The shop was busy as always, making Chaerin smile as she walked the floor with the rest of her employees, greeting customers and making sure things were running smoothly.  With her brownish blonde hair pulled back into a lengthy but professional pony tail, her bangs framing her face neatly, she looked striking with large chocolate brown eyes, highlighted on her upper and lower lids in a dark smoky color.  Her pale, glossy lips turned up easily as she greeted another regular, well cared for white teeth appearing in the genuine expression.

                Like her store, her style was a bit on the fashionably eclectic side.  Wearing thigh high black three inch heeled boots over a pair of black leggings, she paired her ensemble with a sky blue and gold oriental styled blouse that extended to her hips with frog buttons running along the front and long, loose sleeves to her wrists.  While her shop, CLefs and Octaves, did include several tributes to her Korean heritage, she made sure Japan, France and various other artists, instruments and types of music were present in neatly organized rows and showcased appropriately on her walls and in the windows for all to see.

                Proud of the fact that she wasn’t predominantly mainstream like some of her competitors, such as f.y.e. or McFadyen Music, she held her own as it was, relying more on word of mouth and a satisfied clientele base.  And if she had to work a little longer on some days than others to make sure things were taken care of to her satisfaction, well it came with the territory.  In her third year of success though, things had eased up a bit and when lunch time came around, she left the store in the capable hands of her assistant manager, Youngbae.

                “I’m stepping out for a bit!  You’ve got it covered right, Bae?” she asked, already rushing out the door with a big smile on her face.

                “No worries, CL!” her distinct mohawked friend laughed, shaking his head when the door closed behind her before he’d even finished his brief sentence.

                With her purse tucked under her arm, Chaerin made her way around to the back of the store where her blue sport’s bike was parked.  Settling herself in place, she placed the helmet on her head, storing her hair carefully before she kicked the stand up and zoomed off, slipping into traffic with practiced ease.  On her way, she made a stop by Adam’s Eatery, snagging the meal for two she’d called in ahead of time, breezing in and out with an unshakable smile.

                In less than fifteen minutes, she pulled into the parking garage beside Kwon Industries, affectionately known as Dragon Corp for the mythical Chinese beast that was its trademark logo.  One of the leading developmental companies in the field of pharmaceuticals, she looked slightly out of place in the corporate setting of business attire and strict schedules, but fortunately, she didn’t have to go too far.

                Her bright eyes landed on a tall, striking gentleman in a dark slate colored business suit, white undershirt, always fashionable black tie and dress shoes leaning against the front desk as he chatted amiably with the main floor receptionist.  Carefully styled platinum hair made him absolutely unmistakable while his customary confident smirk let her know he was in good spirits.  Almost as if he knew she was there, he looked up and smiled warmly at her approach, bidding his listener a polite farewell.

                “Seunghyun!” Chaerin greeted gleefully, stopping short just in front of him with the take-out bag before her, shifting in place though what she really wanted to do was throw her arms around him in a great big hug.  She’d agreed to keep their PDA to a minimum while he was at work though and reserved the right to snuggle close behind closed doors.  He did have an image to maintain after all.

                “Rin baby,” he smiled in return, extending his arm to capture her shoulders and pull her close.  “How’s my little pig rabbit today?” he teased lightly, his deep voice rumbling through her as she pressed close.

                “Ugh!” she scowled, smacking him in the ribs with her free hand as he laughed and pushed the front door open for them while they walked through together.  “I never should have told you that, Tabi,” she retorted with an accepting roll of her eyes.

                “Probably not,” he agreed, giving her shoulder a squeeze and pressing his lips to the side of her head gently, not in the least bit bothered by his own nickname.

                “I’m happy my recording equipment came in today!” she chirped, rather giddy about it actually.  “It’s so amazing,” she sighed, reaching across her body to grip his hand over her shoulder lightly.  “And you?” she asked, leaning to the side just a bit to change their direction to the crosswalk a little further down the sidewalk, their destination the park across the street from the large collection of corporate buildings that surrounded it.

                “Just another day at the office,” he assured her, keeping his stride shorter to match hers so he wasn’t dragging her along.

                “You always say that,” she reminded him, pointing out an empty table under the picnic overhang.  “There?”

                “Neh,” he grinned, handing her off politely as she set the bag on the table and slipped into place, removing their food while he took the seat across from her with his hands resting on the table, fingers laced together.  “So what’s on the menu today?” he inquired, nodding in approval at her choice of eateries.

                “Oh, you know.  The usual fair,” she winked playfully, pushing him a square thin folded cardboard box.  “Chicken burritos, with extra rice for you, and a side of home-style chips.”

                “No drinks?” he teased, inspecting his box and removing a single thick cut potato chip.

                “Hey!” she pointed at him, pausing mid-bite.  “I brought lunch.  The drinks are up to you, hon,” she winked, nodding towards the vending machine stationed in the alcove nearby, positioned beside a small array of additional snack and drink machines.

                “I know, I know,” he chuckled, snagging another chip before he approached the vending station, pausing as a gaggle of screaming children ran by.

                Chaerin watched him go, shamelessly staring at his fine physique and easy smile.  It was sometimes hard to believe they’d been together as long as they had; especially since they came from different spectrums in the business world.  Oddly enough, he didn’t look much like his professional self on the weekends though, which was how she’d first seen him and while he cut an amazing figure in a suit, her favorite look for him was in his off-the-clock attire.

                “What?” he asked as he returned, drinks in hand, only to notice her unabashedly staring at him.

                “Nothing,” she grinned, chewing quietly on another chip as she accepted the hastily opened can of cola for her.  She was more than able to do so herself but she appreciated his efforts since she’d only recently gotten her nails done and she would prefer not to risk chipping them… again.

                “Ah huh,” he grunted with a smile, popping the top of his drink before they settled in for a quiet afternoon lunch in the park.

                Bite by bite, they decimated their food and carried on general small talk, keeping each other laughing with their usual antics.  Chaerin had to beg him to stop at one point, face flushed as she futilely tried to catch her breath between his well-timed bouts of dry humor.  “You are terrible,” she gasped, hiding her face behind her arms as her body shook with her mirth.

                “Only when I want to be,” he assured her in a completely serious tone of voice, but when she looked up to make sure he wasn’t joking, she lost it again at the cheesy grin he gave her.

                At last, she managed to get herself under control, leaning back and rubbing at her facial muscles as she worked her jaw.  “Damn,” she giggled, massaging her cheeks with her fingertips.  “It hurts to smile, you ,” she snorted, carefully wiping at the tears that had escaped, threatening to smudge her eye makeup.

                “How do you think I feel?” he laughed softly, cleaning his mess up and folding the box closed to contain his trash.

                “Satisfied,” she responded immediately, following suit with his actions in cleaning the table.  “Hyunnie?” she asked after a brief pause, waiting for his attention to shift to her again.  “Do you have any plans for the evening?  I thought it might be nice if we could just barricade ourselves in for the night and forget about everyone else for a little while,” she suggested shyly, pushing the container in either direction with her index fingers.

                “Tonight?” he asked, looking slightly uncertain.

                “Well… yeah,” she nodded with a hopeful smile.

                Seunghyun grimaced and shook his head.  “Sorry baby.  Work’s been a bit hectic lately and I’m afraid I’ll probably have to stay late tonight.  You know how Mr. Kwon can be sometimes,” he shrugged apologetically.

                “So you’ve said,” she agreed with a frown of her own.  “Okay.  So maybe tomorrow night then?  If you’re free and all,” she shrugged her shoulders cutely, giving him a bright smile.

                “Tomorrow it is, Rin,” he agreed with a ready smile, reaching for her trash so he could dispose of it for her.

                “Good,” she nodded.  “ I guess I’ll just break in my new equipment in the meantime then,” she assured him excitedly.  “You’ll have to come by to check it out sometime.  I just got the tentative recording studio set up and everything,” she gushed at him, biting her bottom lip in delight.  “More or less,” she amended.

                “I would like that,” he agreed, extending his hand to help her up, pulling her against his body while she looked up at him with obvious adoration.  “Now.  I’ve got a den of lions to tame, as always, and you have your store to manage.”  He leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the lips before pulling away.  “Oh!  Your place or mine?” he asked with a knowing smile.

                Chaerin rolled her eyes and smiled.  “The girls are definitely here this weekend so unless you want to endure their habitual teasing…” she trailed off.

                “Mine then,” he laughed, giving her a firmer hug.  “Just give me a heads up when you’re heading my way, neh?” he asked, shifting so his arm was back over her shoulders while he started to guide them back to his place of employment.

                “Always,” she told him easily.

                After she saw him off to the elevators, the rest of Chaerin’s afternoon disappeared into the regular day to day affairs of her shop.  Youngbae and her other two associates kept her entertained with their Friday antics since they were all more than ready for six pm to roll around.  At about five minutes til, she waved off Zelo and Changjo; both of them babies but happy to have the job during the summer.  She wasn’t going to be too happy when they had to go back to school and she had to find replacement workers.

                “You got it up front, Bae?” she asked, leaning on the counter from the customer side while he started to get things in order to close shop.

                “Not a problem, boss,” he flashed her a winning smile, looking over her shoulder at the two last minute shoppers still hovering over the merchandise.

                “Awesome.  I’ll be in the back if you need anything,” she assured him, tapping her hand on the counter before bounding into the back room where her new equipment was just calling her name.

                Determinedly, she set to the task of getting her recording room situated, using the latest shipment to finalize what was already in place.  She hadn’t been working too long before Youngbae poked his head into the back area.  “Doors are locked and the customers are gone!” he announced cheerfully.

                “Great!  Thanks, Bae,” she answered, slightly distracted by the wiring going from the recording room to the actual singing booth.

                “Care for some help?” he offered, padding towards her on sneakered feet, taking a moment to squat next to the problematic panel.

                She looked at him skeptically for a moment before she shrugged in quiet acceptance.  “Sure.  I think this is supposed to go here, but it’s not aligning like it should,” she grumbled, fiddling with the cords some more.

                “Ah.  Here,” he offered, settling into place beside her as he plucked the disagreeing wires from her hands and pointed out where she was going wrong.  Between the two of them, they managed to get everything situated and sorted out in considerably less time than it would have taken for Chaerin alone.  The end result was little more than a glorified closet but it was all hers and ready for use.

                She squealed in excitement when they flipped the power switch and everything came on like it was supposed to.  “This is so cool!” she gasped, clapping animatedly.  “Here!  Why don’t you step in and I’ll see how it sounds from this side.”

                “Eh…” he trailed off, smiling in embarrassment as he scratched the side of his neck.

                “Oh shut up.  I’ve heard you on the floor, Bae,” she reminded him, giving him an encouraging shove towards the ‘closet’ as she had already decided to call it.

                “Fine, fine,” he waved and laughed, begrudgingly stepping into the recording space.

                Between the two of them, they lost track of the time almost entirely and Chaerin had to call a stop to it when she realized it was nearing nine in the evening.  “Sorry!” she apologized, bowing profusely to her friend for taking up so much of his Friday night.

                “Feh.  It was time well spent,” he grinned with a dismissive wave.  “And besides!  The night’s still young.”

                “That it is,” she nodded, shutting everything off before they did one more check of the interior and then took the back way out.  “See you Monday, Bae,” she smiled, throwing her ponytail over her shoulder before she straddled her bike and settled her helmet in place, flipping the visor open to see him better.

                “I’ll be here,” he promised quietly, waiting for her to leave first, hands clasped in front of him while he watched her pull out of the parking lot.

                She gave him one final wave and then sped home.  While she didn’t have any plans with Seunghyun or the girls for that matter, they weren’t going to be around until tomorrow morning…  No, it would be more like afternoon before she saw them.  Minzy had a dance competition out of state earlier today and Dara had agreed to go with her since Chaerin was working, as per usual.

                Of course, that meant that she had the apartment all to herself tonight!  Giddy with the thought, Chaerin didn’t take long to get home and make herself comfortable, kicking her boots off and raiding the fridge for the leftovers she hadn’t managed to finish from their Chinese takeout yesterday afternoon.

                She was having an absolutely relaxing time until she heard her phone going off, the ring familiar and smile inducing.  Hopping to her feet, she bolted into her bedroom where the cellphone was currently charging on her nightstand before she picked it up and placed it to her ear, grinning widely.  “Hello?” she asked, waiting for his response.

                Her smiled faded as her brows edged together curiously when she didn’t immediately hear anything.  Pulling the phone from her ear, she looked at the screen just to make sure and then tilted her head to the side, blinking in puzzlement.  That was odd…

                “Hello?  Seunghyunnie?” she asked, wandering back into the living room to take her seat in the chair she’d recently vacated.  “Can you hear me?” she tried again, very much confused until she thought she heard a sound that absolutely couldn’t be true…  Chaerin pulled the phone away from her ear again and just stared at the screen in blank wonder, bringing it close and then jerking it away as if it had burned her.

                Sitting motionless in the chair, Chaerin glared at the phone dangling between her fingers, elbow propped on her knee while she listened to the soft, laughing voices drifting over the speaker in what had to be an accidental dial…  Narrow eyes squinted in annoyance while quirked to the side in a rather severe frown.  It couldn’t be…

                Not wanting to hear anymore and jump to unnecessary conclusions, she smacked the call end button and glared at the front of her phone before it went blank.  “Think, Rin,” she told herself, trying to add things up in her head.  It was a Friday night and he’d already said he was going to be working late.  Well… it was almost ten thirty and in all likelihood, he had probably gone out with the boys for a drink or something.

                Right?  They’d already confirmed they were getting together tomorrow night so he was just being one of the guys.  Which was fine, except she was almost positive she’d heard a woman nearby.  Not that it was exactly unusual since he did have female coworkers but still…  “Just call, Rin.  That’ll clear everything up in a moment.  He’s just having fun with the boys.  Somewhere downtown probably.  It would actually be weird if you didn’t hear someone else nearby, right?” she asked herself, turning the screen on while she hovered over the dial button to his number.

                “Just push the damn button already,” she told herself, looking away as she dropped her thumb and heard the line start to ring.  Breathing a sigh of relief, she placed the phone to her ear and waited, expecting to hear him pick up at any moment.

                Thank you for calling the voicemail of Choi Seunghyun.  I’m sorry I wasn’t able to answ-

                “What the hell?” Chaerin grumbled, hanging the phone up without leaving a message as she glared at the screen.  That was odd.  He always answered her call.  Undeterred, she tried again only to meet with similar results.  “Dammit, Hyunnie.  Why aren’t you answering?” she asked herself, gripping the phone tightly in her hands as she curled into the chair.

                Immediately, her mind launched into all sorts of various scenarios; some acceptable and others… not so much.  He was flirting shamelessly with someone at the club.  He was buying  a lonely young woman a drink to be charitable because he was that kind of gentleman.  He was having an affair…  No!  The one she finally convinced herself of was that he had gone out with the boys after their meeting and was just having too much fun on his own.  He probably hadn’t heard her call, or he had his phone turned off…  Then why did it ring before going to voicemail?

                Irritated, she demanded her logical side shut up and turned the volume up on the television.  She was going to spend tomorrow night with him anyway so she could just ask him about it then.  It was probably nothing after all.  Really.  Nothing…  Especially not another woman in his company while she was home alone because he had told her he was working late and she had agreed to accommodate him.  As usual.

(a/n: Woot!  My poster was finished yesterday (technically since it's after midnight here) and I'm posting my first update now since the imagery was completed!  This was originally intended to be a oneshot but has since been expanded (by relative demand) which is why it took me a bit longer to post it than intended.  It probably won't be a long piece by any means but I do hope you enjoy it all the same and please look forward to the next update, whenever that will be!  Thank you and happy reading!)