Now that the school year was over, Jaemi spends most of her time working at the hotel. During that time, she tried her best to shut L.Joe out of her life completely, or at least, she tried to.

 

One week later.

 

 

L.Joe and Areum walked into the hotel with their arms linked together as paparazzis were pushing each other around in order to take their pictures. Just on the second floor, Jaemi was staring down at the whole scene as she let out a gentle sigh before turning away. L.Joe on the other hand, looked up right after to see her walk away and all he could do was let out a deep sigh.

 

 

L.Joe and Areum walked into the elevator and, right when the door closed, he roughly pushed her hands away from his arm.

 

She lightly stumped and glared at him, “Ya! Was that really necessary?”

 

“You shouldn’t have been all over me in the first place.”

 

She scoffed, “We are engaged. Why can’t you just accept that?”

 

“Why?” he repeated in disbelief, “I’ll tell you why. It’s because this marriage we have—it’s all set up by our parents. There are no real feelings in this relationship—and there never will be.”

 

She paused for a second, “My feelings—they’re real.”

 

L.Joe turned to face her and scoffed.

 

“I know you don’t have a huge liking towards me, but I believe you will eventually look at me the same way I look at you now.”

 

The elevator door opened, “Don’t get ahead of yourself,” he said walking out, leaving her behind.

 

Right when the elevator door closed, he saw Jaemi walking towards his direction. He walked towards her in a slower pace as he watched her, but rather than looking at him, she paid no attention and walked right passed him. He stopped and let out a slightly angered sigh as he turned around and called her. Jaemi stopped and paused for a second. She let out a soft sigh and turned around to bow towards him before turning back to walk again. He rolled his eyes and ran towards her to grab her arm.

 

Jaemi slightly jumped, “What are you doing?” she said, trying to pull her arm away, “Let go.”

 

He dragged her to the end of the hall to an empty room and closed the door shut, “Why are you ignoring me?” he asked.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said trying to open the door, “I have to get back to work.”

 

He pushed the door back, “It has been a week and you haven’t spoken to me once.”

 

She let go of the door’s handle and looked up at him before taking a few steps back, “Why does it matter whether I talk to you or not?”

 

He came closer to her, “Are you really playing this game right now?”

 

“You think I have time to play games with you? Why don’t you get back to your fiancée,” she said trying to walk towards the door again.

 

He held onto Jaemi’s wrist to stop her, “Is this what all of this is about?” but before he could continue saying anything else, the door suddenly swung open. They both turned towards the door to see Mrs. Lee looking right at them. L.Joe quickly let go of her hand and cleared his throat.

 

Jaemi turned to look back over at L.Joe, “I’ll let Chairman Lee know. Tell Areum I said ‘hi’.” She smiled and bowed at Mrs. Lee before walking out.

 

Mrs. Lee waited for her to leave the room and quickly turned to face L.Joe. A small, but fake smiled formed upon her face, “Dear, you should find Areum. You shouldn’t leave your fiancée alone.”

 

He slightly nodded his head and went out of the room. Once he left, Mrs. Lee expression changed to pure anger.

 

 

The next few days followed as Jaemi continued to try and avoid L.Joe as much as possible.

 

An employer walked up to Jaemi in the halls, “Chairman Lee is looking for you,” she said before walking away.

 

Confused, she listened and walked into Chairman Lee’s office to also see L.Joe inside.

 

“Jaemi, perfect timing. Come in,” Chairman Lee said, walking over to the couch, “Have a seat.”

 

She sat down across from L.Joe, “You wanted to see me?”

 

He coughed, “Yes, I have been pushing back the mid-scale hotel project for awhile now. However, since you two won’t be going back to school for a couple of months, I thought it would be a perfect time to put both of you back on the project.”

 

Jaemi looked over at L.Joe and then back at him, “Chairman Lee, I know L.Joe is quite busy with his upcoming wedding, so I wouldn’t mind doing this project all on my own. In fact, it wouldn’t be a hassle at all.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous Jaemi. Half of the plan was also L.Joe’s, so of course he needs to work on this project with you. Just because he’s a soon-to-be-married man doesn’t mean he gets to lay around and do nothing,” he chuckled, “I have already set up everything for your trip to Incheon tomorrow. So you two go on ahead and head home to start packing first.”

 

 

Once Jaemi walked out of the office, she turned to face L.Joe, “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said in his mocking tone before walking away, “But, perhaps.”

 

Jaemi scoffed in frustration and annoyance.

 

 

The next day, L.Joe drove over to Jaemi’s house and parked outside waiting for her. She finally came out, struggling to carry her oversized suitcase. He laughed and walked over to help carry her suitcase into the trunk, “Do you really need that much stuff?”

 

“It’s 5-day business trip. Of course I need that much stuff,” she said getting in the car.

 

 

Three days passed and during that time, all L.Joe and Jaemi did was go back and forth to the property to make sure everything was in order.

 

“Would eight floors really be enough?” Jaemi questioned.

 

“It should be fine. With the amount of people in this area, eight floors should be a decent number,” he answered, “But let's discuss this later. Let’s go get lunch first, I’m starving.”

 

She looked at him, a bit hesitant. She was about to pass his offer until she realized her hunger coming and just nodded her head.

 

 

Two servings of gamjatang (pork bone soup) came out.

 

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask for grilled meat,” he joked.

 

Jaemi chucked, “As long as there is some meat in my food, I’m good.”

 

As they ate, things got quiet for awhile.

 

L.Joe looked up at her and cleared his throat, “Did the Professor find anything about the glowing mark?”

 

She shook her head, “He hasn’t contacted me back yet.”

 

 

Areum happily skipped over to her car and sat down inside. She placed a small lunch box down on the passenger seat and smiled, “I hope he likes it.”

 

 

L.Joe and Jaemi arrived back to their hotel and went up to their rooms. Since they lived right across from each other, they said their goodbyes before heading inside. While Jaemi was rummaging through her purse to find the key card, she suddenly felt a hand grab onto her arm and spun her around. Before she could even process the situation, her lips were already against someone else’s. Jaemi froze for a couple of seconds, trying to comprehend what was happening.

 

“What are you doing?!?” she hollered, pushing L.Joe away after realizing it was him, “You’re engaged! To my friend!”

 

“I know!” he hollered back before pausing, “But you should know I don’t like her like that. I don’t have any feelings for her at all.”

 

“But,” she said softly, “she likes you.”

 

“How would you know?”

 

She stared blankly, not knowing how to answer, “I just do. I’ve know her long enough to know how she feels.”

 

He lifted her chin up to make eye contact with her, “And we’ve known each other longer,” he said taking a step closer, “So tell me. How do I feel?”

 

Jaemi slightly opened to say something, but no words came out. She turned her head to break the eye contact, but he stopped her as he held onto her face, turning her face towards his again. He scanned her face carefully and then at her lips before slowly leaning in. Before their lips could touch, a sudden thud stopped them.

 

They both slightly jumped and turned to see Areum standing at the end of the hall with food all over the floor. She continued to look at them with her eyes shaking as she slowly moved back.

 

Jaemi looked at her, “Areum… it’s not what it looks like.”

 

Before she could explain, Areum ran back to the elevator and tried to quickly close the door.

 

“Areum!” Jaemi called, chasing after her.

 

By the time she reached the elevator, the doors were already closed, “Areum! Areum! Please let me explain!” she shouted as she lightly slapped against the elevator door.

“Jaemi…” L.Joe called walking towards her.

 

She took a step back from the elevator and ran back into her hotel room without looking at him.

 

 

The next day, L.Joe went alone to meet with the contractors since Jaemi did not want to face him. She was laying on her bed, slightly crying when she suddenly received a phone call.

 

She wiped her tears and picked up, “Professor Seon?”

 

“Jaemi, are you busy today? I found a few books that might help us, but I could really use an extra pair of eyes.”

 

“I’m actually in Incheon right now for a business trip, but I can still help. I can just take the bus back to pick up some of the books to read here.”

 

“No, it’s okay. I’ll ask Kai to bring them over to you. Just text me the hotel address.”

 

“Ani, you don’t—”

 

Beep beep beep.

 

She looked at her phone to see that Professor Seon had already hung up.

 

 

A couple of hours passed and Kai arrived in front of her door with a few books in his hands, “Special delivery,” he joked.

 

She chuckled and grabbed some of the books to help carry them inside the room, “Thanks for dropping them off.”

 

He smiled, “You’re welcome. So… are you on this trip alone?” he asked.

 

She shook her head, “L.Joe is here too,” she said organizing the books on the table.

 

“L.Joe?” he repeated in shock as they both started to walk out.

 

“Yeah, but he’s out right now,” she said closing the door.

 

She turned back to face him, but before she knew it, Kai leaned in for a kiss. She quickly shoved him away, “Kai! What the heck are you doing? Aren’t you dating Krystal right now?”

 

“I know, I’m sorry. I don’t know what got over my head—”

 

Suddenly, Kai was on the floor, “What are you doing?!!” Jaemi yelled.

 

L.Joe, who saw the whole scene, ran over and punched Kai right in the face. Kai looked up to face him as he touched his bleeding lip. He quickly got up and threw a punch back at L.Joe’s face.

 

Jaemi gasped, “What are you guys doing? Stop it!” Jaemi yelled.

 

L.Joe let out a scoff in disbelief as he turned around with blood dripping from his cheekbone. He started to go back at Kai, but Jaemi quickly stepped in to hold him back, “Stop, please!”

 

She turned to hold them back with her arms, “What the hell has gotten into the both of you? You guys are acting like children.”

 

The two guys glared at each other before Kai let out a scoff and began walking away towards the elevators.

 

 

L.Joe was sitting on the couch in his hotel room when Jaemi went to the door to get the first aid kit from the hotel employer. She sat down beside him and took out a clean cotton swab with some ointment to lightly dab the wound on his cheekbone.

 

He slightly flinched from the pain. She stopped and dropped her hand down to her laps, “Why did you do that? You could have seriously gotten hurt.”

 

“Are you insisting that he is stronger than me?”

 

“No. I’m just saying you didn’t have to get hurt.”

 

L.Joe stared at her as Jaemi continued to clean his wound. She made eye contact with him and coughed at the awkwardness, “Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked shyly.

 

“Just cause,” he answered, but then he paused, “Aren’t you going to ask me why I didn’t tell?”

 

“Tell me what?”

 

“About my dad.”

 

She stopped, but then continued to clean his wound, “Ani. I had my reasons for not letting anyone know about my dad, and you have yours. If you’re ready to tell me, then you can tell me and if you’re not, I won’t ask about it,” she said putting a bandage on him.

 

He continued staring at her even more. Jaemi coughed awkwardly and began cleaning up behind her, “Okay, we’re done,” she said before rushing to get up.

 

He pulled her back down, “I’m sorry in advance.”

 

“Sorry for what?”

 

He looked at her, “This.”

 

He quickly pulled her in for a kiss. Jaemi’s eyes grew big, but instead of pushing him away this time, she closed her eyes and returned the kiss back.