10:34am.   “Min” The all too familiar sympathetic tone broke me out of my concentration. I stopped typing and glanced up at the owner of the voice.    About a week ago I would’ve probably greeted the 19-year-old with a smile, after all, he was a good mix of y and cute, two qualities I liked in men, but I wasn’t feeling it anymore. The little interest I had once felt was long gone. I nodded for him to come in and retreated my gaze back to my computer screen.   “Listen, I didn’t want to leave without saying that I’m sorry about, you know....your family…?”   The last part came out as a question, though I know he didn’t mean it to.     I could take it one of two ways.   I could take the badly emphasized statement as an insult and answer back with a “What else would you be ing sorry for? Why else would I be drowning myself in my work for? What else could I possibly be upset about? Tell me.” or I could take it as an awkward condolence, much like the ones I have received that Monday morning. I knew it was the latter, but anger is one of the 5 steps of grief and lost and it came to me naturally. Still, I held my tongue. I wanted to keep the negativity to a minimum.   I nodded politely, accepting his condolences wordlessly, then continued to mindlessly type.   I felt like a robot with a previously installed email answering program. I re-read them twice to see if I had added something completely irrelevant to the plethora of condolences and replies, but to my surprise, I was answering them professionally. Maybe I had been abducted by aliens and my broken heart was too shattered that they had to replace it with a metallic one.    That’d be a great icebreaker story.    “Thank you” I responded when I didn’t see his figure leave the doorway. I never realized just how much those two words were used on a daily basis until I was forced to say them.   “I really wish I could do something for you, Min. I wish I could stay longe-” I held up my hand, my patience wearing thin. “I appreciate your condolences, I genuinely do, but you can go now. Good luck in Seoul” I didn’t bother to care that my tone held no form of endearment. I watched Minhyuk nod and to my surprise, he gave me a small smile. “I guess even when you’re hurting, the bluntness doesn’t go away does it?” “It’s stronger than ever. You can leave now” Minhyuk patted the doorframe, unfazed by my attitude. “Well then, this is goodbye. Hopefully next time we meet I’ll be prepared to be in your life” “Don’t hold your breath” I answered, returning to my screen, not even his chuckle brought my eyes back to him. “We’ll have to see. I didn’t capture your heart in the past few months, but maybe I will in the future”   Minhyuk wasn’t shy about his feelings for me and I always found it amusing. Sure, he was an attractive young man with a cute smile and charming personality, but like he said, he never captivated me enough to give him a chance.   Too bad.   “Have a nice flight back home”   “I don’t have to tell you to be strong because you will be either way, but I truly hope you fully heal one day, soon preferably. Even if it’s not with me, I want you to be happy.”   I didn’t look at him as he spoke.    He had offended me.   I didn’t want someone to be my sole happiness. I wanted to be happy on my terms, as silly as that sounds. I really must be out of it to think I can control the flow of the world, but I made a promise that I would never allow myself to give my whole happiness to one person. Not again. Not ever. I didn’t want to be in this situation ever again. I’m surprised I don’t break into million’s of pieces this instant by the way the dagger in my heart moves around every time I think about him.    “Thank you” I managed to say, but when I look up at the doorway, Minhyuk was gone. If he said goodbye I didn’t hear him. He must’ve known that I had already said my goodbye. I released a long sigh and turned back to my desktop, I had a long day ahead of me and I needed to feel useful after days of feeling like a waste of space.      2:45pm   “Ms. Lee?” I furrowed my brows and looked up at the CEO’s at the meeting table. They were all looking at me, waiting for an answer. “I’m sorry, what was that?” I asked, leaning forward.    “Ms. Lee with all due respect, we need to be fully focused during our meetings. If you need more time-” “To allow you to take money from the community center without my knowledge again? No, thank you” The grave face man clenched his jaw. I don’t think he expected me to be so blunt with my accusations, despite them being the truth. It wasn’t something illegal, but he was a businessman with a giant dash of greed thrown into his intimidating persona. He was supposedly good with companies and making them world known, but I didn’t really know. I wasn’t exactly the President and didn’t know these men that well. All I knew was that I had to protect my father’s properties from greedy monsters like him.   “My mind might be a bit distracted since my family is gone, but I’ll grieve in my personal time off if you’d like. For now, please excuse me if I seem out of it. I will be back on track soon” I bowed my head slightly but straightened up just as fast. I didn’t want them to look at me with pity. That’s not why I was here.    “Can you please repeat what you were talking about? I promise I will pay close attention” “Of course, Ms. Lee. As you know, our company has been distributing songs and concepts to groups and singers outside of the US, mainly Asia. The Community Center has also given special training and classes to said artist and singers, but a well known personal friend and colleague has requested your help”    I raised a brow, “And who is that?” “Mr. Jin Young Park” “JYP Entertainment?” “That is correct. I understand that you might not be ready to meet with him, but I hope you do consider it. Having our name out in Asia once more would only be a positive thing” “What services does Mr. Park require from me?” “I think it’d be best you talk to him personally about that. All that was said to me was it had something to do with his new boy group” At this, I looked at him confused, “New boy group?” “Yes, they debuted 2 years ago and while their popularity is rising, he is hopeful that their