5

The sound of fingers rapidly typing against her keyboard echoes throughout her quiet room. She is set to get her work done that night just so she won’t get chased down by some old people in her company board for not reflecting her soon to be position. Comfortably wearing her black hoodie with a pink roll attached on her bangs, open snacks are sprawled on the space beside her to satisfy her midnight craving—no one would ever get the actual fact that Seulgi is going to be pointed as a CEO in the leading company.

She yawns slightly and brings her hand to rub her eyes after discharging her glasses first. She has worked her off just after the dinner with her family and up until now she hasn’t stopped ever since. Feeling a bit tired, she then reaches for her phone and checks the current time. “Heol… it’s past three already. No wonder I’m so sleepy.” Seulgi yawns once again and decides to stop working, she saves her work and turns her laptop off.

Her bed seems so appealing right now and so she doesn’t waste any time to tidy her scattered stuff up.

After seemingly forever bending over to pick up her mess, Seulgi stands and stretches a bit as she feels her joints crack painfully loud. “Uh…uh…I sound awful.”

She brings her phone and slips into the comfort of her bed almost immediately. “Once in a while, not brushing your teeth before bed is fine and so human.” She mumbles to herself as she clears her phone notification, thus she finally notices a pop-up message on her phone.

“Bae Joohyun?” The contact shows up and she can’t help but smile inwardly.

She sees the message’s detail and frowns. “Well, you’re recovering yet able to message me at this hour,” Seulgi comments curtly. “I won’t reply.”

Seulgi throws her phone at her bed surface and turns around. She closes her eyelids and tries to sleep but a thought of Joohyun who might wait for her reply at that very moment flashing inside her mind.

Her eyes bolt open and she hurriedly grabs her device again, typing her reply. 

She inserts an emoticon and grimaces at herself when she re-reads her answer once it’s being sent. “Why do I sound so eager at the end?”

Seulgi shrugs and turns her phone off, placing it on the bedside table. She blinks her eyes while recalling the earlier event.

X

A few hours ago.

“Excuse me, may I ask, is there any person named Joohyun in this building?”

Seulgi smiles at the attendant who stands behind the receptionist counter the moment she sets her foot inside the place after rushing straight from the parking lot. She determines to meet this Joohyun and settle things out. The woman across her returns her smile. “Yes, Miss. But can you tell me her full name? Or her position? There are several persons named Joohyun in this building I’m afraid.”

“Er… Bae Joohyun?”

“There are three people named Bae Joohyun in this building, Miss. Perhaps, her position?”

Seulgi pauses for a while. How stupid of her. She doesn’t know anything about her aside name. Should I ask Heechul oppa?

She unconsciously nods her head.

“Miss? Are you alright?”

Seulgi snaps out of her trance and focuses back to see the woman behind the desk raising an eyebrow. “Oh yes, I’m okay. Ehm… I kinda forgot about something, I will come back later, thank you!”

She turns around and walks briskly towards the direction of this café near the main lobby. She is about to step in but a voice suddenly resonances and halts her movement. “You’re Joohyun’s friend right?”

Seulgi looks at the petite brunette in front of her who smiles brightly in her direction. She seems familiar.

“I saw you talking to Joohyun yesterday at this café. Is that ringing any bell?” The person beams while sticking her hand out when Seulgi seems to remember her. “Seungwan is the name but people know me as Wendy. Pleased to meet you. Anyway, are you looking for Joohyun?”

Her eyes widen in surprise and she nods her head continuously, meeting the outstretched palm in a handshake. “My name is Seulgi, nice to meet you, Wendy.” She retracts her hand and nods gleefully. “And yes! I’m looking for her. Do you know where she is?”

“She’s at home, currently taking a day off now.”

Seulgi’s eyebrow shoots up. “Huh, why?”

“Joohyun is sick.” Seungwan raises her stuff in her hands. “In fact, I’m going to her place and check her now. Do you want to join me?”

“I’m not that close.”

The taller woman quickly shakes her head while claiming, as much as she wants to relay the news she isn’t the one to step on her boundary. Now that she knows Joohyun’s condition, she decides to postpone on telling her the truth. “Ehm… I think I will pass though. I’m afraid I have something urgent to do later.” She apologetically says before abruptly snapping her fingers, thus causing Seungwan to look at her oddly.

“But is it okay if I send her a gift through you instead?”

X

“She probably got sick because of waiting for me though…” Seulgi utters before slowly drifting to sleep. “That’s the least I can do for her.”

X

“Well… did I scare her? Am I way… too friendly? Or way too weird?”

Seulgi huffs and kills her engine. She just wants to befriend anyone she deems comfortable whenever she is around. Although albeit short, she can actually feel that Joohyun is one of this rarely few people that she feels comfortable with in an instant. But up until now, there’s no reply coming from Joohyun though it has been two weeks since their last communication. “The perks of having no friends at all. My social skills are kinda rusty.”

She mumbles and looks up at the building entrance. She has another meeting scheduled and she can’t avoid it like before. Biting her lower lip in distress, she grabs her belongings and steps out of her own car.

“I might bump into her… so I should apologize for my weird behavior.” Seulgi speaks lowly, keeping her gaze around to spot this certain person. She is even as far as pressing the lift door to open a bit longer just in case someone with black hair comes rushing with killer heels like before. But to her dismay, there’s no sign of the one she ought to find.

Seulgi reluctantly presses her intended floor and waits silently until the sound of ding resonances, indicating her destination.

She walks out of the lift and pauses momentarily when she hears this familiar voice.

“Seungwan-ah, I think I left this one file on my table. I have counted earlier and it’s only four which is supposed to be five in total.”

“Uh… I will bring it then. You go to Tiffany unnie first!”

Seungwan makes a way to dash past her as she keeps her gaze at Joohyun who stands back-facing her.

“Oh, Seulgi!”

The woman snaps out of her trance and spots Seungwan waving at her hastily from inside the cubicle. “I’m going up, bye!”

And just like that Seulgi watches herself and a surprised Joohyun through the reflection of the closed lift the moment later.

“Oh… hi?” She greets awkwardly as she spins around in place.

“What are you doing here?” Joohyun talks in a small voice. “At this hour?”

“I’m going to have a meeting there.” Seulgi gestures at the room with a transparent wall behind the petite woman. “With Ms. Hwang.”

X

The entire meeting went smoothly except for the occasional glances she has to bear with shame that all directed by Seulgi, who later on, turns out to be the new CEO of this huge building she is currently working at.

She mentally plans to make a long list of apologies towards her. It is not nice to be addressed by a quick-to-judge kind of person—which is herself, in judging this baby faced person as a teenager when she is a grown successful woman all along. And for the behavior, she poses to the woman before her. She’s just a bit surprised at how eager this stranger is and can’t help but to be suspicious of her.

Joohyun can feel her face getting redder at the thought. Embarrassment seeps in at its finest.

“Hope to see more from you, Ms. Hwang”

Seulgi’s voice successfully gnaws her attention towards the taller figure, as she has stood, ready for one heck of handshake. “And you too, Ms. Bae.”

She only manages to nod her head in a weak motion, before slowly distancing herself from where she stands until she stops doing so when her boss suddenly calls for her. “Joohyun?”

“Yes?’ She hesitantly speaks up, retracing her steps back.

“Can you help Ms. Kang to take a look around here?” The older woman smiles, “She said that, since you seem to share the same ages, she would be able to stride around with ease though I don’t really mind doing it but just let Ms. Kang have her way alright?” She hears her boss chuckle, earning a wide smile from the other person which is Seulgi herself. “So, can you?”

Joohyun can see that her companion is trying to bite back another wide splitting smile and all she wants to do is palming her own face right there. She really needs to take days off for real.

“Sure.”

X

“I don’t know, Ms. Bae?” Seulgi is trying her best to suppress her laughter, well at least she gets her words out, albeit shakily. That kind of encounter is not something she really expects to happen; she only sets for a boring meeting, continuing the talk about their deal, doing some sort agreement she doesn’t really care. It also explains why she doesn’t want to rush everything, only takes it casually and sees later if she gets what they need—however, people from her board side has pressed her to take the chance faster though she couldn’t be careless of that fact.

Seulgi again has genuinely thought that it would end in not so eventful way aside from getting the dice roll on most likely. It turns out that she met Joohyun on the way to their current meeting place in such an unexpected way. She would never forget their fateful meeting that sincerely forms a huge smile on her lips.

She gains her own composure the moment she catches her downcast expression. “I seriously didn’t know that you were there, you know.”

Joohyun only bows her head even lower. “I’m sorry. I’m terribly sorry. Please forgive my rudeness, Ms. Kang.”

“What is it? Why are you saying sorry?” Seulgi suddenly holds her step, stopping the other woman on her heels as well. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I did, as a matter of fact.” Joohyun calmly responds back before she bends her upper body, a sign of her genuinely feeling sorry for what she did. “I’m really sorry for mistaking you as a student. And-” the petite woman closes her eyes for a brief second, mentally recalling her rush act of apologizing through Seungwan’s iced coffee weeks ago and her awful behavior. “-please forgive me for only giving you iced coffee as an apology and for my rude acts towards you, Ms. Kang. I can perfectly understand if you’re feeling offended by my remark and I’m truly sorry for that.”

She tightly clutches both of her own sides. “I will reflect on my acts and try my best not to do it again. Please forgive me, Ms. Kang.”

Joohyun feels hands on each of her shoulders as she is gently being pulled back, returning to her former position and looking directly at Seulgi. “You don’t have to feel sorry. In fact, I’m flattered because my look could trick people and guess what?” Seulgi beams brightly. “I liked that coffee. Though you shouldn’t take your friend’s coffee. So yeah there’s no need for you to ask for my forgiveness in the first place.”

The black haired woman widens her eyes. “H-how?”

“Uh…” Seulgi ponders with a knowing smile, she retreats her hand and nods to herself. “Your friend’s name is written on it though.”

“I apologize!” Joohyun cries out. Gone were any good images she tries to maintain, not only did she mistake her boss but also for giving the said boss a ‘stolen’ drink as a token of her apology.

What would her boss think of her now?

“It’s okay. Anyway, drop the formality please.”

“But it is rude Ms. Kang and you’re technically my boss as well, so I can’t do that to disregard you.”

“You aren’t going to disregard me or whatsoever.” Her eyes turn soft as she gazes back at Joohyun. “You’re just being friendly and there’s no rule against befriending co-workers. Besides, I’m still not officially taking that burdensome position though so technically I’m not your boss yet.”

“Ms. Kang, I-“

“Seulgi.” The brown-haired woman cuts off her words short with a flip of the hand. “Call me Seulgi.”

“But we’re still in the office.”

“Is that so? So, when we’re outside, will you call me Seulgi then?”

Joohyun quickly nods, hoping to just end this conversation. She begins to walk again, using her hand to point the large glass room they have passed. “This place is the- wait! Wait! What are you doing, Ms. Kang!”

She can’t help but scream when out of nowhere, she feels her hands being dragged towards the opposite side of their direction—as they are currently heading to lift instead.

“We will go outside.”

It is the only word that Joohyun able to catch in the midst of bustling with her own stepping. What the heck did she do!

Joohyun mentally curses her situation and at how well her day is.

“Let’s have lunch.”

She quickly glances up as she sees her leaning on the metal wall. “But, I’m not done with my task yet.” She reasons out, again, and no she isn’t lying. Only saying half of the truth as she is indeed working on her task but its deadline isn’t going to set her on fire because the long due her boss tells her about—but well, she ain’t the one to dig her own grave by spending her time with this person any longer. She is never the type who on people with a higher position just to gain her own benefit though.

“Well yes, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have lunch.”

“I will manage to have my lunch later, Ms. Kang.” Joohyun can feel her insisting and she too, is not going down without a fight as well.

“But it’s already lunchtime. You will get sick if you skip your lunchtime.”

Her eyes are wildly twitching in response to how persistent this person is. Now, she sounds just like her mother with the way she nags her to eat on time.

“I will eat straightaway then Ms. Kang.”

She retorts back with gritted teeth, hoping that her annoyance will go unnoticed by Seulgi.

“Very well.” The taller woman’s corner lip curls upward. “So, what are you waiting for? Let’s eat shall we?”

The loud ding makes her answer—or more like her protests being left unsaid, or has Seulgi snubbed it by purpose? Because Joohyun swears, she can hear her stepping out of this small room with an audible laughter. Oh dear God, how hard her job is.

She brings her feet to match Seulgi’s footstep in order to voice out her disapproval. “But I will eat my lunch with my own and I’m pretty sure you have another important appointment to do later so I don’t want to take your time more than I intend to do which is only guiding you around this building.”

She is sure, those words that come from are sounding just like a rapid gunfire—with panic rising inside her, she just can’t help it. She has to save her own life no matter what.

The only thing that her eyes able to see much later are a black screen, mirroring her surprised face. Not until the owner of the hand clicks on something thus causing the surface to glow, showing her what seems to be a schedule.

“I don’t have any appointment left.”

With that, the device is being taken away from her peripheral eyes. She only watches her smiling in victory after realizing what it means.

“And I don’t mind spending my lunch time with you.” She hears her answer and silently prays that spending more time with this person wouldn’t cause any trouble in the near future.

Hi!! Seulrene's shippers are getting spoiled lately because there were so many moments~~ imma crying in the corner my babies are so precious :""")))))

SEE WHO SAYS SEULRENE IS A TRAGIC SHIP?!!! *screaming at the top of my lungs* LOL

Anyways, how's everyone doing? Thanks for subscribing, commenting, and upvoting this story!  
I can't thank you enough~
Have a nice day everyone ^^