‘’Good morning sir.’’ a male bowed down to the son of the CEO who gave his half smile away in order not to come off as rude. He was used to a lot of attention since over the years, he had managed to assure his position the company he would have to run someday. He actually liked working on his father’s company for some reason, work was just not boring for him but that didn’t mean he didn’t have his own dreams. He had them.

‘’Good morning, sir.’’ yet another voice had greeted him in the morning. This one had him showing a different smile, a more open smile as his feet came to a stop. He stood inside of his office now, with someone who always encouraged him to follow his dreams, the ones he actually built inside his head and not the ones his dad was trying to get him involved into. ‘’Good morning.’’ he answered, taking a second to appreciate the female’s features, her smile and her happy self that he liked so much.

They were actually high school best friends and he wasn’t even sure how he managed to get his father to hire her but his father was certainly not into the fact they were so close. It was almost like they were from the same family and at some point, his father’s conscience felt at peace for knowing his son would never date someone who was like a daughter to him. It was like dating the sister he never had. It’d be just out of the plate. Impossible.

‘’Your father wishes to meet you.’’ she started as the male made his way to his chair. Usually, she would let him take his time to start organizing his stuff, getting the computer on and looking through what there was left to do, if there was anything he didn’t do the night before but this was what they could call, an urgent matter. Jiwon’s eyes lift from his wooden desk, letting her know she had his full attention. ‘’Mr. Kim said there is the need to call out a family meeting before Christmas.’’ she continued, not giving out too many details as that was all she actually knew about it.

Considering he had quite a few things to do in that day, he just nodded his head at her, cueing her to let him work. She didn’t insist any further on any kind of answer - knowing him well, he would definitely show up, no matter what. Maybe one of his flaws could be pointed out by the lack of politeness. He didn’t refuse going to the dinner but he didn’t accept either, even if in the end he would just go and excuse himself to his father saying he had a lot to do and there was no way to make sure he would finish everything that day.

As soon as the female bowed and exited his office, he leaned back on his reclining chair, sighing heavily. There had to be a reason why he called out such ‘’important meeting’’ in the middle of December. His family rarely got together and it wasn’t even because of work, much less because they didn’t get along. It was just that, Jiwon enjoyed his freedom and whenever he was home, all his father talked about was work. Whilst in work, he usually only talked about how Jiwon’s life had to take a turn if he wanted to take on his father’s steps since his father wouldn’t just give it to him that easily he had fight for what he wanted - and he didn’t mind.

‘’Lia.’’ he called out loud for the female who had just sit down. He groaned at how good he was at this - it was almost like he counted her steps and waited until the very last second to call her back as if he actually forgot something. There was a  phone, there was no need to shout for her but Jiwon never really used the phone, according to him, people who had ears would gladly take in everything he said through the phone. Plus, she was just there, right?

Before her name could he called again by her boss, her heels were already clicking inside his office, hitting the floor almost furiously as she ran to stop him from calling her out again. She straightened the skirt she hated so much as with all the rush, it came up a little and stood still, waiting to hear what he had to say. On the other hand, he laughed at this - it was always amusing how his best friend stood in front of him when he called her out of nowhere. She glared at him, forgetting about the formality that should hang around them during work but he didn’t mind either. ‘’Do you want to join us for dinner? I’m sure my mother could use some company.’’

Lia was surprised to hear him actually answering to his father’s request, it was a great thing since he finally decided not to leave his family hanging until the very last minute. ‘’With all the respect, sir, it’s a family gathering and it’s near Christmas. There will be other opportunities for me to join.’’ there she was, back again with all the formalities that got him scrunching his face. This was one of the reasons he didn’t like working as her superior.

Silence fell in between them as he thought over her answer. She never really turned down on any dinner he invited her to and this was the first he was confirming to go to like this. Which meant, he would be on time and actually ditching work for. He felt offended. His fingers played with a pen he caught over the desk as his glare almost pierced through her to rip off her soul. The normal Jiwon wouldn’t try to convince her but then again, this was just not one of Jiwon’s normal days. He could give it a go. ‘’I’m not attending if you’re not coming so you can just cancel the dinner.’’ being childish was also part of his personality. He would do what he wanted and after saying this, he went back to work.

The female had started chuckling, quickly covered her lips, stopping herself from continuing however Jiwon had caught the sight of her laughing, as he peeked up to see her. His eyes fell back down on the paper as he was done talking. ‘’With all the respect, sir, your father asked for you to go, by yourself.’’ she continued, determined to make him give it up to his family at least once in his life. ‘’I said I’m not going, without you at least.’’

Sighing, she bit her lip as she wondered if she should or should not tell him about what she overheard by mistake when she walked into his father’s office. It seemed a good excuse to force him to accept it anyways. After nodding to herself, she held her hands together in front of her and spoke confidently ‘’Your brother is getting married.’’

The moment she spoke those words, she regretted them. Jiwon’s head slowly looked up to meet her and all the playfulness had vanished away from his features. It almost felt like he was getting hit by a truck. Lia frowned and walked in, closing the door. She sighed heavily and walked up to him, gently patting his back ‘’I’m sorry, okay?’’ she felt relieved to be the one breaking the news to him as it’d be worst if he actually got to know during the dinner. ‘’Jiwon, you have to go.’’ her tone pulled him back to reality but her hand that was over his hair to calm him down, still held him still in an in between position. He knew he had to go but he wasn’t sure if he shouldn’t.

Frowning, he leaned his head against her stomach, sighing once her free arm hugged him and patted his back. ‘’I don’t want to go, stay with me tonight.’’ he asked her, holding onto the jacket she carried with her all the time the past two months - she claimed the office was a cold place to stand in for long. His hand engulfed it into a fist to show her he wasn’t intending on letting her tell him no.

‘’Jiwon, you know I can’t do that. Your father will be mad at you if you don’t show up and your brother will be hurt…’’ she tried to make him see things how they were but he quit without even trying to understand them. He stood up, wanting to look into her eyes so she could see how much he would be suffering if he did attend to the said dinner.

‘’Don’t do this.’’ she asked him when he stood in front of her. His faces were inches away, his hand was still holding onto her jacket but her hands fell to his sides. ‘’You’re leaving me in a difficult position, Jiwon.’’ she sighed and that was enough for him to feel her breath against his lips. Both went quiet for a while. Her eyes were on the floor but he was looking straight at her.

The jacket was released from his fist but instead, his hands took in her waist, pulling her close to him. Lia smiled a bit at the old move he used on her. Her hand was quick to push his chest away to allow them to have some space but when she looked up, their noses were touching. ‘’I’m serious on this, Jiwon.’’ she whispered to him, looking into his eyes even if it was an almost impossible task. ‘’I am serious about this too. I won’t be happy in that dinner and I can manage to face my brother’s wife next year alone but this year, I need you there.’’

‘’So next year you’ll just throw me away?’’ she was actually concerned over this as for everyone else, they were best friends. As in, two very close people that got to share their own secrets with each other but both knew it was deeper than just that. All the kisses and intimacy going in between them gave away the fact they weren’t just two best friends. The thing was, he never really admitted to have anything with her. She happened to be there when he needed someone and that turned out to be comforting.

He pulled away without answering her. He was concerned about the dinner he was supposed to attend that evening. Lia sighed quietly how he just avoided her question, again after everything. ‘’I’ll just let your father know you’re not feeling well, then.’’ without any other word, she exited his office.

‘’What mess did I get myself into?’’