Jessica Jung hit the Enter key on her keyboard and collapsed backwards into her chair with an audible sigh of relief. Then she sat up again and read over everything she just wrote, double-checking the spelling and triple-checking for any grammar slip ups. If her editor, Eric Mun, saw any mistakes at all, Jessica would be burned alive. But, of course, it wasn’t as if Jessica ever messed up. In fact, Eric’s meticulousness was one of the traits that Jessica liked the most about him, mostly because it reminded her of herself.

 

She moved her computer mouse and clicked the Save button, satisfaction causing her lips to spread in a small smile. This article had taken her exactly two weeks to complete, which was longer than she would’ve liked, but she had at least managed to finish it four days before the deadline. This meant four extra days for her to do research on her next story, and there was nothing Jessica loved more than extra time.

 

Jessica quickly printed her article out and stood, craning her neck in hopes of catching a glimpse of Eric. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be in his office, which ultimately meant that Jessica would have to parade around the building in search of him. She looked down at her feet and winced, cursing herself for choosing that particular day to break in her brand new, four-inch Jimmy Choo heels.

 

But work clearly overruled her fear of blisters and she headed towards the cafeteria first. Though it was only eleven, Jessica knew that Eric had a habit of eating early and scheduling any meetings he may have at around noon, so she decided to check all the places he could possibly be: the cafeteria on the first floor, the café located conveniently next to it, the coffee shop across the street, and, finally, his office in case she happened to have missed him by accident. She just hoped that he wouldn’t happen to be somewhere else in the building.

 

She sighed and headed for the nearest elevator. Jessica had been working for the Seoul Times as a journalist for three years now, so she knew exactly how big the building was. She was just about to round the corner when someone stopped her in her tracks.

 

“Jessica!” a voice called over to her.

 

Jessica raised her eyebrows in confusion and looked over her shoulder in the direction that the voice had come from. Who could it be? It wasn’t as if Jessica was particularly good friends with anyone in her section. Then she saw the person’s face and smiled.

 

“Hi, Yoona,” Jessica replied. Her colleague – and friend – looked pretty as always. Today Yoona had her hair tied up in a neat bun and she faced Jessica with a smile of her own.

 

“I miss working with you,” Yoona said miserably. She glanced from side to side to make sure no one was in hearing range before leaning in close and dropping her voice down to a whisper. “Yunju’s horrible. She’s always sending me on errands as if I’m her personal assistant and not a coworker.”

 

Jessica nodded sympathetically. Yoona was a photographer that had worked with Jessica for almost two years. Four months ago, when she had been switched to the sports section and had to start working with Yunju, Jessica had missed her terribly. The rest of the people in Jessica’s section, politics and economy, were the ones who not-so-secretly whispered about her and called her names behind her back. Yoona was one of her only friends at work, along with Yuri and Tiffany. Of course, she was on friendly terms with some others, but she didn’t consider them as friends.

 

“How’s it going over in your office area?” Now it was Yoona’s turn to look sympathetic. “Are they still the same?”

 

“Of course,” Jessica said, rolling her eyes. “Really, it’s a wonder that anything ever gets done.”

 

A voice suddenly cut through their conversation – Yunju. “Yoona? Let me take a look at your pictures. Now. I don’t have all day,” she said loudly, looking over in their direction. “And where’s my cup of coffee?”  

 

“Right. I’m coming, unnie!” Yoona called back. She turned back to Jessica and mouthed the words ‘save me’ before dragging herself back to Yunju’s side. Jessica turned and reluctantly walked away herself.

 

As she waited for the elevator, Jessica found herself zoning out. Jessica shook herself out of it. She held her article out in front of her and read over it again, wishing she could go back to her office and revise several sentences to make them flow better. But just as she really was about to turn back, the elevator doors slid open. There was only one other person inside, a coworker named Lee Donghae. Jessica stepped inside and pressed the 1 button. The doors slid closed again, throwing both of them into a slightly awkward silence.

 

“Good morning, Miss Jung,” Donghae said politely, bowing slightly.

 

“Ah, yes, good morning, Donghae-sshi,” Jessica replied, returning the bow. She appreciated his effort to break the awkwardness, though to be completely honest it only made her feel tenser. Jessica knew that Donghae was good friends with most of the girls in her section and, well, Jessica was sure that he had heard many things about her, none of them good.

 

She turned her head away slightly so he wouldn’t be able to see her face before squeezing her eyes shut and praying for the elevator ride to end already. Suddenly, the elevator came to a stop. Jessica was about to jump up and down in relief when she realized that they were on floor four, not floor one. And, to make it worse, the person who walked in was Soojin, a girl that spread any gossip with relish.

 

“Oh, Donghae!” Soojin squealed loudly, walking into the elevator and positioning herself right in between Jessica and Donghae.

 

“Hi, Soojin,” he replied easily, giving her a smile. “How’s it going?”

 

“I’m just heading to Leeteuk’s office on the second floor to give him an update on my article,” she replied. “I hope he’ll give me an extension since the weekend’s coming up in a few days. Oh, but speaking of the weekend, are you going to the party this Saturday?”

 

Jessica tuned the two of them out, twisting her body so she was facing away from them. She had no interest in attending parties, especially parties that her colleagues were invited to.

 

“I think so, isn’t it to celebrate Eric’s birthday?” Donghae asked.

 

“Yup!” Soojin giggled a bit too loudly. Jessica winced, feeling slightly embarrassed for her. “It’s going to be held on the first floor, in the giant meeting room.”

 

“I guess I’ll look into the details later,” Donghae said. He looked a bit uncomfortable with the amount of attention Soojin was giving him and hastily included Jessica. “Are you going to go, Jessica?”

 

“W-what?” Jessica stuttered, looking over at him. She felt her cheeks flame when she realized that Donghae was looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer, while Soojin had her eyes narrowed and pursed like she just tasted something sour. 

 

“Are you going to go to Eric’s birthday party?” Donghae repeated.

 

Eric’s having a birthday party? She fumbled for a suitable response, “Oh, uh, I’m – “

 

“I’m sure Jessica has more important things to do on her weekends than to attend a birthday party,” Soojin cut in with a sickly sweet smile. “I mean, it’s not like she usually comes to any parties anyway. It’d actually be kinda weird if she actually came to this one.”

 

Soojin, you little…Jessica thought, but she forced herself to smile as she nodded. This was exactly how most of the girls in her section (and most other sections too) treated her and Jessica didn’t even know why. She was completely harmless, of average height and below average weight.

 

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Donghae told her sincerely, but Jessica just groaned mentally in reply. Thankfully, they finally reached the second floor. Both Donghae and Soojin left the elevator, leaving Jessica sighing in relief.

 

A few minutes later, Jessica arrived at the cafeteria. The cafeteria, like everything else in the building, was huge. Sunshine filtered in from the high-rise windows, giving the whole room a nice glow. It was filled with people eating and talking. She looked around for Eric’s familiar mess of brown hair but he, unfortunately, wasn’t there. Although she hadn’t really expected to find him there, she still sighed dejectedly. Not wanting to waste any more time in case he really did have a meeting planned, Jessica headed to the café.

 

Luckily, Jessica did find him there. The moment she walked in, Jessica was hit by the smell of coffee and scones. The café had a nice cozy feel to it, and Jessica felt herself relax as she scanned the room. She spotted him sitting in a small booth tucked in the corner and broke into a wide smile.

 

“Eric!” Jessica called out, waving her article excitedly. “I finally finished it!”

 

He looked up at her with a wry grin as she slid into the seat across from him. “Early as always, I see,” he said.

 

“Of course,” Jessica replied. “I need extra time to research my next article, the one on Yoo Sanghee.”

 

“That one’s gonna be a hard one. It’s too bad that the manager is adamant about getting a story on him,” Eric told her. “If you can’t handle it, just tell me and I’ll assign it to someone else, all right?”

 

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Please, Eric, I’m not a little kid. I can do it.”

 

“Ah, yes, this is why you’re my favorite employee,” he joked. “Now let’s see the article,” Eric added, reaching for it across the table.

 

She handed it to him and looked around the café as her boss read through it. It was packed with teenagers, though Jessica also saw some coworkers that she vaguely recognized. There were four TVs set up around the room, each one on a different channel. She watched as a group of high school girls crowded around one that was playing a music show before switching her attention to the TV that had the sports channel on.

 

“You did a wonderful job, as usual,” Eric said, sliding the papers back over to her. “But try to be a bit more neutral, since I can tell that you don’t like the tax raises.”

 

Jessica nodded and thanked him. “I’ll keep that in mind when I write up the interview questions I’m planning on asking Yoo Sanghee.”

 

Eric chuckled. “It’ll be very difficult to get a face-to-face interview with him but if you do, try not to strangle him.”

 

“I’ll try my best, but no promises,” Jessica joked. “I’ll head back to the office now and fax my article, along with the pictures that Saehee took, to you later tonight.”

 

“Sounds good,” Eric replied. “Oh and, before I forget, I’m having a birthday party this Saturday.” He rolled his eyes before continuing, “Some of the girls in our section planned it.” More eye-rolling. “Do you want to come?”

 

Jessica felt turn down before she could stop herself. A mental image of Soojin and Saehee and all those other girls popped into her mind and she almost cringed. “A party?” Jessica asked, forcing a laugh. “Doesn’t really sound like…you know…what I’d do on a Saturday.”

 

Eric shook his head, breaking into a huge grin. “You are so coming,” he told her. “If I have to put up with them for nine hours, you have to suffer with me. What else are friends for?”

 

“Friends, huh?” Jessica raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t going to let him corral her into going. “I’m pretty sure we have a boss-and-employee relationship.”

 

“Then as your boss, I’m ordering you to go,” Eric said with a mischievous sparkle in his eye. “If you don’t, I’m going to cut your salary. In half.”

 

“Eric!” gasped Jessica. “You wouldn’t!”

 

“Watch me.”

 

“Fine, you win,” Jessica relented. She did feel bad for him and if she went, at least she could spend the night talking to him and Yoona. “When does the party start?”

 

“It’s from two in the afternoon to midnight and it’s going to be held in the biggest meeting room on the first floor. Be there or else.” Eric smiled at her. Then he sighed. “Well, I imagine you have lots of work to do, so feel free to get going.” 

 

After a final goodbye, Jessica stood.

 

As she walked past the menu and the displays full of delicious-looking food, she paused, debating whether she should buy something to eat or just head back to the office to work. Then she shook her head no. Jessica had put in a ton of work for this article over the past two weeks, interviewing store owners, businessmen, millionaires, anyone that was affected by the tax raises, that she hadn’t had any time to do her usual workouts at the gym. She hated the feeling eating something and not knowing whether she would be able to burn it off later the same day.

 

With one last wistful look at a piece of chocolate cake that seemed to be calling her name, Jessica pushed open the door and walked out into the warm summer day, another seven hours of work ahead of her.

 

--------

Jessica was absolutely exhausted.

 

This was the last of her four extra days and she loathed the fact that she had barely gotten a head start, even with the extra time she had.

 

Who knew that Yoo Sanghee would be so hard to get a hold of? She had gotten his contact information off of his official website and had already called him about ten times, all to no avail. Each time Yoo Sanghee’s secretary had answered with a curt, “He’s not taking any interview requests,” and before she knew it, all she was hearing was the dial tone.

 

But she needed him for her next article. It was all about Yoo Sanghee, the mayor of Seoul, and why he had decided to raise taxes on the city. She knew that the upper level management of Seoul Times probably only expected a brief article on him with no direct quotes, something that was basically a summary of what he had said so far in press conferences. She also knew that no one really expected her to get an interview with him. But Jessica wanted to. She wanted Seoul Times to be the first newspaper to print an article containing important information about the tax raise that people hadn’t heard before.

 

Jessica groaned and turned back to her computer screen. She was currently trying to look up his schedule, though she wasn’t having any luck at all. Not only did she have no idea how to reach him, it wasn’t as if she knew anyone who might happen to know Yoo Sanghee as well.  

 

She glanced at the digital clock on her desk and groaned again when she saw that it was already 8:20 p.m. Lately Jessica had been working later and later, as if trying to compensate not being able to get any work done by spending more time trying. A peek outside of her office door told her that everyone else in her section of offices had already left. When she craned her neck, Jessica could spot a light on in the editing rooms, as well as a few on in the entertainment section.

 

She was about to turn back to her computer when her stomach grumbled loudly. With a sigh, Jessica decided to go home for the night. She pressed the power button on her computer and, while she waited for it to turn off, she grabbed her purse and spring jacket. When she had straightened everything out, Jessica turned the lights off and locked the door behind her.

 

Jessica wasn’t a big fan of working overtime – in fact, it was one of the things she disliked the most. She hated hearing other people leave first, she hated hearing the lights in nearby offices click off one by one, and she absolutely detested walking out of the building and seeing the parking lot empty, save for her car.

 

Today it hadn’t been any different, except for two other cars in the parking lot. Jessica climbed into her car and started it, setting her purse down on the passenger seat. She paused to fasten her seat belt and pull on her jacket, shivering from the chilly night air.

 

As Jessica pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the freeway, she felt herself getting sleepier and sleepier. Wake up, snap out of it! She shouted at herself mentally. But after a few more minutes of driving, she couldn’t take it anymore and took the nearest exit out. Jessica slowed down and drove around aimlessly for a bit, trying to wake herself up. She was about to turn and drive back to the freeway when a nearby Starbucks, nestled right in the middle of a busy shopping center, caught her eye. Right on cue, her stomach grumbled again, even louder than it had when she had been back at the office.

 

I’ll just get some coffee to wake myself up, Jessica decided. Then she brought her hands to her stomach. Maybe I should get a scone too.

 

Jessica nudged her car forward but got stalled at a nearby stoplight almost instantly. As she waited there, she blasted the cold air conditioner to help her wake up. When the light shifted from red to green a few minutes later, Jessica hit the gas and turned into the shopping center at full speed.

 

Though a look at her cell phone told her that it was 8:30, the shopping center was full of cars and people. She noticed quite a few clothing and shoe stores and told herself that she would need to come back here sometime over the weekend to do some proper shopping. She also saw a grocery store a few parking lots away.

 

Should I stop by and buy some food? My refrigerator’s running out of vegetables and fruit, Jessica thought. But coffee first, she reminded herself before she could get sidetracked.

 

She eased up on the gas pedal and turned in the direction of Starbucks, immediately noticing an open parking spot behind a Lexus. Jessica slowed down even more and turned in the direction of the car when a blinding light hit the left side of her face. She turned to see where it was coming from, squinting from the brightness.

 

Time seemed to stop.

 

The nearby sounds of cars speeding by on the highway were suddenly muted. Jessica’s breath caught painfully in , rendering her unable to breathe for a moment as she realized the lights were really headlights and that the silhouette of a dark car was heading straight for her.  

 

It was plowing ahead at full speed and didn’t look like it would be stopping anytime soon. Jessica’s heart sped up and she felt it thumping erratically against her ribcage as her hands, wrapped around the steering wheel, started to tremble. She barely had time to think before her body’s natural instincts took over. Jessica jerked her steering wheel sharply to the right, relief washing over her as she watched the other car swerve sharply as well, just barely missing her. That relief, however, was just as quickly replaced by panic as the front of Jessica’s car slammed into the back of a shiny, parked Range Rover.

 

Jessica’s body pitched forward from the sudden impact of the crash and she heard a loud smack as her forehead connected with the steering wheel. “Oh my God,” Jessica whispered, lifting her head. She quickly unfastened her seat belt and stumbled out of the car, her hands shaking uncontrollably. Jessica had to bite her bottom lip to keep herself from making any more sounds.

 

Jessica walked slowly around the side of her car to the front, screeching when she saw how mangled up her car had become. The front was crumpled up like a ball of tin foil. She pushed her hair away from her face with one hand while her mind raced, trying to figure out if insurance would cover the cost of repairs.

 

The sound of a car door opening and closing suddenly split the tense silence. Jessica was vaguely aware of footsteps approaching her and jolted back to her senses as a low voice said, “Looks like we’ll have to exchange insurance information, huh?”

 

Jessica was about to turn and face him when a wave of dizziness rolled over her. She squeezed her eyes shut momentarily, trying to force the feeling away. Feeling her stomach turn from nausea, Jessica nodded weakly. “It does, doesn’t it? Let me just go get the papers from my glove compartment,” she managed to say, though her legs refused to work.

 

“And I believe you’ll be paying for the damages done to my car,” he said. His voice was deep and pleasant to listen to, though she also heard the undercurrent of anger and an edge of annoyance.

 

Jessica turned to face him, ready to nod and ask for his contact information, but she found that her vision was strangely blurry. She couldn’t even make out the features of his face – all she could see was that he was tall, tall enough to tower over her, and that his shoulders were so broad that they blocked out the light from a nearby streetlight.

 

A second wave of fatigue hit her and suddenly Jessica felt as if she’d been caught high in the air, then suspended for just a moment, and was now hurtling back to earth. Her eyes fluttered closed and, in the same instant, her legs gave out beneath her. The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was the feeling of falling. 

 

 

A/N: hi guys :) as you can see, i recieved the poster and background! aren't they beautiful? please enjoy the chapter! i'm a bit short on time at the moment, but i'll be doing comment replies for sure in the next update (: