I wanted to fall asleep, but it was harder than I thought. I kept tossing and turning all night. Seojin’s comments kept coming back in my mind and sometimes I would try to make sense of it, but there was no way that Byunghee was interested in me. We’ve been fighting ever since we first met each other, and I have nothing in common with Miyong. Ugh! That bimbo, I can’t stand her. I was still denying that anything could ever happen between us  when the image of our first kiss came back in my mind, I suddenly close my eyes as I remembered the sensation of his lips on mine, their softness and warmth, his tongue sliding and twirling with  mine, the heat of his body against mine… As I was thinking about that night, the image of him kissing Miyong earlier popped into my mind, and I felt a shouting pain flashed through my heart. I burst out of my bed and into the bathroom, I was feeling hot all of a sudden as if I was going to suffocate, I tried to catch my breath, but it felt like a there was a truck on my chest. I the water and splashed my face, I looked at myself in the mirror and took a deep breath, this image I have seen it before, only now it was ten years older. Yeah, that same reflection of me when I lost Ben… It was ridiculous for me to even admit that absurdity, but I have been lying to myself; I am head over heels for Byunghee. Oh! Crud, what did I get myself into?...

When I came into the office that morning, my head felt like it was going to explode. After that confirmation last night, I couldn’t fall asleep and had to take two sleeping pills, which didn’t help at all, instead they made my body so heavy that Seojin had to practically drag me out of bed. Urgh! This felt worse than when I have a hangover, which I don’t get often because I have a very low resistance to alcohol. Anyway, I was to first to arrive at the office and I was very glad, because I didn’t know how I would react once I meet him,  at least I had a head start, so when he would walk in, I will pretend that I didn’t see nor hear him. That was decided, so I settled behind my desk and got to work. I didn’t have to force myself to forget about the events of yesterday, once I got into my work, I forgot everything that went on, so much so that when he walked into the room I didn’t pay any attention to him for real. I heard him talk but I figured that he was talking to someone on the phone and ignored him. There was a silence for a little bit, then he said something again, I glanced up at him but went right back on my task, it wasn't until he came and stood in front of my desk that I actually turned my attention to him.

“Han Jinju-ssi, what kind of attitude is that of you ignoring your boss.” I looked at him surprised, “Huh! What?... Did you say something to me?” he looked at me baffled, “I don’t have time to waste okay Han Jinju-ssi, and I have been talking to you for the last ten minutes without getting a reply. How do you expect us to work together without communication?” I looked at him and shook my head, “I thought that you were on the phone boss, since you didn’t come back yesterday to finish going over the proposition, I was trying to come up with one so you can review it.”  He gave me a skeptical expression, like he didn’t believe a word I said. He turned away and head over his desk, he sat down, his computer and mentioned, “Are you sure that you are not mad at me?” 'Here we go' I thought; I breathe hard and pressed my fingers together to control my anxiety, I plastered a  forced smile on my face before replying, “Why would I be mad at you, Boss? I am your assistant and there is nowhere in my contract that said that I have a right to be.” He stopped what he was doing and said, “You know, since I said I was coming back yesterday and didn’t, and since I didn't dismissed you, I thought that you were probably upset with me or something. Because if so, you would have been in your rightto feel upset, you know?” I was very stunned by what he just said, but my defiant nature got over me and I didn’t believe a word he said. I observed him for I bit, he looked very refreshed in contrast to me, he was in a very talkative mood today, but frankly I didn’t want to talk to him.

Thinking about it, he was right, I had all the reasons to be mad, I was here since six o’clock this morning and he showed up three hours later. We were supposed to go over the papers together, but he chose to spend the night with his bimbo or something, I was dying and he was making fun of me, of course I was mad but if he expected me to admit it, he would go to mars and back he would never hear it from me. Nevertheless, the reply that came into mind I couldn’t resist to say, “Is that a test? Are you looking for reasons to fire me? If so, you don’t have to go around beating the bush boss. You can just be honest with me, I’ll understand.” He looked alarmed and replied, “No, it’s not what you think, I was just…” I cut him off, “Well because of the contract that maybe a problem, but don’t worry, six months will be over without you even knowing, and after that you will not have to see my face ever again.”

He was baffled by how explosive I got, it has been a while since we haven’t fought because of the office environment, but right now, I was doing my best not to cry. I took my purse to go to the bathroom, because I would be damned if he saw me cry, so I got up to walked out of the office, he jumped up  and grabbed my arm when I reached next to him and ask, “Where do you think you’re going?” Now it was my turn to be stunned, I kept my cool and reply coldly, “Do I have to ask for your permission now to use the restroom.” He let go of my arm and scratched his throat, “I thought you were leaving… Geez…” I didn’t let him finish and I stormed out of the room. when I reached to restroom, I locked the door and came undone, my arm was burning where he held me and my body was shaking violently, if he had held me for little more I think that I would have let myself go in his arms. Shoot, I was in deep; I don’t think that I had ever reacted that way before, not even when Ben touched me. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest, “What the heck is wrong with me? Why was I acting so stupid?” I thought that I was mad at him, but I was madder at myself, for falling into his trap, for falling for someone who didn’t give a damn about me.

When I came back, he wasn't there, I felt relieved and pained at the same time when I walked up to my desk I noted a sticky note on my computer screen, it red “Gone to a meeting. Finish your proposal and leave it on my desk then you can leave. I’ll review it later and let you know what I think.” I was amazed that he took time to right me a note, usually he just let his secretary know, and why did he ask me to take the rest of the day off, did he actually noticed how stressed I was? Anyway, I left late yesterday and came early today, it was only fair for him to let me go early. I settled with that conclusion and moved on. I finished the proposal, printed it out and let on his desk, I check the time and it was already lunchtime. Suddenly, I found myself in a good mood just at the thought of seeing Aaron. I didn’t see him yesterday, so I hoped to see him today, and in my burst of a good mood, I decided to leave a thank you note for Byunghee and left it over the papers, I took my purse and headed out.

I went to the coffee shop across the street, when I walked in, Aaron was sitting at our usual table, I waved at him so he could see me, then I ordered what I wanted and joined him. He gave me a great smile and said “Wow, I didn’t think that I would see you today either. Did ‘Dracula’ finally give you a brake?” I burst out laughing, “Dracula? Who came up with that name? I’ve heard other names before, but that’s new.” I just couldn’t stop laughing, that’s what I liked about him, even when I was feeling down, he always had something to cheer me up, “Yeah, he is not much of a Casanova, because girls run after him instead of him going after them but Dracula fits him better.” I took a sip of my coffee and asked “What would made him a vampire then apart from being cold and good looking?” He looked at me a little surprised, I guess I didn’t expect me to admit that he was good looking, he took a bite of his croissant before replying, “Well, he works all day in his office or goes to meetings and only goes out at night. Not to mention that he seems like he is you dry…” Now it was my turn to be surprised, “What do you mean?” He raised and dropped his shoulders and continued, “For one, he locks himself with you in his office all the time, which doesn’t make any sense. Second, he acts very possessive of you and rumor as it around the office that he is crazy for you, and that you guys are probably banging each other and pretending that you hate each other when you are around people.”

I was about to swallowing a piece of my bagel when he finished his sentence and I was so surprised that it went down the wrong way, I started coughing so hard that he had to hit my back to help me get the piece of bread out of my airway. My eyes and nose were running, and I took a gulp of water to prevent myself from choking. After I stopped coughing, I wiped my face and sat straight, but my body started to shake with a nervous laugh. 'Did people really think like that about us? It doesnt make sense since we never gave any motives for people think that we are having .' I couldn't believe it.  Aaron was sitting next to me and running his hand over my back, trying to make me feel better, so I leaned a little bit toward him and put my head on his shoulder. Some people turned to look at me and some gave us a disapproving look, that’s when I realized that for an outsider, we were  actually displaying a more intimate affection, and to top it all, something caught my eyesight across the street and when I turned to check what it was, I met his eyes…

Byunghee!!!  He was in his car, window down and was looking straight at us, I let out a gasp and pushed Aaron away from me; he looked at me surprised and turned to look where I was looking. At the same time, Byunghee sped up his car and left, ‘Great!’ I thought, ‘How long has he been here? Now he will definitely say that I am a . Why did he have the knack of popping up at the most inopportune time? I think he is going to use this to bug me again…’ I was lost in my thoughts when Aaron asked, “Ana, is everything ok.” I forced a smile, “Yeah, I am fine now, you don’t have to worry. I have the rest of the day, so I am going home to recuperate.” We said goodbye in front of the café and I went home. I was so tired and didn’t want to think about anything, especially about what had happened earlier, I took a shower, and got into bed, I was so tired that I fell asleep immediately. I didn’t want to think about him consciously, but it turned out that my mind didn’t want to let go even unconsciously, and I dreamt about him as if the rumors were true. ‘We were in his office and he came toward me, I could see the desire burning in his eyes, and when he kissed me, I kissed him back the same avidity that was showing, it felt so right. My body went into overdrive and I let myself go in his arms, he left my mouth to on my neck and I whispered his name, then he undo the buttons of my shirt and started kissing lower. he nibbled on my collar bone a little and he slid his hands under my bra my heart was racing and I moaned his name when he took one in his mouth, I groaned and threw my head back to give him access, I moaned his name and…’

My phone went off and I jumped out, I was sweating and my heart felt like it wanted to come out of my chest. I checked my phone, it was the alarm indicating 6 pm, and I stopped it and went in the bathroom. “Wait was I just having an dream about Byunghee?!’ I didn’t want to be disturbed again, and I certainly did not want to let myself get into this kind of dreams again, so I popped two sleeping pills, turned my phone off and curled up with my teddy bear. Tomorrow was my day off; I wanted to wake up refreshed and go shopping or just hang out at the mall or go to the park and have some me time.  Well that was the plan…