Leaning back in her seat, Seulki finished reading over the last few lines of Hei-Ryung's submitted manuscript. Just from the first few pages, she could see that the story had the perfect romantic setup- a boyfriend who has lost his memory, a childhood friend with a crush on the protagonist, and a handsome doctor who will, inevitably, also develop romantic feelings for the protagonist. Sighing, Seulki closed the e-mail Hei-Ryung had sent and shook her head. It was about as cliche as a romance novel could get, even down to the fact that the protagonist was standing a top of a hospital roof contemplating whether or not to jump- that would explain the odd questions Hei-Ryung had been asking lately- and the door slamming open. No doubt it was the doctor come to promise the young lady that he would do whatever was in his power to save her boyfriend's memories so that she could return to her former life with him. A promise that would prove to be problematic later on when the doctor, having developed feelings for the protagonist, questions whether he wants to restore her boyfriend to his past self or not.

     "Hei-Ryung has turned me into a romance novel psychic," Seulki thought dryly as she moved on to the next e-mail. Although she was glad that it was the last one she would have to deal with before switching off the computer and moving on to the final tangible pieces of work she had, the fact it was from Himchan prevented Seulki from celebrating just yet.

     Opening the e-mail, she rested her chin in the palm of her hand and started reading the first few words.

     If you asked me how many times you have crossed my mind I would say once, because you never really left.

     "Himchan," Seulki groaned, grimacing at how insufferably cheesy that statement had been. "Honestly, where does he even come up with this sort of thing?" However, as unbearable as his message was, Seulki couldn't resist the urge to respond. Opening up another tab in her browser, she did a quick search for an equally terrible quote to send back.

     On a scale of 1 to 10: You're a 9 and I'm the 1 you need.

     Questioning whether this would prove to be a terrible idea or not, Seulki pressed the reply button. With her message on its way to the computer down the hall, she pushed away from her desk and began searching for the manuscript she had been working on. After taking care of a few more pages, she planned on calling it a day and heading to the bar down the street to join everyone else for the party HR had organized.

     The justification for throwing a party in the middle of the week- especially one involving alcohol and, inevitably, hangovers- had been that the employees deserved to have just as much fun as the executives and shareholders. The Nalgae employees weren't interested in drinking champagne and discussing what their nonexistent wealth had been most recently put to use for, though. Beer, soju, and a guaranteed rowdy crowd was what had been promised in the e-mail sent out unofficially to everyone, and considering the fact every conversation topic she had heard today had been, in one way or another, related to the party, Seulki figured that the advertising had been successful.

     It's hot outside; let me go swimming in your eyes?

     "It's spring." Rolling her eyes, Seulki read over Himchan's response. Before she could start typing back, though, Himchan had sent another e-mail to her. This time, he kept to the current season better.

     Or, if you feel it's too cold for swimming, can I at least admire the beautiful cherry blossoms in them?

     Still incredibly bad, but at least he had the proper season now. Going back to her search, Seulki indiscriminately scrolled down the page before stopping at a random quote. Oddly enough, she found that it actually suited Himchan in a way.

     iness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh everyday, now that's a real treat.

     From down the hall, Seulki swore she could faintly hear Himchan commenting on her e-mail, but she couldn't be certain. Smirking, she finished marking up the last few pages and tucked them away into her desk drawer. Tomorrow, she would take them over to Himchan's office for him to handle- she was pretty sure that if she dared enter now, he would be unbearable to deal with. Besides, she would be spending plenty of time with him at the part later tonight.

     I'm jealous of every boy thats ever hugged you, because for that short second he held my entire world.

     Standing up, Seulki used one hand to type out her final response while the other struggled to slip on her jacket.

     You missed an apostrophe there, Mr. Senior Editor.

     By the time she had stepped through the bar's doors, the majority of Nalgae's employees had already shown up and taken over the building. Glancing around to try and spot an empty seat, Seulki noticed several customers not employed by the company that, in an effort to avoid the swarm, had pressed themselves into one of the corner booths. They were obviously shocked to see so many people in this out-of-the-way place at one time, and Seulki felt a little bad that HR hadn't splurged a little and rented the place or something.

     "Ms. Lee!" A voice bellowed, drawing her attention to a few of the janitors who had spread themselves across a good portion of the counter. The one who had called her name gestured for her to join him, and although she didn't entirely trust the glazed expression he was wearing- a sign that the alcohol had already begun to flow- she crossed the room and sat down beside him. "It's been a while since you've come to our office. I guess you decided to take our advice and got yourself a typewriter?" An unnecessarily loud guffaw came out of the row of self-proclaimed techies in response to this comment. Seulki, on the other hand, simply rolled her eyes.

     "Ms. Lee! I'm pleased to see that you're here!" Slipping into the next available seat in the line of employees, Ms. Nan grinned brightly at her coworkers and rested one elbow on the counter. "Is Mr. Kim intending to make an appearance as well?"

     Seulki pursed her lips and swallowed hard. "That seemed to be the plan when I spoke with him last. He's been busy lately, though, so he might now come until-" Himchan's characteristically noisy entrance interrupted Seulki and drew nearly the entire room's attention to him. Striding in with the rest of the editorial department- Seulki hadn't realized that, for once, she was the first of their motley crew of leave work- he ignored the stares his outfit of pure white was bringing. Exhaling heavily, Seulki turned in her seat and tried to pretend as though she hadn't seen him walk in.

     White shoes, white dress pants, white shirt, white suit coat; the only thing that wasn't attempting to emulate an angelic creature descended from the heavens was his hair, and even that had been embarrassingly styled so that his fringe stood straight up in the air. It looked like he had been caught in a white wash tsunami, and then attempted to dry off by standing in front of an industrial-sized fan turned to the highest setting. His "fashion" statement was made even worse by the fact that, intentionally or not, he was ten times overdressed for the occasion.

     "That man is a peacock," the janitor to her right chortled, patting Seulki on the shoulder. "He didn't show up to work like that, did he?"

     "No," Seulki emphatically denied. Was this a result of her earlier e-mail conversation with him? Was this God's way of punishing her for inflating Himchan's ego?

     Why was she even embarrassed, though? Certainly Himchan was her boss, but he was also in charge of three other editors who were not nearly as mortified as Seulki. Even Mr. Jang, who possessed a notoriously short amount of patience for the Senior Editor, didn't appear phased by the fact he had shown up dressed like a snowflake. So why was she acting like a wife watching her husband attempt to be "cool" and fail miserably? Why did she care so much?

     "What do you think?" Himchan asked after making a bee line for Seulki. Standing back so that she could fully take in his outfit, Himchan spread his arms wide and smiled eagerly.

     "That's right. I'm embarrassed because I'm the one he's going to follow around all night," she reminded herself. Stiffening her back, Seulki refused to turn around and look at Himchan, for fear that it would only encourage him further.

     "Ms. Lee?" He prodded, remembering the company they were in and addressing her properly. "Come on, I know you saw me walk in," he began to whine and gently tapped her shoulder in the hopes of getting Seulki to turn around. She absolutely refused to associate with him while he was dressed like that, though, and, pretending as though she hadn't heard him, gestured for the bartender to come and take her order. Behind her, Himchan slumped his shoulders slightly and, dejected, he slipped of his suit coat and left it draped over the back of a chair before moving out into the crowd in hopes of finding someone who would socialize with him.

     "You could have at least looked," Ms. Nan giggled, watching Himchan flop down at a table. He had such a pitiful expression on that it was hard not to feel bad for him, so, without another word, she stood and moved over to join him. Frowning guiltily, Seulki watched Himchan's expression brighten noticeably when Ms. Nan began talking to him.

     "Good, let him follow her all night. She appears good at- that's a little close, don't you think?" Seulki tightened her grip on the shot glass she had been brought and watched as Ms. Nan leaned across the table and rested one hand on top of Himchan's. He made no attempt to move away, though he did glance over Ms. Nan's shoulder at Seulki. Before their eyes could meet, she turned in her seat and pointedly faced her back to him. "Let them get friendly! It means he'll be that much more busy!" She thought, tipping her head back so that she could down the glass in one shot.

     A few stools down from her, another customer was finishing the beer he had sitting in front of him. Lazily, he pushed it to the side- where it joined several other empty glasses- and used the freed space to rest his head. Sniffing, he reached behind him and, after a few tries, managed to successfully tug the hood of his black sweatshirt over his caramel-colored hair. Considering how sluggish his movement was, Seulki imagined he had been drowning in alcohol for quite a while now.

     "I'm a waste, you know?" the young man suddenly announced, his head popping up so he could fix a hazy gaze on the bartender. Raising her eyebrows, she remained silent. No encouragement was needed for him to continue speaking, though. "I come here looking to be some sort of a... a..." he momentarily lost his train of thought and had to squeeze his eyes shut. "A singer, that's it. I come wanting to be a singer, and look at me now. I'm wasting my life chasing a dream that's never going to happen." When he had finished speaking, he slumped against the counter and didn't move. Concerned, Seulki leaned over to make sure he had only passed out, instead of something more serious.

     "Don't worry about him. It happens every time he shows up here," the bartender assured her. "I already called his friend. He'll be here to pick him up." Sighing, the woman reached over and removed the glasses that had piled up beside the young man. "You know, most of the alcoholics I see in here are middle-aged washouts. They always talk about how if they only had their youth, or if they had a little more potential, they would be able to make it big. Yet here's a kid who has all of that and is still turning to the drink." Shaking her head, she moved further down the counter to attend to the other customers.

     Resting her chin in her hand, Seulki watched the young man as he slowly breathed in and out. She imagined he was handsome when he wasn't passed out unceremoniously on a bar counter, his mouth hanging open and a small trickle of drool dribbling out the corner. "What is it with all these young people looking at themselves and seeing nothing but failure?" She thought, recalling that Hei-Ryung had often referred to herself as a waste. Even Youngjae, who was in line to become CEO of one of the country's most wealthiest companies, was obviously putting himself under an unnecessary amount of stress. "I don't remember being like them when I was younger."

     Seulki snorted. Sure, she was halfway to fifty, but that didn't mean she was suddenly an old crone. At twenty-five years old, she was just beginning her life! Himchan, on the other hand, would be reaching his twenty-sixth birthday- "That's right, his birthday is coming up soon." Turning just enough to catch a glimpse of Himchan without being conspicuous, Seulki wondered what she should do to celebrate. Taking him out for seaweed soup didn't seem extravagant enough for the pure angel that had shown up tonight, but she wasn't confident to make it herself and invite him over to her place. Besides, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to encourage him by giving Himchan permission to visit her. Heaven knows what he would do.

     Sighing heavily, she ordered another drink and, with it in hand, moved out into the crowd to socialize. At some point in the night she noticed a man with bright-red hair wander into the bar and make his way over to the one who had passed out at the counter. Though it was a struggle to awaken the drunk for his stupor- and to then keep him from drinking more once he was conscious- the two eventually managed to come to an agreement and, with the red-head supporting his friend, leave the bar. Pursing her lips, Seulki peeked out through the slatted blinds covering the bar's windows to make sure that the two had some way of getting home.

     "What are you looking at, Ms. Lee?" A man's voice inquired, his words slurring together slightly. Turning around quickly, she feigned disinterest in the outside world and smiled sheepishly. "Thinking of leaving?" She couldn't put a name to him, but Seulki was pretty sure she had seen him around the building on occasion.

     "No, not yet. I'll stay for a little while longer," she explained, taking a small step backwards to increase the limited space he had placed between the two of them. She could easily detect the lingering smell of alcohol on his breath, and as if that weren't enough, his demeanor was enough for her to know that he was drunk. Although they were all grown adults here, it appeared that not everyone knew their limit when it came to drinking. "How about yourself? Want me to call you a taxi?" She offered, slipping her cell phone out of her purse and holding it up so he could see.

     "No, I'll stay, too," he decided after a long moment of thinking. Nodding, Seulki replaced her phone and quietly sidled past him. On her way back to the counter, she was stopped by Ms. Nan.

     "Would you mind drinking this for me? I can't stand the taste of alcohol, but that's the only thing anyone has been offering me," she asked, holding out the beer she had apparently been pressed into drinking. "I don't know what else to do with it." She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. When Seulki agreed to take the drink, her face lit up and she hurriedly placed the glass in Seulki's hand. "Oh, and Himchan has been avoiding drinking, too, so that he can make sure everyone gets home safely. You might need to take a few drinks from him as well," she added before turning on her heels and heading back into the slowly churning crowd of people.

     Whether this was a deliberate attempt to make Seulki feel even more guilty for her behavior towards Himchan earlier in the night or not didn't matter- it was working. Sitting down at one of the empty seats- there were very few of them now that more employees had arrived- she quietly sipped at the beer and tried to think of a way to apologize to Himchan. She could, of course, always blame it on the alcohol. Although she hadn't been there much earlier than him, it had been enough time for her to have at least one drink.

     "I'm just not myself when I drink. I'm really, really sorry if I did anything to offend you last night." Shaking her head, Seulki decided that not only did that sound somewhat pathetic, it also didn't really excuse anything. As much as she was sure that Himchan would forgive her, alcohol was not a justification for rude behavior. Rubbing at her eyes and momentarily forgetting her beer, Seulki tried to push through the faint haze of alcohol sitting at the back of her mind so that she could come up with a better apology.

     "Mr. Kim, what are you-" Surprised to hear her drunken conversation partner's voice right beside her, Seulki looked up and saw that Himchan had her drink in his hand and was wandering away with it.

     "Him- Mr. Kim! What are you doing?" She demanded, but Himchan ignored her. She probably deserved that much, but why would he steal her drink? Especially since she had been under the impression that he was staying away from alcohol. Heaving out a sigh, Seulki shook her head and glanced to her side, where the man from earlier was sitting. "I tried to stop him," he began explaining, hurriedly attempting to stuff something into his pant's pocket, "but he wasn't paying attention." Seeing that Seulki had her eyes fixed suspiciously on the packet his nervous fingers were pressing into his pocket, he sheepishly retracted the tablets and placed them on the table. "It's... medication. For my heart." After his initial hesitation, the words came easily and rapidly spilling from his mouth. When he had finished speaking, he patted his chest- the wrong side- for emphasis.

     "You shouldn't be taking medicine with alcohol. They don't go well together," she pointed out.

     "Of course. I guess I've had more to drink than I thought," he chuckled before raising one hand to catch the bartender's attention. "Two beers, please!" He called out, glancing at Seulki to make sure it was alright. When she was about to protest, he quickly interrupted her, though. "I feel bad about losing your last drink." Although he had a hard time getting his face to cooperate, she could see by the expression he was attempting to create that he was being sincere. Sighing quietly, she nodded and allowed him to not only order but also pay for the drinks.

     It wasn't until three or four drinks later that she finally put a stop to his generosity. "It was one beer," she giggled, reaching over and haphazardly wrapping her hand around his so that she could tug it down. "You've made up for it." Smiling at her, he attempted to lace their fingers together, but was stopped when Seulki pulled her hand away. Although she was drunk- far more drunk than she had intended to become- she wasn't so intoxicated that she couldn't recognize unwanted attention. Her new drinking buddy didn't appear to take the hint, though.

     "You know, I have a really nice car. I could take you for a ride in it," he offered, patting his pockets for his car keys. "I also have a really nice apartment... with a really nice bed. It's almost brand new." When his keys didn't turn up, his hands instead took to reaching over and patting Seulki's bottom. Squirming in her seat so she was out of reach, Seulki frowned disapprovingly at him and swatted his hand away. "We could go now. Everyone else is leaving," he continued pressing, gesturing to the emptying bar. As the clock progressed from the late hours of night to the early ones of a still-dark morning, the employees had gradually filed out and gone their separate ways. Now, it was just a handful of those who were either so intoxicated that there was no chance of them leaving until the bartender finally kicked them out, or who were finishing up with socializing.

     "I should be going," Seulki agreed, rubbing at her head with the heel of her hand. She wondered how long it would take a taxi to arrive if she called one right now.

     "Then you can come with me." Before she could react, he had wrapped one hand around her wrist and was using the other to resume searching for his car keys. "I don't live too far from here."

     "I'm going to my house," Seulki insisted, trying to tug her wrist away. His grip only tightened further, though, and kept her rooted to the spot. "Excuse me!" She snapped after another moment's struggling. Digging her nails into his hand, she tried her best to peel him off her.

     "It's no trouble. Don't worry," he chuckled, withdrawing his keys from the same pocket he had stuffed his "heart medication" earlier. "Come on, let's-" He cut himself off in confusion when a third hand suddenly appeared and almost effortlessly relieved his grip on Seulki's wrist. Slowly twisting around so he could see who had interrupted them, it didn't take long for him to recognize the Nalgae company's Senior Editor. Although his suit was slightly rumpled, it remained perfectly spotless. How he had managed that when the majority of the crowd had minimal motor skills and very messy food was a mystery.

     "I'll make sure Ms. Lee gets home safely. Thank you for your concern, but I think it would be best if you left now. There's a taxi out front," as he spoke, Himchan gently guided Seulki so that she was standing behind him. Then, once she was out of harms way, he reached over and removed the man's car keys from his unresisting hands. "It would be best if you didn't drive tonight." Smiling, Himchan placed the keys in his pants pocket for safe keeping and then wrapped one arm around the man's shoulders so he could nudge him towards the door.

     He was stubborn, though. Reaching over, he tried to wrap an arm around Seulki's waist but was deterred once more by Himchan. "Our taxi is waiting," he protested as Himchan placed both hands on the man's back and began pushing him towards the door.

     "Your taxi. Seulki is staying for a little while longer."

     Not sure what she was supposed to be doing with herself and still feeling a little disoriented from all the alcohol pulsing through her blood stream, Seulki sat down heavily on one of the bar stools and watched Himchan lead her harasser outside. When he came back, Himchan's outfit was even more rumpled than it had been when he first approached them, but his expression showed no sign of what had occurred outside. Seulki didn't bother asking him, either.

     "Shall we?" Standing in front of her with a wry smile on his face, Himchan extended one hand to Seulki. Blinking, she looked down at it with little comprehension. "Or would you rather I carry you? Because I would be more than happy to," he offered with a chuckle, arching one eyebrow mischievously.

     "I can walk," Seulki mumbled, begrudgingly accepting Himchan's hand and standing. "I need to call a taxi, though," she added, searching for her cell phone.

     "I'll give you a ride." Without waiting for an answer, Himchan began to guide Seulki towards the door.

     "You're no better than he was," she complained, ducking away- and nearly falling over- when Himchan tried to wrap and arm around her shoulders. Rolling his eyes, Himchan held onto Seulki's arm long enough for her to regain her balance, then moved his hands into his pockets.

     "I'm not trying to drug you," he pointed out, an edge to his voice that Seulki hadn't hear very often.

     Coherent enough to understand what Himchan was talking about, and recalling her own suspicions about the "heart medicine", Seulki glanced over at Himchan and noticed that his expression had darkened considerably. "That's why you took my drink, right?" Himchan nodded. "Why didn't you just say something?"

     "I didn't want to start a scene. Besides, you were upset with me." The pout in his voice was unmistakable. Sighing, Seulki supposed she should just be glad that Himchan wasn't angry that she had been ignoring her.

     "I wasn't upset with you, just embarrassed," she explained, nodding towards his clothing. Grinning, Himchan straightened the fabric and proudly displayed it to Seulki, as though she hadn't just called him embarrassing. "It looks good on you- most things do- but isn't it a bit... much?" Crinkling her nose, Seulki looked critically- and hazily- at Himchan's clothing and shook her head.

    "Perhaps, but now we can be over-the-top together," he agreed, pulling off his suit coat- at some point in the night he must have reclaimed it- and wrapping it around Seulki's shoulders to protect her from the cool night air. "As excited as everyone is about spring being here, that doesn't mean we can suddenly forget how to dress warmly," he informed her, holding the jacket in place when Seulki tried to shrug it off. Pursing her lips, Seulki rested her hands on her hips and turned to face Himchan after they had exited the bar. Taking a step back to avoid any annoyed punches, he lifted his hands up in surrender. "Just until we get to the car?"

     "Fine," she huffed, reaching up to adjust the jacket so it wrapped around her better. Himchan had put a lot of effort into this jacket and had even gotten it tailored to fit him, which meant that the shoulders were too wide for Seulki's slight frame and kept trying to slip off.

     Their agreement was broken the minute Seulki, with Himchan holding the door for her, entered the car, though. Drowsy from the alcohol in her system and the late hour, she adjusted Himchan's jacket so that it became a blanket and snuggled underneath it. By the time Himchan came around to the driver's side and climbed in, she was already on the verge of falling asleep. Seeing this, Himchan smiled softly and reached over to fine-tune the placement of the jacket so that it more fully covered her, then started the car.

     "Looks like I'll be carrying you anyway," he chuckled, his voice husky because he was trying to keep quiet and not wake Seulki. After twisting the key in the ignition, the first thing he reached for was the heat so that Seulki would be comfortable.

Author's Note

Don't really have much to say... Sorry that the update came later than usual today, I accidentally slept in longer than I had meant to.