Myungsoo was looking through a portfolio one of the junior designers had sent in.

It was good, but not exceptional. The clothes were fashionable, but there was no life in it all.

Some people didn’t get it – it wasn’t just about being different and fancy; soul and subtlety formed a large part of fashion. As the chief editor, it was his job to weed out the ordinary and bring the extraordinary to light. It was kind of similar to beign a photographer - he had to bring to light the most attrcative aspects of a model, tie them in with the background, and create a masterpiece. People thought it was just the lighting, the equipments used, make-up, and photoshop; but photography was more than that. As a photographer, he knew that photography meant baring your soul to the audience - it wasn't important what he saw, it was important what he made the audience see.

As an editor, it was his job to make people see. His determination didn't come from only the greed to succeed, to achieve, but also from his passion. Because he had no passion for anything else, he had chanelled everything his mind and body could muster into this job. He would have been flawless, if not for the small break in the mirror...

But it's not my fault. Or maybe it is, for letting it happen.

Suddenly, the telephone rang. He usually didn't get calls; most calls were not patched through to him, unless it was absolutely important. Frowning, he picked it up.

“Mr. Kim on line 3, sir.” Woohyun’s voice floated out from the other end.

Yawning slightly, he pressed a button and waited.

“Myungsoo, the liaison from Paris Fashion Week called,” Sunggyu blurted out, sounding excited.  He rarely sounded anything but sarcastic, so it was strange to hear his voice trembling slightly. Myungsoo sat up too; he expected to hear good news. “They are interested in featuring us, but we have to send in our examples by today. Send the file over now, won’t you?”

“Of course! You’ve done a great job, hyung. Congrats.”

Myungsoo pressed the button that would summon his PA.

It was exciting news indeed. They had tried every year to get their magazine recommended at Paris Fashion Week – if they succeeded, they would be the first ever Korean magazine to be featured at the international convention. They had never been able to get themselves in for consideration, let alone get invited, but this time, there was hope. Myungsoo was confident about their examples. He had studied the kind of material that gets featured at the convention and he was sure that once the board of directors saw their pieces, they would definitely get inivited.

Woohyun was still not here. Frowning, he pushed the buzzer again. It wasn’t like his PA to need consecutive bells to come into his office.

There was a click as the doors opened.

“Woohyun, take the file with our examples for Paris to Sunggyu’s office right now, he’s -”

The last few words died in his mouth. For a moment, he was seeing a ghost.

A shadow from his past, a face he was determined to not see again, yet here he was.

It couldn’t be him, and yet it couldn’t be anyone but him.

No, he thought repeatedly in his head. No, don’t let this happen, please.

He didn’t want to be branded as crazy; there was work to be done and he couldn’t be hallucinating. The time called for attention and organisation. He would have to be alert because once they got invited to Paris Fashion Week, there was too much to do in a short span of time. He didn't have time for this.

“Umm, Sir – er – Woohyun hyung’s not umm – he went to the washroom - can I…”

There was no mistaking – Lee Sungjong was standing in front of him, speaking to him. So he had not been hallucinating in the morning – it was him.

Wait, why is he here again?

“Who are you?” Myungsoo asked sternly, his eyes shooting lasers at the slender man standing in front of him.

He had an awkward posture, very unlike how he remembered him. Sungjong used to be the very embodiment of confidence and ease; the hesitating posture he had adopted was not what he would normally have. It was like seeing Sungjong from the past, but under different lights, on a different stage.

Sungjong bowed low.

“Sir, Lee Sungjong.”

Of course Myungsoo knew Lee Sungjong. How could he not know him? But that wasn’t what he had asked.

Sungjong probably realized it, as he said, “Umm, I’m the new assistant PA. Sir.”

Myungsoo didn’t even blink but his insides were squirming. He had indeed fired his last assistant PA a fortnight ago. It wasn’t surprising that Kiseop had been replaced but the fact that it was Sungjong…what were the chances? There were tonnes of people out there who were vying to get hired by the company, and yet Sungjong was the one who was thought to be the most qualified for the job?

Was this karma? Was this the way Destiny wanted to play it out between the two of them? Myungsoo had made a skeleton out of Sungjong and locked him in the deepest, darkest of his closets but now here he was, in the flesh, and no less intimidating that the bony skeleton he was in his head. He didn't want this, he had never waned this. he had never dreamed of this.

Gulping, he composed himself.

“Right. I need you to take a file to Sunggyu’s office from the cabinet.” 

He pointed towards the right of the room, where the doors to the huge walk-in filing cabinet were thrown wide open. Sungjong was new, he didn’t expect him to know where the cabinet was. But he did expect him to find the file.

“It’s labeled 706. Find it and take it to Sunggyu. Now.”

“Yes Sir.” Bowing again, he sprinted towards the cabinet.

He was confused about the situation. He could fire Sungjong right now, he didn’t even need a reason. But what would that achieve? Didn’t Lee Sungjong already know how much he hated him? He probably did, but he was still here, working as his assistant PA. Did that mean he was hoping to leave the past behind him and start anew with Myungsoo?

The idea was preposterous. Lee Sungjong had done something unforgivable and hope he might, but there would be no reunion between them. Their relationship was broken beyond repair. Whatever Sungjong expected to get out of this, he would be sorely disappointed.

No, Myungsoo wouldn’t fire him right away. The act would only prove that having Sungjong around disturbed Myungsoo. But he was above it all. Sungjong’s presence didn’t even register.

He pulled down a few tabs on his computer and started checking them meticulously. He tried to not think about the tiny noises issuing from the other side of the room, where Sungjong was hunting the file in the cabinet. He didn’t know what was more distracting – the noises or the fact that Sungjong was making them. His nerves twitched irritably, and the first pulses of a bad headache were making themselves felt.

He probably shouldn’t have drunk too much last night, but once he went back to his apartment, where he had no company at all, it was difficult to occupy himself. Drinking was the only balm to loneliness.

Not that he liked to admit to himself that he was lonely. And besides, it wasn’t like no one wanted to hang out with him; he could have all the company in the world if he wanted to. But he had learned not to become emotionally invested; he had Sungjong to thank for that lesson.

“Will you hurry it up?” Myungsoo snapped.

The assistant PA was obviously no good if he needed ten minutes to find a labeled file. The sounds of the movements became more frantic; he even heard the unmistakable sound of a file dropping to the floor and a hasty muttered apology from the younger. It seemed like he was apologizing more to himself than to his boss.

He had never seen Sungjong like this, a bundle of nerves. Sungjong was always confident because he knew whatever mistake he made, he could make people forget it with his winning smile. But that Sungjong had changed – this timid, nervous Sungjong was probably an improvement but Myungsoo didn’t really care. Why would he?

“Got it, sir,” Sungjong panted, as he emerged from the cabinet with a file in his hand.

“Don’t just stand there, take it to Sunggyu, you moron!”

Sungjong looked taken aback, but he left with a bow.

Yes Sungjong, Myungsoo thought, this is what I have become, this is what you’ve made me become.

---

Sungjong ran through the corridors wildly, with no clue as to where he was going. Woohyun wasn’t back yet and he couldn’t afford to wait for him. He had a feeling that Myungsoo’s dark eyes were following him and he would snap at him again if he stopped even for a moment. Panting, as he looked for a sign of Woohyun or anyone else for that matter, he turned right at the end of a corridor to find Taemin, drinking water from a water cooler. Taemin fixed him with a scrutinizing glance.

“Aren’t you the weird guy from the morning?” he asked, taking a sip of water.

“Yeah,” Sungjong agreed; he had decided to agree to anything anyone said in this hellhole. Yes, he had decided to call this place a hellhole, with Myungsoo as the god of torture, with Woohyun as his – no surprises there - PA. “Can you tell me who Sunggyu is? Scratch that, just tell me where his room is. Myung-I mean the editor told me to take this file to his office and I have no clue and Woohyun hyung’s not here either -”

“Wait, you’re the new assistant PA Woohyun hyung was talking about. Ah, now I know why he said you were a little dumb.” He nodded understandingly.

“Wait, when did you meet Woohyun hyung?”

Taemin shrugged.

“A minute ago I guess, in the bathroom.”

“Let me get this straight, Woohyun hyung is gossiping in the bathroom?”

“Yup.” A satisfied smile lit up Taemin’s face. “Anyways, I’ll see you later -”

“No wait, I need your help!” Sungjong called out desperately. The feeling of Myungsoo’s dark cold eyes behind his back wasn’t leaving him.

“Sunggyu’s one of the executive editors, along with my boss, Minho-ssi. These two are like the second-in-command,” Taemin said in a bored voice.

“But where’s his room?” Sungjong urged. Was Taemin just slow? Could he not grasp the momentum of the situation?

“Follow me, I’ll show you.” Taemin his heel and started walking at a deliberately slow pace. Sungjong caught up with him in a second.

“Can we hurry, like a tiny bit?” he asked, trying to suppress the sarcasm in his voice.

“Any faster and we would be flying!” Taemin laughed at his own joke, while Sungjong clenched and unclenched his fist. Every person he had met so far made him want to hit them.

Sungyeol, who was Sunggyu’s PA, also made the list. Handing him the file, Sungjong tried to explain to him how important it was and that he should give it to his boss that very instant. Disregarding everything he was saying, Sungyeol ogled at him, with the file was loosely held in his hand. Sungjong stomped his foot in frustration.

“Who are you again?” Sungyeol asked, blinking.

Sungjong gave up. Taemin helpfully answered that question, not forgetting to add all the adjectives Woohyun had used to describe him. Sungjong might not have been there at all. Finally, when Sungyeol was satisfied, both with the ogling and the answers, he told Sungjong that he knew what to do with the files and walked over to the fax machine lazily.

Sighing with relief, Sungjong thanked the both of them and started toward his work station. Taemin offered to show him the way, for which he was actually thankful.

Back at his office, he found Woohyun on his desk talking to someone on the phone. He glared at him and when he hung up, he asked the younger where he had been.

“How many times did I tell you not to leave your post if I’m not here, you buffoon?”

“You didn’t actually, but I had to leave because the editor, I mean the boss sent me to bring a file to Sunggyu-ssi’s office.”

Woohyun made a face but didn’t say anything. Throwing himself on the chair, Sungjong sighed deeply. He just wanted the day to end.