Jaemi got out of the shower and sat down in front of her vanity as she ruffled her hair with the towel. Suddenly, she stopped and looked at her own reflection.

 

FLASHBACK

 

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

 

Jaemi stared blankly at him for a couple of seconds and then looked away, “I’m sorry,” she said slowly.

 

Kai looked away, took a deep breath, and turned back towards her, “May I ask why?”

 

“To be completely honest… I don’t know why.”

 

Kai stood there trying to process everything she said and took another deep breath, “Well, I guess I’ll just take you home then.”

 

He stood up from his car and went back inside. Jaemi watched him with sad eyes and went back into the car with him.

 

END of FLASHBACK

 

Jaemi looked down from the mirror, “Why…” she asked herself as she continued to ruffle her hair slowly.

 

 

A few days passed and it was Friday.

 

Jieun sat down across from Jaemi and placed a tray of food in front of her, “My turn to treat you!”

 

Jaemi smiled and the two ate their lunch together.

 

Jieun swallowed her food, “Oh, I never got the chance to ask you. Where are you and Kai going tonight? Maybe somewhere a little fancy?” she winked.

 

Jaemi chuckled, “We’re not going out anymore.”

 

“Did you guys get into a fight?” Jieun asked, “Don’t worry, I’m sure you two will make up soon.”

 

She lightly smiled, “No, we’re really not going out anymore.”

 

With a spoonful of food near , Jieun froze, looked up at Jaemi and then slowly dropped her hand down to her tray, “What do you mean ‘not going out anymore’?”

 

“I don’t know… it’s complicated.”

 

Jieun looked at Jaemi with some sorrow and nodded her head.

 

 

“Why are you staring at her?” a girl asked.

 

“Shut up, I’m thinking,” Suzy retorted back.

 

She continued looking at Jaemi across the cafeteria, “What are you exactly?” she whispered to herself.

 

 

L.Joe walked into the project room to see Jaemi already sitting inside.

 

 

He looked down at his clothes and chuckled.

 

Jaemi heard a noise and looked up to see L.Joe.

 

 

She looked at her clothes and laughed with him.

 

Fast forward as the two continued to work non-stop for a few hours.

 

L.Joe took off his hat and placed it on the table. He ruffled through his hair and leaned back on his chair. Jaemi looked at him and sighed. She placed her arm on the table and leaned on her hand, “Do you really think we can finish this in three weeks?”

 

He let out a deep sigh and ran his hand through his hair, “We have to.”

 

She looked down and sighed again.

 

“Come on, let’s take a break. I’m hungry.”

 

As the two headed to the restaurants located inside the hotel, L.Joe turned his head to look at Le Bi and Pokpung Galbi on the other side. He turned to Jaemi, “Let me guess, Pokpung Galbi?”

 

She looked at him and smiled.

 

He gave a small chuckle and the two walked into the restaurant.

 

After they placed their orders, a man suddenly approached them.

 

“Jaemi, I’m glad you came today.”

 

“Ajusshi!” Jaemi called, “How are you?”

 

“Good, good,” Mr. Im answered. He turned to look at L.Joe, “Is this your boyfriend?”

 

L.Joe turned towards Jaemi, waiting for her response.

 

She looked at him and panicked, “No no, we’re just classmates and business partners. L.Joe this is Mr. Im, Mr. Im this is L.Joe.”

 

L.Joe stood up and bowed, “Nice to meet you Mr. Im.”

 

He smiled, “Nice to meet you too, L.Joe. Well, I’ll leave you two to enjoy your meal. Also, don’t worry about the bill, this will be my treat for the two of you.”

 

“Really? Gomawo ajusshi!” she said hugging him.

 

After Mr. Im left, she sat back down and noticed L.Joe looking at her.

 

She looked at him and then her surroundings, “What?”

 

He looked away, “Nothing.”

 

 

After work, they both went down to the lobby.

 

“Where’s Kai?” L.Joe asked.

 

Jaemi turned to look at him. He doesn’t know?

 

L.Joe also turned to her, waiting for an answer.

 

“He doesn’t come by anymore.”

 

“Alright, I’ll take you home then.”

 

“No, it’s okay. I still need to stop by somewhere.”

 

L.Joe thought for a second, “The photo gallery?”

 

Jaemi nodded.

 

“I’ll just take you there. It’s on the way,” he said walking away, “Come on.”

 

Once they arrived, Jaemi thanked him once again and went inside.

 

“Why is she here again?” he thought to himself.

 

Before he drove off, he noticed her phone on the passenger seat, “This girl,” he scoffed.

 

 

Time passed and Jaemi was still mediating.

 

“Clear your mind,” Hyomin repeated.

 

Jaemi took another deep breath.

 

She sees herself sleeping in a familiar car. Once the car stopped, she realized she was in front of her house. On the driver’s seat, she sees L.Joe looking at her sleep. He slowly came closer and gently kissed her forehead, but within seconds of pulling away, he flicked her forehead.

 

“OW!” Jaemi jumped up, “What was that for?”

 

L.Joe cleared his throat, “We’re here.”

 

Jaemi opened her eyes, but slowly closed them again, taking a few soft quick breaths.

 

“Are you okay?” Hyomin asked.

 

“Yeah… I just saw myself and— nevermind, it’s nothing. I just got distracted.”

 

“Are you sure? Maybe what you saw meant something.”

 

“No, I’m sure. I think I’m done for the day,” she said.

 

Hyomin nodded her head in agreement.

 

 

“You’re home. Where were you?” Jaesung asked.

 

“I just visited the photo gallery.”

 

“At this time?”

 

Jaemi nodded, “Where’s appa?”

 

“He’s resting upstairs, we just got back from the hospital.”

 

She nodded, “Do you think he can go to work by himself tomorrow?”

 

“Probably, why? You don’t want to go tomorrow?”

 

Jaemi nodded her head, “I’m not feeling too well.”

 

“Oh okay, go rest upstairs. I’ll let him know.”

 

“Thanks oppa.”

 

She went upstairs and laid on her bed, “Why does he keep popping up in my head?”

 

 

L.Joe sat in the project room and looked at the clock for the 20th time. 8:44 AM.

 

“Where is she?” he asked himself.

 

He grabbed his phone and called her.

 

Ring Ring. Ring Ring.

 

He hung up after realizing he still had her phone.

 

 

“L.Joe? Weird…” she said to herself before picking up the phone, “Hello?”

 

“Is Jaemi with you?” L.Joe asked.

 

“Jaemi?” Jieun repeated, “No, why? She’s not at work with you?”

 

“No, she doesn’t have her phone either and—Wait, how did you know—”

 

“I’ll go find her,” Jieun said hanging up.

 

She rushed out of her room.

 

“Jieun, where are you going?” her mom asked, “You didn’t eat breakfast yet.”

 

“I’m going out for a bit. I’ll just take this,” she said as she grabbed a croissant.

 

She ran out and rushed to Jaemi’s house.

 

 

The door opened, “Jieun?”

 

“Jaesung sunbae.”

 

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

 

“Uh… is Jaemi home?”

 

“No, she left a few hours ago, but she should be back soon. Why don’t you come in.”

 

Jieun’s heart began to beat faster, “No, uh… it’s okay, thanks!” she said running away.

 

Jieun was already down the hill before he could call her back, “Did I do something wrong?” he asked himself.

 

 

It has been an hour since Jieun told L.Joe she wasn’t home. Unable to concentrate on his work, he finally decided to go visit Vice Chairman Um to ask.

 

“L.Joe, what brings you here?” Vice Chairman Um asked.

 

“I’m sorry to bother you sir, but I wanted to ask if you know why Jaemi isn’t here today. I can’t seem to get ahold of her.”

 

“Ah, Jaemi wasn’t feeling too well, so she’s at home resting.”

 

“Oh, thank you for letting me know sir.”

 

L.Joe left his office still a little concerned. He went back to the project room to continue his work, but even knowing where she was, he still couldn’t concentrate. He lightly threw his pen and laid back on his chair. After a few seconds, he sat straight up and began packing up.

 

 

It was already dark, but L.Joe couldn’t help but still feel a bit curious. After a few moments, he finally decided to drive by Jaemi’s house just to check up on her. When he arrived, he went out to ring the doorbell.

 

The door opened.

 

“Hyung?”

 

“L.Joe, what are you doing here?” Jaesung asked.

 

“Uh… Just wanted to stop by to say ‘hi’,” L.Joe fibbed.

 

“That’s it?”

 

“Yup, I was in the neighborhood and decided to come greet you.”

 

Jaesung laughed and patted his back, “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

 

“He lives with Jaemi?” he asked himself. He suddenly recalls the moment Jaemi told him about her brother at the hospital, “Didn’t she say I didn’t know him?”

 

 

He drove by a park on his way home and coincidentally finds Jaemi sitting on one of the swing sets.

 

Jaemi had been sitting there for the past few hours thinking, “Why is everything so confusing?” she said to herself.

 

A figure sat down on the swing set beside her, “What’s confusing?”

 

She turned her head, “L.Joe? How did you know I was here?”

 

“Well, you didn’t show up to work and you weren’t at home.”

 

“You were looking for me?”

 

He cleared his throat, “So what are you confused about?”

 

She looked away, “It’s nothing.”

 

“Well, obviously that isn’t nothing.”

 

Jaemi looked down, trying to find a way to answer him.

 

“But I’m in no position to intrude in your life,” he said after realizing, “Here, Chairman Lee wanted me to give you this.”

 

She took the envelope from his hand, “What is it?”

 

“An invitation to a formal annual party next Sunday.”

 

“Formal annual party? What for?”

 

“It’s just a gathering for all the business partners and workers to come together, make a few announcements, and party a bit.”

 

“Oh, okay. Thanks.”

 

The two sat in silence until L.Joe spoke up, “Come on, it’s cold out here. I’ll take you home.”

 

 

Once Jaemi got home, she was greeted by her brother and father.

 

“Where were you?” Kijoon asked.

 

“I just went to the park to get some fresh air. I’m going to head up first.”

 

“Before you go, I need to give you an invitation from Rain. Let me go find it.”

 

“No, it’s okay. L.Joe gave me one already.”

 

“L.Joe?” her father asked a little confused, “Okay then, go ahead and get some rest.”

 

Half way up the stairs, Jaesung called her, “I forgot to tell you, but Jieun came by looking for you earlier.”

 

“She did? She didn’t even call,” she said checking for her phone on her body, “Where’s my phone?”

 

“Did you lose it?” he asked.

 

“It’s probably upstairs. I’ll see her tomorrow anyways.”

 

 

Jieun turned around from her desk to face Jaemi, “Did you do the homework?”

 

“Of course I did.”

 

“Do you think I can look at it?” she grinned.

 

Jaemi laughed, “Yeah, go ahead. By the way, why did you come by yesterday?”

 

“Huh? Oh uh, it’s nothing. The better question is ‘where were you?’”

 

Jaemi just smiled at Jieun and continued doing her work. Jieun then noticed Kai walking right past them, sitting in his seat with L.Joe behind him. Strangely, she could sense an odd tension between them.

 

“Ya, are you still friends with Kai?”

 

Jaemi shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know.”

 

“What about Mr. Casanova and him?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Don’t you notice an odd tension between them?”

 

Jaemi carefully looked up at Kai and L.Joe.

 

“Yeah… the last time I saw them talk was last week when Kai picked me up from work.”

 

“The same day he asked you out?” Jieun whispered.

 

Jaemi nodded her head.

 

Jieun then turned to look at L.Joe, “Weird…”

 

“By the way, why is everyone calling L.Joe a casanova? I haven’t even seen him date anyone; not even one person!”

 

Jieun turned back towards her, “You’re right… ever since you came, I haven’t seen him talk to any other girl. But he seriously did date a lot though. The longest I seen him with the same girl was one month and the shortest was 7 hours, and trust me, he had a new girl almost every month, maybe even weeks.”

 

Jaemi laughed, “So you’re saying he dated almost every girl in this school?”

 

“Not just our school.”

 

Jaemi looked up at L.Joe and scoffed.

 

 

The week flew by to Saturday as Jaemi woke up and got ready to go to work.

 

 

She walked into the project room to see L.Joe there early again.

 

 

“Someone finally showed up to work.”

 

Jaemi lightly laughed and the two continued to work together as time flew by.

 

“Are you going to the party tomorrow?” Jaemi suddenly asked.

 

Without looking up, he answered, “I don’t know yet.”

 

“You might not go?”

 

“Why, are you going?”

 

“Probably, just to see what it’s like.”

 

He looked up and smirked, “Ah, you asked because you want me there with you, right?”

 

Jaemi started to move her head around while scoffing a bunch of times, “Ya, are you in your right mind? I—I was just asking!”

 

L.Joe softly touched his chest, “Ouch, oppa is hurt by your words.”

 

“OPPA?!?” She exclaimed, “Y—you… you’re seriously out of your mind!”

 

She stood up, gave him another scoff, and quickly escaped the room mumbling to herself.

 

L.Joe watched her leave as he laughed to himself.

 

 

Kijoon looked at his watch, 6:51 PM.

 

“Jaemi! Are you almost done?” Kijoon called.

 

She came out of her bedroom wearing a t-shirt, sweatpants, and her hair tied up in a bun, “Done with what?” she asked munching on her bowl of popcorn. She looked at her father up and down wearing a fine cutted suit, “Wow, someone cleaned up well,” she said while giving him a thumbs up.

 

“Little girl, we have a party to attend to,” he looked back at his watch, “which starts in less than 10 minutes.”

 

“MWOH?” she ran inside her room and looked at the clock, “OMO OMO OMO OMO! I thought the party started at 8? I haven’t even start getting ready yet!” she panicked.

 

“Just start getting ready now, we can leave after you’re done,” he suggested.

 

“No, no. You go ahead and go to the party first. I’ll meet you there when I’m done. I need to take my time and look beautiful appa!” she joked.

 

Kijoon giggled and agreed. He left the house and Jaemi began to get ready.

 

 

L.Joe stood alone watching everyone around him socialize with each other until Chairman Lee approached him.

 

“How are you?” Chairman Lee asked.

 

“Good.”

 

After some silence, Chairman Lee abruptly asked, “I never got the chance to clearly ask you, but why did you suddenly want to work here?”

 

L.Joe stood there and didn’t answer for a few seconds, “Something was encouraging me to come.”

 

After responding, L.Joe looked up to see Jaemi near the entrance in her long beautiful gown.

 

 

Unable to take his eye off of her, he continue to follow her with his eyes as she walked around the room.

 

“L.Joe, I—”

 

“Can you excuse me?” L.Joe quickly bowed and walked away.

 

Jaemi looked around and saw her father talking to other representatives. A smile grew on her face as she watched her father laughing and smiling with the others.

 

L.Joe came over and stood next to her, “You made it.”

 

“I guess you did too,” she smiled, “So what made you come?”

 

“You.”

 

She froze and turned to look at him, “You really like playing around don’t you?”

 

He laughed, “It’s true though.”

 

Jaemi scoffed and began to wander around the room. She suddenly stops, “Are we the only students here?”

 

He turned to look at her, “Yeah, why?”

 

“Then who is she?” Jaemi asked while casually pointing at a girl across the room.

 

 

L.Joe looked over at the unfamiliar girl, “Why don’t you go over and ask?”

 

“What?” Jaemi quickly turned towards him.

 

“If you won’t, I will,” he said taking a step.

 

Jaemi quickly held his arm and pulled him back, “I don’t think so. There is no way I’m letting a casanova like you approach her.”

 

“Awh how cute, you’re afraid of losing me to another girl.”

 

She gave him a huge scoff, “I’m wearing a gown today, don’t make me barf” she said walking away.

 

Once she got to the other side, Jaemi approached the girl, “Hi, I’m Jaemi.”

 

“Hi. Omo, you’re the famous Jaemi who works at Rain, correct?”

 

Jaemi lightly blushed, “I wouldn’t say I’m famous.”

She giggled, “I’m Areum, Lee Areum.”

 

---

Happy Monday! I know it has been awhile since I updated, so once again, I made this chapter extremely long to make up for my hiatus! Hope you enjoy, and I will try to update more often once summer starts :)