FOUR

Seorin thought about what Kyungsoo had said on the phone last night. ‘I’ll re-hire you on one condition…’
But he had said he would outline the conditions in person, and that she would have to show up for work fifteen minutes early… And so she had stayed up late debating on whether it would be worth it to take back her job and fearing the demands he would make if she did decide to. So here she stood, dressed hastily in a plain olive dress, waiting for the earlier bus while yawning repeatedly.

“So you decided to return,” Kyungsoo said smugly as he watched Seorin walk in precisely at 8:45.

“Doesn’t mean I’m staying,” she replied haughtily, dragging a seat to his desk. She sat down and crossed her arms. “So what are your terms?”

He could tell she didn’t waste any time getting straight to the point, and he had to admit, it was somewhat admirable.
“It’s not anything big, really,” he replied casually. “You just need to help me with a little something…”

She quirked her eyebrow in question. A little something? Pfft, yeah right.

“I’m serious,” he insisted defensively. “You just have to help me with a simple project,” he lied.

“What project?” She asked. If the “project” was doing his laundry or completing a thousand pages of paperwork, he could count her out – she would just remain unemployed.

“An advertising project,” he said slowly, thinking carefully before he spoke. “I have to come up with something for Jackal, and –”

“Jackal?!” She repeated in disbelief. “As in the famous athletic brand?! The company gave you such a big client?!”

He didn’t like the way she emphasized ‘you,’ as if she believed that he was incompetent. But he let this one go without an argument and merely nodded.
It’s not a complete lie, he reassured himself. Secretary Jang was part of the company, and she had sort of “given” him Jackal when she had brought him the list of main clients.
“Yeah, and Sehun told me you were good at this sort of thing, so I decided I’d give you back your job if you help me – a win-win situation for the both of us,” he said.

She wasn’t convinced – there had to be a catch. Kyungsoo seemed like the type of guy who would selfishly make everyone on the intern team stop what they were doing and help him with his personal project – not the type to personally negotiate with someone he had just fired…
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you keeping something from me?” She asked warily.

His eyes widened slightly but he shook his head. “No, why would I be? Geez, stop being so suspicious of everyone’s good intentions,” he scolded. “You’ll never make friends like that.”

She almost scoffed. He should be the last person who should be giving advice on how to make friends.

“Eh? Seorin, you’re back!” Jongin said, popping his head through the door just as she dragged the chair away from Kyungsoo’s desk. “Do you know how much we missed you?!”

She rolled her eyes, but she smiled nonetheless. “Let me guess – a whole lot, right?”

He nodded eagerly. “So what did you have to do to get stubborn Kyungsoo to take you back?”

She shook her head. “No, he didn’t take me back – he requested that I come back. And it was because I–” She stopped talking when she suddenly felt a squeeze on her shoulder. She turned around to see Kyungsoo looking at her with a firm look as if to say ‘don’t tell anyone anything.’
She didn’t understand why getting Jackal as a client would be a secret – it seemed like it would be something to brag about – but she kept shut.

Because if this was a secret, then she now held some power over Kyungsoo: if he wanted things to stay a secret, then he would have to play by her rules.

###

“Jinri, get to the VIP room now. They are important dinner guests. Bring the 2012 Chateau Le Pin with you too.”

Jinri sighed, nodding obediently to her father’s orders. Her mother was in New York, looking for a good spot to open their 8th restaurant, so now she had to serve the VIP customers for the first time. She had gone through extensive training, but she still wasn’t confident.
She gr