The last thing Jaebum expected when he first walked into the office; was to see two young men frowning their eyebrows off.

Right to his front was Jinyoung, his face a tint of red and Jaebum deduced that it was from anger. Mark, on the other hand, was a little pink and seemed sheepish. If one hadn’t been working in Velvet & Co, one would have thought that Mark was just another employee getting scolded by the big boss.

But of course things were never that boring.

Seeing the scene, Jaebum smiled.

“What do we have here?” The man muttered in fascination. “A lovers quarrel?”

“Piss off, Jaebum.” Jinyoung didn’t bother looking at their intruder. “Come back later.”

“I can’t.” Jaebum had laughed. “I need Mark to sign some things.”

“And I will sign those things!” Mark shot him a thankful grin.

The files on Jaebum’s hands were then forcefully taken away by Jinyoung, whose eyes once never left Mark’s face. The frown seemed to grow deeper, and Mark sighed. He knew their conversation wasn’t going to end if he continued to avoid it. With much hesitation, Mark raised his hands in defeat.

“Fine, I’ll talk.” Mark gave him a look of exasperation. “I’ll talk, so wipe that frown off your face. You look scary. Oh and Jaebum? Maybe you can come back later.”

“No way, don’t mind me.” Jaebum took a seat on the couch. “I’m staying to watch this.”

Jinyoung clenched his fists in irritation. Jaebum had only been in the room for less than 5 minutes and he was already proving to be an annoyance. One glance back on Mark’s face, however, solidified the fact that no one in the world was as annoying as a certain Tuan Yi En.

“Speak.” Jinyoung practically growled. “Why did you send Wendy to work with Seulgi?”

“She said she needed some things to do so… I gave her things to do.” The latter drawled lazily. “You did want Seulgi to have a playmate, after all. I’m merely accommodating to you.”

“You told me that she was working on the upcoming fashion show in December!”

“Oh that.” Mark seemed to recall something. “Fine. That, I lied about.”

“Why?”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it obvious? She won’t be able to help much.”

Jinyoung’s features seemed to soften, but he quickly recomposed himself. There was no way that Wendy hadn’t been more than capable to handle things in the first place. He has not once seen the girl at work, but she seemed pretty decent if they were to judge based on her portfolio.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I’m her boss?” Mark pointed out in disbelief. “Seriously, Jinyoung?”

“Logically, rationally and statistically speaking,” Jinyoung wasn’t going to budge. “How do you know that?”

“I… I’ve seen her work, of course.”

“Oh!” Jaebum suddenly clasped his hands in delight. “Is this the part where I come in? I saw her down at the laundromat last week!”

“Jaebum…” Jinyoung warned, thinking that Jaebum was going off in one of his other boring stories that he wasn’t interested in.

“It was during work hours too. Oh, and I did ran into her while she was making coffee. Seems like that’s the only thing she ever does, though.”

His eyes widened, before shooting an accusing glare to the other man.

“She’d worked here for one month, and all you do is send her on errands?!”

This time, Mark glared at Jaebum.

“It’s not technically my fault.” He tried to defend himself. “I told you before that I can’t work with her.”

“ it up, Mark!” Jinyoung screamed.

“I won’t!” Mark raised his voice as well. “This is unfair!”

“Stop being a baby about it!”

“You try working with her then!”

“I would, but I already have my own assistant!”

“Oh, Seulgi, right?” Mark snickered. “How nice. Just because you’ve found your… soulmate in an assistant doesn’t mean that it’ll be the same for me, Jinyoung.”

“This isn’t about…”

“Of course, it isn’t.” The former rolled his eyes. “Like I didn’t know this was some hooking up plan you and Yugyeom had in the first place.”

Jinyoung kept quiet, for there was truth in Mark’s words. Was it really that bad to try spice up a friend’s personal life, especially since he’s been a robotic, cold in the first place?

“Whatever.” Jinyoung scrunched his nose in annoyance, before muttering gleefully. “You like her, anyway.”

“Jinyoung…”

“Look, Mark.” The man looked on seriously. “I know that she drives you crazy, but we’re talking company stocks, profits and deficits here. Can you at least work with her?”

Jinyoung continued. “She already has great prospects and an infinite potential. Lying about things like this will only put the company in grave danger. We need all the help we can get, you know that right?”

Mark pursed his lips together, letting the man’s words sink in. He did admit it was childish of him to be keeping her at arms’ lengths but that was the only solution he found that seemed to work in order for him to concentrate on his projects.

A knock was suddenly heard on the door, and Jaebum rise to answer it. Mark’s eyes then twitched when he realised of his new company.

“Uh, Mr. Yugyeom sent me here.” Wendy’s eyes widened upon seeing the three high ranking executives in the small office.

“He did, did he?” Jaebum leered and Wendy unknowingly took a step towards Jinyoung.

“Why did he send you here?” Mark uttered disinterestedly.

“Uh, he said there’s a special task or something?” Wendy looked on in confusion.

“Oh, that.” Jaebum grinned, twirling around some keys in his hands. “Yeah, I almost forgot about that.”

Mark narrowed his eyes upon seeing the elaborate action, but soon froze as he realised what Jaebum had in his hands.

“Those are my keys! How did you-”

“Oh look at the time, Jaebum!” Jinyoung suddenly cheered up. “We have to go!”

“Definitely.” Jaebum waved goodbye. “I’ll see you guys later.”

The door slammed close and Mark ran a hand through his hair.

Could the guys be more obvious?

“Stupid.” He laughed. “Taking away my keys don’t mean anything.”

“Um… Mr. Tuan?” Wendy suddenly turned wary. “What just happened?”

The man ignored her as he turned the doorknob. “Like I would be trapped inside my own office. Doors can’t be locked from outside.”

When the door didn’t budge, he had tried again. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t open.

“Oh!” The pair heard someone’s voice, presumably Jinyoung’s, on the other side of the door. “Don’t bother! There’s a huge metal cabinet blocking the door, by the way!”

“There’s a what?!” Wendy screamed and tried using force to open the door. “Hey! Open the door!”

“You can’t leave the office, sorry!” This time it was Jaebum’s voice. “Unless you jump through the window! But you’ll probably die before you escape.”

“Hey! Not funny!” Wendy rammed against the door before glaring at Mark. “Do something!”

“You’re glaring at me?” Mark growled, but he did the same as Wendy. “This thing won’t budge!”

“Sorry, Wendy!” They could hear Yugyeom from outside. “Sort out your differences, guys! The company is at stake here!”

“Mr. Yugyeom!” Wendy then knocked on the door multiple times. “Mr. Yugyeom! Please open the door!”

“Yeah, Yugyeom.” Mark too shouted with her. “I’ll make sure you won’t be fired once I’m out.”

No one replied back, and Mark realised that they had all long gone. He bit his lips in annoyance, before kicking the door in anger. When the door still didn’t opened, he sighed before plopping down on the couch near him.

“Mr. Yugyeom?! Are you there?!” Wendy still knocked on frantically. “Please! Don’t leave me here! I can’t be in the same room as the demon!”

Mark, who had been humiliated at being locked inside his own office, frowned. There was simply no way he was going to be insulted twice.

“Demon?” The man crossed his arms in frustration. “You call me the demon?”

Wendy froze, before looking apologetically at her big boss. “Sorry.”

“What else do you call me in your free time, Wendy?”

“Just the demon.” She whimpered, knowing she had angered him. “Please don’t take it to heart.”

Mark huffed before sighing. “Like I will.”

--

“I won’t get fired, right?” Yugyeom looked on helplessly at Jinyoung.

“Of course not. He can’t fire us. We’re his friends.” Jinyoung grinned.

“Why did you even agree to do this anyway?” Yugyeom then turned his attention to the other man.

Jaebum smiled widely, before putting an arm around Yugyeom’s shoulder. Why else had the man done it in the first place? The answer had been simple.

“Seeing both loser here,” He pointed to Jinyoung. “And Mark get all flustered because of women, is my source of entertainment.”

Jinyoung glared, but Jaebum continued smiling. “But don’t mind me. Why are they involved again?”

The three men stood to face three other figures; and they were obviously out of breath. Jinyoung scratched his head sheepishly, before approaching the sole woman in the group.

“Thanks, Seulgi.” He patted her head. “We wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”

She only gave him a thumbs-up, still catching her breath from moving the metal cabinet earlier on.

“Why do you even do it?” Jaebum who had been smiling frowned. “He’s not even your boyfriend and yet you went miles for him.”

“I…”

“I can treat you better, you know that right?” Jaebum tried putting his arms around her but she pushed him off.

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Re-jec-ted.” Yugyeom chuckled before turning to Jinyoung. “Aren’t you lucky?”

“Uh, guys?” A sudden voice interrupted them. “I get that Seulgi’s pretty and all but can you at least pay us some attention?”

BamBam and Youngjae were still huffing from carrying the cabinet, loosening their ties while at it because it turned hot. They scowled a little, when the others only looked on with a lack of interest.

“Youngjae’s right.” BamBam finally caught his breath. “This plan wouldn’t have been successful without us, anyway.”

“Thanks.” Jinyoung thanked them, but that had been all.

“What?!” Youngjae whined. “No patting of the head or a hug or anything?!”

“We need to get paid more.” BamBam agreed.

--

Mark sighed, his eyes resting on the figure that had been crouching by the door. If he thought she was annoying before, he definitely thinks she’s an eyesore now.

“Wendy.” His voice startled her. “How long more are you going to be crouching there?”

“I…”

“Take a seat, please.” He pointed to an empty spot next to him. “You’re beginning to look like a hamster, all cooped up at the side.”

She had been wary at first, but nonetheless took him up on his offer. She straightened out her skirt, before looking on towards Mark’s direction.

“What?”

“Can’t we use the internet or something to tell people that we’re stuck inside?” She asked innocently, but the man shook his head.

“Not unless we want to embarrass ourselves. I do have a reputation to uphold.”

“But”

“Let’s just wait it out.” He tried to reassure her, or was it himself? “They can’t hold us in here forever.”

“Is there anything for us to do then, while waiting?”

Mark sighed yet again. “What is up with you and wanting to do something?”

Wendy frowned upon hearing the man picking on her. Wasn’t it obvious? Wasn’t she paid to do something?

“Mr. Tuan.” The girl finally lost her temper. “With all due respect, I am an employee in the first place. Of course I have to work.”

“Deal with it.” Mark yawned. “I’m your employer so I’ll tell you when to work.”

“You…”

“Don’t complain.” He then closed his eyes and rested comfortably against the sofa. “Now let me sleep. I could use this time to rest.”

“Mr. Tuan!”

The man opened one eye, looking exasperated as ever. “For the love of God, don’t shout in my ear, Wendy.”

Wendy huffed and turned around so that she wouldn’t be able to face him. She crossed her arms, her mind racing to find a solution to the predicament that she was brought in. If she guessed correctly, no one would be coming in to save her anytime soon for they held some grudge against Mark. She wondered to why they had decided to involve her as well.

Did it have something to do with them not getting along?

She shook her head subtly, thinking that must not have been it. Wendy noted no one who was sane could have gotten along with her boss of a tyrant after all.

Unbeknownst to her, Mark’s eyes were actually wide open. He took in her little gestures and chuckled softly, the first laugh he had while interacting with her. It was amusing to see how perplexed and confused she was at the whole situation.

He only hoped she didn’t realise to why her colleagues were forcibly putting them in a room together. In fact, Mark hoped she’ll never find out at all.

When Wendy had turned around again out of nowhere, the man had scrambled to keep his eyes close.

Call it an intuition, but he could sense her piercing gaze on his face. As soon as he felt her shifting in her seat again, his eyes opened.

“How can he sleep at a time like this.” Wendy grumbled, her legs now crossed as well.

Mark gulped at the tightness of her skirt for it showed how slender and beautiful her legs were. He shook his head to snap out of it but his eyes then rested on the voluminous curls of her hair. A part of him had wanted to reach out to caress her hair but a part of him also knew that he wouldn’t stop there.

He counted it lucky when Wendy spun around to face him again, and the man quickly closed his eyes.

Time seemed to tick and he was sure Wendy had still been staring at his face for she didn’t move. He soon felt warm breath on his eyelids and his eyes snapped open, leaving a startled young lady by his sight. Wendy was taken aback by his sudden action and managed to fell off said sofa, leaving Mark looking all bewildered at the situation.

“What were you doing?” He asked warily.

“I could see you through the glass.” She stood up and rubbed her that was in pain. “It was creepy.”

“What was creepy?” Mark muttered defensively.

“Opening and closing your eyes like that.”

Mark’s eyes widened as his gaze fell onto her wine coloured skirt. It seemed as though the girl had taken quite the stumble for there was a large tear at the front. He knew that it was a tear – not because he had been staring intently at her skirt – but he also knew that the girl hadn’t noticed this.

“Uh, Wendy?”

“I thought you fell asleep.” Wendy still continued to chatter. “So imagine my surprise when your eyes had opened and close.”

“Wendy…”

“I thought you were sick or something!” She exclaimed dramatically. “Or maybe you were a weird sleeper!”

“Wen-“

“Mr. Tuan.” This time Wendy glared at her boss. “I know you probably don’t really like me very much but it is manners to look at someone in the eye when they’re talking, and not at their skirt.”

“Like I’ve been trying to say,” Mark raised his hands in defeat. “Your skirt’s a little torn, Wendy.”

She blinked on in confusion as her gaze lingered downwards. Seeing the huge tear, the girl had shrieked before kneeling against the floor. Her hands scrambled for some papers to hide the torn parts, and she scowled at the man before her.

“ert!” She suddenly accused him. “You could have told me sooner!”

“I tried, but you wouldn’t stop talking!”

“You….” Wendy pursed her lips together. “You…”

Mark noticed that Wendy hadn’t pursed her lips like this before. He took in her distraught expression, knowing straight away that it had been too much for her to take in. He mentally scolded himself for not noticing it earlier, but decided that it was better late than never.

“Wendy…”

When tears had fallen from her eyes, Mark didn’t know what to do.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered at last, but the girl only shook her head.

“I-It’s not your fault.” She hiccupped through tears.

“It is.” Mark kneeled down in front of her too. “If I hadn’t been so mean to you, we wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

“N-No.” She continued crying but managed a sentence out anyway. “I’m not crying because of that.”

“Then?”

“My skirt’s torn.” Wendy hiccupped again. “And you saw. I’m so embarrassed right now.”

Mark finally turned red in the face. “I-I saw nothing!”

“Liar.” The girl cried harder. “Your reaction says it all. You saw.”

“Uh…”

“I’m never wearing a pencil skirt again!” She declared through tears but stopped sobbing as a horrifying thought passes through her. “Oh God. Can I ever get married after all this?”

“Wendy, you’re being ridiculous now.” Mark chided but the girl paid him no attention.

“It’s true isn’t it?! I can never get married in the future after exposing everything!”

“Wendy…”

“No one will want to marry me!”

“I will if no one does.” Mark tried to calm the girl but his efforts proved futile. “Get a grip, Wendy.”

“Of course you will!” She snapped, surprising him. “You… You saw my… my under… under…”

“Wendy!”

Upon his screaming, the girl returned to reality, taking in the handsome face before her. The man shook his head at her ridiculous antics, before taking off his jacket and placing it on her lap. Her heart shook at his serious expression and she felt it falter again when he placed his hands on her head.

“Stay still.” He gave her a small, albeit tired smile. “I’ll think of something, okay?”

--

Seulgi paced about in front of the reception counter, her face filled with worry. She wondered why in the world had she sell out her friend in place of her crush. The girl continued to walk back and forth, leaving a certain young man quite annoyed.

“Stop walking about, Seulgi.” Yugyeom groaned. “You’re giving me a headache.”

“We have to get them out, Yugyeom.” Seulgi practically pleaded. “I can’t leave her with the demon.”

“He’s not that bad.” Jaebum snickered.

“You….” Suelgi pointed a finger towards him. “How can you be so lax at a time like this?!”

“Jinyoung’s idea is fool proof, trust me.” The man chuckled. “Although I did wish I had my own fair of woman’s trouble.”

“Don’t speak too soon, lover boy.” This time Yugyeom was the one who laughed. “Look who’s coming through the doors.”

The air seemed to still as the three turned to greet their visitor. Yugyeom waved cheekily as Seulgi put on the best awkward smile she could muster.

Jaebum, however, could only regret his words from earlier.

The woman took her shades off, smiling warmly at both Yugyeom and Seulgi whom she hadn’t seen in a long while. When her gaze had fell onto the other man, the smile turned sullen and she had looked on disgustingly.

“Seulgi, Yugyeom.” She greeted but paused as his name rolled of her tongue reluctantly. “Jaebum.”

Jaebum straightened his tie, his once surprised expression now turning into something sinister.

“Irene.”

a/n The other members finally appear! Now we're left with Jackson, Joy & Yeri :D

MarkDy's interaction was crack, but intended. I hope they'll be able to get closer with each other (; Mark should be more straightforward, don't you think so?

More Markdy next chapter (as usual) but we'll also go into detail of JinSeul's relationship!

And is anyone curious about what happened between Jaebum & Irene? (;

Thanks for reading!