Feeling more peaceful and at ease than she could ever remember, Jessica raised her arm to cover her face from the sunlight streaming in from the window. She rolled over, liking the calm feeling that came with sleeping late. Then Jessica noticed that something was weird. The pillow under her head was fluffier than usual, and the sheets that she had pulled up to her chin were much too thin.

 

Suddenly wide awake, her eyes quickly landed on a stack of business cards that had “Gold Suites” emblazoned across the front in swirling font. Her gaze jumped to the alarm clock right next to it. It said 9:06.

 

Jessica hauled herself out of bed with some difficulty and found that she was still dressed in yesterday’s clothes. At first she panicked, cursing in her head as the headache from last night came back at full force. Then, after fully noticing her surroundings, she sat down for a moment on the edge of the hotel bed to think through what had happened last night, straining her mind.

 

She remembered finishing the rest of Jaejoong’s meal. After he had paid for it (with a generous tip for the waitress,) the two of them had walked outside, back into his car. Jessica distinctly recalled hearing his voice saying, “It’s going to be a long ride; your car is about forty-five minutes away from this restaurant.” But then what?

 

Jessica cringed as she remembered her half-awake mumbling, cringing even more at the amusement apparent in Jaejoong’s voice as he responded to her mindless chatter. She furrowed her brow. Had they ordered wine? Could that be why she had been so…unlike herself? Then Jessica shook her head. She definitely would’ve remembered if they had any alcohol. The unrestrained mumbling must’ve come from her body’s shock at fainting.

 

Groaning, she realized that she must’ve fallen asleep on the car ride and, since it wasn’t like Jaejoong could just shove her inside her car and drive off, he had brought her this hotel and let her sleep here. There was no sign of him now, but Jessica noticed the messed up cushions on a nearby couch and felt a pang of guilt as she realized that he must’ve fallen asleep there and let her have the bed.

 

Then her panic resurfaced and she fumbled around the room, looking for her precious shoes. She was so dead. This was the first time she could ever remember being late for work and though she and Eric were friends, he was still strict when he needed to be. And, well, she didn’t even have a good excuse.

 

Once she found her shoes, Jessica quickly ran over to the bathroom. She frowned when she noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Her cheeks were a bit rounder than usual, bloated from the late meal last night. “Ugh,” Jessica muttered, brushing her hair up into a neat ponytail.

 

As she was about to leave the hotel room, she noticed a piece of ripped notebook paper on a nearby coffee table, with a few partly concealed bills under it. Jessica stepped forward to take a closer look.

 

--------

Remember to pay me back.

(Your taxi fare is under this note.)

--------

 

Jessica raised her eyebrows and snorted at the first sentence, feeling strangely touched that he had left her with some money to get a taxi. Maybe he really wasn’t quite as coldhearted as his first impression made him seem. Jessica stuck the note into the pocket of her jeans, in the same one that the napkin from last night’s dinner was crumpled up in. Then she grabbed the money and headed out, desperate to get to work.

 

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Jessica walked through the front doors of the Seoul Times headquarters almost exactly two hours later at 11:13. Her skin glowed, her hair shone in the sunlight streaming in overhead, and her outfit was perfect.

 

After taking a taxi to the Starbucks parking lot, Jessica had called a tow truck and retrieved her purse. Then she took another taxi to her apartment building, where she had a nice, long, hot shower. Jessica had hesitated for a moment, debating whether she should forgo the shower and head straight to work, but decided that she’d rather show up looking composed and self-assured like she usually did, and not like a complete and total slob. Besides, Jessica had reasoned, she was already late – what harm could another hour do?

 

After arranging her hair into flowing, natural-looking waves, Jessica had also taken extra time to get dressed that morning, deciding that the only way to combat such a strange night was to dress up in a fancy outfit and feel (and look) her best. And now, here she was, eyes wide and bright, her smile radiant.

 

But that wasn’t the reason why everyone turned to look at her as she passed. Oh, no, as Jessica was soon going to find out, it was much more complicated than that.

 

She headed towards the elevators first, sighing in relief at her good fortune when an open, empty one seemed to be waiting just for her. Jessica pressed the twenty-two button and stepped back to make room for anyone else that might get in.

 

No one else stepped on until the elevator stopped on the eighth floor, where three girls and two boys walked inside. When the elevator doors slid closed, the girls immediately started whispering quietly. It’s probably gossip about some poor girl in their section or maybe a relationship scandal. Jessica rolled her eyes. Work really isn’t better than high school.

 

She turned away from them and breathed a sigh of relief when they got off three floors later. Now she was left with the two boys. Jessica saw one of them look around the elevator casually, shifting in his leather shoes as he waited for the elevator to land on his floor. When his eyes slid past her, they widened. He ever-so-slightly nudged the man standing next to him. Jessica jerked her own gaze away from them, her brow furrowing as she looked down at her shoes in confusion.

 

Do I have something on my face? In my hair? Did I accidentally tuck my shirt into my pants? Jessica tilted her body so that she was facing away from them and, as soon as they left, she ran her fingers through her hair just to make sure there wasn’t anything in it.

 

Thankfully, everything seemed normal in her section of the building. Jessica’s ears were greeted with the usual nonstop chatter that took place in her section and, as she walked by the first few office cubicles, no one paid her any special attention. She glanced inside Eric’s office cautiously as she walked in, but there was no trace of him. Jessica smiled to herself as she swung open the door to her office. At least I won’t get yelled at right away. Then she laughed as another thought occurred to her. What if Eric hasn’t even noticed that I didn’t get here on time?

 

She hung her jacket up on the coat rack in the corner of the room and settled down in her chair, turning on her computer. As she waited for it to load, Jessica ped her purse and took out her phone to see if she had any missed calls or messages from Yoo Sanghee’s secretary.

 

No luck. Jessica scooted her chair closer to the desk and clicked on the web browser. It was going to be a long, long day. Five minutes later, Jessica’s eyes were fluttering closed. She pushed away from her desk and stood up, yawning. Walking slowly and half-dead like a zombie, Jessica made her way outside her office and into the coffee room next door.

 

Just the rich smell of coffee woke her up. Jessica inhaled the scent eagerly and walked up to the counter, placed her cup next to the coffee machine, and pulled open the fridge. Though she loved the smell of coffee, Jessica’s stomach couldn’t take the caffeine and always rebelled with a stomach ache every time she tried to drink the beverage. Jessica reached inside and pulled out a can of Sprite. Popping the top off, she poured a good half of it into her cup and placed the can back inside the fridge.

 

Making her way back to the entrance of the coffee room, Jessica reached for the door just as someone else on the other side swung it open, causing her to jump back. Her soda sloshed around in her cup and Jessica blushed with embarrassment as she saw some land on the person’s shoes. She mumbled an apology just as a female colleague brushed past her, leaving the scent of roses in the air.

 

“Jay, let’s continue our tour of the building. So this right here is the coffee room, there’s a – oh! What happened to your shoes?” the female colleague asked.

 

From the corner of her eye, Jessica saw the girl reach for a pile of napkins as Jessica walked out. She caught the side profile of the man’s – Jay’s – face and felt a pang of familiarity. Jessica lingered on the strange feeling for a moment and then shook it off. Taking a sip of the Sprite to calm her nerves, Jessica walked back into her office and sat down, meaning to get back to work.

 

Instead, she found herself fidgeting in her seat, feeling strangely uneasy. She wondered what the reason could be when she suddenly remembered Jaejoong’s note and napkin inside her pocket. Jessica fished them out and stared at them gloomily.

 

Should I go now? I promised him I’d bring him the money today. Jessica twisted her lips into a knot as she weighed the pros and cons. I guess I’ll just bring it to him now. Then I won’t have to worry about it later, right? Jessica nodded, telling herself that she should just get it over with, and stood up with purpose. She grabbed her purse and headed back out.

 

Just as she walked by the coffee room again, the door opened and Jessica felt something – someone – hit her shoulder from the side. She was thrown off balance by the impact and was about to make quite the graceful fall to the floor when a hand grabbed her wrist. Jessica was yanked back up and suddenly found herself face-to-face with an unfamiliar person.

 

“Sorry,” she muttered, immediately taking a step back.

 

“You were the one who spilled pop on me, right?” the stranger asked. Jessica looked up, startled that he hadn’t walked away yet. Then she realized that yes, he was the one that she had spilled Sprite on earlier. What are the odds? Jessica groaned to herself.

 

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that.” Jessica turned to go. She could hear the female colleague from earlier walking towards them, her heels making sharp clicking sounds on the tiles. “I’m sorry – I’m a bit busy right now.”

 

The stranger – Jay – nodded and Jessica walked away quickly. She immediately felt better when she rounded the corner and was no longer in his line of vision. Ugh. Of course I’d spill pop all over the new guy that everyone likes. Of course.

 

She got stopped again about two seconds later as she walked past the sports section.

 

“Unnie!”

 

Jessica recognized it as Yoona’s voice, but she really was in a hurry. Jessica wanted to be back by at least twelve thirty, so she would be able to pass off her absence as lunchtime. She turned back to look at Yoona apologetically.

 

“Unnie! Sica unnie! You have to see this!” Yoona called out, waving some sort of magazine in the air.

 

“I can’t! I’m sorry!” Jessica yelled back. “I have an appointment!” She pointed at the elevator and tried to convey her desperation to Yoona. Thankfully, Yoona just nodded and watched her walk down the hallway, worry in her eyes.

 

Jessica reached the elevator and tapped her foot as she waited for it to arrive. When the doors slid open, revealing about ten or twelve people standing there nonchalantly, they all seemed to  look up at the same time. As they took in her face, their eyes widened and their eyebrows shot up to their foreheads. Jessica felt her own eyebrows furrow as she stepped inside.

 

The elevator ride commenced in dead silence.

 

As soon as the elevator hit the ground floor and the doors slid open, Jessica walked outside. Behind her, everyone seemed to start talking at once. Did something happen? Then she shook it off and stepped out of the building. First things first, return the money.

 

Unfortunately, for Jessica, there were no taxis in sight when she stepped out of the building. She stood on the sidewalk silently as she noticed stares in her direction and lots of whispering. Jessica had absolutely no idea what was going on and thought back to the elevator ride in the morning and just now.

 

Thankfully, after a few minutes of waiting and the staring, a taxi showed up and Jessica climbed inside.

 

“COEX Mall, please,” she told the driver, reaching into her purse for her wallet. Jessica fished out a few crumpled bills and sat back in her seat as the taxi lurched into motion. She felt strangely blank, something that happened every time she stayed up late the night before.

 

I have really bad luck these days, Jessica thought to herself. First crashing my car into Kim Jaejoong and now running into that new guy Jay. Ridiculous.

 

She leaned her head back on the headrest and watched the scenery fly by from the taxi window. Jessica loved that the Seoul Times building was right next to a number of restaurants, cafés, clothing boutiques, and other little shops that sold cute trinkets. Soon the colorful buildings were replaced by chain stores, like Starbucks, and then COEX Mall came into view.

 

The taxi drove up right in front of it. Jessica climbed out with another yawn and handed the driver the crumpled bills. It pulled away from the sidewalk as soon as Jessica retrieved her purse and was safely out of the way, speeding off and leaving her feeling alone and small in front of such a big, sprawling building.

 

She frowned, wondering how exactly she was supposed to find Jaejoong in Asia’s largest mall. Jessica supposed she should ask the workers at customer service for help, but what if he wasn’t important enough for them to know? After all, he had never told her what his position was.

 

Jessica immediately felt better, more awake, when she set foot inside of the mall. She knew malls. She loved malls. Jessica took a deep breath and looked around at all of the brightly lit booths and stores. Is there time to maybe shop for some shoes? Then she shook her head. Find Jaejoong first. There probably won’t even be enough money left for me to shop for any shoes after I pay him back.

 

Letting out a heavy sigh, Jessica craned her neck, searching for customer service. Her gaze slid past a group of teenage girls huddled around a fountain, a couple holding hands, and a mother carrying a child, to land on a sign that proclaimed, “Customer Service.”

 

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“I’m sure he’s expecting me,” Jessica said, trying her best to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

 

“Unless you have an appointment with him, I don’t think he is,” the secretary replied, still typing something on her computer. She was young and pretty with a neat bob for hair and the personality of a witch. Looking up at Jessica, she tapped the screen with a perfectly manicured fingernail for emphasis. “There’s no one by the name of Jessica Jung on his schedule.”

 

“Can’t you call him and just ask if he wants to see me?” Jessica asked. She wondered if the secretary happened to be friends with any of the girls at work. Their personalities would certainly match well.

 

“I don’t think so.” The secretary’s voice was clipped and annoyed. “He’s in the middle of a meeting right now.”

 

“What kind of meeting?”

 

“I obviously cannot reveal that sort of information to someone who doesn’t work here.”

 

“Would a simple phone call really be that hard?” Jessica asked. “I only want to see him for five minutes. Less, even.”

 

“No.”

 

Fed up with this pushing and pulling, Jessica forced herself to give her a smile. “All right. Thanks for your help.” Not.

 

She turned and walked back down the hallway that she had come in from. After a few more minutes of walking, Jessica arrived in front of the elevator.

 

What am I supposed to do now? Just not pay him back? Jessica shrugged. That’s fine with me.

 

No sooner had she thought that, the elevator doors slid open smoothly, revealing Kim Jaejoong, looking sleek and sharp in a black suit, and a middle-aged man standing side by side, discussing something. Jessica took a small step back, not sure if it was okay to interrupt their talk.

 

Thankfully, Jaejoong looked up at that moment and their eyes met. Jessica winced as she took in the dark circles underneath his eyes mirroring her own and the tense line his lips were in. The middle-aged man followed his line of vision and also locked eyes with Jessica.

 

A sudden tension spiked the air. Jessica took another step back uncertainly, her gaze flickering to Jaejoong. There was something unreadable in his dark eyes. She saw the other man open his mouth, ready to say something, when Jaejoong cut him off by taking a step forward.

 

He walked to Jessica’s side silently. Jessica’s eyebrows knit together in confusion.

 

Then Jaejoong reached down and grabbed her hand. She was suddenly aware that his hands were very soft. His cologne smelled nice too, fresh and clean. Jessica shook off those thoughts quickly, fighting to keep her expression neutral.

 

What in the world is going on?

 

“I’m afraid you have it wrong,” Jaejoong said to the man, his voice loud and clear. “This is Jessica Jung, my fiancée.”