18 ~ Prove

A ring resounded through the office as the company phone on Daehyun's office desk lighted up to indicate that he was receiving a call.

"Daehyun-ssi?" the woman on the other end called when he picked it up.

"Yes?" he answered. He quickly shifted his eyes to check the caller code on the screen, but did not recognise whose office it belonged to. "Who is this?"

"This is CEO Kim's receptionist. He would like to see you in his office now."

 Daehyun's body tensed as warning signs went off in his head. It wasn't very often that Kim Myungsoo personally requested to see someone in his office. And he was more than sure that this time it would be for matters personal rather than work-related.

"I'll be right there," he said before hanging up, grabbing a file from his cabinet and leaving his office.

It was a review he was going to submit to the CEO sooner or later, so why not sooner? Besides, it was worth a shot trying to use it to steer whatever conversation they were going to have away from any non-work related matters.

The receptionist nodded in acknowledgement as Daehyun walked past her a few moments later. Once again, he found himself walking along the long corridor that distanced the CEO's office from the rest of the floor, which brought back memories of the first time he came by.

He remembered how it was the first time he noticed a change in the CEO's behaviour, and how it was the first time a clue was presented to him via a paper cup that suggested Myungsoo already knew Mihi. But it wasn't until the incident at the hotel from the night before did Daehyun finally realise that the cup design belonged to that of Tranquil Days.

The double door entrance soon towered over him as he stood in front of it and knocked. A reply came almost immediately, as the person inside had been expecting him.

"Come in."

Myungsoo had his back towards Daehyun as he entered and was observing the activities of those outside on the ground below. He spun around in his leather armchair perfectly as Daehyun stopped a decent few metres from where he was seated.

"You needed to see me, Sir?"

"That's right," Myungsoo nodded as he studied the man in front of him with scrutiny. His eyes locked with the file Daehyun held in his hand. "What do you have there?"

He handed it to him. "It's a brief review at the three week mark of the recent project we launched. All has been going to plan so far, Sir."

Myungsoo raised a sceptical eyebrow as he quickly glanced through the paper. "Is that so? I was anticipating a few problems and was planning to consult it with you, but that seems to be no longer necessary." He looked up at him with a neutral expression. "Well done, you may return to your work now."

*That can't be all he wanted to say* Daehyun thought, but nodded all the same and turned to leave, heading towards the door. But as expected, he was stopped at the last minute by Myungsoo asking him a question.

"How is Mihi-ssi?"

Daehyun turned back around to face him. "She's doing fine, thanks for asking."

"That's good to hear." Myungsoo picked up a pen and started twiddling it around in his fingers before his voice hardened at the next question. "What is your relationship with her?"

That was the question and tone Daehyun suspected his boss would ask and use, which now only affirmed his earlier suspicions of how he felt about Mihi. Rather than feeling worried about the potential problems all of this may ensue, Daehyun was instead feeling protective of his girlfriend. He wasn't happy about the fact that someone else already had his eyes on her -- especially not his boss -- and decided that he was just going to answer with the outright truth.

"Mihi's my girlfriend," Daehyun confidently replied.

Myungsoo looked as if he already knew the answer but was nonetheless taken aback with his response.

There was a long silence as no words were exchanged and the two continued to look at each other in a way that was reminiscent of the encounter between Yongguk and Myungsoo, but with less hostile intentions.

"Treat her well then," Myungsoo finally said emotionlessly.

"No need for you to worry about that."

The words had come out more scornfully than intended. Daehyun cleared his throat and tried to suppress the emotion in his words. "I will, Sir."

Myungsoo shot him something of a sneer that looked like he was actually challenging him to live up to his words. "Good."

Without another word, Daehyun left the CEO's office with a growing feeling of anger and dislike. A hint of jealousy was also strewn within his emotions, although he had no idea why. Mihi was already his girlfriend and he knew that she only thought of Myungsoo as a normal friend, but he couldn't help but turn green-eyed when he thought of how friendly the two of them could have been with each other when he wasn't around.

It wasn't that he suspected Mihi in any way -- in fact he trusted her wholeheartedly. But he, for one, did not trust Myungsoo at all. Who knew how serious he actually was towards Mihi? And who knew what schemes he was planning to pull? Not to mention the unknown reasons as to why Yongguk practically loathed the man to the core and didn't want Mihi to have anything to do with him.

If Daehyun wanted to find out, then he would have to do so soon because Yongguk was leaving in a few days. Mihi knew next to nothing about this whole matter, and there was no way he was going to interrogate his own boss for answers. So the only person left to ask was Yongguk, but he didn't seem very keen on elaborating on the details.

Again, there was this nagging feeling at the back of his head.

Call it his sixth sense or whatnot, but Daehyun just had this gut feeling that there was so much more to all of this than it seemed. But he hoped he was wrong.

~~~

Night came and it was now about time for the café to close up. Daehyun came by to take Mihi home, but was surprised to see that his good friend Youngjae was also there.

"What are you doing here at this time?"

"I'm taking Sujin home," he replied. "I just found out from Mihi that she's been going home alone all this time."

A figure burst out from the kitchen. "I told you, I can take care of myself! You don't need to take me home!"

"Yes I do," Youngjae stubbornly insisted.

Sujin, who was avoiding eye contact with him yet again, suddenly flickered her eyes up to glower at his. Fortunately, she did not melt at this rash (for her) action of hers. "I'm taking myself home."

Youngjae held a hand to his chin and pretended to think. "Uhhh, no. Not gonna happen."

"Just accept his invitation, Sujin-ah."

Mihi appeared from behind the doors, all ready to go. She beamed at Daehyun when she saw him and he smiled back at her. She turned to Youngjae and saluted him playfully. "Then I'll leave Sujin in your care. Good night!" And with that, she left the café with Daehyun despite the string of protests leaving her best friend's mouth.

Sujin slumped her shoulders in defeat and glanced over warily at Youngjae who was smiling at her cheerfully.

"Ready to go?"

She heaved a deep sigh and grabbed her bag.

~~~

"So, how has work been?"

"Great. Just... great..."

Youngjae was attempting to make small-talk with her as he drove and was trying to get a conversation going between the two of them, but Sujin was making it difficult by leaving him with uninspiring answers.

He paused after a few failed attempts. "Are you still uncomfortable with me?"

She shifted in her seat. She didn't like where this was going. "I... I don't unders--"

"It's okay," he cut in. "I told you I would give you all the time you needed."

Youngjae pulled up next to the curb outside her apartment complex. Sujin watched as he turned off the engine -- which suggested he wanted to talk -- and quickly flicked her head in the other direction when he turned to look at her.

"As long as you understand how I feel about you, I don't mind waiting."

Sujin fumbled with her seat belt. "I-I should go now." She successfully removed it and was about to leave, but a hand gently circling around her wrist stopped her from doing so. She glanced up at Youngjae and saw that he was staring at her intently.

"You do understand, right Sujin? I'm sure I've made myself clear about it."

"I-I'm not--"

"Then do you need to hear me say it directly?"

Her whole body froze as her heart pounded heavily against her rib-cage.

Youngjae turned her around to face him entirely and cupped her face in both his hands. "I like you Sujin. I have since awhile ago, and I still do now." He smiled softly at her. "I just wanted you to know that my feelings for you are sincere."

Her cheeks were burning under his touch, but for some reason she didn't feel like pushing them away. But the way he was staring at her at such close proximity was doing no good to her heart. She averted her eyes to the side.

"You don't mean that," she countered, although she knew full well that he did.

Youngjae frowned at her. "I meant every word that I said, Sujin. I'm not playing with you."

She remained silent, so he took in a deep breath.

"Do you want me to prove it to you?"

Sujin creased her eyebrows a fraction. "And how do you presume you'd do that?"

She was met with a boyish grin, before she felt a hand shift from its position on her cheek to pull her in from the back of her neck.

Leaning forward, Youngjae swiftly landed his lips on her unsuspecting ones, as she blinked in both shock and disbelief before feeling her body crumble into the sparks.

---

Now Daehyun is sure that Myungsoo is after Mihi as well D: And he still doesn't know why Yongguk and Myungsoo have this hateful relationship. Maybe he'll find out soon...? :P

Thanks for reading and subscribing ^^