23

"So where are we going after meeting the clients?" Sohyun asked excitedly, fidgeting non-stop in her seat. He shook his head, frowning at the files in his hand and he closed the file, looking at the taxi driver. "Maybe not. Today's clients are really.. Hard to deal with. It can take a whole night." He got off the taxi with Sohyun following him after closing the door. 
 

When she looked up at the building she sighed out loud. "Karaoke lounge? Must they?" Sohyun murmured and bit her lip. "Kris!" she called out. He turned back, raising an eyebrow.

She quickly walked up the stairs, standing next to him. "Do we really need to go in there?" she asked him, while he sighed. "Those are sponsors, donators that can help our firm. When it comes to work, they are serious, but now, they're quite playful. Just stay with me, and everything will be alright," he assured her.
She nodded her head and walked into the room.

"Good afternoon." Kris bowed while he was immediately dragged down to sit with the clients and he froze in his spot as he gulped. "Keep quiet. He's singing." Victor, one of the clients shushed them, as he closed his eyes and drank the wine. He opened his eyes and then smiled. "Good afternoon."

"Ah yes, Victor about-"

"What's your name?" he asked Sohyun, leaning over Kris while Sohyun pointed at herself. "Me? I'm Sohyun.."

"Ah yes, Sohyun. Come here," he said, while Sohyun glanced at Kris before slowly going over. "They won't do anything. They're just playful. Not lustful," he whispered softly. "They already have wives." 

Victor sighed, then looked at the screen then back at Sohyun. "Sing."

"Sing?!" she shrieked, her eyes widened in surprise and she quickly shook her head. "I .. I can't." He frowned and quirked his lips, nodding his head. "Then drink."

"Drink?!" she shrieked once more, blinking at him while he gave the glass to Sohyun. "I can't."

Victor sighed. "Alright alright. Then why are you here?"

"I'll drink it." Kris took the glass from his hands and finished it down in one shot then placed it on the table. Victor grinned, and hiccupped. "Sorry, I'm drunk," he apologized then giggled. "Hey, keep quiet, I'm singing," Henry said as he whacked Victor's arm.

Sohyun glanced at Kris, biting her lip. Victor grinned once more and patted Kris’s back. "You're good. Just like me," he beamed proudly, then pouring another glass. "Drink more." He took one glass and drank it, while Kris took the other, then drank it in one gulp. Then, Victor clasped his hands together. "Why don't we play a game?" he suggested which made Kris and Sohyun glance at each other. 'What?' they mouthed.

--

"Now, let's play truth or dare. I'll spin the glass bottle and if the cap of the bottle points towards, you have to either choose truth or dare. If you are unable to answer to the truth then you will need to do drink, understand?" Victor said and his friends immediately agreed.

Kris and Sohyun sighed as they forced out a smile and nodded their heads.

As if they have a choice. Tsk.

"I'll start now," Victor announced as he spun the bottle. The bottle spun in a clockwise direction, spinning for almost ten seconds before it turned at a faster pace and it came to a stop, the cap pointing at Kris and he blinked, before scratching his head and biting back a smile.

Victor grinned mischievously as he looked at Kris. Kris looked back at him and faked a smile. "Truth."

"Have you ever dated in your life?" he asked and Kris smiled as he rubbed his back of his neck shyly. "Nope." Victor booed him then whispered some words into Kris' ear, which immediately made Kris face reddened and Kris looked at Victor in shock, then quickly gulped down a drink, shaking his head profusely.

Then, it was time for Kris to spin the bottle as the next person who was pointed at was Sohyun. "Truth," she said and Victor tapped his chin. "Do you agree in having office romance?" Victor asked and Sohyun blinked. Was that a question?

Kris glanced at Sohyun's direction and she bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "In general," she spoke. "I don't approve of office romance."

Kris shoulders slumped as he bit his lip and slowly looked away.

"There's bound to be conflicts between the relationships of colleagues. If colleagues who are dating argue just because of work, it will worsen their relationship in both ways, and also cause the atmosphere in the office to be tense. It's not economically effective for the company. So, I don't approve," she said reasonably and smiled while Victor tapped his chin. "Sounds convincing."

Sohyun smiled and spun the bottle, which fortunately or unfortunately, the bottle cap pointed at her.

"Truth," she said, smiling and Victor grinned. "Have you dated anyone before?" he asked and Sohyun's smile slowly faded. She stared at him as she slowly thought about the question, biting her lip nervously.

"I.. I.." she stuttered and she gulped. Her gaze slowly landed on the ground, not daring to look up at any eyes as all she could thought of that relationship to be shameful, not worth talking about it.

"I.. I'll drink," she said and she grabbed a glass from the table. She stared at the wine in the glass and took in a deep breath. Just as she was drink it, Kris snatched it from her and quickly drank it.

Victor gawked at him and applauded, and continued on the game.

Sohyun spun the bottle. It pointed at Kris. "Dare."

Henry clapped. "I dare you to... Kiss Sohyun!"

Kris eyes' widened in surprise. So did Sohyun's.

He turned to face Sohyun and she bit her lip, lowering her head. *Are you serious..*

Kris took in a deep breath. He grabbed her face swiftly and kissed her cheek.

Sohyun gulped and she could feel her heartbeat raising. She avoided eye contact with Kris and tried calming her burning cheeks when Henry applauded.

For that whole day and night, Kris was drinking, while Sohyun could only sit and watch him worriedly, but Kris would always force out a smile, assuring her he's fine.

Victor yawned. "Tired, too tired. Give me the document, I'll just sign it and go home.." Victor mumbled as he searched for the document. Sohyun quickly took it out from Kris' briefcase and let him sign it.

He giggled and stood up. "Thank you for drinking with me. Have a good night. I need to sleep now.." he mumbled and grinned, then stumbled out of the room.

Sohyun bowed, then quickly held onto Kris when Victor walked out. "You alright?" she asked, concerned. He nodded his head and took in a deep breath. "I'm fine. Let's go."

They walked out of the building. "Finally we can get out, but it's already so late, I think there's hard time finding a taxi," Sohyun mumbled, holding onto Kris as she flagged for a taxi.

"It's considered quite early, I thought it would take longer." Kris said as he loosened his tie, taking in deep breaths as his eyes were closed, and his face was red. He clutched onto his forehead, shaking it. He felt terrible.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “How long did you expect it to take?” she asked.

"Until midnight. Coming out of this place at ten at night is already rare, let's hurry back to the hotel," he whispered, as he groaned in pain.

She slowly placed him into the taxi, and entered. He groaned and knocked his head, trying to numb the pain while Sohyun looked at him worriedly.

"We're here." She held him unsteadily out of the cab, and he felt so tipsy and drunk that he could hardly stand up by himself.

Sohyun groaned as she grabbed his arm and placed it around her shoulder. She struggled as she fiddled with the hotel card and unlocked the door. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'll leave the connecting door open, so if you need any help, just tell me." Sohyun struggled to speak and gasped.

She slowly placed him on the bed, but he grabbed her wrist, holding her wrist tightly. "You need help?" Sohyun asked while Kris shook his head, closing his eyes then opened them. He slowly stood up and held onto her hand, slowly lifting it to his chest, while Sohyun's eyes widened in surprise. *He's drunk isn't he..*

He looked into the eyes of Sohyun, while she just blinked, puzzled. "Kr-Kris? Are you alright?"

Sohyun looked into his eyes and her eyes widened in surprise. His gaze that was fixed on hers, it was different. "Listen.." he whispered softly, while Sohyun frowned. "Kris you sure you're alright? Because I need to go back to-"

"Listen." He held onto her hand with one hand, and brought her closer, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Wh-what? Kris you're drunk." Sohyun laughed nervously and tried pushing him away, while he held onto her tightly. 
He closed his eyes leaning forward to kiss her cheek and she froze at the spot, and her eyes rounded in surprise. He kissed her cheek once more, before kissing her neck for a longer time, bringing her even closer.

Sohyun immediately snapped out. She stepped on his foot and he groaned in pain, then pushed him away as he fell on the bed. She immediately looked at her hand and bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Kris. I didn’t mean to push you, I’m sorry!” she squeaked and quickly ran into the room, then closed the door shut, clutching onto her chest tightly, stopping her heart from beating rapidly. "What just happened?" she murmured, shaking her head as she tried snapping the thought out of her mind and walked away. The kiss on her neck lingering.

She quickly washed up and changed out of the clothes into her home clothes. She placed the towl on the chair, and just as she about to switch off the light, she slowly thought of Kris who looked like he was half dead from drinking too much. She frowned and quirked her lips. "It's bad to just leave him alone, isn't it?"

She softly sighed then opened the door, seeing him holding onto the table, clutching his head tightly. 

She went and held onto him, then draped his arm around her shoulder, bringing him over to the bed. "Kris, why are you so heavy?" She panted, and sat on the mat, breathing in heavily after placing Kris on the bed.

She looked at Kris then walked to him, taking off his shoes and his jacket, then covering him with the comforter. She went into the bathroom, taking a warm towel and placed it on his forehead and saw his brows knitted together.

She sat on the side of the bed, yawning then glanced at Kris. Seeing him asleep, she got up and walked to her room, but Kris grabbed her wrist, frowning in his sleep and held onto her wrist tightly. "Alright alright. I won't go," Sohyun sighed and walked back, sitting on the side of the bed.

She yawned and looked at Kris sleeping, but he was still gripping tightly on her wrist and she sighed. Seems like she has to stay beside him for the night.

She tried staying awake, but all those entertaining made her feel tired and exhausted, and she groaned. "Now's midnight, I'll just take a nap before waking up again.." She pressed her back on the headboard, then fell asleep, her chin resting on her chest.

Once she woke up, she found herself snuggled in the comforter, and she sat up with a gasp. "What happened? I thought I was supposed to just take a nap, it's already eight!" she shrieked and covered .

She looked down at Kris gripping onto her wrist with both of his hands and she groaned. She slowly got off the bed, slipping her hand out of Kris's grip that was loosened and tiptoed back to her room quietly.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and pressed her lips into a firm line. She looked at her neck and rubbed it softly, frowning. "What have you done, Kris.." she sighed and lowered her gaze to the sink.

"But you can't blame him. After all he was drunk," she murmured, and looked back at the mirror, tilting her head. "Since he's drunk, he won't be able to remember a single thing, am I right?" she asked herself then lowered her gaze back to the sink. "But what if he remembers?"

"Just deny. Deny, deny, deny." She looked at the mirror. "And it won't be awkward," she said and smiled.
She went out of the bathroom after changing and looked at Kris who was still sleeping.
She tapped his shoulder, but he didn't budge. She wanted to tap again, then hesitated. "I can handle the clients since he's so drunk and tired after last night.."

She decided on that, and walked out of the hotel. “I’ll just prove to him that I can get those deals done without him, and he need not worry for me,” she said confidently and grinned.

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