Chapter Seven: Learning More Won't Sting

Yeojung kept glancing at the clock at the top of the wall. Another five minutes and she'll be done for the day. And she will be going out instantly so that he won't be able to make her work overtime. Yes, that was her master plan. For the past few weeks, she had been working overtime and 9 pm was the earliest she could go home. She had no time to meet her friends, not that she had many. Anyways, her panda eyes were forming and she didn't care to conceal them. It's not that she's working overtime for free, he paid her, but she was way too tired.

The clock stokes 5 and she grabbed her bag and her coat. She tried to watch her steps and not to make a noticeable noise. But she did. Her knee bumped onto a sprite can and it fell and spilled all over the floor. She winced and hated herself for doing that.

"Aren't you too excited to go home, Yeojung-sshi?" Jiyong spun his chair and fixed his eyes on her as well as the liquid.

"I'm sorry..." She said and quickly continued, "I'm going to clean it now..." She said and rushed towards the janitor's room to grab a mop.

He kept looking at her as she pressed the mop onto the liquid and drag it side to side. Her ears and cheeks warmed as she felt his eyes on her. Plus, she had been caught red-handed.

"Order me jajangmyeon and sausages." He said with his arms crossed just below his chest.

'I knew it! I knew it! Gosh, I'm so damn stupid!' She cursed at herself and quickly nodded.

After placing the mop back, she went back to him and found 50000 won at the small table. She took it and went out to curse herself and run her errand.

It took her 30 minutes to buy his orders.

It wasn't the first time he asked her to run such unnecessary errands. But he explained why he needed her to do that.

"Reporters. Those damn bastards. What?! Celebrity can't eat jajangmyeon?! WHy?!" She spoke to herself and began criticising paparazzis along the way back to the headquarters.

When she returned he was ready to eat. He was sitting on the couch with his chopsticks already placed under his fingers. And he beamed when she arrived with the ridiculously delicious smell.

She placed a large bowl of Jajangmyeon and sausages in front of him and he quickly devoured them in his mouth. He must've been hungry. He peeled the wrap off and added a few drops of his magic death chili sauce. He then mixed them and took a large single slurp.

"You bought one for yourself?" He asked as he paused his blissful moment.

"Yup..."

"With my money?"

"Yup..." He chuckled. "I thought you wanted to go home as soon as possible."

"Well, you're not gonna let me either, so I need to fill up to endure the night..."

"You're talking as if I'm the worst boss ever."

"...." She went silent. She began wondering if she had ever been this tired and inconsistent in her scheduling. Nope, she had never had one. So he is indeed her worst boss.

"What? I'm the worst?" He asked and took another huge slurp of noodles. She was silent again and looked at him as if saying that he really was her worst boss ever.

"Really? It's me?" He asked with wide eyes and  chuckled.

"Why?"

"Nothing." He replied and continued eating. "Want some?" He asked as he showed her his chili sauce.

"Nope." She replied with full of noodles and shook her head. Jiyong found her interesting because she didn't seem to want to impress him in anything, whether it's eating or working. But, she did enough to catch his attention. She was different from his other fans.

"Why?" He asked and smirked.

"I can't stand spicy food." She replied. Before saying anything else, she wiped the sides of with her fingers and continued to stuff the noodles inside .

"Really? Can't you? Wow...how did you manage to live up till now?" Jiyong asked, surprised.

"Boss, stop teasing me." She said and glared at him before eating the Tangsuyuk as well. Her warning made him even more playful. He wanted to and see her angry face. He was sure that she'll be so funny.

Yeojung then got up and walked towards the door. Jiyong asked her if she was done with her food. As expected, she wasn't. She merely wanted to get a glass of water.

When Yeojung left the studio, the evil Jiyong threw all the chili inside her bowl of noodles and quickly mixed them together so that it went unnoticeable. After a minute, she came back with two glasses of cold water; one for her and the other one for him.

"Wow, thanks for getting one for me. I'm touched." Jiyong said and placed his palm on his chest.

Yeojung then sat down in front of him and grabbed her bowl as well as chopsticks. She mixed the noodles with her chopsticks in case the sauce had gone down. Just when she was about to fill with the pranked noodles, she decided to eat the Tang su yuk. On the other side, Jiyong winced when he saw her putting down the chopsticks.

But then, the time came when Yeojung decided to take a huge slurp of her noodles and damn, Jiyong felt good seeing that. He couldn't wait for her to fume up. He started giggling softly and took a bite of his own food.

She felt a dashing sting on her tongue and heat swarmed around . She hated this taste. It's the taste she hated since she was just a baby, as a teenager and presently. Half relieved that she had a glass full of cold water beside her, she gulped it all in one go. She instantly knew who the culprit was when she saw how empty the bowl of chilli was. How someone must have grated every single ounce of it onto her noodles.

"You're such a prank-er!" She exclaimed. She was careful enough not to let any swearings out of . She extremely hated being teased for her weakness. It wasn't easy for her to not have the normal Korean tongues. She suffered as well.

Sitting in front of her, Jiyong was laughing his off when she was fanning the insides of with her hands.

"Is it funny for you, boss?!" She asked with a loud tone.

"Yes, it is..." He laughed and handed her his own glass of water. "Drink some more. You look like a cooked crab!" He teased.

"You jer-" She almost said it and immediately it up.

"What? Are you swearing at me?!" He asked playfully, trying to catch his employee red-handed.

Suddenly his phone rang and Jiyong picked it up to see the caller ID. Kiko Mizuhara. It said. Jiyong quickly picked it up and left the studio to have some privacy.

Yeojung was left alone in the studio and she drank some more to calm her nerves. She then walked towards the little fridge at the corner of the room to grab a can of beer. She wasn't sure if she could go home first because she knew her boss wasn't finished with his work. This was just a snack for him.

"Might as well drink this." She said to herself and cracked the can open before drinking. After finishing the beer, Yeojung felt dizzy and decided to lie her head down on the couch for a couple of seconds. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

~~~

After 20 minutes, Jiyong went back to the studio and immediately found her sleeping on his couch. He walked towards her and squatted in front of her. His eyes roaming around her face and he felt the urge to remove those strands of hair covering her closed eyes. He wondered how someone could sleep in such a peaceful manner as her. The can of beer caught his attention and he smiled. He decided to grab a blanket and placed it over her body. He then went back his seat and continued to finish stuff up before drifting to his own dreamworld.

~~~

"And you know babe, director Alessandro really loved it! I didn't know how, but I was sure that I was really careless with the pose!" Kiko told, smiling widely while staring at her hotel room's window.

She had just finished her photoshoot for the Italian Vogue. She was in her robe, sitting by the window with her half-dried hair and her phone resting between her hand and ear. It has been a month since she saw Jiyong, her boyfriend. She just missed him so much that she could talk to him all night long.

"Of course, you did great! You're Kiko!" He replied.

"Are you still in your studio?" She asked as she twirled her fingers around her hair.

"Yup...still working on some stuff."

"You should rest! At this rate, you'll get sick!"

"I know, anyway, I got to go now...good night, love you..." He said.

"Love you too..." She replied and smiled confusedly. With that, their conversation was done.

Kiko felt weird. Jiyong had never been the one to hang up on her. She was always the one who said good bye first. But this time it was him.

Jiyong was always the one who chased after her. He used to take every gig in Japan in order to see her, just to attend the same event as her. To be honest, she found him annoying for always bugging her and making it obvious on how interested he was in her. Until 2 years ago, she only went on dates with him for her own good. But now that she learned to love him, she realized how lucky she was to have such a talented, charming, sincere man by her side.

+++

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miss_sh