11

Days pass and Miyoung finds herself slowly losing her purpose as Soojung’s father slowly recovers while Sooyeon was officially discharged from the hospital. The young adult watches from the couch as little Soojung sits between her father and mother, all smiles and laughter escaping from the little child.

Miyoung watches as Taeyeon, despite his healing wounds, plays with his daughter while Sooyeon joins along in the little game. A sad smile appears on Miyoung’s face as she observes the little family. Sooyeon looks to the couch and finds Miyoung staring back at her. The young mother gets up from the bed and walks over to her employee and sets herself beside the surprised Miyoung.

“I can’t repay you for what you’ve done.” Sooyeon mutters under her breath, eyes still locked with her family. Miyoung turns, finding Sooyeon’s relaxed side profile.

“It’s nothing.” Miyoung retorts.

Sooyeon shifts her gaze and meets Miyoung in the eyes. “For me, it’s everything, Miyoung.” That radiant smile blinds Miyoung and for a moment, she gets lost in the CEO’s eyes. Heart pounds and Miyoung’s breath hitch. Heat sears her cheeks, prompting her to look away.

“I think my job’s done here.”

Sooyeon’s brows knit, “What are you talking about, Miyoung?”

“Miss Lee must be having a field day without me.” Miyoung turns to her boss and smiles, her eyes turning into inverted crescents although deep inside, she finds her own heart breaking. “I should return to the office, Miss Jung.”

+++

Two figures sit at the hospital’s café, a steaming cup of coffee and another of milk and untouched sandwiches laid idly on small plates, are settled on the table between them. Miyoung stirs mindless figure eights on her coffee in hopes of keeping her attention from fleeting into Sooyeon’s direction. She can feel a pair of curious eyes boring into her, coaxing her to meet them. Miyoung assumes that her boss is trying to read her. Sooyeon has a penchant for reading people, as the young employee has heard from the people at her workplace.

“Miyoung,” the voice awakens her from the reverie, “something seems to be bothering you.” The concern in her boss’ voice prompts her to look up from her untouched cup. Sooyeon quirks a brow whilst smiling at her. “You haven’t touched your coffee and you simply kept staring at it.”

The younger woman takes the coffee into her hands and sips, feeling the warm liquid flush down . Placing the cup down, she flashes her boss a practiced smile before answering. “I’m just worried of work, Sooyeon. I mean, I have been away for too long and I don’t think it is good to skip out on work for the first month of your job.”

Sooyeon chuckles at her reply, taking a small bite of her sandwich before she takes a moment to chew and swallow. She smiles back at Miyoung, “Miss Lee knows of your whereabouts. She has someone in your place while you’re here. I gave her a new assistant to help her out and she’s scheduled until next week so you don’t have to worry about that. In the meantime, if you’re bored watching over little Soojung, you can take the time off to go home and rest.”

Miyoung notes how thorough Sooyeon plans everything out and she never fails to miss the change in Sooyeon’s tone when the latter mentions of her time off. “Soojung is not boring to watch over. Your daughter is very resourceful when it comes to trying new things. She never fails to amaze me.”

The older woman sighs, taking a sip of her milk before she retorts, “She’s a handful. You don’t need to lie about that.”

“I’m not, Sooyeon. Soojung is a good kid and she is curious about many things.”

Sooyeon scoffs as she puts her cup down, “Don’t sugar-coat it, Miyoung. Soojungie inherited her adventurous nature from both her parents. She can’t seem to learn how to settle down and just stay still. Sometimes, I don’t know what’s running in that active mind of hers. It gets exhausting to keep up with her sometimes and don’t deny, but I can see it in your tired look.”

Miyoung cowers behind her cup of coffee as Sooyeon shoots a knowing look at her. Heart thumps faster and it is not the caffeine doing its job. The person sitting across the table is the one causing such anomaly to her heart rate and Miyoung wishes nothing but to disappear in a hole somewhere. When she notes how Sooyeon shifts her attention back to her food, Miyoung puts her cup down and summons the courage to eat in the Tigress’ presence. She only realizes now how hungry she was when the taste of the food registers in .

“Mm.” She mumbles as she chews greedily on her sandwich, almost missing the giggle escaping her companion’s lips as she savors the food.

“Taeyeon and I have a place here in Jeju. I think you can take Soojung there and rest up. My little girl needs a break from the hospital too. Besides, it’s not really advisable to let her linger here.”

Surprise ghosts over Miyoung’s face. She looks up to see Sooyeon having a thoughtful expression. “Are you going to make