Vier

 

“Hmm…”

As I exited Jongin’s office with the newly signed contract held tightly in my hands, I couldn’t help but worry about what kind of trouble I had just gotten myself into.

I mean, sure, it’s not like I just signed the contract to some indecent job…but, living in the house with the president? Is that really necessary? I mean…can’t I just clean up the house and leave at night? Sighing, I trudged my way to the elevator door as I lifted the contract and re-read the deal again.

Yoo Nari agrees to keep this contract a secret.  Yoo Nari agrees to live in the house until she had paid off the cost of the suit, and is not allowed to visit anywhere else unless being accommodated by Kim Jongin. The job will include cleaning the house, cooking meals and attending to Kim Jongin’s orders unless the order is against moral rights or is illegal. Yoo Nari may treat the house as her own, but must not bring any visitors inside the house. A breach to any of the rules above will result in Yoo Nari not only losing her job as a housekeeper but having to pay a fine of 5,000,000 won as well as the remaining cost of the suit. The pay will be 100,000 won per day.

 

Furrowing my eyebrows, I re-read the rules once more as I still found it a bit exaggerated. I mean, I get the part where I’m not allowed to tell anyone about the deal, but…not allowed to visit anywhere else unless being accommodated by Kim Jongin? What’s up with that? Sighing, I remembered how when I pointed that out, Jongin’s answer was that this is to prevent me from blabbering out the contract.

Really…do I look like such an unreliable person to him?

Ding.

As the elevator doors opened, I stepped inside whilst I tried to figure out how many days I would have to work in order to pay off the cost of the suit. “So that’ll be 100 days in total,” I mumbled to myself as I folded the contract and placed it in my blazer pocket, “That’s okay, I can get through 100 days.”

Sighing, I placed one hand behind my neck as I wondered what I’ll say to my parents. I’m going away on a business trip? A holiday? I’m going to live away from my parents to find the meaning of life? Letting out a laugh at my last thought, I stepped out of the elevator and onto the 59th floor when suddenly, I found myself immediately swarmed by staffs as I was taken to the couch and were forced to sit down for an interrogation.

“So what did the president say to you?” Yuna was the head of the group of girls who crowded around me in interest, and I kind of just blinked up at her, still not grasping the situation, “We all saw how the president stopped you from getting out, so? Are you fired?”

Blinking up at them for a second longer, I finally snapped out of it and realized that they were all staring down at me, waiting for an answer. Letting out a sigh, I stood up from the couch and gave them a small bow.

“No, it wasn’t anything important,” I hesitated a bit, “He…just wanted to go over some basic things with me, you know, with me being the new employee.”

“Aw, no fair.” A girl named Sohee pouted as she crossed her arms, “He didn’t ask me to go to his office when I was a new employee.”

“Aha…” I let out an awkward smile, unsure of what to say next, and there was a moment of awkward silence as no one said anything.

“Alright then,” Yuna clapped her hands, interrupting the silence that was stretching for too long, “Let’s get back to work everybody. Manager Kim’s not here today, let’s all do our best!”

“Neh~”

I heaved out a sigh of relief as no one asked me anything more about my trip to the president’s office, and as the rowdy chatter in the staffroom resumed, I went over to my cabinet and took out my nametag before heading to the 1st floor to do my job.

Attending to a customer at the front desk, I forced a polite smile on my face yet my head was still spinning like crazy, trying to come to sense to what had just happened.

“Excuse me?”

Blinking, I let out a small gasp as I realized that I had just zoned out whilst serving a customer, and flushing a little red, I quickly gave the customer my apologies before resuming to help the customer book into his room.

*Get a grip, Yoo Nari,* I thought to myself as the customer left, *You can’t let this affect your work.*

 

 

 

 

Brrr

A long days’ worth of work was finally done, and biding my colleagues goodbye, I was about to step outside the hotel when my phone rang. Reaching inside my pocket, I pulled out my phone to see that the caller was Kim Jongin.

I stared at my phone for a bit, leaving it vibrating in my hands as I wondered how he got my phone number before suddenly remembering that I gave it to him when I was signing the contract. Gulping a little, I picked up the call gingerly.

“Uhm, hello-”

“-Wait for me outside the hotel,” Jongin didn’t bother waiting for me to finish my greeting sentence, “I’ll be down shortly and will take you straight to my house.”

“Uhm…” I frowned a little, “I’m sorry?”

A sigh could be heard from the other side of the line. “You heard me, you will start your job today.”

“But…I haven’t even given my parents an excuse for my absence yet. And…I need to go get my stuff-“

“-I’ve already contacted your parents and told them that you’re going to be on a business trip to France,” Jongin interrupted me, and I bit my lips as I could sense the impatience in his voice, “As for your things, you won’t be needing them. I’ve already gotten people to buy the necessary things you’ll need. Alright, I’m coming down now, don’t move from your spot and wait for me.”

“Wai-“ But before I could even finish the first word, Jongin had already hung up, and hanging my head, I sighed as I waited patiently for Jongin to come down from his office. Glancing at the elevator doors, I found myself zoning out as my mind wandered to imagine what kind of life I’ll lead in the next 100 days. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to have any major interactions with him because I can just imagine how awkward it will be.

Ding.

Tilting my heads sideways, I watched with a sort of fascination as the gold-rimmed elevator doors slid open, revealing Jongin in his polished, ebony suit and equally polished leather shoes. I found myself staring at him as he strode out of the elevator, his head tilted slightly upwards and his hands stuck comfortably in his pockets as he wal