Last Chapters Recap:

After studying in Paris for 7 years, Park Shin Hye decided to disguise herself as a trainee in Femme Magazine, because she wanted to dodge her responsibility to be the Director and the heiress of the group. She met the Flower Boys of Femme which include: her supposedly secretary Jung Yong Hwa and his gank, Jung Il Woo, Kang Min Hyuk and Yoo Seung Hoo. Jung Il Woo challenged Yong Hwa to take the nerdy In Ha - which was also Shin Hye - to company anniversary party and changed her appearance during the event. When he was trying to win the bet, Yong Hwa found out about Shin Hye's real identity and fell in love with her. They decided to date. In the party, Shi Hoo - her second cousin - played the recording of the night when Yong Hwa and Il Woo made the bet, infuriating Shin Hye. She decided to assume the director's position to bring the company down as revenge.  As the director, Shin Hye decided to shake things up by re-shuffling the human resource in the company. Yong Hwa led a tense creative meeting as the new creative director, he eventually got Shin Hye's approval. Ye Jin finally found out that Shin Hye was an heiress and was furious. Due to the fight and a terror from an unknown person, Shin Hye decided to move back to the mansion. She overheard that her grandfather was the mastermind of the recording incident during the party.

​---o0o---

"Noona!!" a six year old boy ran to an older girl. He was a cute little boy that had the purest eyes people had ever seen, his hair was black and always in messy state. The boy hugged the girl, wiped his tears and snot on her t-shirt; she hugged him back, not disgusted even one bit.

"Wae Gurae, Hyung Sik-a?" the girl had her hair inside her cap, her baseball shirt was full of dirt and her sneakers was heavily worn out. Nobody would ever expected that she was the daughter of a successful businessman.

"That boy hit me and took my money." The boy said pointing to a boy across the field, she knew he was not lying as the bruise on his check was getting reddish.

"Mwo!?" The girl ran to the other side of the field chasing the said boy. "You! Pick someone your own size!" she threw her shoes at him. 

The bully was a year older than her and naturally was bigger, he was the richest student in their elementary school; but she did not care, she had not learn what it meant.

The bully turned around and scoffed when he saw a tiny boy trying to challenge him; advising him to pick an opponent that was of the same size; he thought the boy needed to hear his own advise. He cracked his knuckle ready to launch another attack and charged in the direction of the boy intending to hit him. He thought teaching that boy a lesson would be a piece of cake.

But the tiny boy managed to dodged the attack, grabbed his shirt and held on for as long as he could. He finally let go which caused the bully to fell on a wet mud of the baseball field, face first. The other kids gaped, frightened at the unfortunate events that happen to the school bully. 

"Agashi!!!" a voice of an adult was heard by the kids, the school bully looked around wondering who the man was calling. He surprisingly went beside the tiny boy. "I'm sorry, Do-ryeon-nim!" he bowed to the bully.

The tiny boy furiously frowned at him, "Secretary Choi? Why are you saying sorry to him? He hit Hyung Sik and took his money!" he said.

"Let it go, Agashi... your father is waiting for you." The adult said nervously.

The bully stood up, his whole body covered with mud. "Agashi?" he hit his opponent's cap until it fell to the floor; he was stunned to see black silky hair fell down framing the boy's small face. He felt something strange in his stomach, a ticklish sensation that he had never felt before.

She frowned, picked up her cap and point her finger at him. "I'm warning you, don't touch my brother ever again! Or I'll smack you!" she put her cap back on and marched to the other direction. Secretary Choi bowed to the bully apologetically several times before following the girl. The bully froze for a few second, when he was finally awaken he threatened all the witness to never tell the story of him beaten by a girl; especially to his bestfriend who was absent from school that day.

---

"Noona!!" teenage Hyung Sik scream-whispered through the phone.

"O! Hyung Sik-a? Where are you and why are you whispering?" The girl said without diverting her attention from her textbook. She was preparing for the final exam, math, the only subject she hated in school and the last one before she entered high school.

"O yea!? Why am I whispering?" he said, she rolled her eyes. "Noona! Cover for me! I'm going to lotte world with Si Wan!" he said with a normal voice.

"Mwo!? Don't you have finals tomorrow?" she asked

"I do! But I'll be fine." he said unconvincing.

She started to panic, "But... but!! What if mom look for you?" she asked.

"That's why I ask you to cover for me... O! I gotta go Noona, Buttage!!" he hung before she agreed to any of it.

"Hyung Sik-a!! Hyung Sik-a!!!" She scream-whispered to the already cut off line.

And as if it was planned, the door of her room was opened. "Shin Hye-ya! Do you know where your brother is? Doesn't he have finals too tomorrow?" her mother came into the room.

Shin Hye wide-eyed in panic, she turned around ever so slowly and glanced sideways. "Um! He just called, he went to the library with Si Wan." she shrieked, her tone was two octaves higher than usual.

Her mother squinted at her, she smiled knowingly and said, "Gu Rae!? That's odd, he asked me to help him getting ready for the final this morning! I'll just go to the library then."

"No!!" Shin Hye cried, her mother jolted by the over-reaction, "I... I... !" she stuttered, "I'll do it... I'll go to the library and help him."

"You? I thought you prefer to study alone in quiet." Her mother frowned.

"I'm done... I just have to refresh. Its... Its okay!" Shin Hye looked at her textbook that was still halfway through

"Okay! Don't come home too late, honey."

"Arasso, Omma!" Shin Hye followed her mother out of her room, bringing her textbook.

She ended up studying in the bustling library which she hated; sent the driver home and went back by bus so her mother would not find out that she was not with the baby brother. She waited her brother in the cold for a whole hour so they could match up stories to tell their parents, if only cellphone was around at that time. She ended up getting C+ for her math test, worst in her academic history. Well, at least she passed.

---

"Hyung Sik-a..." Shin Hye whispered, her eyes were red, her face were bloated, "Hyung Sik-a, wake up!" she nudge her brother body several times.

Hyung Sik frowned in his sleep, his head move several times before his eyes slowly opened. "Noona, what's wrong?"

Shin Hye tears started to fall, he panicked to see her sister in that state. A bad feeling instantly crept in remembering that their parents were away from home. "Hyung Sik-a, be strong okay!!"

"What's wrong? What happened?! It's Omma and Appa, isn't it!?" he screamed in panic.

Shin Hye hugged him tightly, trying to calm him down. "They had an accident on the way to the Ski Resort."

"What!!!? How are they!? They're fine, right?! Which hospital are they in, lets go!!!" He brushed his sister and head to the closet to change his clothes. That's when he realized that Shin Hye was already in the black hanbok, white bow on her hair. An all black suit laid on his bed beside her. He froze at the realization, his legs gave up on him and he slowly fell on his knees.

---

Shin Hye and Hyung Sik gave their bow to what it seemed like a million mourners. They had been in that same room for three days but the visitor had not stopped coming. The employees, business partners, leaders of print media industry even their school friend took turn to give their respect to the deceased. They were devastated and exhausted but they held on for as long as they could, as it was the last thing they could do as filial children of their parents

Shin Hye was sitting in front of the flower arrangements, staring at the pictures of her parents, when she heard her best friend called her out.

"Shin Hye-ya!" a girl in black dress hugged her tightly, "I'm so sorry! Be strong, okay?" she said while cupping Shin Hye's cheek.

Shin Hye smiled weakly and nodded, "Gomawo, So Ra-ya!" she said. She looked at the rest of the group that came with her and froze, "What is HE doing here?" she thought at the sight of the tall man who stood out among the high schoolers.

"I asked Oppa to come, I did good didn't I?" So Ra said as if she read Shin Hye's mind.

Shin Hye smiled bitterly, she never thought she would ever see him again. Not after she humiliated herself by waiting for him for two hours before she realized that she was being stood up. He never called nor gave her any news about why he never showed up that day, she guessed that he was just not interested.

The annoying part was the fact that he was acting as if he had a crush on her making her think that he actually liked her. And now he showed up in her parents funeral looking at her like nothing happened, like he did nothing wrong. If only she could just chase him away from the funeral, but that would so disrespectful to her late parents.

"Shin Hye-ya, my condolences." That boy said after bowing to her parents picture and her.

Shin Hye shot daggers at him, she remember the last time she spoke to her mother was about him. Now she thought it was a waste of energy and wished that she had spent the last moment with her mother with a better thing than broken heart sob story about a boy who played with her heart.

"Gomapsemida!" she answered formally, the boy looked surprise with her cold reaction. "Please enjoy the funeral dish in that area." Shin Hye pointed the area where rows of low table were located on which the mourners could enjoy the dish that usually served during funeral.

"Gu Rae, let's go Oppa. Shin Hye must be tired." So Ra took the boy's arm and dragged him to the dining area. A faint smile formed in her lips. The boy reluctantly followed her after looking intently at Shin Hye. She felt her face got warmer by the intent stare but pretended not to notice.

"Who is he?" Hyung Shik asked.

"An alumni, he graduated from our school last year." Shin Hye answered.

"You like him, don't you?" He guessed, Shin Hye threw a shock look at him. "It's all over your face!" He wagged his palm in front of her. "What happened?"

Shin Hye sighed, leaned back to the wall and put her head on his shoulder. "He asked me out and stood me up for two hours."

"Mwo?! You want me to beat him up? I'm not sure I'll win though, he's pretty big" Hyung Shik glanced at the boy who nervously looked at So Ra, she was talking about something animatedly to her friend. Hyung Sik peered curiously at the thought that the boy was just staring at his sister.

"Twesso!! I hate him..." Shin Hye said weakly.

Hyung Sik pursed his lips, he did not say anything since he knew his sister did not want to discuss further. "I hate him..." he said suddenly. Shin Hye looked at his face curiously and turned her sight in the same direction as his, their grand father was busy talking with several people that looked important. "I heard he already planned who would take over the company after this. Mom and Dad's funeral hasn't even finish; yet he already talked about business."

Shin Hye observed the old man that was standing a few meters in front of them, she knew that he was also as devastated as they were but because of the company he had to cast his feeling aside and handle the sudden loss of the director. She felt bad that he had to loose his time to really mourn, losing a son must had been as bad as losing a father.

"I heard your name and mine are thrown into the option too." Hyung Shik said.

"Mwo?" Shin Hye exclaimed, she straightened her back and looked at him, "What am I supposed to do, I barely graduate from highschool!" she countered.

Hyung Shik shrugged, "What about me, I just got INTO highschool." Shin Hye heard him sniffed, "Noona, I'm so confused... What are we going to do now without Omma and Appa?" his tears fell from one of his eyes, he thought three days were enough time for him to cry, he was wrong.

Shin Hye held his hands, she could not help herself from not crying with him. "Don't worry Hyung Sik-a, Harabeoji will take care of us, I will take care of you. As long as we're together, we'll survived, we'll be happy." Shin Hye tried to convinced him, and her self...

---

"WHAT!!!??? NO!!!!!!" Hyung Sik screamed on top of his lung.

"Hyung Sik-a! Calm down!" Park Geun Hyung shouted to overcome his grand son's scream.

"I've already lost both of my parents! Now you're going to take away my sister???!!!!" he shouted.

"I'm not taking her away, she needs to go to college. She needs to learn so she could assume the director position." Chairman said.

"What!? That soon? No, Harabeoji; how can a fresh graduate become a director? That's ridiculous."

The old man sighed in frustration, "You have to Shin Hye-ya. You both are the only heirs, in normal situation you would not be a director straight away, I would throw you from way on the bottom, but this is not normal. The company lost their director." he tried to put some senses into his grandchildren.

"WE LOST OUR PARENTS!!!! Does that mean nothing to you??" Hyung Sik exclaimed. Secretary Choi who was standing behind the chairman's chair flinched from his shriek, he too was still mourning from the loss of his beloved boss.

"Park Hyung Sik!! He's my son! It mean a lot more than you think! But we're an adult, you're an adult, we own a company that hold the wellbeing of thousands of live! We could not afford to be weak at times like this. Grow up!!" Chairm Park exploded.

Hyung Sik was so angry, he was naturally more emotional than his sister; moreover he was in that age where emotions controlled his body more than logic. "I don't care! I hate that company! I hate you!! If you took my sister away, I will NEVER speak to you again!!" he stormed outside of the home office.

"Park Hyung Sik! Park Hyung Sik!!" the old man screamed so loud that he felt a sudden pain on the back of his neck. He sat down while holding his nape.

"Harabeoji!" Shin Hye ran to his side. "Gwenchanayo?!"

Chairman Park took his grand daughter hands and kissed them, "Shin Hye-ya, you're my only hope. Please help me, go to Paris, study hard and come back to lead Femme. I'll prepare everything for you." he looked at her pleadingly.

Shin Hye heaved a defeated sigh, "Arasso-yo, Harabeoji. Let me talk to Hyung Sik."

She went out of the home office and straight to the front door, she knew exactly where she had to go to find him. It's the place where they often went to hide whenever their parents were mad at them or vice versa. Shin Hye stood below the tree akimbo.

"Hyung Sik-a, come down! Let's talk." she waited for a few minutes, "I'm coming up okay!?" she climbed the rope ladder that lead to the deck of the treehouse "Wow! We're really getting to old for this, it's not going to broke, right?" she asked, Hyung Sik was still silent.

Shin Hye opened the door and saw Hyung Sik sitting cross-legged at one of the corner, he hung his head and did not bother to look up when she came in and sat beside him. She stole glances several times, afraid to start a conversation.

"You want to go, aren't you?" Hyung Sik eventually said.

"I DO need to go to college." Shin Hye said, she saw her old teddy bear laid not far from her, took it and put it on her lap.

"What happen to Seoul University?" he asked coldly, she was supposed to go there on autumn.

"It's still there..." She tried to joked. She jolted when Hyung Sik suddenly looked at her murderously. "Look, we're orphan now, Hyung Sik. Our only parent is Harabeoji, and you know how hard headed he is. But he means well... otherwise Appa would not be so loyal to him. He's just had a rough way with words."

Hyung Sik hung his head again and sighed, "What are you trying to say?"

"Let's go to Paris together!" Shin Hye said, Hyung Sik looked at her, intrigued. "I'll wait for you, he'll send you there in two years. We can have fun together there." She saw her brother got interested. "What do you say?"

"But you'll be finished before me, then I'll be alone." he countered.

Shin Hye frowned at her little brother, "Why are you so afraid of being alone? You're like the friendliest people I know, everybody liked you! There's no way you'll be alone, friends would always be around you." she paused, "Anyway, I'll do everything I can to stall my homecoming. I'll wait until you graduate and we'll go back to Seoul together." she could feel him relenting, "What do you say, it should be fun, right!?"

Hyung Sik let out a defeated sigh, "Ookkaay!! Don't come home and become the Director before I graduate okay?"

Shin Hye scoffed, "I'm not going to be the director, YOU are! You're the only heir."

"But you're older!"

"You're smarter!' She countered

"I'll pretend I'm stupid." Hyung Sik challenged.

"He'll never buy it." Shin Hye smirked

"You'll see..." Hyung Sik let out a mischievous smile.

"Arasso! Let's make a pact, neither of us become the Director without the other's consent!" Shin Hye held out her hand.

"Deal!" Hyung Sik took her hand to seal the deal. "Aren't you going to say goodbye to your puppy love."

Shin Hye flinched, "Eew! I hate that word."

"Puppy love..." he teased

"Kemanhe..." she barked

"Puppy love... Puppy love... Pupp.. Pupp.. Ppy.. PPy.. Llllllloooovvvee, arrrgghh!!!" he suddenly exclaimed when she put him on a headlock.

---o0o---

Like falling into quicksand, its a term that people usually use when they made a mistake which caused things to go bad, but instead of fixing it, everything just went worst and worst and in the end they did not really know how to pull themselves up from aftermath. When does someone feel that? During a bad day at work where everything that you do just won't go your way? During a football match when an athlete just keep making bad decisions? or during the lifetime of a parent who made one terrible mistake towards their children that made them miserable and looked like the unhappiest person in the world.

It's what Park Geun Hyung felt during breakfast that morning. At last after five long years, he finally had someone in the dining room having breakfast with him. Instead of reading coffee or giving instructions to his secretary, he was hoping he could converse with his beloved grand daughter; it was actually the first time in five years he looked forward to have breakfast in that quiet mansion. But when it was five minutes into it he realized that he had his hope too high.

His grand daughter sat at his side, she looked grim and did not look at his eyes the whole time. The numerous dishes prepared by the overjoyed cook who was happy to have their young lady came home was left untouched. She just took a fried egg, a pair of toast and coffee, politely said goodbye and left the oldman alone in the large dining room.

After seven years she finally home, but she changed so much than the time she left that mansion. She was no longer a bright, warm and lively girl; yet she was now miserable, cold and spiritless. She did exactly what he hoped for, yet he did not feel the slightest happiness because of it. Park Geun Hyung gazed at his grand daughter's back that was slowly disappear from his sight as she went out of the mansion to go to the office.

The said grand daughter released her held breath right after she got out of the dining room, she was still mad at her grand father but tried to held it in, she was tired of confrontations and was avoiding anymore exhausting conversation with her him. She just wanted to live life one day at a time, without any goal nor dreams; at that point in time, happiness was like thousands years ago and would be another thousand years more to get it. It was sadly a luxury that an heiress could not have when she was supposed to be surrounded by it.

Shin Hye strode along the lobby of Star Media building, occasionally nodded to the people she met. She joined a group of people that were waiting for the elevator, they instantly kept their distance as if she had contagious disease, they even let her to ride the elevator first and waited for the next one. It's normally how people treated leaders actually, it was supposed to be a form of respect. But to Shin Hye, it only showed her more how lonely her life was. She silently sighed and press 14th floor to get to the meeting she was waited for.

The men and women in the meeting room stood up when she arrived, she politely bowed and took a seat that was clearly prepared for her. She smiled looking at familiar faces, they were always her favorite people in the company; it's a shame she could not just work with them everyday. 

Team Leader Kwon cleared his throat, "Great, we can begin our meeting. Thank you Director Park for giving us time to meet like this; it's so early in the morning but it was the only time that your schedule and ours are free at the same time."

Shin Hye held her yawn politely, it really was rather early, "Gwenchanayo, Team Leader Kwon. Let's just start." she looked at the attendees and frowned, "I don't see Creative Director Jung, isn't he going to come?" she was rather disappointed.

The attendees looked around confusedly, "We... we did not invite him, we didn't think that he should be involve in this." Kwang Soo stuttered, realizing his mistake.

"Of course he needs to be involved in this, he's the creative director, he needs to approve the quality of the paper if we want to use it. Be sure to show this to him, Kwang Soo-shi." she said, people was glad she did not get hysterically mad like people said she would.

The purpose of the meeting was to show her the prototype that a paper supplier had developed, it was their old supplier that was on the verge of bankruptcy ever since Femme stopped buying from them. Luckily they managed to finish the prototype that they had been developing, a recycle paper that looked like a new one. It is said if done in bulk, it would cost a lot cheaper than a new one and of course it was a greener way than using new paper all the time.

Shin Hye looked at the prototype and smile; they were right! It looked and felt the same as the new paper that they always used; she loved the idea that Femme would be saving a lot of lives and create an image of a green company. She was sure her dad would love it too. The only thing now was to convinced everybody else about it.

"This look great Team Leader Kwon!" She praised, all the people in the room smiled with her.  "How much?" she asked

"Well, since we are going to provide the raw material to them, it would cost about 70% from the current paper price." Team Leader Kwon said proudly, he was also surprised when they told him that.

Shin Hye lit up at first but then fell to a deep thought, "But what about our cost to retract the unsold magazine for them to use it as the raw material? In our persepective, it should be included  in the paper cost." she said.

Team Leader Kwon confounded, the team faintly murmured their realization. They just realized that they were only seeing a small portion of the case. "So what are you saying, Director Park? Are you rejecting this idea?" he asked.

"Oh No! Not yet... I just think that we need to analyse this more. I think, if do we have to spent a bit of more money compare to using new papers, it's still worth it. We could have a new campaign as a green company. But, first we have to do our due diligence and analyse it properly." the people nodded their agreement, glad that she was understanding unlike the last leader they had. "Let's set up an ad hoc team to do this. A mixture of printing, finance, delivery. I think they should report directly to me. What do you think, Team Leader Kwon?" she turned to the older man.

He smiled warmly, which somehow made her heart flutter. Team Leader Kwon was always her favourite team leader, and having such appreciations from him meant a lot to her. "Good idea, Director Park. Kwang Soo-ya! Why don't you be the member of the team!" he directly appointed his subordinate.

Kwang Soo jerked nervously like he always did, Shin Hye suppressed a smile watching his antic. "Deh, Team Leader. Keunde, Director... can I suggest something?"

Shin Hye looked at him curiously, "Sure, what is it Kwang Soo-shi?"

"Can we do this discreetly? Before the result of the cost analysis come out, can we keep it to the ad hoc team and you?" he asked.

Shin Hye looked around and saw the same confused look from the team, she peered at her jittery-but-super-smart sunbae. "Sure! Let's do that. Team Leader Kwon, can I appoint Kwang Soo-shi as the PIC for the team?" 

"Sure, I don't see why not. He doesn't like to sleep, anyway." the team laughed softly at their leader's joke.

"Director Park? What about the current paper supplier, they won't like it if they knew we have this plan." Song Ji Hyo said.

"Well that's our prerogative, no?" Shin Hye countered innocently, "Anyway, it's impossible to totally stop buying from them, right! We will surely still buy from them. That reminds me, can I have the document from their tender? I asked someone to prepare it for the meeting." Shin Hye stared at her team expectantly, someone gave a document to her and she immediately opened it. "Arasso, I think we're done here. Thank you for your time."

The printing department people nodded and slowly dispersed to their respective desk. They felt the meeting was productive and calm unlike the rumour that was going around saying that any meeting with the Director would be full of tension and disruptive. Shin Hye tidied up the documents that she just received and walked over to Kwang Soo's side. 

"Kwang Soo-shi! Do you want to get coffee with me in the pantry?" she asked him.

Kwang Soo fidgeted and nodded, he followed her to the pantry and made some coffees for them. Shin Hye chose a spot in the corner, turned down the volume of the TV near it and opened the document that she was holding. Five minutes later, Kwang Soo joined her. 

"Sunbae, who's signature is this?" Shin Hye asked while showing him the documents.

Kwang Soo jerked slightly taken aback by how she addressed him so respectfully, "Its.. its.. Creative, I mean Secretary Park Shi Hoo's signature. He was still acting Director at that time, so he signed the Recommendation For Award." he peered at his boss.

"Wow! It's so cheap... do you think it's possible to have it this cheap?" she asked after seeing the price detail from the tender history document. Kwang Soo shrugged, he had some opinion but was too afraid to voiced it out. Shin Hye stared sharply at his reaction but eventually surrendered. She closed the documents and said. "So, Sunbae! Tell me... why do you think the ad hoc team should work in discreet?"

"Ani, Director Park. I just don't want people to speculate things and get their hopes up before eveything is settled." he answered unconvincingly, he kept clenching both of his hands.

"Oh Come on, Sunbae! Even I know you're lying just now... and I'm known to be gullible!" she pushed "Is that really all?" she squinted her eyes suspiciously.

Kwang Soo was about to nod, but his attention suddenly sidetracked to something. Shin Hye turned her back to look at the same direction. He was looking at the TV which had no sound only caption.

Belle Magazine Third Quarter Sales is Number One in Seoul, Credit to the new Creative Director Kang So Ra.

Shin Hye froze at the picture of his highschool best friend, the girl looked so beautiful and y just like seven years ago. She never thought that she had such talent in media industry, she was not one who was creative nor had any interest in writing or reading; in fact she was a bit of a party girl back then. She liked to hang out, party and was a bit loud; but people liked her, boys surrounded her. That's why she often forgot to do her homework and often asked Shin Hye to do her assignment instead. Shin Hye lit up, realizing something.

"Why were you fixated on that news?" she asked Kwang Soo carefully.

He eventually sighed and explained, "Please don't make a big deal out of this, Director Park. You know that our sales had not been great this past few years, my personal opinion was because of Belle Magazine." 

"Why?" Shin Hye straightened her seat, intrigued by the theory.

"Well! Their publishing date was just within days before us, and I often see similarities between ours and theirs. It's subtle but it's enough to make the readers lost their interest to our issue. I've been saying this to Team Leader Kwon or Ji Hyo noona, but they said I'm being paranoid." he pursed his lips. "I think this whole recycling paper is a great idea, we don't want people to snatch our ideas nor our supplier, right?" he added.

Shin Hye pondered at his explanation and turned her head to look at the news again, it was still discussing how the new Creative Director of Belle Magazine successfully turned their sales from last to first place, an achievement in their history. She squinted her eyes indicating that the nuts and bolts in her head were turning.

---o0o---

Kang Min Hyuk flipped the documents in front of him, he lazily scanned and put his signature on it. On paper he was the team leader in IT, but in actual people was still ignoring him. Of course, all approval had to come from him but they totally disregard his instruction and just worked as they normally would. So all he did during work hours were reviewing reports and approved documents, not much of IT work that he always dreamed of. 

He told someone to come inside his office when he heard his door knocked. A very familiar but unexpected face popped up from the aperture of the door, he stood up instantly, nervous as if he was being inspected. "Director Park!? Can.. Can I help you?"

She smiled warmly, which made the younger man felt even more awkward. It was not the Director who stepped in, it was his old friend - In Ha noona. "Team Leader Kang, do you have time to have coffee with me?"

---

They sat awkwardly in the coffee shop of the next building, Min Hyuk was jittery and would not dare to look at her eyes. Shin Hye on the other hand was feeling restless with the new information she got, she did not how to tell it to Min Hyuk without looking suspicious. 

"Noona... I mean Director Park. Biyanhamnida!" Min Hyuk eventually started the conversation first.

Shin Hye smiled knowingly, "You knew, didn't you? About me being an heiress..." she asked, Min Hyuk nodded slowly. "Since when?"

"When I fixed your computer..." Shin Hye's mind trailed off trying to remember many months ago when she was still a trainee, "I didn't go through your harddisk, but your wallpaper was the picture of Chairman Park and a boy." He pursed his lips to contain his smile.

Shin Hye burts out laughing, "I'm such an idiot aren't I?" they both laugh at her mockery to herself.

"Keunde Director Park, what do you want to talk to me about? Yong Hwa Hyung?" Min Hyuk asked carefully, afraid of making the director whose famous for her temper angry.

"Call me Noona, we're not in the office" Shin Hye instructed cheerfully, "And why would I want to talk about boys with you?" she sneered. Min Hyuk ruffled his own hair in embarrassment. "How's work, Min Hyuk-a? Do you enjoy being team leader in IT?" Shin Hye asked.

"If I tell you, promise that you won't do anything about it?" Min Hyuk gave his condition.

Shin Hye chuckled, "Okay... what is it?"

Min Hyuk updated her about the hardships that his friends were having due to the sudden promotion. They were outcasted and ostracised by their department, accused of purposely approached the timid trainee knowing that she was actually the heiress, because they wanted the promotion. "Il Woo Hyung is naturally a people person, so he's getting the hang of it. Seung Ho is so popular, they eventually accepted him because he could get them to any club they wanted. I on the other hand is still an outcast. I was just pretended to be busy when you walked into my room just now." He grinned widely.

"So you don't have anything to do, do you?" Shin Hye asked, Min Hyuk shook his head embarrassed. "Good! Because I have an assignment for you, a top secret one." Min Hyuk frowned, interested with the topic. "Could you trace and investigate any email that came in and out of our server? See if you could find any suspicious email? First, trail any emails to or from an email that starts with something like 'bubiblue90'. If you found it, can you see the content of the email?"

Min Hyuk widen his eyes, "You want to spy on people?! Why?" he asked.

"I can't really explain it right now. And yes! It's dangerous and unethical, that's why I ask you this favor. You're the only one I can trust in the department, I barely knew the others. It's a good thing that you're a team leader which means you have the access and it's a good thing that you're an outcast which means you have plenty of time to do it..." Shin Hye smiled mischievously, "Great plan, ey?!"

Min Hyuk still had a worry face on, "I don't know, Noona... I don't like get into anybody business."

Shin Hye faked a stern face, "It's an order Kang Min Hyuk-shi! Otherwise I'll fire you!"

The younger friend scoffed and smiled, "Arasso, I'll do it." He said finally. "When do you need it by?" he asked.

"As soon as you can, and remember, please don't say anything to anybody. Including the flower group of yours!" Shin Hye mocked. Min Hyuk laughed at her cynicism.

They spent a few more minutes updating each other about the office life, to be exact it was Min Hyuk who was reporting to her. They had a very normal conversation as if nothing happened between them nor their bestfriends. Shin Hye was glad that at least she still had friend left from her days as commoner, they were their true friends. They eventually head out back to the office. 

"Noona, can I ask you something?" asked the younger friend on their way back.

Shin Hye smirked, "Depends on the question." she had a bad feeling about it.

"Do you hate Yong Hwa Hyung?" he asked.

Shin Hye sighed, "No." she finally knew that he was not behind the recording, that he was a victim just as she was.

"But you still can't forgive him?" he probed.

"No..." she answered briefly, how can someone forgive when the others did not even asked for forgiveness?

"Is it possible for you guys to be back together?" he kept pushing his limits.

"Slim... but only God knows, right?" Shin Hye said, her attention attracted to a particular person that just came out of the elevator, looking really surprised to see them.

"Do you still love him?" Min Hyuk still had not notice the person.

"Speaking of the devil." Shin Hye quipped, it was a good timing also as it was the question she did not want to answer. "Min Hyuk-a! Buttage!!" she held his hands and went to the elevator first. 

Min Hyuk was surprised with the sudden change of behaviour and stared at the director, which was how he finally realized that his hyung was standing a few meters in front of them; looking very grim at their closeness. Min Hyuk saw Shin Hye gave a slight and polite nod, Yong Hwa returned the bow but with his eyes still looking murderously at Min Hyuk. The younger guy heaved a deep sigh and approached him.

"Hyung! Are you going somewhere?" Min Hyuk was torn between apologizing or acting normal; he decided the latter as he knew his hyung was not the jealous type.

"I need to meet someone, where have you been?" he asked firmly while walking to the front door, Min Hyuk followed beside him.

"Director Park asked me to get a coffee with her." Min Hyuk said innocently.

A slight of pain struck Yong Hwa's heart, he halted and looked at his younger friend. "I didn't know you were that close. Why did she take you for a coffee?", then he resume walking

Min Hyuk stunned realizing that his friend was jealous, "Hyung! Wae gu rae? I swear we only talk about work..."

Yong Hwa frowned, "Gu Rae? About what?" he probed, "What kind of business a director had with the IT team leader? Moreover it required to be discussed out of the office" he thought.

"THAT! I can't tell you." Min Hyuk swore secrecy to the master.

Yong Hwa's face turned even more sour, "Why!? Do you even have to keep it a secret from me? Your bestfriend, the creative director?!" he yelled a bit.

Min Hyuk jerked, he held his friend arm stopping him from walking. "Hyung! It's me... there's nothing to be jealous about. She told me to keep a secret and I'm going to do it whether you like it or not!" Min Hyuk nerdy grin disappeared, "And if you have the ability to be jealous like this, maybe you should channel it to really speak to her about everything!" he took this chance to scold his friend.

They had a moment of stare-off before Yong Hwa finally sighed, he hung his head and massaged his nape. "Biyane, Min Hyuk-a! I'm not jealous of you, I just wish I still could speak to her normally like what you both just did..."

"That' is as close as jealous, Hyung! Man up! And talk to her..." Min Hyuk patted his friend's arm and left him in the lobby. He has a more important thing to do. The mission from the big boss.

---o0o---

Why do Korean loved to drink? They drank when they're down, they drank when they're happy; it's in the culture and people just stopped asking why they do it. Yong Hwa pondered at the thought and gave up trying to find an answer. Although he was not a heavy drinker but he badly needed one that night, he just had a tiring week and loads of things in his mind, enough to made him sour the entire day.

After work he went out of the Star Media Building, it was already dark. The winter evening sky was still clear but it was colder than the previous days. He rambled his way and found himself in a familiar place, in front of the three stories building that had a rooftop loft. He stared at the place like a true stalker wondering why it was dark, the director left the office hours ago so its impossible that she was not home yet. He looked at his back, feeling a presence; but shrugged the idea once he saw no one. 

He waited for half an hour before deciding that she was not home and won't be home soon, disappointment came across him as he really wanted to get a glimpse of her. So he rambled some more, walked to where his feet took him. He did not know how long he walked until he came in front of a bar, the one he never visited nor even took notice before. He peered at the funny name: "the bar", he thought it was an efficient name. It had quite a line but not as bustling as the ones he frequent with his buddies, a perfect place to brood.

He plodded inside, struggled to find that high table with bartender behind it. The bar was bigger and more crowded than he thought, but he eventually found it and took an empty high chair and ordered Whiskey. He wanted to get wasted that night. And as he swallowed the hard liquor, he could not help but remembering the sweet times he had with his ex, the one who just became his boss. How she smiled, how she laughed, how she would pinch him every time she got annoyed, how she kissed him. Maybe it was because of the alcohol, but he could vividly smell the sweet fragrant of her perfume, the smooth silky hair under his hand, the perfect body that molded inside his embrace, and the alluring lips that fit perfectly to his. He could feel his heart thump faster just from his mere imaginations.

He asked for another glass of whiskey, he needed to drink more to get the dirty minds out of his head. So he drank... and he drank... and he drank some more. Until her sweet and y face was thrown away from his mental-sight and transformed into her sad face, her shocked face during the party. When she thought she found out the real him, that he only approached her to win a bet. He closed his eyes in mental-pain... he did. As hard as it was to admit it, he did approach her at first to win the bet. It did not matter whether he fell madly in love with her in the end, but he DID have ulterior motives at first and that alone was enough to make him a jerk.

He asked for another glass, the umpteenth glass of the hour. The bartender was already alarmed by the obviously drunk guest, moreover someone he had never seen before. But the guest was starting to yell and if he did not give him anymore, he might start a ruckus in the busy bar, and that would be bad for the business. So he gave him another glass... and another... and another; until the guest slowly sank on his chair and put his head on the table, right cheek first.

Yong Hwa opened his eyes slowly, he had enough drinking and wanted to go home. His blurry sight caught a glimpse of a girl, brown straight hair, doe eyes and a cute, slightly dented nose; he blinked his eyes several times not believing his drunken eyesight. But the girl was still there, standing beside a guy, flirting with him. He felt his anger raise, an anger he was not supposed to have towards an ex. But he could not help it, he wanted to punch the guy and took her away from that bar called "the bar". So he, with much effort, tried to stood up, wondering who put 1 tonn of something on his shoulder, and staggered his way to the girl.

"Shin Hye-ya! Go home! What are you doing with this guy?" he yelled. The girl looked at him like he was an alien, people were starting to look at his direction, the bartender cursed himself for giving too much alcohol to the guy; obviously he was the type to hallucinate when drunk. "Are you trying to make me jealous? Is this the punishment you're giving me!? Arasso! I'm miserable... kemanhe!" he took her wrist.

"What's up dude! Your hand are on MY girl." 'Shin Hye's boyfriend held Yong Hwa's wrist.

"He's MY girl!! She's mad right now! But she WILL be my girl again!" Yong Hwa pounded his chest to emphasize. "Get away!" he brushed.

"Stop it Man, you're drunk. Go home!" the man said trying to be patient.

"Aish!! Shut up!!" Yong Hwa struck a right hook to the man's jaw. He fell right to floor. People at "the bar" instantly put their focus on him, the girl screamed, the bartender cursed his luck and ran to the back; he needed to get out to stop the fight. Yong Hwa looked at his side, but 'Shin Hye' was not there, only a cheap-looking girl who wore a bit too much make up. "O! Where is she?" he innocently asked the girl.

The man stood up, his face was purple from the fury; he prepared himself to retaliate. But before he could do so, a muscular man attacked Yong Hwa's first. He slammed his sledgehammer-like fist right onto Yong Hwa's left jaw, knocking him to the floor. Yong Hwa shook his head several times, peering at the mysterious attacker.

"Wait! Who are you? Why are you butting in!" he looked around at the man that was supposed to attack him, the boyfriend. But he was nowhere to be found.

"He's my friend, idiot!!" the man marched towards Yong Hwa and kicked his stomach until he lurched in pain.

Yong Hwa struggled to stood up and tried to attack back, after he decided which out of the two images of the man that was real, he punched with both hands several times. He felt one of them hit the right mark, unfortunately he was drunk so the result was insignificant and he tripped on his own toes and fell to the floor again after slamming a wooden chair and broke it. The muscular man kicked his stomach again several times, the pain was unlike he ever felt. 

Yong Hwa was on the verge of consciousness, his sight got even more blurry yet he could still see the giant approached by another man. He was not the boyfriend but he was familiar. Even in his intoxicated state, Yong Hwa knew he saw both men somewhere before but could not recall where. 

"Finish him!" the other man said to the giant and left immediately.

The muscular man took the broken chair and held it high. Yong Hwa felt his head split in two, salty liquid flowed inside his mouth, he knew he was about to pass out any minute, so he just held out his arm above his head hoping that it was sufficient to protect him from the impact with the chair. But as he put his head to the floor and about to loose consciousness, he saw a young man hit the giant with a flying kick. He did not know what happen next, but he hoped th