“Morning,” greeted Mrs. Lee; Hyun Joong’s secretary as he walked pass her towards his office, with a cup of coffee in hand, today seemed to be a really busy day. The office seemed to be in havoc. “Morning,’ Hyun Joong replied. He entered his office, Mrs. Lee following closely as she updated him on the itinerary for today.

“You have a meeting at 9 a.m. regarding the new models the company is bringing in, a meet up with Emirico Constani, the famous photographer who’s shooting 12 models from our company for La Senza’s new summer line; at 1 p.m., lunch with your wife and at 3 p.m., you have to take a trip down to studio for the new models’ auditions.”

“Is that all? Why is ‘lunch with my wife’ on my schedule?”

“Mrs. Kim requested it specially,” Mrs. Lee gave him a teasing smile.

“Okay, then. Please call me 10 minutes before 9 for the meeting. I’ll be in my office then.”

“Okay, I’ll be taking my leave then.”

Hyun Joong chuckled. Mrs. Lee has been a secretary since before he took the pose of the C.E.O. She was initially his father’s secretary and then she followed on to be his. In fact, she is one of the most trusted employees in this office. She was like a mother to him.

… … … … … … … … … … …

“Yah! Look at you! I know you’re hungry but you don’t have to eat like a kid!” said So Min in mock anger. Scallop sauce was dripping at the corner of Hyun Joong’s mouth. So Min sighed and took a sheet of tissue and lifted it to wipe his mouth. Hyun Joong grasped her hand as she was removing the stained tissue from his mouth.

“Why? I know you like wiping me…”’

“Why does that sound dirty?” said So Min. She tried extricating her hand away but failed.

“Your thoughts, So Min, not mine,” laughed Hyun Joong.

“Yah!” exclaimed an emstallrassed So Min and pulled her hand away from Hyun Joong.

Hyun Joong continued laughing. Their lunch ended an hour later, what with all their playful bickers.

“I’m leaving first. I have a meeting in half an hour,” said So Min as she stood up and brushed her skirt of any crumbs.

“Okay,” Hyun Joong stood up as well, “I’ll pay the bill. You can go first.”

“Thanks, hubby,” said So Min as she quickly grabbed her bags. She planted a kiss on his lips before leaving. Hyun Joong just smiled. It was when she was in her car, only then did she realize that, they had totally seemed like a real married couple in love. So Min smiled at the bliss of their relationship.

Hyun Joong made it back to his office at 2 p.m. He only had half an hour before the audition for the new models. He gave a quick call to So Min as he flipped through the models’ resumes again. So Min answered on the third ring.

“Hyun Joong?”

“So Min, are you in your office already?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then, just making sure. Enjoy your meeting.”

“Yeah, I’ll surely ‘enjoy’ it.” So Min chuckled.

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Hyun Joong smiled to himself. He seemed to be happy whenever he thought of So Min or talked to her. He quickly flipped through the remaining resumes before he walked to the studio. On the way there, he accidently crashed into someone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, my mind wasn’t focused.” That’s what you get Hyun Joong, when you keep daydreaming of So Min.

“It’s okay. I’m fine,” replied a female voice.

Hyun Joong looked up. The face before him looked vaguely familiar. Oh! She was one of the models coming for audition, Ms. Lee Si Young.

“Are you okay?” asked Hyun Joong.

“Yeah, like I said earlier, I’m fine.”

“Ms. Lee Si Young, I presume?” asked Hyun Joong.

“Yes…and you are?”

“Kim Hyun Joong, CEO of Kim Modeling Agency.”

“Oh. Nice to meet you.”

“Same here.  Shall we go?” asked Hyun Joong.

“Go where?”

“The studio for auditions of course,” said Hyun Joong.

“Oh. I’m sorry; I’ll be going to the washroom first.”

“That’s fine. I’ll go first then.”

As Kim Hyun Joong walked towards the studio, Lee Si Young smiled to herself. Phase 1 of ‘Operation Seduce-The-Boss’ was in motion.

… … … … … … … … … … …

 “The summer line with the vintage theme was a huge hit,” reported a colleague of So Min as she checked the reports. “Everything’s going well.”

“That’s good,” replied So Min. “What was the highest selling clothe?”

“Recently, the sales of the ‘vintage-jean jacket adorned with metallic beads’ has recently marked up in the charts. Certain clothes have also increased in sales. A new mall is opening at the centre of Seoul and the owner wants to sign an outlet contract.”

“Okay, check the details regarding the owner of that development and get me the reports regarding the sales for this month. That’s all for now, you can go out now.”

The door closed. So Min exhaled a huge breath and leaned back against the chair. 10 minutes to 5 p.m. So Min was just packing up when she received a call from Tae Sung.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“So Min, wanna go for a drink?”

“Fine. Where do I meet you?”

“The roadside stall opposite my hotel?”

Okay, see you in a jiff.”

So Min continued packing her bag. As So Min walked to the basement, she gave Hyun Joong a quick text.

"Coming back a bit later today.

Having drinks with Tae Sung. See you soon.”

So Min started her car and left for the stall. The stall was quite quiet when she arrived as it was still early. She spotted Tae Sung seating at a table. Tae Sung waved to her. So Min smiled and waved back.

“What do you want to drink?” asked Tae Sung with a smile on his face.

“Umm, don’t they only have soju here?” replied So Min.

“Okay, so soju it is,” Tae Sung ordered two a bottle of soju form the aunty that owned the stall.

 “So why did you call me here?” asked So Min as she checked her phone for any messages. None.

“I just wanted to ask you something.” His voice sounded serious.

“Ask away.”

Tae Sung was about to ask when their drinks arrived. Tae Sung immediately took out his wallet and paid.

“Umm, I was wondering if there’s a vacant job in your company. I’m getting bored sitting around. Though I did come here for holiday, I can’t stand doing nothing. I’ll be leaving in 2 months either way. Just something to help me pass time while earning money actually.” Tae Sung ended with a red face.

So Min laughed. Tae Sung looked at her quizzically.

“Of course you can work there. I know your talents Tae Sung. How could I not let you work with me? I’ll be on the losing end if you join some other competitor company. Besides, it’s only for 2 months isn’t it? I take it you’re leaving end of July or early August?” responded So Min with a smile.

“The last day of July to be exact,” replied Tae Sung.

“Okay then,” So Min lifted her hand towards Tae Sung, “Welcome to the company. You’ll start work next Monday, 4^th of June.”

Tae Sung grabbed her hand for a handshake. “That’s great. Thanks. I was really worried about asking you this.”

“No problem. Tae Sung, Tae Sung, you never stop, do you? You have to do something every hour. That’s just so you,” mocked So Min as she laughed at him.

“Yah!  You don’t want my soju to end up on your clothes do you?” Tae Sung mock-threatened.

So Min just laughed.

*This is a chapter for Hyun Joong. Happy B'day Hyun Joong.

As you guys can see, I have changed the name 'Yoon He Ra' in Chapter 16 to 'Lee Si Young'. Sorry for the wrong nemaes. If you guys still spot any wrong names, do tell me, I'll change it ASAP. My apologies again.