Jongin's lips grin wide as he exits the conference room, feeling proud at his accomplishment of earning the proposal, Sehun, his old friend congratulates him. He says, "As expected, Kim Jongin always gets what he wants." Jongin laughs at the statement, he retorts, "You could say the same for yourself, congrats on becoming a father. That's a really great news," patting the latter by his shoulder.

Sehun flashes a smile, "Thank you," he replies, "Hayoung is enthralled to have a Sehun junior or a Hayoung junior prancing around the house, says it's been boring since well, since she stopped working." Jongin nods his head, humming softly, "Well, she's used having to tend to something. You should have knocked her up sooner, workaholic." Jongdae intervenes the chat, "Says the person who doesn't even have plans on Fridays," laughing at the younger with Sehun joining him.

Jongin scrunches his nose and says, "Shut up, I have the keys – I just might leave you here." Jongdae shakes his head and retorts, "Earth to Jongin, my fiancee works here. I can just ask her for a ride." The younger exhales a small sigh, "Are we really having this fight now?" Sehun answers, "Honestly, you were the one who ignited it." Jongin guffaws, "I did not, Jongdae just decided to be a sweetheart and came in between our chatter."

Jongdae raises both his hands, "Hey," he says, "Don't put the blame on the innocent guy." Sehun then spots Soojung at the corner of his eyes and flashbacks of the past silently plays at the back of his mind like a silent movie, nonchalantly, he queries, "Did you meet Soojung here?" Jongin raises a brow, "Hm?" he asks, "What did you say, Sehun-ah?"

The latter shakes his head, "No, nothing – I just remembered that I had to buy Hayoung some cheese crab fritters since she's been craving for them." Jongin then averts his gaze, nodding his head and his eyes meet with Soojung's. He calls upon her, "Soojung-ah!" startling the lassie as she holds tight on the folders in her grasp. She mentally curses herself for stealing a glance, with a nervous smile on her lips, she makes her way to the latter.

She curtly bows down to Sehun, greeting a small, "Sir," as she asks, "Is there anything you would like me to do?" Sehun looks at her dumbfounded, he stammers, "W-what? N-no, it was J-jongin who called you." Jongin laughs as he playfully nudges the younger by his elbow, "What the hell, Sehun?" he says, "Do you still get the jitters for her even when she's your secretary?"

Wow, way to degrade a person, Kim Jongin, she thought. The latter has his eyes rounded, he shakes his head, sure back in school he had a thing for the beauty but everybody did. It was hard especially when Soojung was always so nice and friendly but things changed and he had to put the feelings aside for someone else. Sehun laughs airily, he replies, "No, I was just surprised that she asked me when you were the one who called her."

Jongin chuckles and says, "She won't talk to me, I think she still has issues with me." Soojung is about to retort but holds back when she remembers that she is in no place to do so and one wrong step, a complaint would be filed to HR and that meant facing Park ing Chanyeol and she'd rather die than have herself skinned by the elder. Joonmyun then appears out of nowhere and flashes a smile as he bows, "Soojung-ssi, could you help me with the next meeting? There has been some changes done by Mrs. Dan."

Sehun looks at the two and says, "Oh, no no. That second meeting will be postponed, I'll inform Mrs. Dan myself. You can go have yourself lunch," giving a small nod, approving of their dismissal. Soojung is about to thank the latter until Jongin interjects, "Have lunch with us then, your partner and you." Joonmyun furrows his brow, he clears his throat, "As much as we would love to," he says," Soojung and I have other official matters to tend to."

Jongin looks dejected at the comeback, he always gets what he wants so to have the offer turned down by a mere secretary is pride-slashing. Soojung then turns to Jongdae, she hesitates to speak but eventually taps his shoulder, gaining his attention. Jongdae looks at her and asks, "Yes?" She flashes a small smile and answers, "You're Luna's fiance, right? She wants you down at the lobby, soon."

Jongdae flashes his Cheshire grin, he asks, "She's waiting for me? Thank you for telling," before disappearing off to the elevator, leaving Soojung, Sehun, Joonmyun and Jongin behind. Sehun rubs his nape at the tense atmosphere, he clears his throat and says, "Well, I shall excuse myself. Jongin, will you be alright on your own here or–" The elder cuts, "No, I'll join Soojung and her partner for lunch, that is. . . if it's alright with them?" looking at the two for approval.

Joonmyun knows that is the signal for him to back out and he answers, "I'm skipping lunch since I had a heavy breakfast earlier. You can take Soojung, after all she always misses her breakfast." Soojung's eyes bulge out of its socket, she is about to turn the offer down but sees the look in Joonmyun's eyes saying she'll be fine and she relents, smiling as she says, "There's a restaurant just a block away that serves great food, if you don't mind a bit of walking."

Sehun says, "He has a car, don't worry. I guess all of us can be excused then, but Miss Jung, I expect you to be by your desk at three, no later than that." Soojung takes the warning seriously as she nods her head, Sehun continues, "Mr. Kim, you follow me," in which Joonmyun nods his head, as he tags behind Sehun, leaving the pair. Jongin asks, "Are you positive that you don't mind having lunch with me? I mean, I don't want to put you in a place you don't want to be at."

She says, "Well, by the looks of it, you and I have been left by our own partners so I think this arrangement is somewhat beneficial despite that I might not want to have it." Jongin nods his head, "Well, shall we get going then?" pulling out the keys, twirling it on his fingers.

• • • • •

As the two sets foot in the restaurant, Soojung takes a spot by the window, her favorite spot. Jongin takes the seat across her, eyes scrunitizing her every features, she is still as beautiful as he once left her. Maybe she even got prettier without his realisation and it would be a lie if their meeting did not tug something in his heart. Guilt, remorse, repent, anger, sadness are all jumbled up although he mostly feels guilt eating him up. The attendant places the menus for the two and says, "Your waiter shall take your orders when you are ready."

Soojung doesn't even need a glance to know what she is having, and Jongin, who once knew her at the back of his hand could also tell. He asks, "Are you taking the Aglio Olio? Does it taste good?" Soojung blinks, she stammers, "Y-yeah, it's g-good. It's not too, uh. . . oily." Jongin nods his head, humming softly and he says, "Well, I guess we can place our orders?"

The lassie nods her head, "Yeah, if you made up your mind as well." He flashes a smile and coos for the waiter as he replies, "I'm having whatever you're having." The waiter turns his head and dashes toward the pair's table, greeting them as he queries, "May I take your order?" Jongin nods and answers, "Two servings of Aglio Olio, and two servings of iced lemon tea."

He nods and asks, "Will there be anything else?" Jongin shakes his head, "None for now," and doesn't forget to thank the younger in the midst of it. Jongin looks at Soojung, he says, "Seeing him reminds me when we used to bus tables together." Soojung shifts at the mention of the memory, she remembers everything at the back of her mind.

A nervous chuckle escapes her lips, she says, "You were always late for your shift." The latter continues, "And you always covered for me." Because I love you. Soojung looks at him, taking up his chocolate orbs in her hold, she says, "I remember we used to hung out at the library and you taught me calculus because I admit it, I at the subject," laughing at herself.

He nods his head, "You kept failing and well, we can't have you repeat the year and you said your parents would've killed you if you didn't bulk up." It's also because I wanted some time alone with you. Soojung hums softly, "Yeah, my folks were so strict back then. Remember when you went A-WOL and dyed your hair blonde?" Jongin laughs at the memory, he answers, "They said I was a bad influence and you should stay away." I wish I had listened to them.

Jongin continues, "Do you remember that one time when you came to my house in the middle of the night because you were drunk?" She sighs at the thought of it, "Your mum thought I was some street ." Boy, was she wrong. . . You're an angel. Soojung bites back her smile, all those good things came to an end or well, there was no exact words of separation but it hung there, somewhere on a thin line.

Soojung follows the gaze of Jongin's eyes and it trails towards a street food stall at the corner of the road, an old pair selling fritters and ddokbokki with soju alongside kimbap. She asks, "Do you want to eat those instead?" Jongin turns his head, locking eyes with her and flashes a small grin, "Nah, I just remembered that one time when I spilled the sauce on your school uniform."

"Jongin!" the younger shrieked in his ears, he bit his lower lip, eyes filled with guilt and a glint of mischief. He chuckled, "I'm sorry, that was definitely on purpose." She gaped, "On purpose? Jongin, this stain would take ages for me to wash if I don't clean it up now! My mom is going to nag about it."

Jongin stood up and asked for a glass of plain water and some tissues, returned to their table and passed it to the lassie. Soojung shook her head at the elder, "God," she said, "I swear, you can be such a klutz!"

The latter shrugged nonchalantly, "It isn't my fault your beauty mesmerizes me," he retorted, painting the lassie's cheeks bright shade of red. She disregarded the elder's words as she wiped her shirt with the tissue she earlier dipped in plain water. Unsatisfied that his compliment had been neglected, Jongin calls the younger, "Soojung," his voice firm and stern.

Briefly, she looked up as she locked her gaze and without any hesitance, their lips crashed, moulding against one another and Soojung felt that she could combust out of happiness. Kim Jongin took my first kiss.

The waiter clears his throat, "Aglio Olio and iced lemon tea for two?" The pair snaps out of their daze and nods their head, Jongin looks at her and says, "Well, dig in." Soojung takes the fork on her left and thanks him for the meal before swirling the spaghetti and taking a bite, Jongin following suit, he compliments, "You're not lying when you said it's good."

She smiles, "Of course," and for some reason, she doesn't feel so hungry anymore. Tons of question are dancing around her head – did he not feel anything? Why is he acting so nonchalant about everything? Why isn't he mentioning about Cambridge? Why isn't he mentioning about us? Just why? Jongin looks at her and asks, "Are you not hungry?" seeing her barely touching the pasta.

Soojung shakes her head, "No," she replies, "I just feel sick but it's okay, it's nothing." Concerned, Jongin asks, "Are you sure? Do you want me to take you to the hospital or something? Perhaps any clinic nearby?" She flashes a weak smile, "I think it's because I suddenly ate, it's nothing. Go on and eat, I'll excuse myself to the washroom," standing up and walking off, tears threatening to fall.

The lassie occupies the first cubicle, pulling the lid down before she sits and covers her face with palm of her hands, a small sigh escaping her thin lips. "God," she says, "What did I do to deserve this?" shaking her head in the process. She walks out of the stall, hands holding on the sink as she looks at her reflection in the mirror, "Get a grip on yourself, he left you! Why are you holding on?" washing her face and drying it with tissue paper.

Soojung walks out of the restroom and returns back to their table, Jongin looks at her and asks, "Are you alright?" She nods her head reassuringly and breaks into a grin, "I'm fine, are you done? I need to get back to the office." Jongin raises a brow, "Hm?" he says, "Oh, yeah, sure – at least, finish up your drink if you don't want to eat." Soojung takes the glass of beverage, indulging with the cold liquid and puts it back once the glass is half finished, "Done," she smiles.

Jongin stands up and walks toward the counter, paying for the bill and Soojung tags behind him. Jongin steals a glance and says, "The lunch is on me, don't sweat it." She keeps back her purse, thanking him and the two head out of the restaurant. Jongin rubs his nape, "Hey." he says with a heavy heart, "If you don't mind, maybe we can meet up again sometime around."

Soojung blinks, mind still processing the words that have been uttered, Jongin continues, "Give me your cell phone number," pulling out his handphone from the left pocket of his blazer, fingers ready to key-in the number. The lassie looks at him, dazed and confused, hesitantly Soojung takes the device in her hands and keys it in herself, she says, "If I don't pick up, that means I'm asleep."

Jongin flashes a small smile, "Says the same person who told me that sleep is for the weak." Soojung returns the smile with a shy grin, Jongin continues, "Come on, I'll send you off – I need to pick up Jongdae afterall."

After a ten minute drive, the pair arrives at the building's entrance, and Soojung hops out of the car, with Jongin following her. She looks at him, "Um," she starts, "Thanks. . . for lunch, it was nice seeing you," That isn't a lie. Jongin nods his head, agreeing, "Yeah, it was nice seeing you again after sometime. Thanks, Soojung-ah," ruffling her hair in the midst of it. Soojung feels her heart thumping as if it could leap out of her own ribcage, a small shade of red tints on her cheek, she chuckles nervously and bids him a goodbye before walking in the entrance, heart and mind far from the thoughts of work.