The Noteworthy Light

"What in the do you think you're doing here?!" Hana hollered, staring at the man who was still clinging to her friend whilst smirking at her mockingly. At that time, Hana wanted nothing but to wipe that annoying smirk out of his face. "Park Jiyeon, after our talk yesterday, you still haven't figured it out? Are you ing kidding me right now?" She spat, glaring daggers at her poker-faced friend and the smirking man in front of her.

"What the is wrong with you, Choi Hana? You haven’t reacted like this before, and it’s actually pretty annoying if you ask me. Can't you just back off and do you in your room instead? It's not like you're invited here or anything."

Chuckling, the man decided to open speak. "It's fine, babe. It's getting late as well and I might as well go home and take a cold shower or something. I know when I'm not wanted," the man pouted before smiling innocently at Choi Hana, the latter mentally cringing as he called her friend ‘babe.’

So they’re already in that level where they call each other babe? What in the hell?

"Sorry for the inconvenience, Choi Hana. I didn't know that you live with Jiyeon. I'll make sure that we're careful next time that we, you know, get it on," he said before sending a wink towards Jiyeon, who snorted in return.

"Wait. Do you two know each other?" Jiyeon asked, his eyebrows quirked up, though she showed no signed of jealousy of any signs of irritation in that matter, so Hana knew that she was only confused and taken aback.

"Kim Minseok," Hana seethed, fuming. She sent a warning glare towards the man who seemed unaffected. As much as she wanted to open and spill all the negative profanities and retorts that she could muster towards the man, she prevented herself from doing so as she knew that it would cause more questions out of her friend. The least that she could want is the possibility of her friend knowing what was going on around her, and she couldn't risk that, more so involve her friend in her crisis, although she highly doubted that as Kim Minseok himself had decided to play another one of his cards and involve Jiyeon.

"Yup," Minseok said, his expression still innocent, though it couldn't fool Hana unlike Jiyeon. "I work for the same company as she does, although I have a higher rank," he said, sending another wink, although towards Hana this time, which made Hana's eyebrows twitch in annoyance. It was a big wonder that her veins haven't popped up yet from them her utmost anger and annoyance. "Well, I don't want to keep this longer, so I'm going to head off now. I don't want to disturb anyone either, right Miss Choi?"

But you already did.

Hana bit back her retort and opted to clenching her fists on her sides instead to keep herself from causing a scene and nodded, although she was still seething, "Yeah. We wouldn't want that now do we?"

"No. We don't," smiling smugly, Minseok grabbed his coat and headed towards Jiyeon swiftly, kissing her deep and passionate in front of Hana. He wasn't kissing with his eyes closed though, unlike the other. Instead, he was staring straight at Hana as he cupped the sides of Jiyeon's head, kissing the latter deeper and making sure that she was kept at place at the same time, making Hana want to puke right on the spot. Hana deeply grimaced, and Minseok's smirk was even more prominent then after seeing her expression.

Kim Minseok: 1. Choi Hana: 0.

Flashing Jiyeon a sweet yet fake smile, he gave her one last lingering kiss and headed out of their apartment, with Jiyeon on tow, sending him off. Hana, on the other hand, watched them go, and once they were out of sight, she leaned towards the door frame and shook her head, her right hand massaging her temples.

A few seconds later, Jiyeon came back. "What in the hell was that all about?"

Slightly startled, she faced Jiyeon, who was standing in front of her with her eyebrows up, questioning her of the previous events.

"Where did you meet him? When? How? The hell, have you two had yet?" Hana said, sounding overly jealous even though she wasn't. In fact, she was disgusted. She knew the moment she saw Minseok that he did it to get under her skin, and to get closer to her in order to keep her on track, especially since she did offer her hand for their alliance. If they had as well, there would be a high possibility that Jiyeon would be attached to the man considering how cuddly they were in the living room which was unlikely of Jiyeon, making the situation even worse.

Somehow, it gave her a hint that Wu Yifan and Kim Minseok took her bait, although it somehow disgusted her that they had managed to involve yet another friend of hers.

The word friend reminded her of Lee Soeun as well. I wonder what happened to her ever since that incident. She made a mental note to ask her boss about that tomorrow at work. Shaking her thoughts away, she paid attention to her friend.

Jiyeon groaned, "You sound like a nagging mother," she grimaced and eye her suspiciously before continuing, "I met him at the bar, of course. Where else? Don't get all disgusted on me because he was actually sweet all night, even offering me a ride home unlike the other men.”

“Just because he acted sweet at you for a night and offered you a ride home, doesn’t mean that he was sincere, Ji. For all we know, he might’ve wanted to take advantage of you from the very beginning,” Hana explained, “I’m just worried about you.”

“Well don’t. I’m practically, what? Twenty-two years old? I’m fully capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much. And for your information, what I do in the privacy of my home is none of your business,” Jiyeon retorted, her arms folded in her chest.

Hana raised an eyebrow, folding her arms in her chest as well. Her worried expression was long gone and was now replaced by annoyance. With a frown, she spoke. “I think you’re forgetting the fact that I live in this apartment as well, and not just you. This is my home as well. And for your information, I have been paying the bills for the past few months, buying food and all the other necessities not just for me but for you as well.” She said, although she didn’t really mean chide and to sound conceited.

“Whatever,” Jiyeon replied, somehow looking guilty, “And don't worry. I am changing, or trying to, at least. Your words yesterday... they meant something to me, so don't worry. I’m taking up the job for a reason, and I’ll make sure to pay for the bills next time,” she said, before adding, “Besides, I think it would be fun to work for that crappy company, seeing as how Minseok works there, too.”

Hana groaned, slightly annoyed that the latter was again bringing up the douche on their conversation, obviously ruining the mood. She sighed, "I'm going to bed now, Ji. I'm tired. See you tomorrow, and make sure to get your things ready for tomorrow. You couldn’t want to be late for your first day of work."

She headed towards her room and slumped on her bed, her eyes turning into slits as she realized that her friend didn’t go in the process of interviewing. Instead, she already had a job for her tomorrow. Grumbling, she buried her face on her pillow and screamed half of her heart out so as not to disturb her apartment neighbors and roommate. The man was just that frustrating.

Kim Minseok: 2. Choi Hana: 0.

*** *** ***

“Choi Hana, don’t you even start with me. I’m not even awake yet,” Jiyeon groaned as she rubbed the heels of her hands against her eyes. It had been a very long and eventless night for her seeing as she didn’t have any “guests” last night, not that Hana complained – at all. In fact, Hana liked the fact that her friend didn’t invite anyone for a night. Not only was it the first stepping stone to her improvement, she also had a very nice sleep. Another major factor for Hana’s momentary happiness last night was the fact that she was able to kick Kim Minseok out of their apartment, much to her utmost effort in preventing herself from lashing the bastard out.

“You look fairly awake to me though,” Hana said. “Get up quickly. We have to go to work in an hour!” She quipped, her eyes growing large as soon as Jiyeon dragged her comforter out of her body.

“What the hell! Since when did you sleep ?” Hana screamed, throwing the covers over her friend’s body again. “Wash up and put proper clothes on! We’re leaving in forty!” She hollered as she hurried out of Jiyeon’s room, shutting the door behind her as she did so.

Since when did Jiyeon sleep ?

It wasn’t like she was getting all lesbian with her friend though. Yes, she was flustered alright, but she did not expect to see that early in the morning, in all honesty. Yes, her friend acted like a most of the time though, but couldn’t she at least keep the decency to sleep with proper clothes on? “I guess that’s an entirely different matter now,” she muttered under her breath and headed towards the living room, gathering the stuff the papers that remained scattered from the night before.

Her phone beeped, alerting her of a message. She decided to fix the papers and the other important files on the coffee table, gathering them neat, labeled folders, and grabbed her phone that was sprawled out in the sofa. Swiping her phone’s lock screen open, she opened the message, only to discover that it was from a private number, and attached to the message was an audio file.

Feeling slightly curious, she clicked the play button and was greeted by Wu Yifan’s voice.

‘Choi Hana. I hope you remember the deal that you yourself offered to my alliance. Clearly, we are not fully convinced that you are really up to it, so take this opportunity to prove us that you’re worthy. I know for sure that Park Chanyeol has complete details and files of PCY Corporation’s investors and stockholders. I want them on my desk by tomorrow evening. If you really are on our side, then bring me those files.

Also, I know for a fact that Kim Minseok’s arrival at your humble abode last night was quite eventful. For sure, you were surprised. To clear things up, I ordered him to do so, but let us not get off track here. If you not want your friend involved any further, then let him do his things as he