it on. Except, as she looked at the tie, she noticed black smudges on the front. She immediately looked at her hands. They were stained with black ink from when she was having trouble with the copy machine. Like a guilty child, she hid the tie under the couch pillow and quickly washed her hands.

Jae Kyung returned to the pile of undone ties and after some thought, decided to continue with the task. Hopefully Jun Hyung wouldn't realize one tie missing from his large collection. She continued to practice and was soon tying with speed and quality, a grin forming on her face at her accomplishment.

The front door opened and Jun Hyung entered after a long first day of work. He glanced around the apartment and saw the back of Jae Kyung's head peeking above the couch she sat on, her hands moving in front of her. Curiously, Jun Hyung walked towards her until a pile of ties came into view, his ties.

"What are you doing?!" he shouted, making Jae Kyung jump in her seat.

"I was pre-tying your ties for you," she explained as she held up one that she just completed.

Jun Hyung was a bit stunned by her answer. Why would she do this for him? What did she get from helping him, especially when he wasn't exactly thankful when she had done it for him that morning. "Why?" he asked with a suspicious look.

"Just because…" Jae Kyung wasn't going to tell him that this was a mood-lifter for her, because then she would have to admit how she had messed up on her first day of work, only fueling his condescension towards her.

"So you went into my room, took all my ties, and started tying them…just because?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah…I mean it's better than you yelling at me like this morning because I was taking too long, right?"

Jun Hyung didn't know what to say, but he was feeling slightly guilty for not being thankful earlier and then even turning down a ride for her when she asked. He stared at the pile of completed ties next to her with a softened expression. But one tie sticking out from under the couch pillow caught his attention and he pulled it out, noticing the black smudge on it immediately and making his guilt disappear instantly.

"Yah! What is this?!" he shouted, pointing at the dark spot that ruined the silky material.

Jae Kyung looked down like a criminal caught red-handed. "I'm sorry…but that's the only one I messed up," she tried to explain.

Jun Hyung scoffed at her. "Only one?" he repeated with incredulity. "I highly doubt that." He gathered all his ties and stomped off to his room, slamming the door shut.

Jae Kyung flinched at the loud sound and pouted at the door. "Ungrateful moron. I was just trying to help," she said to the closed door. She sighed and looked down at her feet in dejection. "Even when I know how to do something, I mess up. Maybe I really am the 'black sheep' of the family."

In his room, Jun Hyung was putting away his ties in his closet. He stopped to stare at one, running his fingers along the knot. He had to hand it to her, her work was pretty good, and this was going to make his mornings much faster. But, as he remembered the image of Jae Kyung standing in front of him, concentrating on tying the tie around his neck, that odd feeling of comfort came rushing back. And a small part of him wished she hadn't done this for him, only because he wanted to experience that warm feeling again, of someone taking care of him.

Jun Hyung quickly shook his head of the preposterous idea. What was he thinking? Song Jae Kyung was the complete opposite of the type of person he imagined himself with, or rather, had imagined himself with. In fact, it was hard to see someone like Jae Kyung ever being able to take care of anyone else when she could barely take care of herself. He pitied the man that got stuck with her.

Author's Note

Yes, I survived the end of the world, as you can see with this update. Lol, seriously though, I didn't believe in the December 21, 2012 hoax. And I'm not saying that because it's after the fact. I swear :)

December 23, 2012 2:43 AM (Changing the formatting of the date because I realized some countries use dd/mm/yr format whereas the U.S. uses mm/dd/yr.)