She pressed down on a few keys, creating a rhythmic clicking sound in time with the music that pulsed through her headphones, then smashed down on the delete key to erase the random string of letters. She pushed away from her desk and spun around a few times, head tilted back so she could stare up at the ceiling, until her stomach began churning and she was forced to stop. Scooting back to her desk, she stared at what she had already written- the coherent parts that had come before her tapping- then allowed her head to slowly droop down onto her desk. Pressing her cheek on the cool wood, she tried to find one clear thought in the haze that filled her brain. Everything was flying around with no direction, though, and the moment she saw something it had already slipped by.

     Heaving in a sigh, Hei-Ryung stood up from her desk and shuffled her way into the kitchen. It had been already been a ridiculously long morning, and the hardest part was yet to come. As she let out another sigh, Hei-Ryung pulled open the refrigerator and lazily trailed her gaze over the contents. Then she closed the door. She remembered very clearly that Seulki had told her this was a complete surprise for her, too, but Hei-Ryung still felt bitter about having such little notice. She opened the door again, reached for the orange juice carton, hesitated, then once more closed the door.

     Would it have been that hard for Mr. All-Powerful-CEO to tell Seulki about all of this before the morning of the event? As she thought, Hei-Ryung migrated to the cupboards and began systematically opening, then closing, each one. And while she was on the subject of questioning the CEO, was it even proper conduct for him to be visiting her apartment? Of course not all business meetings took place in an actual office, like the disastrous encounter she was still cringing over, but she had never heard of a meeting in a person's house.

     And speaking of the previous meeting, it had only been three days since then! Couldn't Seulki have given her some time to breathe and mull things over before throwing her into another uncomfortable situation? No, uncomfortable wasn't the right way to describe this. Uncomfortable was spilling coffee on your CEO and hiding out in a smelly public bathroom. What loomed just ahead of Hei-Ryung was utterly impossible.

     "Mr. Kang will be bringing along a friend with him, so please try and be on your best behavior," had been Seulki's exact words when her call finally connected after the fifth try. When Hei-Ryung had asked for Seulki to elaborate on who this "friend" was, Seulki had only been able to say that she didn't know either. What kind of profesionallism was it for the CEO of a company to bring along a buddy when attending a business meeting?

     Hei-Ryung's jaw began aching, an indicator that she had been clenching it for too long. Gently massaging the painful area, Hei-Ryung closed the final cupboard and turned around so she could lean against the counter. When she was able to open and close with relatively little pain, Hei-Ryung wandered back into the living room and flopped onto the couch. Sitting on the coffee table was a cute digital clock in the shape of a kitten batting at a ball of yarn- though at the moment Hei-Ryung found it more grotesque, with a piece of machinery jutting out of a gaping hole in the poor creature's side- that displayed the time in fluorescent green numbers, or would cheerfully announce it for you if you pressed a button.

     Hei-Ryung pressed the button.

     "Mew! The time is twelve fif-" outside a car door slammed, distracting Hei-Ryung from listening to the rest of the kitten's recorded message.

     After rolling off the couch, Hei-Ryung crawled her way across the carpeted floor- her body had suddenly lost all strength- and carefully peeked through the dark brown curtains that normally blocked the world out. Several stories down, three people were getting out of a dark black vehicle. CEO Kang Ji Suk, Assistant Editor Seulki, and the mysterious friend. Hei-Ryung sighed.

     They were here.

     They were here.

     Stepping out of the dark interior of his uncle's car, Youngjae shaded his eyes and looked up at the towering apartment building they had arrived at. Apparently this was the residence of one of the Nalgae company's most profitable- and troublesome- authors, Kang Kae Yeon. If he had known that reading the announcement poster of an author meant he got to meet them then Youngjae would have chosen more carefully. After all, meeting a respected and beautiful author like Jeon Min-Hee was extremely preferable to a shut-away who had estranged herself from society for- according to Assistant Editor Lee- years.

     As they made there way into the building's lobby via a pair of swinging double doors, Youngjae went over everything he knew about this woman so far. According to his uncle she was Youngjae's ticket to becoming Nalgae's next CEO, and according to Assistant Editor Lee she was an angel who was having trouble finding her wings. He wasn't sure if he particularly liked either of these descriptions, because the first made Ms. Kang- or whatever her name was, because apparently this was just a pen name- seem like nothing more then a means to an end, and the second was much too sappy to be very accurate. Unfortunately, there wasn't much else he knew about the woman.

     Of course he could always read the online articles about her, but all of these were pure speculation made by fans. After all, Youngjae highly doubted that Ms. Kang was, in reality, a handsome young man that felt he could only show his sentimental side by writing under the guise of a woman, or that she was the product of several writers who were all trying to make it big in the publishing company. Unless fifteen people- the average of all the numbers fans had speculated- had somehow managed to squeeze their way into one apartment.

     Youngjae had to stifle a laugh as the thought of fifteen women coming out of an apartment à la clown-car style crossed his mind.

     "Is Ms. Cha really expecting us?" Ji Suk asked, drawing Youngjae out of his thoughts and quickly sobering him up. Ahead of them the elevator doors dinged open, urging the trio to move double time so they could catch it before it began the twelve floor journey back up.

     "Of course! I made sure to call ahead of time, and this time I delivered the message in person," Assistant Editor Lee assured him, though her voice didn't seem quite as certain as her statement. Youngjae had heard bits and pieces about the disaster of his uncle's last meeting with Ms. Kang- or Ms. Cha, which appeared to be the woman's real surname- and so could understand why Assistant Editor Lee was so nervous. As his uncle wasn't one to keep secrets, Ji Suk had told Seulki exactly what was going on during the car ride here. Youngjae could still vividly picture Seulki's pallid complexion as she listened to Ji Suk talk. Glancing over at the woman, Youngjae saw that her face was still paler than it had been before the situation was explained, and the dark circles under her eyes were beginning to stand out even further.

     Why Assistant Editor Lee allowed a crazy, middle-aged romantic jeopardize her job like this was a mystery to Youngjae. If it were him, he would have dropped the woman in a second. It wasn't as though there wasn't plenty of talent out in the world that would gladly jump at the chance to work for a well-respected company like his uncle's.

     The elevator came to a jolting stop, throwing all three people off balance for a moment, before the doors opened and let them escape. Trailing behind his uncle and Assistant Editor Lee, Youngjae was the last to arrive at the door to Ms. Cha's apartment and so didn't have even a second to gather his thoughts before the door opened in response to Assistant Editor Lee's rapid knocking. The first thing he heard was a quiet mewling- confirmation of his theory that the woman he was about to meet was of the "Crazy Cat Lady" type- and the first thing he saw was an empty apartment- possible confirmation of one popular internet theory that stated Kang Kae Yeon was a ghost.

     Assistant Editor Lee was the first to enter the apartment, and although Youngjae couldn't make out what was said he could fainly hear her holding a brief conversation with Ms. Cha. Then she turned to his uncle and invited him inside, apparently taking over for the actual owner of the apartment. After a quick glance over his shoulder at Youngjae, Ji Suk went inside and followed Assistant Editor Lee out of sight. That left Youngjae to let himself in.

     Cautiously making his way into the small dip, where three pairs of shoes were neatly lined up, Youngjae took a quick glance around the visible parts of the apartment. The place had obviously been spruced up a bit in anticipation of receiving guests, but he could still see several messy areas that the owner had probably hoped wouldn't be too obvious. The bookshelves- the worst thing in the apartment- were haphazardly organized, and several books seemed ready to spill off at a moment's notice. And the mewling he had heard was apparently coming from a digital cat clock which was haltingly trying to announce the time, a sign that the batteries had run low.

     If the apartment she lived in was like this, Youngjae could only imagine what the owner was like.

     Reluctantly he slipped off his shoes and placed them beside his uncle's, taking an extra second to make sure they were straight. Behind him the door closed, startling Youngjae who had thought that everyone had already gone further inside. Straightening up, he turned to see who had shut the door and came face to face with Ms. Kang Kae Yeon- or whatever her name was- for the first time.

     She was not a crazy, middle-aged romantic.

     Her eyes widened slightly when they met Youngjae's, then quickly turned downward to stare nervously at her feet. As he watched, her face began growing increasingly more red. He had known that people blushed when they were embarrassed, but he couldn't recall ever having seen someone go red quite as fast as the girl before him was. As he watched her hair slip out from behind her ear and into her face, Youngjae felt his heart actually skip a beat.

     Which of course was because he was shocked at having all his previous notions about this girl shattered in a matter of seconds. He was not caught off guard by the fact that she was pretty.

     "P-please come in," she invited, gesturing for him to follow her inside before she took off. Nodding mutely, Youngjae followed her into the living area. Assistant Editor Lee had already taken a seat on the right side of the couch, and his uncle was occupying the left. That left Youngjae to squish his way into the middle of the couch, which had not been designed to sit three people. Ms. Cha was sitting on a dark brown desk chair that had been placed across from the couch. In between the couch and chair was a low-sitting coffee table, the home of the broken kitten clock.

     As nobody knew exactly how to start this conversation, their attention was focused on the chattering kitten. Surprisingly, every person there found this kitten so fascinating that they listened to its repetitive mewling for close to a minute before Ms. Cha scooped it up in shaking hands and disappeared for a moment, returning only after the kitten was out of earshot.

     Then it was time for introductions.

     Although his uncle directed Ms. Cha to introduce herself, Assistant Editor Lee ended up swooping in to the rescue when the poor girl became hopelessly tongue-tied. "Cha Hei-Ryung is published under Nalgae Publishing Company by the pseudonym Kang Kae Yeon. She's young, but Hei-Ryung is one of the companies best-selling authors," it was a brief sales pitch, and Youngjae could hear the desperation in Assistant Editor Lee's voice.

     "I wouldn't say that", Hei-Ryung mumbled modestly, the corners of turning up in an embarrassed, but pleased, smile. She took pride in her writing without being arrogant about her status. Youngjae liked that. It meant she was an asset to the company without being insufferably aware of it and, at least in this respect, making a nuisance of herself.

     "I sound like uncle," he thought, realizing that now he was treating Hei-Ryung as just a cog in the company. Upset with himself for thinking of a human as anything less than that, Youngjae's expression turned sour for just a second. It was long enough for Hei-Ryung to catch sight of the frown on his face, though, and her own smile guiltily disappeared.

     Ji Suk gestured for Youngjae to introduce himself. "My name is Yoo Youngjae..." his voice trailed off as he tried to think of a way to explain his connection to the company. Hei-Ryung must know that he didn't work for Nalgae, so she would obviously be curious about why Ji Suk had brought along a perfect stranger. It wasn't as though he could just outrightly say that he was Ji Suk's nephew, though. Biting down on his bottom lip, Youngjae tried to hurry and think of a suitable excuse for his being there.

     Sensing that his nephew was floundering, and knowing the importance of a good first impression, Ji Suk decided to sweep in and save him. "Youngjae is working towards becoming the company's next CEO, so I thought I should introduce him to you," he supplied, glancing at his nephew from the corner of his eye and watching the boy's shoulders sag with relief. "In fact, it is necessary for me to-"

     "You can do that?" Hei-Ryung exclaimed, surprising everyone by her sudden perkiness. "I had no idea a perfect stranger could become CEO of a company," she mused aloud, examining Youngjae with wide-eyed fascination. Nobody seemed quite sure how to react to her sudden liveliness, so they all stared dumfoundedly at her as she hurried over to her computer and crouched in front of the computer.

     Assistant Editor Lee was the first to snap out of it. "Hei-Ryung, what are you doing?" She hissed, trying to be discreet but failing miserably. Glancing over her shoulder, Hei-Ryung gestured to the word document she had just opened up. "Can't you just, I don't know, keep it in your head until this meeting is over?" Assistant Editor Lee pleaded, nervously looking over at Ji Suk and Youngjae.

     "No..." Hei-Ryung faltered, suddenly beginning to feel the pressure of three pairs of eyes intently watching her every move. Slowly the heat began creeping back into her face, turning it a dark beet red. Then she flipped her head back around and clattered off a few words on the keyboard. When she was finished Hei-Ryung saved the document, closed it, and tip-toed her way back to her seat.

     Beside him, Youngjae listened to his uncle clear his throat. The man was apparently choosing not to comment on the odd interruption to his pre-prepared speech. "I am putting Mr. Yoo-" it was strange listening to his uncle address him like that, even though he had never heard his uncle speak familiarly towards him before now "- in charge of you, Ms. Cha." Hei-Ryung looked horrified as her gaze flew to Assistant Editor Lee. "Ms. Lee will continue working with you as your editor," Ji Suk assured her, not wanting to chase Hei-Ryung into a bathroom again, "but it has become necessary for Youngjae to assist, as well."

     Hei-Ryung was given a moment to think this over, but the more she tried to process what had just been said the more confused she became. The blank look she was giving all of them was not reassuring. Sighing, Youngjae leaned forward. "It isn't normal for an outsider to become CEO just like that, but because of the circumstances I have a shot at it. Becoming CEO isn't as easy as Mr. Kang snapping his fingers and declaring it, though. The board-"

     "The board has to vote on it. I know, I've done my research," Hei-Ryung filled in, still looking confused. "I don't see why I have anything to do with this, though. It isn't as though I'm a member of the board, nor do I have any connections... to..." her voice trailed off as the sentence got too long for her nervous personality.

     "But you are the author that gives Nalgae the most trouble, Ms. Cha," Ji Suk inserted almost ruthlessly. "I believe that if Mr. Yoo can improve your reputation amongst the board members, they may be impressed enough to throw their support to him." Youngjae was surprised that his uncle would be so forward with Hei-Ryung. Of course he needed to be honest with Assistant Editor Lee, who would be working closely with Youngjae on this "project", but to tell Hei-Ryung herself that she was going to be used seemed almost cruel.

     "Don't expect me to change," Hei-Ryung muttered, her eyes briefly glancing up at Ji Suk, who sighed.

     "I don't need anything but your reputation to change," he agreed, before pulling out a stack of papers from the brief case he had toted along. "Now, I would like to pick up where we left off last time."

     Tuning out his uncle's voice, Youngjae tried to watch Hei-Ryung without openly staring at her. Earlier, she had seemed comparable to a butterfly: delicate and lovely, but ready to fly away at a moment's notice. Now, though, he had no idea what to think of the young lady who could so readily accept being used by others.

Author's Note:

     I am so sorry that this is late! TT^TT  I ended up putting off my homework until Sunday night and so had no time to update, and then Monday was crazy, and... *bows* I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting. Hopefully this chapter is decent enough to make up for it.