“Are you feeling alright, Yoonji sshi?”

Her lips parted to reply him, but before she could do so, he cut her short.

“You don’t look too well. Are you sick or nervous?”

One might have assumed he had asked out of concern, but the tone in his voice told her otherwise.

“I am feeling well, Mr. Nam. Thank you for your concern.”

He stood up, and she actually flinched a little. She wasn’t sure whether her reaction was because of him or from the scraping sound of the chair that resulted as he pushed it backward. She regained her composure, but it was just a little too late for him to not notice her flinch.

“Please call me Woohyun. And please don’t be,” he stopped his sentence for a while as he sat on his desk but still far away from where she was sitting, “intimidated by me.”

He finished his sentence with a calm voice, but she swore she saw his lips curled into a little smirk for a few seconds.

She had to bite her lower lip to prevent any bad words coming out of .

“I am not intimidated by you, Woohyun sshi. I actually am honored to finally meet you for the first time.”

She hoped that the ‘oh so magical words’ would do the trick,and when he burst into a soft laugh, she just smiled plainly.

“First time? I don’t think that is quite right.”

Yoonji’s body tensed only for a short while before she managed to put up the innocent expression on her face.

“Your coffee, remember?” he smiled briefly.

She felt the need to say sorry again, and she did truly feel sorry for ruining his expensive suit. But before she could express her regret, he cut her off again; saying how it was just an unavoidable accident and that there’s no need to apologize yet again.

He reached out for a file which she was convinced contains all her info. She just stayed silent all the while his eyes were on the file.

Her eyes wandered to his clothes. He wasn’t wearing the same suit from earlier on.

The one that I ruined.

Instead, he was wearing a dark blue checkered-print tie with a dark charcoal matching suit. It made him look even more powerful than he already was, and she dared say that it would have cost her salary payment for the rest of the month.

“You’re mixed.” His voice brought her back from staring blatantly at him, and she was glad that his eyes were still focused on the file. “That explains the eyes then.”

His eyes finally looked up at her, and their gazes met. Her lips felt dry all of sudden.

“What do you mean?” She was able to utter the words without stuttering.

“Your eyes. They are… different.”

“Ah,” she breathed out a sigh, “yes. I inherited it from my dad.” Her lips curled into a smile as she remembered about her dad. “I didn’t think you would notice. It takes a while for people to actually notice the colors of my eyes are different from theirs.” She let out a small laugh.

“Oh, don’t underestimate me, Yoonji sshi. I can remember everything perfectly, even if it’s just for a split second.”

Yoonji was lost for words as his eyes bored into hers, and she shifted in her seat. She changed her composure, crossing her legs from one side to another, and she suddenly became aware that her skirt rode up a tad bit higher on her thighs.

She saw his eyes lower to her legs for a breathless second before he looked up at her again.

“Your supervisor called me just before the interview started. He told me nothing but positive things about you, and I am actually tempted to just cancel the interview and hire you on the spot.”

“I’m glad that he said so.” She tried to smile, but she must have failed terribly.

“Mr. Lee is a very good friend of mine, and I trust his words more than anyone else in this company. But I am not Mr. Lee, Yoonji sshi, and I hope you understand that. I take my job very seriously. The woman you met outside wasn’t the same one three months ago. If they fail to impress me, I will not hesitate to let them go. I want someone who has similar work ethics.” She watched as he placed the file on the desk.

“I want someone who is fearless.”His voice was serious now, and his eyes burned into hers. “This job maybe hell for some people or for you even, but I can assure you that what you’ll get out of this will be the heaven you’ve dreamed of.”

His words sounded like a challenge all of sudden. Her eyes followed as he stood up from the desk and walked towards the glass window. She stood up and followed suit when he asked her to.

The view of Seoul could be clearly seen from his office, and it took her breath away. The scenery was so beautiful and amazing. It was breathtaking.

“I am not afraid of a challenge, Woohyun sshi. I perfectly know what I’m capable of and what my limits are.” She kept quiet for a while, her eyes fixed on the scenery in front of them. “I am confident that I can meet your expectations, and I will not let you down.”

“That’s good then.”

She didn’t notice when he had moved behind her, but when she realized there was a dark shadow casted from behind, she knew he was standing just behind.

Not able to make any move or sound, she fell silent but stayed on guard. She was in her defensive mode, and she would not hesitate to strike if he made a move on her.

 However, he simply stayed still behind her.

“Woohyun sshi, what are you doing?”

She heard him inching closer but stopping just enough before their bodies made contact.

“You sounded very confident just now. I like that. But…” He was silent afterwards, and she just stood there, painfully awkward while waiting for him to continue, and then he finally did. “Funny how you sounded very different last night.”

She spun around, and her eyes widened in shock as her eyes looked at him. He held an arrogant smirk on his face, which she desperately wanted to erase from him.

“How—”

“Did you think that I wouldn’t remember that pretty face of yours when you slammed that damn door in front of me? I truly think that you have underestimated me, Han Yoonji.”

“So why did you choose me? Why didn’t you just fire me? Are you playing a prank on me right now? Is this some joke to you?”

Her eyes held on to his, her teeth bit down on her lower lip as she tried hard to suppress her anger, and so far, she was doing a good job at it.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to lose a good employee like you just like that. A joke? No, this isn’t a joke or a prank as far as I’m concerned,” he softly laughed as if she had said something funny.

“You might think that I’m doing this because you ruined my relationship with Seohyun, but believe me, I wasn’t even thinking about a revenge for that matter.”

He inched closer, and her eyes closed on their own as he stood just in front of her, just barely an inch from where she was standing. She heard a sound behind her, indicating he had closed the curtain behind them.

“But I did tell you that you’ll pay for it,” he said again, sounding slightly amused.

She opened her eyes to find his back facing her. He had made his way to his chair while leaving her stuck on her feet.

“You’ll start working tomorrow, and don’t be late. I don’t appreciate my secretary coming late and unprepared with my schedule.”

His face turned slightly when she didn’t say anything. He wasn’t speaking either, and the room fell into a moment of infinite silence.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply before she made her way out of the office, not glancing towards him as she made her graceful steps to the door. Her hand was on the knob when she said,

“I will not be late, and I will see you tomorrow, Mr. Nam.”