Donghyuk enters the company alone and walks with his usual stoic facial expression. He only notices that no one was rising to greet him up till the actual office consisting of his company’s employees. He glances around, feeling quite small and just another worker in the company. No wanting anyone to see his distress, he walks straight to the private elevator and once the doors closes; he tilts his head and widens his eyes, not quite understanding the situation.

Once the doors open, he walks out and Minji was busily typing away on her laptop. He walks past her and no attempts to move, further insulting his very status. He enters his office and hiss in annoyance, taking off his blazer to hang it up. “Like the present I gave you?” someone, Youjung, asks and he flinches in surprise.

A lazy smile appears as he sits next to her on the couch at the other end, facing her. “I was wondering who was supporting the employees till the point that they dare defy a company legacy,” he says, “turns out, it’s the mighty Min Youjung.”

She mimics the smile and stares at him. “I told you before, it’s a legacy,” she replies as his eyes narrow. “After being here for about five months, it came to my attention that the workers spend at least two to three hours per week, sometimes day to just stand up and greet the higher-ups. This decreases the efficiency of working because it breaks the focus of one person, disrupting the work that can actually be produced. So I told everyone to not put the company legacy in mind and just focus on doing their tasks.”

He leans against his propped up arm while observing her. “Also, I’ve rearrange the system slightly, it’s a waste of time for one team to be working on only one project so I’ve assigned a maximum of three to the team and depending on their performances, it can increase or decrease,” she mentions. “Also, some workers have feedback wanting to be in different groups from time to time.”

“See to it. We’ll see the progress of how it goes once it has been tested. For now, change the teams every month after the first change that is to be posted up by tomorrow,” he replies. “Would changing from computers to laptops be better for the employees during movement?”

“They could simply log on and log off the computers so leave it as it is and we’ll see how everything goes,” she answers before looking away to grab a drink.

Like always, her heels were abandoned at the foot of the coffee table and her hair tied up in a high ponytail that only Donghyuk and Minji witness. “What are we going to do about… us,” he speaks up and she lowers the cup from her lips, staring into the transparent liquid.

“There wasn’t an us in the first place,” she responses quietly. “This us, you mention, is fake, remember?”

Donghyuk releases a deep breath and grimaces slightly at the thought of the talk they had about a week ago.

“Because I didn’t want to be around you,” she whispered, her mind cleared of all tiredness.

“Pardon?” he said, not having heard what she whispered.

“Nothing,” she spoke a little louder, brushing it away. “There wasn’t a reason, I just wanted to escape. The atmosphere was suffocating.”

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “You’re not someone to just to run away,” he said in confusion. “You’re someone who stands their ground and talk it out.”

Youjung forced a bitter smile out, applauding at her acting skills on the inside. “People act differently with different situations. I wasn’t thinking, so I ran,” she said. “I hope you can understand. I’m sorry if I made you worried.”

Her meek manner was something Donghyuk saw before hence he shifted his position, not wanting to look awkward. “You know that you can tell me anything right?” he probed with a small smile.

“I know, Donghyuk,” she responded and a wider smile appears on his lips, “but like I mentioned previously, I simply wasn’t thinking much and just wanted to escape.”

The smile on his face faded away and for the first time in his life, he felt lost. Lost in understanding someone else. Lost in connection. “Don’t worry about it too much, Donghyuk,” she emphasized. “I’m fine.”

She added a smile for the effect and it seemed to work. “I’m tired. I’ll see you tomorrow, Donghyuk,” she said and he stops her.

“Y-you’re not gonna come home?” he asks in a childlike manner.

“I’m home,” she replied with a smile before walking away but was stopped again.

“Youjung… About that girl…” he starts and she shakes her head.

“Our relationship is fake, remember? You can mess around, as long as the media doesn’t catch you,” she stated and walked away before he could stop her again. “I don’t mind anymore.”

Even after the tabloids that appear the next day with pictures of him on a date with a female employee that was masked as a work dinner, Youjung doesn’t show any displeasure, just continuing her life without a protest. She also rejected any interview to clear up the mess and his mother has openly mentioned her disappointment but doesn’t attempt to clear it too; instead seemingly proud of him being back on the headlines.

“This us happened because you wanted to show me your world and I went along because I was curious,” she continues and he moves forward slightly, causing her to move backwards. “I think it’s better if we stay and act as friends when no one is around. We’ll only pretend when there are people around.”

After that, Youjung pulls the laptop to her lap before typing away without a second thought, ignoring the presence of Donghyuk. His chest hurt as he trudges to his table to work through the papers. “You know… you should treat your workers better,” Youjung starts, the laptop abandoned in front of her, her back facing him. “The rate of employees resigning before is at least double than the average of other companies. Also, whoever resigns, more than ninety-percent of them end up working for the competitors.”

“Is that why I sometimes see an advanced version of my products?” he asks and she nods to affirm it. “What have I been doing wrong then?”

She turns to look with in a meek manner and it feels weird since she always confidently carried herself but now, she was a lion turned mouse. “Just tell me, I promise I wouldn’t flare up,” he promises and she nods after some consideration.

“You treat your employees like they’re nothing. I had to convince some of the current workers to stay once I found out how you treat them,” she says before turning to face him fully and she notices his tense facial expression.

“How do I treat them?” he asks through grit teeth.

“Like slaves. Like . Like they are nothing,” she responses and when he growls out, she fold her arms and scoff out in annoyance.

She stands up and he immediately stands with his hands out to indicate for her to sit back down. Rolling her eyes, she walks around the room. “You treat your employees coldly and instead of seeing them as friends or even a human being, you ignore them unless it is business related. You’re the infamous ty boss as stated in movies,” Youjung starts again, “and that’s the sole reason the workers are jumping boats. Competitors do notice that and use it to their advantage by ensuring a healthy work environment.”

“Also, I’ve noticed that more than sixty percent of the employees are getting lesser than they are actually meant to get. That is sixty percent too many. Another reason why a lot of workers change companies,” she continues. “As long as you treat all those human beings out there right, majority of them would definitely be more hesitant to resign and to work for the enemy. If you pull it off, resign percentage will drop by fifty percent and very soon, it will be even lower than average.”

“But of course, there is another factor to it. The team leaders,” she continues. “If they treat their members just like how Team Leader Jung is treating s, they will work even harder.”

“Another training session?” Donghyuk asks and she shrugs. “Up to me, huh.”

“You’re the boss, obviously it’s up to you,” she replies before sitting down on the chair placed in front of his desk and crosses her legs.

“Boss’ kid,” he corrects with a smile.

Her phone vibrates and she takes it out. He looks at her phone and notices the crack that was there since their first meeting. He raises an eyebrow before speaking, “Aren’t you going to change that?”

“Well, king, not everyone has money to spare,” she replies, not looking up.

“And you can buy that Daniel Wellington watch,” he points out and she looks up, mid-way her text.

“It was on sale and it was a gift,” she rebukes with an eye-roll before going back to the not sent message.

They stay that way for at least ten minutes and when she was done, she looks up in annoyance. “Why do you keep looking at me,” she asks in a harsh tone and harden face.

“Because I want to speak to you but I have no idea what to say,” he immediately replies.

They held eye contact and Youjung breaks it first before clearing . “I’m going to university now,” she announces and goes to the coffee table to gathers her things together.

She wears her heels as she releases her high ponytail and fluffs her hair a bit, checking her appearance in the reflective glass that was meant for decoration. She walks to the door and grabs the doorknob but doesn’t attempt to turn it. “Try greeting them for once, Donghyuk. You’ll see the difference if you do,” she advices and opens the door but he stops her.

“Buy a new phone,” he says defeated when he realizes that it was no moment to talk about what was on his mind. “Just tell Kihyun hyung to bring you to one of the shops and put it on my tab… Please take care on the way to university…”

Youjung leaves and shut the door behind her before leaning on it for a while. She inhales steady breaths and calms her composure. Minji shoots her an encouraging smile, having notice the female. She replies with a soft smile and a nod before entering the elevator. When the doors open, she walks out and greets the different workers by name that was returned with wide smiles and greetings.

When the elevator doors open to the main lobby, she glances up to notice a handsome young man with a defined jawline. His crisp suit that has been ironed to perfection gathers her attention. The confidence aura around him makes him familiar. Her eyes dart to his side profile and recognize him as one of Donghyuk’s friends in club.

She looks down and notices a document peeking out from the opened bag. Skadden. The doors close once she enters but the lingering shrieks of the female employees confirms who he was. Having heard about the cute, drool-worthy and young lawyer who was quick-witted and always up for a quick debate from the female workers when she was building relations. Koo Junhoe headhunted by Skadden even before he finished his degree in Stanford.

He was one of the tabloids princes too, widely known for his playboy ways but it was rumoured that he currently was in an on-off relationship with a nameless girl. The doors open and Kihyun was leaning against the opposite wall with folded arms and a smirk. “Donghyuk called me to you,” he explains, knowing that she was going to ask and her smile immediately falls. “He cares about you.”

She walks away, not wanting to reply and walks to the car that was waiting for the both of them. They both enter and Kihyun starts the car. She fiddles with her phone, gaining the driver’s attention and glances to the side quickly. “You should change that. You’ve had that for months,” he suggests.

“That’s what he said to me. He told me to go buy and put it on his tab,” she responses with no emotion.

“You should do that!” he encourages. “Also, buying all fourteen of us a new phone at the same time.”

Youjung glares at Kihyun who has a wide grin on his face. She rolls her eyes and hovers her finger over the home button, unlocking the screen. A picture of Donghyuk and her pops up. The very same picture that Donghyuk had printed out and placed in a frame at his table.

Kihyun notices the unlocked screen and lets out a heavy breath. “You miss him, don’t you,” he states and when no response came, it confirms his thoughts. “You know… Driving the both of you everywhere has forced me to know almost everything about the both of you.”

“Recently, Donghyuk has been very quiet. He sighs a lot too. He always seems to be deep in thought and it definitely isn’t about the company. The files are always open in front of him and he never flips to the next page, just looking out of the window,” he continues. “And when the both of you are in the car, it’s silent, unlike the usual friendly bickering that happens. The atmosphere is awkward and weird.”

“You’re making me feel so much better of myself,” she comments sarcastically as she opens her photo album.

“I’m stating facts, Youjung. For the past fifteen years of knowing and raising you, I’ve never seen you leave someone hanging this much. You say what you want to say and believe that you should be honest. You always know what to do,” he says. “It worries me if you actually do know what to do and how to act anymore.”

“I still know what to do and how to act,” she rebukes, eyes not tearing from the screen.

“You sure?” he rebukes.

No. “Yes,” she strikes back.

“Lies,” he comments. “You can’t lie to me, stop trying to deceive yourself and the people around you. Maybe the others would believe but the fourteen of us can see right through your bull.”

“Youjung, you miss him. As a friend, as a boyfriend, I don’t care. You just miss him and the times you guys were comfortable,” he points out and she looks up suddenly to make eye contact.

She lifts her phone to show the home screen; now a picture of Kihyun, Jooheon, Wonho and her. “I don’t miss him,” she deadpans as the car slows down to the stop and she immediately gets out, having arrived at her university.