"Aish!" A frustrated sigh escaped Soojung's dry lips as her grip on the steering wheel tightened.

 

It wasn't in Soojung's nature to wake up late, but unfortunately for her, this morning she did. With only fifteen minutes to prepare for another important meeting, she only settled in a pair of black office trousers, a white shirt and a grey sweater vest with her black leather heels on the passenger seat beside her. Her face didn't have make-up - it was bare, and her hair was tousled everywhere (she forgot to comb it). Her empty stomach growled breaking the silence in the car and she groaned.

 

Soojung blamed that damned variety show last night for making her sleep late and even forgot to set the alarm.

 

After parking messily in the car park, she grabbed her laptop bag, tidied her dark brown hair by running her slender fingers through it, slipped into her leather heels and sprinted to her office. Though she received some weird stares from her own staffs, she didn't care. Her mind was set on attending that meeting on time.

 

To her relief, when she barged in unprofessionally in the meeting room, the meeting hadn't started yet until two minutes later.

 

 

 

After the tiring two hours meeting, she trudged with slumped shoulders towards her office. The meeting about her newest product went well - of course with lots of thinking using that tired brain of hers, Soojung became so exhausted. Jinri quickly caught up with the younger girl as she chirped a cheery 'Good morning!'

 

"Hi..." was the only thing Soojung could muster. Once she was seated in her comfy leather chair, Jinri placed a document on the table - a pink one. That was something new. "What is this?"

 

"It was already on my desk when I arrived this morning. It says it was for you, Miss." Jinri explained. "And thank you for the day off yesterday. Really had a nice day with Minho." she added nervously before bowing; ready to leave.

 

"I had fun too." was what Soojung muttered before Jinri left.

 

The CEO opened the folder and read through it. Her expression turned from the bored and sleepy into a thrilled one. She returned to the first page and read through it again to make sure she did not just read wrong.

 

To: Miss Jung Soojung of Jung Corporation

 

I am Lee Jongin the CFO of SM Entertainment writing on behalf of the CEO, Kim Youngmin to send you a request of merging our companies for matters of our artists' comebacks.

 

This letter is to request you for your co-operation to let our artists use your products as well as modeling for your 'Krystalized' brand. In this way, we will be promoting your brand - improving profits and sales as well as expanding your branch.

 

I can assure you that this will bring successful marketing, seeing how successful both Jung Corporation and SM Entertainment are.

 

As for the employees from both companies, the salary will increase without raising the tax.

 

For your final decision, I will attend your meeting tomorrow. Do consider this offer carefully, Miss Jung.

 

Best regards,

 

Lee Jongin, CFO of SM Entertainment.

 

Soojung shut the pink folder where she noticed a barely noticeable SM label in the top corner written in pink of course. She fished out her phone and dialed a number where she would mostly get help. Especially at times like this.

 

"Appa..."

 

"Oh Soojung-ah. What do you need this time? Do be quick; I have a meeting starting in two minutes."

 

So she explained about the offer from SM Entertainment. Soojung was as nervous as she never had a record label offering to merge their companies together. This was beyond what she had prepared for. Not to mention how many people knows that famous label, she had to double her effort in order to please the public and SMEnt. Her father could only listen attentively as his daughter spoke with worry and insecurity.

 

"Hmm... you said he'll be attending a meeting tomorrow right?" Mr. Jung questioned and Soojung could picture the old man thinking thoughtfully. Soojung nodded even though her father couldn't see. "Well, I think tomorrow at the meeting, he can give you more details about this. That way, maybe you can be sure what you are getting yourself and the company into? Remember Soojungie, you are the CEO. Did you forget when I told you a CEO need to make wise decisions quickly?" Her father questioned sternly.

 

"Of course, that was your number one rule." Soojung muttered, biting her bottom lip.

 

"Then give some time to think about it. Don't panic." Mr. Jung said. "I have to go now. Take care of yourself, okay?"

 

"Yes, you too appa." Soojung nodded before the phone call was disconnected.

 

That actually didn't help much but at least her father gave her a suggestion to meet Lee Jongin in person and discuss more about it. Maybe continuing on typing some documents would distract her.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Drops of sweat dripped down their glistening skin and rippled muscles as they moved their body according to the choreography that they had memorized at the back of their minds. Sounds of squealing fans and their names being chanted entered their eardrums kept them energized to keep dancing till the end of their performance no matter how exhausted they were. Especially when performing in the boiling summer heat. Once the song ended and the group of boys stood in their ending poses, the audience screamed loudly, waving their banners in hopes to get noticed by their biases.

 

One by one, they walked off the stage - not forgetting to bow to their dearest fans. "Quickly guys, we need to get to your next schedule on time!" their manager hollered, ushering the twelve boys to their dressing room to clean themselves up. As expected, the room was so stuffy. There were lots of staffs running around, the room with the scent of hairspray or any sort of make-up product entering their nostrils. The air conditioning too didn't seem like any help even though it was set on the lowest temperature. It was definitely difficult to breathe.

 

Immediately, the make-up artists charged towards each of the EXO members to clean them up.

 

They couldn't be happier when they entered their vans. Some of them were asleep even though it won't be long before they need to wake up again. Their manager looked behind and spotted the boys sleeping soundly except Joonmyun - otherwise known as EXO's guardian Suho - who was leaning on the window looking quietly outside. "Tired?" the older man asked.

 

"Very." Joonmyun simply replied.

 

"Hang in there, okay? Your promotion's nearly finished."

 

~~~~~~~

 

"How about the other artists from SM?" Soojung questioned the man in front of her. The meeting had finished long ago but the two needed to discuss about their plans so they stayed behind.

 

For the whole day yesterday, her mind was glued on the offer from SM. She had even prepared her words carefully to speak with someone as experienced as Lee Jongin.

 

"The other artists will use your products but not for their comeback of course. Some are still far from finishing their promotion. Maybe for some events or concert, yes. Mainly EXO will be the ones that we are using in this collaboration, Miss. Since their promotion is going to finish soon, we decided to give them more colors to their theme. And your brand is highly recommended by many so it would be a great experience for both of our company." Mr. Lee explained whilst shoving some sheets of paper towards Soojung. "This is the predicted amount of salary that will increase." He pointed at the graph table on the paper.

 

Soojung looked down for a while as her brain processed in every detail the man had told her. After a good few minutes of complete silence in the meeting room, the CEO looked up. "We have a deal." the girl extended her hand and the man shook it.

 

"Thank you for your consideration." Mr. Lee smiled before packing his equipment as Soojung watched his every move intensely. Once he was done, he bowed and so did Soojung. She decided to him to his car outside so she followed him. "You have a great building, Miss." the man commented as he looked around the elegant exterior of the building.

 

"Well, my mother's design really did impress me too." Soojung replied, nodding towards some staff that bowed at their direction.

 

"An engineer, I'm guessing?" he asked, referring to Mrs. Jung.

 

"As well as a gymnast." she added, her lips quirked upwards when her mother was mentioned.

 

"Your family must be a big success." he complimented, looking at Soojung's side profile. She nodded, "You can say that."

 

Not long after, the two arrived in front of the building where a black, shiny limousine was parked outside. "We look forward to work with you, Miss Jung." he said extending his hand out. Soojung shook his hand firmly with a smile before the man got in and the vehicle drove away, disappearing from her view.

 

 

 

She landed on the soft, leather sofa in her office. Her eyes closed for a moment as she ran her fingers through her soft strands of hair. A girl as young as her wouldn't be able to cope with this amount of pressure but Soojung was trained. She had been through this. She needed to be strong to make her family proud. The company is on her. A knock on the door suddenly interrupted her thoughts and there came in Jinri with a soft smile on her face.

 

"Bubble tea, miss?" she came in with a cup of strawberry bubble tea in hand. Unlike the usual coffee with milk, Jinri knew just something to lessen the pressure on the younger girl.

 

A soft smile appeared on Soojung's face as she eyed the refreshing drink - something she really needed at that moment. "Thank you." She took the drink appreciatively before taking a sip. As Jinri was about to leave, Soojung stopped her with a question. "So how is Minho?"

 

"He's busy with schedules but we spoke on the phone yesterday. I think that was enough for me." Jinri spoke with a loving tone. For a moment, Soojung could imagine how lovey-dovey Minho and Jinri were while talking on the phone. If she did have her own boyfriend, she can tell him about what she's going through right at that moment and maybe he could help her. But looking at her situation now, she would probably be single forever. She envied Jinri.

 

It was silent in the room as Soojung was in deep thoughts and Jinri who stood awkwardly whilst fiddling with her fingers, waiting to be dismissed. When it looked like Soojung wasn't going to break out from her daydreaming trance anytime soon, Jinri cleared .

 

The younger girl jumped slightly and looked at Jinri. "Oh, yeah. You may go." She said, standing up, walking towards their table. Once the door clicked, she began doing a research on SM Entertainment.

 

The company was indeed very popular, even amongst the teenagers. Some absolutely hated SM but they also have their fair share of fans. Her fingers unconsciously clicked on one of their group; EXO. She eyed each of the members' faces and for the first time in a long time, Soojung smiled because of seeing these handsome idols. Their youthful looks can make a girl squeal and Soojung fought the urge to do so. She bit her lip as she looked at one of the members that caught her eye the most.

 

His dark brown orbs that could capture a girl's heart, his pointy nose, his plump lips creating an undeniably y smirk. Before Soojung could go further drooling over him, she shut the laptop with a rather loud thud and took deep breaths.

 

No time for that, Soojung. No time. She whispered quietly. Just then, her phone rang and she picked it up to see the new message.

 

To: Jung Soojung

 

From: Lee Jongin

 

My deepest apology to disturb you, Miss Jung. Tomorrow, the CEO would request you to come to the SM Building for a meeting as well as discussing our collaboration with President Kim Youngmin himself.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

She sighed feeling pressured and nervous for meeting the president so soon. Soojung had met, collaborate, even debated with lots of important people of South Korea, but meeting Kim Youngmin? It was a feeling she couldn't put a finger on. Perhaps only excitement since he's the first one from a music label.

 

For the rest of the day, Soojung decided it was maybe time to stop thinking too much about the offer. Her work had completely been forgotten and she wasn't as focused as before. She didn't want that - she wanted a good start of the collaboration.

------

A/N:

Uh, about the letter from Lee Jongin... don't ask. I don't even know. And I know that I lack of romance here, but we just need Kaistal to meet each other first. Which will be soon :']

And thank you to those who had subscribed and commented! /bows/