2

Joohyun is pretty much late.

And so, when she knocks and rigidly stands alongside the door, she can’t help but look down. She immediately mutters a string of apologies the moment she is excused as her feet striding into the large room. “I’m sorry for coming late. I got a flat tire on my way here.” She throws a white lie in order to save her situation. “I promise not to repeat this act again.”

She rushes to her boss who sits at the corner and hands the document. “I’m sorry, Ms. Hwang.” She bows and her boss nods in return, excusing her with a smile. “It’s okay, Joohyun.”

Joohyun puts a grateful smile and takes her respective seat in the back, she starts listening to the ongoing meeting.

Two hours later as the meeting is finally over, Joohyun finds herself sighing momentary after placing her coffee on the table inside her cubicle. The boost of caffeine hopefully will able to jerk her alive until work ends that day. Letting her computer boot as it starts to work, she turns to her right to skim through files beside the humming machine. And as she is going to work, her hyperactive best friend suddenly pops up on her workspace. “Joohyun-ah,”

She looks up with tired eyes. “Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you answer my call? If so, I might inform Tiffany unnie that you got a flat tire this morning, you know.”

Suddenly, the vivid scene of her car ramming on that fancy vehicle flashes inside her mind. She can’t help but groan internally.

“I was driving at that time, Seungwan-ah,” Joohyun mutters with tight lips. “And I kind of forgot to use my phone and well, yeah you know me in panic mode right?”

Her friend smiles as she fully acknowledges the fact. “Ah… I see.”

Joohyun huffs and resumes working, if only Seungwan knew the truth, she was indeed getting into a trouble that very morning.

“Yeah.”

X

The brown haired girl sighs in content as she finally gets to fill her stomach that morning with a slice of cheesecake and a cup of cappuccino. She leans back in her seat, trying to take her time while waiting for him to come. As she lets her eyes wander around, the sight outside makes her retrieve her eye movement.

She unconsciously cackles when one of those children running falls with his first on the ground. The spot inside this cafe she’s currently visiting is facing a small park where a group of children has been there, playing around at that time.

She smiles a bit as the kid she first saw falling, has been running again and she can’t help but shake her head in disbelief. “Where did he get that strength from?”

The woman brings her drink closer to lips and takes a sip of it while crouching back.

“Why are you here?”

She snaps her head at the sound, finding her cousin stand beside her place with raised eyebrows.

“Shouldn’t you go to that meeting?” He speaks again while taking a seat in front of her. She places her drink down and faces him with a wide smile. His face turns somber slightly at the sight of her smiling face. “Oh no. Don’t use that pretend-to-be-sweet smile.” He cringes with curled fingers. “I’m so not going to fall for your trick ever again.”

The woman laughs immediately. “What’s with that bad insinuation?”

“You know it, Kang Seulgi so please don’t play dumb.”

Seulgi chuckles once more before she speaks, “Meeting is boring oppa.”

“That’s it?!” Heechul flares his nose when Seulgi is no longer explains her reason for ditching their important deal.

“Yes,” The woman nods, her smile slowly fading. “As simple as that.”

“Do you know how important this deal is?” He asks quietly, which Seulgi only responds with another nod.

“I don’t care.”

“Let me rephrase it,” Her cousin pauses and leans forward. “Do you know how important this deal to your father?”

She bobs her head up and down carelessly while throwing her gaze outside. She honestly hates this talk.

“Are you trying to get on his nerve again?”

“Believe me, I’m not.” She looks back and scoffs. “He perfectly knows that I don’t even care about his business yet look at what he made me do? Why does he need to summon me to deal with countless tasks and whatnot? I don’t need any of it.”

“He wants you to learn the rope, Seulgi. You are his only child, it’s about time you will replace his position.”

“Like I said before, I don’t need any of it.” The finality of her tone has made him back off momentary. “I forgot at how stubborn you could be.” Heechul shakes his head and clasps his hands above the table, examining her. “So what now?”

“You can do his bidding, but I refuse to do it this time.” Seulgi glances at her watch and looks at him. “Can you help me? And please don’t tell my father about this?”

After a moment of silence, he finally sighs and slowly nods. “Hope you learn your lesson sooner. You can’t always run away whenever you have problems, Seulgi.”

“Don’t worry.” She starts smiling, a smile that is genuine enough as she understands his good intention. “I’ll deal with it in my own way.”

“Very well, by the way...” Heechul beams back while jutting out his palm. “Where’s my key?”

Seulgi sheepishly smiles with hands above her head, pleading with puppy eyes to melt his heart. “Let me borrow it until tonight? I want to go somewhere.”

He scans her up and down before messing with her hair later on. “Just don’t crash my car into pieces,” Heechul warns her as he slowly rises up from his seat. “I need to go somewhere else, please take care of yourself and my car okay?”

She nods and waves hastily to send him goodbye. “Okay, captain!”

X

“Ssh...”

She mumbles as her eyes are still planting on the device. Her fingers swiftly move around to tap the upcoming buttons following the beat of the song. Her head bobbles up and down, enjoying the song played behind and directing all her focus to win the game, as well as making a new record.

Thank God, she is able to convince him to deal with it alone, as she can’t have herself drown in boredom—talking about some regulation, mutual of understatement and whatnot she sincerely doesn’t care about.

The woman pauses her game and reaches out to grab her drink. She roams her eyes around in the process as well, noticing people do everything without any restriction.

Doing everything they want without any hesitation.

A contrary to her own life.

She sighs before sipping her drink, hoping it is able to wash out the emptiness she feel at the thought of her life.

Although she says that she doesn’t interested in dealing with people in this place, she is still there to find out the result. After all, managing a company isn’t as easy as flipping her hand around though she would love to do it the way she wants and yet her righteous father might not find it amusing as she is.

He will certainly flip if he hears her doing something that could endanger their hierarchy. His precious assets.

He is one of the actors behind the prosperity her family has. He makes sure to apply the ‘method’ her grandfather and many other people before them have taught the same. That something won’t come easy and they have to use everything to be able to get it. The term of everything in it has made her want to protest since while ago, thinking it’s overboard, sounds forcing and simply doesn’t right.

She stubbornly believes that it is not something they have to keep on doing for another generation being taught the same and they are equally stubborn in refusing to understand her as well. That is the time when she hates her own gene and current life.

Being the only daughter of this successful and powerful family in this entire South Korea is a gift to her.

Disaster in a disguise, she prefers calling it that way.

Everyone would be happy to live her life—her happy life of ruling their inheritances.

Everyone but her.

And Seulgi would be drowned inside her thoughts even more if not for the sudden familiar voice that comes from the other side, breaking her concentration.

“Oh my god, why do I need to accompany you here?”

She squints her eyes and sees the earlier woman she met, stomping her feet with a displeased look on her face. She almost laughs at the sight.

“Well, now, you are the one who certainly looks like a child.”

She whispers to herself and watches as the woman glaring at someone who Seulgi assumes to be her colleague.

Seulgi blinks her eyes when the woman’s gaze suddenly meeting hers, instantly acknowledging her presence. The displeased expression on her face changes slightly as a smile starting to form, thus Seulgi can’t help but mirror her gesture.

“Hi!” The woman in front of her mouths excitedly as she has already walked in her direction and Seulgi cues her to occupy the empty seat. She welcomes her with an open smile.

“It’s nice meeting you again.” Seulgi truthfully says, she puts her phone on the table. “Please have a seat.”

“Thank you. The pleasure is all mines.” Her companion beams back. “How’s the interview going on by the way?”

Seulgi’s lips twitch and she can’t help but let a small laugh escapes . She quickly regains her composure when suddenly the latter asks in confusion.

“What’s so funny about it?”

“You know…” She starts with pursed lips, trying hard not to burst out. “The reason for me being here, well first of all, I’m not a student. Was, as it’s been three years since I took my master degree. I’m not looking for a job or something either so that’s why I found this situation is all funny.”

She extends her right hand and widely smiles, mentally laughing at this frozen figure whose jaw is dropping lower after hearing her information. When the woman doesn’t seem to catch up quickly, she decides to grab her hand and shake it slowly. “My name is Seulgi, I’m sorry as I forgot to introduce myself before.”

“Joohyun-ah!”

They don’t even respond to the sudden call, but when the caller shouts again for the second time thus Seulgi starts to gain herself and restrain her lips from smiling too widely.

“Joohyun-ah! The break is almost over.”

Seulgi turns to the source of the sound and the earlier calls might wake up the dazed woman as well. “Oh my god I didn’t mean to! I’m Joohyun and I’m sorry!”

She feels her hand being clutched and snaps back to look at the woman in front of her.

“I will make it up to you somehow!”

Joohyun stands up, letting go of her hand gently before hastily approaching her friend.

Seulgi gets surprised when Joohyun appears again and brings a takeaway of iced coffee, which a moment ago is preserved safely by Joohyun’s friend and now is being placed on her table instead.

The woman doesn’t forget to bow her head repeatedly. “I’m sorry again!”

Seulgi amusingly looks at her as the latter quickly makes her way out of the café, dragging her friend who seems more shocked than she is.

She brings down her gaze and reads the name on the plastic surface. Wendy.

“No wonder her friend is glaring.”

Hi!
I want to tell you that Heechul's surname in this story is Kim but well it got auto-corrected into Kang before and so I had changed it back into Kim. 
Hope you enjoy the story so far and thank you for reading~