I have been tossing and turning in my bed trying to get some sleep, but I couldn’t. I kept thinking about the events of the last two days. How could things have become so messed up? I almost slept with Byunghee and I still couldn’t believe it. Sure, I probably wouldn't have minded; but to have with someone who only saw me as a pass time, and thought that I was a gold digger? That would have been crazy. He never denied that he would sleep with me if I opened up my legs to him either, and he even admitted that I turned him on; even though he probably saw me as an alternative to a blow up doll, well not that he would ever use one. But what was up with the way he was looking at me after I got out of the car? He looked genuinely sorry and his features even softened when he held my shoulders. He said I made him lose control of himself, was that even possible? I kept asking myself a bunch of questions without answers. I looked at the clock on the night table, it red 3Am, I would have to wake up in three hours to go to work. I thought that from then on I would have to watch my back because any tiny mistake could be used to get me fired.

***********

I sat at my desk, yawning so wide, I looked like a snake unhooking his jaw to swallow something bigger than itself. I finally fell asleep at 5Am and one hour of sleep could definitely not cover an eight hours shift work. I got some coffee from the cafeteria but it tasted like dirty water and I had to throw it away. ‘Urgh! I hated what was happening to me, I spent all night thinking about my boss, his eyes, his nose, his lips, his voice, his smile, his fingers, his whole self. How it felt when I was in his arms.’ I sighed, rested my cheek over my hand, and started drooling over him, like those cartoon characters. I was dozing off when the office door flew open and an angry Miyong started to bark at me, “Where is he? What did you do to him?” I startled me by her sudden outburst and my pulse accelerated, I looked at my watch enquiring for the time; it was already 10:15 am. I looked at her in confusion while struggling with a yawn; she came toward me, stood in front of my desk and placed both palms on it lowering her face to my level, “What happened with Oppa last night?”  I straightened myself up in my chair and returned her gaze, “Yoo Miyong-ssi, what is your issue with me?” she fixed me before pulling back, I guess she wasn't expecting my answer, but I continued, “Last time I checked, you were his ‘girlfriend’, your ‘Oppa’ is a grown man and I am not his guardian. So whatever he does whether with you or not, is not my problem.”  She bit her bottom lip crossed her arms and turned away. Her voice was calmer when she replied, “You were the last person to see him yesterday and I have been calling him but he is not answering his phone.”

I leaned back into my chair and furrowed my eyebrows, something didn’t feel right. It was actually pretty early when Byunghee dropped me off. Not that it mattered, but why would she come to ask me about him, she knew very well that Byunghee and I didn’t get along and what could I have done, for him not to show up to work? I shook my head bringing myself back to reality; it didn’t make sense though, Byunghee was very serious about his work and was very professional at that. At work, it was all about work and he was never late. However, it didn’t explain why she came asking me for him or rather as she implied where I had buried his body. He probably had to do something for the chairman or he is in a meeting or something, either way, it wasn't my place to worry about any of that. I stood up and head for the door, “I am sorry Yoo Miyong-ssi, but I am not my boss’ keeper. In fact, that is your job. And please stop implicating me in you lovers quarrel.” She looked at me and gasped in indignation and I went to the door and held it open for her. She stormed out of the office and rammed head first into Byunghee. Usually he is very agile and would have caught her before she made contact, but it didn’t happen and she bounced back and fell on her buttocks as if she hit a brick wall, she got up rubbing her bottom and squealed, “Yaish! Otto…” she pouted and was about to dish out when she realized who it was. I couldn’t help myself and started snickering, trying very hard not to burst out laughing. From the other side of the door, I saw Kim Sunhye, Byunghee’s secretary trying to hide her snickering too. I closed the door, headed to my desk; I put my head down over my arm and started shaking with laughter. I raised my head when I heard the door closed, I was still snickering when he shot me the grumpiest look ever and I shut up instantly.

It was obvious that he was in a bad mood, and he looked like he hadn’t slept all night. His eyes were red and he had a day old stubble that was almost an inch long. ‘Man his beard grew fast’ I thought. It darkened his face and made him look grumpier although he was still y,kinda like a bohemian. He looked like he got drunk last night, he was holding his head and rubbing his temple every now and then, and cringed every time there was a noise outside. He looked a little bit pitiful and it hurt my heart. He was always so well groomed, so sophisticated and today he looked like he didn’t care much. He was so meticulous about his looks that it was hard for me to see him like this. Mrs. Kim brought him his coffee and he winced when she closed the door. ‘I wish I could go to him and wrap my arms around him and tell him that everything will be okay... Funny, huh, especially when I told him to never touch me again. Did something happen yesterday? Did he have a fight with Miyong? She came like crazy this morning accusing me for nothing.’  I was lost in my thoughts and didn’t realized that I was fixing him, it wasn't until our gaze crossed each other that I realized that I didn’t take my eyes off of him since he walked into the room. He held my gaze for a moment then exclaimed, “What!?” I didn’t say anything but gave him a sympathizing look and a gentle smile, but he rolled his eyes at me, which made him wince again, then he turned to the phone on his desk and beeped his secretary, “Mrs. Kim, can you bring me a couple of aspirin please?”  She replied, “Sure sir, one moment.”  Two minutes later, she walked in with a bottle of aspirin and a bottle of water. He thanked her and she went back to her desk.

After half an hour or so, things seemed to go back to normal. I set my pen down to stretch, and checked the time, it was already lunchtime and Aaron would be here any moment. After the things that happened over the weekend, it felt like I haven’t seen him in forever. But a couple of minutes later, Mrs. Kim called me at my desk to let me know that Aaron was waiting for me outside. Usually Byunghee would be out by now but he didn’t seem like he was going anywhere and since he was late, it looked like he was going to stay in to catch up on his work. So, I decided to do what any good person would do, “Boss, can I get you anything for lunch?” He gave me an annoyed look and went right back to his papers, since he didn’t give me a reply, I waited for a moment. I heard Aaron’s voice outside chatting with secretary Kim; I wasn't in a rush or anything so I stood there in front of his desk still waiting for an answer. He raised his head and looked at me, put his pen down and crossed his fingers before stating, “Thank you Han Jinju-ssi for your offer, but I have never asked you to do such thing for me before, and I am not planning on doing so now, I have a secretary for that. And I wouldn’t want to keep you or deter you from one of your lovers, would I?”

I was so stunned that all I could do was scoff in indignation. He took his pen and resumed his work, completely ignoring my presence. ‘Wow! It felt like I had been dozed with a bucket of cold water. He already went back to “Han Jinju-ssi”? What happened to ‘Ana’? Well I guess I deserved it, I was the one who wanted to keep things professional when it looked like he wanted to make an effort to smooth things out between us. I didn’t even give him a chance when he wanted to talk to me, because I was too weak and am still too weak to control myself around him.’ I walked out and closed the door quietly behind me. I joined Aaron who was in what seemed like an interesting conversation with Seugho’s assistant, I smiled and headed toward them. It was great that Aaron finally had the courage to approach her. He never told me anything, but I have seen the way he looked at her and especially how he always seemed to lose his train of thoughts every time she was around. She told him something and he turned toward me with a smile, he looked delighted like a kid’s first bite into a piece of cake. I was happy for him, though we didn’t really talk about things like that because we weren't that close yet, but I knew that he was crazy for her. He made the presentations and we said hi to each other. As an assistant, we have been around and talked to each other, but we never had a conversation work that wasn't work related.

Aaron and I got to our favorite table and were greeted by the waiter, by now we were already regular customers, and so we didn’t have to place our order in, but since it was her first time, Mimi had to stay in line to put her order in. Aaron took the time that we were alone to ask me, “Hey, what’s up, is there something wrong? You look distraught.” I smiled weakly, and shrugged, and he continued, “It’s your boss again. Huh? When are you going to talk to me about what’s going on between you two.” I chuckled and replied, “You know there isn’t anything going on between us aside from the usual things. You know how weird this guy is.” It was his time to chuckle and followed, “Oh come on, don’t pretend that it’s nothing, because we both know that you are crazy for ‘the weird guy’”, he leaned closer as if to get a scoop and continued, “So did something happened?”  I tried to play it cool, so I scoffed, “Pfftt, where did you get that idea. Just because we don’t get along doesn’t mean that I am crushing on the guy.” He looked at me and smiled, “Really! You could have fooled me,” he said with a fake astonishment, “Don’t forget my job is to observe, even without camera lenses. I have seen the way you look at him, especially in meetings you drool all over yourself.” I laughed in embarrassment and slapped his shoulder, “Details. You don’t know what you are talking about…” He burst out laughing, “See, you can’t even convince yourself of the contrary. But don’t worry; he looks at you the same way too.”   I turned red from his comment but took the opportunity to turn the table against him; I shook my head with a serious face and added, “Oh! I see, just like you drool over Mimi, right.” This time, he was the one turning red, and he bumped my shoulder with his, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He was wiggling in his chair, so I lifted my head to see what was going on when I saw Mimi walking toward us, she was smiling at him, a genuine smile and from the look of it, she liked him too. I observed his reactions toward her and started snickering, “I hope I don’t look that stupid around him.” I said between cackles, he hit me with his knee under the table and I started laughing uncontrollably, I subsided when Mimi joined us at the table. She looked at us for a moment and said, “You guys are very close to each other right.” We looked at one another and motioned a yes with our heads; it was funny how close we both were, especially since we haven’t met each other that long, but it felt like we knew each other forever. It looked like she was trying to test the waters, as if she wanted to confirm what Aaron told her about our relationship. Getting confortable, she continued, “You know, I was surprised when Aaron told me that you guys weren't dating each other. I think that the whole office thought that you were.” Then she turned to me and continued, “You know, most people think that you dumped your boss for Aaron, and that why he has been so out of it lately.” I looked at her with big eyes and exclaimed, “What! Why the hell does everybody thinks that I have something going on with Byu… m-my boss?” I almost said his name casually, which only would have sown doubt in everyone’s mind. She raised her shoulders as to apologized and explained, “Well, it’s just that you guys always act weird around each other.” I was about to bite on a scone and stopped, “Weird?! What do you mean?”  She looked at me a little uncomfortable, but answered, “Well, you act like you both are hiding something from each other or more likely that you are playing a game to see who is going to crack first.” She smiled sweetly and I looked at her with wide eyes, “Where the heck does your logic come from?” I said with a laugh to dissimulate my surprise. 

Mimi was a nice and sweet girl, but very direct and Aaron and her were very similar in that way. It wasn't really a surprise that he was falling for her, she had the nicest character and great people skills, though it was to be expected of Seungho’s assistant. ‘Anyway, why do most people think that there is something going on between Byunghee and I? I knew my feelings toward him, and there was nothing from his part that betrayed sentimental feelings toward me, and if he felt something for me, it was just annoyance, and the fact that he found himself unable to fire me at this point.’ I was lost in my thoughts when Aaron told me under his breath, “Talking about the wolf…” I raised my head and saw him looking for an empty spot in the small café, I quickly lower my gaze so I wouldn't meet his. Mimi who was sitting with her back toward him, didn’t realize what I was confused about and continued, “I still can’t believe that you two weren't interested in each other, also adding the fact that you are very good looking people, I was wondering why you guys aren’t dating.” Before I could reply to her, a familiar voice raised behind her, “That’s a good question Kyong-ssi. I think that you are not the only one who asks yourself that question.” He looked at her and then at Aaron before asking, “May I join you? It looks like your table is the only one with an empty spot.” I looked around the room instinctively to double check, “Sure no problem”, Mimi said while scooting out to let him in. He sat in front of me by the window and fixed me intensely before going back to the question that Mimi asked, “Well boss, I don’t think …”

I was about to tell him that it was nothing that should concern him when Aaron cut me off, “Well it’s true that we do like each other, but not in a romantic way.” I guess he wanted to give Mimi an answer as to not minimize his chances with her, so I didn’t say anything, but he continued, “And it’s probably because we are both interested in other people.” He gave Mimi a suggestive look and she smiled in delight, on the other hand, the look Byunghee gave me was more like of relief and exasperation. I guess he was annoyed because he realized that he was wrong for slandering me. I turned to see two pairs of eyes observing both our reactions, and I turned red of embarrassment. I checked my phone there were still thirty minutes before lunch break was over and I couldn’t stay at the table anymore so I made and excuse to leave, “Excuse me, I have to make a phone call.” Mimi raised her head smiling and said, “This is exactly what I was telling you earlier,” and they both started snickering. I elbowed Aaron in the ribs and motioned him to follow me, he did, and once we were out of earshot, I scolded him, “What’s up with the intimate details man? You don’t know how weird this guy is; now he is going to use that against me.” He smiled, “I knew that, but couldn’t resist, I wanted to see the face he would make,” he started snickering again, “And you were red like a tomato, I couldn’t pass that up.” I pretended to be mad and punched him in the arm before menacing, “I’ll get you back for this” then I stormed out of the café.

************************

I was at my desk going over some papers before I have him signed then when he walked into the room. I took a quick glimpse at him and went back to the papers. I had no idea how I was going to get close to him now since I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest and my breathing became labored He didn’t say anything though and went right back to work and called on Mrs. Kim to copy some papers for him. I still didn’t know why he went to the café earlier, when I had offered to bring him something and he shot me down so rudely. ‘Was Mimi right when she said that we were trying to see who was going to crack first? If so, I think that I might give up just to stop playing at cat and mouse, because I don’t know how much longer I will be able to stand his misguided conception of me.’ I came back to reality when Mrs. Kim walked into the room, and while she was sorting out the pages, I used her as a cover to come up to him and have sign the papers, since with her here, he would probably keep his nasty comments for himself. Mrs. Kim was standing behind him and his desk putting the documents in order. I was on her opposite side waiting for the ones he was signing for me when he mentioned, “Get your stuff ready, when are going to Jeju island tomorrow so that we can go over the final touch and decision making for the new hotel there.” Since he didn’t raised his head to address one of us specifically, I just assumed that he was talking to both of us, as he handed me the papers, Mrs. Kim and I said ok in unison. I was very excited and if with any luck, I was going to be able to shop and hang out on the hotel’s private beach and get some sun before the cold weather came along.

I was done with my work for the day, there were two more hours left before I could home, so I walked up to him to and asked, “Boss, I am done and  since we are leaving tomorrow, can I go home to get my stuff ready?” He stopped what he was doing, looked at me and burst out laughing, “Do you want to be alone with me in a hotel that badly?” he asked mocking me, I gave him an offended look, “Of course not. Anyway it’s for work, and Mrs. Kim will be there, so…” He waved me off, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to concern yourself about that.” Ok now, I was confused, “What do you mean boss?” He looked at me still amused and was trying so hard not to burst out laughing again, just like I was doing this morning. He saw how excited I was to go to Jeju and he was playing me, but when he saw the serious inquiring look on my face he took a falsely serious air, “I am sorry but you must have misunderstood, you are not coming with us. Actually, I was talking to Mrs. Kim earlier, she is my secretary.” For a moment I was lost in my thoughts and didn’t make sense to what he said, but after a little bit it all sunk in, ‘Wait what…’

*** Sorry guys, i have been so busy lately that it took me forever to finish this chapter. I'll try my best not to take as long for the next chapter.

*** Thank you for your comments and thank you for reading my story.

XOXO!!!