Chapter 32

As Himchan went about his lesson for Daniel, Annie grew bored and found herself messing with her phone. In time, she received a text message from Lucy: Hey, Jongup saw you crying earlier... Is everything okay? Text or call me when you can. Cheer up and smile, pretty lady! Love you! The text from Lucy made her smile. Lucy always knew the right things to say just to cheer her up, she thought.

I may have told Himchan a bit about our childhood growing up... was her reply.

Immediately, Lucy responded: Oh, I see... I was just curious that's all...

Annie: Well now you know. Don't worry he didn't make me cry if that's what you're asking. :)

Lucy: Just checking up on you. It's what I do best! ^^

Annie: That's why I love you! <3

Lucy: Oh, I almost forgot to tell you... Yongguk came by today. Zelo ran into him before you and Himchan left.

Annie froze, rereading the text message once again. Did he now?

Lucy: Yep. You must've missed him as you were leaving.

Annie: Did Zelo know why he was there?

Lucy: Nope. According to Zelo, he couldn't understand what Yongguk was doing in the parking lot.

Annie: What a weirdo. @_@

Lucy: A HOT weirdo. ;)

Annie: (Barf) There's nothing that great about him! I mean he's a music producer, who happens to be good-looking... Okay... BIG FREAKIN' DEAL! -_-

Lucy: That's not very nice... :(

Annie: Okay fine, he is kind of cute. (throws in the towel)

Lucy: HAHAHAH you just made my day, Annie!

Annie: Shut up and get back to work! Shouldn't you be working? You better not be texting when you're working, young lady!

Lucy: Okay MOM. ;) I can say the same for you >:-)

Annie: Touche. Ttyl, I should be getting back to work too. Bye! Love you! <3

Placing her phone back into her bag, Annie gaped in astonishment staring off into space. So Bang came by. Huh, she thought to herself. If he stopped by, why didn't he come inside? Shrugging it off, she decided it wasn't too big of a deal knowing she had other issues to attend to, particularly her ongoing friendship with Himchan. Miranda clearly didn't look happy about seeing them together once again.

What the hell was her problem? Annie wondered. She couldn't forget that icy stare when she was thrown under the bus about her tardiness. So what if she was late? It was only one time but Miranda makes it seem like the world's about to end. How was I supposed to know whether to call her? She makes it seem as if bothering her with just one phone call would cost me my job! Just the thought in general was enough to get Annie riled up prompting her to groan in frustration. “Ugh!”

Someone cleared their throat, Annie turned toward the source of the sound and found herself looking at Himchan and Daniel eying her curiously. “Is everything okay?” he asked breaking the moment of silence.

Annie did not realize her nostrils were flaring along with her fists clenching. She then relaxed a bit. “Yes, I'm fine,” she said faking a smile.

“Are you sure?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yep, I'm just dandy!” she gave him a thumbs up holding her smile despite the fact that she wanted to hurl something across the room in anger.

Clearly unconvinced, Himchan lifted Daniel up and off the chair by the piano. “Alright, little man,” he said, facing the little boy. “Why don't you go and show me some of your cool toys and bring them here right after?”

“Okay!” the little boy exclaimed excitedly running out of the room then making his way to his room.

Getting up to stretch his legs, Himchan made his way over to Annie then settled into a chair beside her. “Alright, talk to me,” he insisted. “What's on your mind?”

“Nothing,” Annie muttered.

“Are you sure?”

“I'm sure,” she said, her lips forming into a thin line.

“You don't sound so sure,” he noted aloud.

“Of course, I'm sure!” she exclaimed defensively.

“Annie, are you okay?”

“Yes, I'm fine! I just told you! What the hell made you think I'm not okay?!” she exclaimed impatiently.

“You ever heard of the saying 'It's not what you say, it's how you say it'?” he asked leaning back against the chair facing her. “You're not okay.”

“Don't tell me how I feel! I'm fine!” she said angrily.

“There's no reason for you to get so defensive! And don't think I believe you, Annie! I know you're lying!” he argued back. “I know you're not okay. Look, you're shaking. Your blood is going to stop running if you clench your fists tighter. Look, they're already white.”

“Just shut up and leave me alone!” she stood up to leave but he was too quick. He grabbed her by the arm then turned her to face him.

“Talk to me,” he said soothingly.

She shook her head. “I'm fine,” she huffed.

“Annie,” he said clearly annoyed with her brash behavior by far.

Sighing, she finally caved and relaxed. “It's her,” she spat out bitterly. “I don't like the way she talks to you. I don't even like the way she talks to me. I have no idea how you could tolerate her speaking to you that way. I swear if it weren't for Danny I would've punched her in the face. And her husband is a ing pig.”

“Language,” he warned her. “Don't forget there's a four year old in the building and he could walk in any minute if he heard you.”

“Well, sorry Mom!” she barked back. “Onto my little spiel, I'm just irritated right now. If we're supposed to respect her, why can't she respect us? Ugh!”

“I wouldn't let her get to you if I were you,” Himchan said calmly. “In every job, you're bound to get scolded whether your boss is nice or not, it'll happen.”

“Yeah but it seriously doesn't make sense to me as to why she would go off on you,” Annie pointed out. “I mean you did nothing wrong, Himchan. I mean I know I was wrong for being late but you were just looking out for me and she just goes off on me but then when you intervened, she takes it a little too far. It's unfair if you ask me.”

“Well thanks for your concern but I'm fine,” he said. “I'm not making a huge deal about it. Miranda can go off on me all she wants but I know my place. It's her problem, not mine.”

“But, that's the thing, Himchan. I don't want this to happen again,” she finally said. “Remember what I said earlier? If she's gonna keep getting angry at the both of us for hanging out together, I think we should keep our distance for now.”

“Annie--”

“No!” Annie held up her hand to cut him off. “Let me finish. I have a point to make. I'm not saying we should stop talking, I'm saying you shouldn't come to my rescue every time I need help. It's gonna give everyone the wrong idea. Especially her, of all people... Anyways, thinking back to our little conversation during breakfast this morning, we can resort to talking and hanging out outside of work as opposed to being seen when she's around,” She gave him a hopeful smile. “Is that okay with you?”

“Wait, so let me get this straight,” he held up his own hand turning over to her. “We're not allowed to speak at work but we're allowed to speak when we're not working?” He laughed at how ridiculous this sounded.

“I didn't think this was amusing,” Annie remarked as she glared at him.

“That's 'cause it is!” he chuckled.

“I'm being serious, Himchan,” she replied in a serious tone.

“Alright, alright, I'll stop,” he relaxed a bit. “But seriously? Are you that afraid of her?”

“Well, she is kind of scary,” replied Annie sheepishly. “I mean did you see the way she looked at me earlier? It was like her stare could turn me to stone if she looked hard enough! All she needs is serpents for her hair and she'll turn into Medusa!”

“Nanny, what's a Medusa?” a little boy's voice suddenly rang out from the doorway. Daniel was holding a dinosaur figurine that looked to be half his size. Annie was surprised he had the strength to even carry it to the piano room with him.

“A very scary monster, Danny,” Annie answered curtly then turned to Himchan. “Anyways, we'll have this discussion later. It's playtime,” she said referring to the little boy waiting for them.

Later on that night, once Annie was out the door she made her way to the elevator. Himchan had insisted on taking her home but since she was so stubborn about what she had said earlier that he had no choice but to comply with her wishes despite his reluctance to do so. As a result, he left early and Annie planned on calling a cab to drop her off. Tapping her foot impatiently, she waited for the doors to open when it stopped. She was soon in for a slight surprise when Yongguk emerged from inside looking up at her with a look of surprise. “Hello,” she greeted him curtly stepping inside.

“Heading home?” he said after clearing his throat.

“Yep,” she answered staring ahead. They were standing side by side, about a yard away from each other. Although Annie had to note that Yongguk did look extra handsome today. As a matter of fact, when didn't he look so hot? He was wearing a simple ensemble that consisted of a body hugging white t-shirt under a black jacket with jeans and sneakers. He looked polish for a guy going for a casual look. Annie found herself discreetly staring at his reflection on the sliding door. His collarbone was protruding slightly underneath his t-shirt and she found herself swallowing hard. Okay, maybe I do find him a little attractive! This realization will come back to bite me in the . I know it, her subconscious had spoken to her. ... Stop checking him out, you idiot! For some reason, the atmosphere was starting to feel a little hot and Annie was starting to grow a little uncomfortable retreating into the corner distancing herself as further away from him as possible.

Yongguk seemed to have taken notice. “Annie?”

Snapping out of her daze, she turned to face him. “Huh?”

“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned. “You're breathing really hard at the moment.”

“I am?” she uttered trying to keep her breathing steady. “I'm fine. Don't worry about me!” she said chuckling nervously.

“If you're having one of those panicky episodes like last time I can call someone to--”

“Nonsense, Bang!” she cut him off. “I'm fine and dandy! See?” she gave him two thumbs up and an assuring smile. Yongguk relaxed a bit then leaned against the railing as they waited for the elevator to land on the next floor.

He found himself thinking back about earlier. Realization suddenly hit him as he remembered the journal he had forgotten to return that morning. Of course, neither expected the other to turn to face each other at the same time. “So—I--” they said at once but then stopped themselves.

“You first,” Annie insisted.

“Nope... ladies first,” he offered.

“Well, I was about to tell you that I heard you stopped by the cafe this morning,” Annie said sheepishly. “We could've met up, you know.”

Yongguk froze. “Oh,” he managed to say. “Right. I-I--” Tongue-tied, he looked at Annie nervously still trying to come up with a valid excuse. “You see, something came up and I had to rush off.” He finished off.

“Really?” Annie raised an eyebrow then crossed her arms over her chest. “Like what?”

“Oh, you know,” Yongguk said. “Just stuff.”

“I see,” she nodded slowly. “Stuff. That makes sense.” She replied clearly suspicious of his actions from earlier. But then, she decided not to pry any further. Maybe stuff did come up. It wasn't any of her business anyways.

“Yeah,” he nodded then decided to shift the topic. “So, where did Himchan go?”

“He left before me,” she answered. “He insisted on giving me a ride but I refused. I feel kind of bad for having him give me a ride all the time,” she said guiltily.

Clearing his throat, he turned to face her, “If you want, I can give you a ride.”

“No,” Annie shook her head immediately. “I can't let you do that!”

“It's okay, I insist,” he said.

“Bang, it already feels like a lot,” Annie said ashamedly. “I feel like I owe you big time.”

“You don't owe me anything,” he chuckled lightly. “And I don't mind taking you home.”

“If it's not a lot of trouble for you,” she sighed.

He stepped forward to press a button on the elevator. “Well, I don't have any plans at the moment,” he said with his signature gummy smile. “So why not?”

“Thank you so much,” she finally said. “I really do owe you big time. If there's anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to tell me.”

With a triumphant gleam in his eyes, he looked down at her. “Well, there is something...”

A/N: Hello again! Here's another update! I really wanted to write this A/N on their new MV!! I had to miss when it was first uploaded because I had to work and I'm glad I finally saw it! Gosh, the fact that I waited all this time for it made it seem like I have no life. My coworkers were laughing at me about it. I told them "You see, I'm not a weird person. I am a normal person, who happens to like weird things. That's all." Now onto my reaction on the MV, I knew it was going to be a gritty and hardcore song. And I'd have to say it left me completely speechless. I'm utterly amazed. Even though I didn't understand the meaning behind the MV it wasn't so bad. Despite all the face paint, our boys looked pretty hot. They went from chill in Coffee Shop, to trendy in Hurricane, and now dark and hardcore in Badman. Not bad I'd say. Not sure what is so relevant about the couple kissing in the MV though. Now as a side comment, I'd like to say, "You know 's about to go down when someone tosses a Molotov cocktail." And what do you know? That's exactly what happened! Good job, Bang! XD (On the song I meant. Since he did write it and all >.<)

P.S. please don't mind the minor errors. I didn't edit anything. Enjoy! Feel free to comment and tell me what you think of the new MV! I'd love to read your opinions! :D