7

She watches the petite woman deliberately takes her steps forward and decides to follow her suit much later, bearing in mind to make some distance as she doesn’t want to scare her companion away again.

They walk back towards the building in a comfortable silence. Though the lunch before has considerably cleared any misunderstanding between them and made her get to know this person even more, somehow Seulgi’s still a bit doubtful that Joohyun might dislike her for some unknown reason. That’s also why she chooses to walk behind her, she is afraid of making the same mistake.

But I want to be her friend. Seulgi muses with a smile that tells just how genuinely happy she is right there. I really do.

She is about to silently observe her again and has to cancel her plan when Joohyun suddenly spins around to face her.

Seulgi quickly erases the smile out of her face. “Huh?”

“Why are you walking behind me? This path is wide enough for both of us though.”

Joohyun comes to a stop and Seulgi does the same. The latter clears first before finally asking some questions that have gnawed her, “Are we really okay? You don’t mad at me anymore?”

Seulgi timidly casts a glance at her smaller companion when the latter takes a long time to answer. “Err… no? Why would I be mad?”

Joohyun catches the look Seulgi is giving her. The latter has one of her brows raised high and eyes that squint past her with an unreadable gaze. Seulgi doesn’t buy her lame excuse, that’s for sure. She is clearly unconvinced by her earlier words.

Joohyun heaves a sigh as she stares at her. “Okay, I was a bit mad before but not anymore. You sounded so arrogant and all. I just couldn’t help it, and yeah we’re cool now though. So, let’s walk?”

Seulgi’s demeanor softens as she hears her openly admitting it. She feels like she owes the latter an apology, the sincerest one she may add, for unintentionally hurting her although it seems like Joohyun has nothing against her anymore. She exhales while slowly observing the nonchalant expression Joohyun currently possess.

“Joohyun?”

She calls lightly, resulting the woman to give her a questioning look for not moving although their talk is already over. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

Joohyun doesn’t react to her thrown words and Seulgi tries her best to stay calm despite having no reassurance that they will meet each other again after this encounter. Should it really happen, she does want to end this moment on a happy note, “I’m really sorry for everything.”

It might be something in her tone that makes Joohyun stare at her for a while before the latter finally breaks into a small beaming smile, much to Seulgi’s own relief.

“Apology accepted.”

Wow…

The sight of her really does take her breath away. She fully realizes that Joohyun is indeed pretty, she has acknowledged it at that particular time when they first met each other inside the lift but somehow after knowing her even better, she feels like Joohyun is turning even more beautiful than before.

Feeling her own self-rooted in place while admiring her beauty up close, Seulgi nearly loses herself in a deeper thought about how could the person before her eyes be this beautiful. But thanks to Joohyun’s sudden remark which thankfully has brought her sense back as well, Seulgi is finally able to prevent her jaw from dropping inappropriately. What in the world am I doing?

“Uh… haven’t I told you about something?”

She witnesses Joohyun taking a step closer and Seulgi is quick to respond as she too mirroring her action, but in reverse direction. She begins to panic when Joohyun narrows her eyes at her. Did she realize that I was somehow gawking at her?

“Err… what about? Did I do something wrong?”

“About my current age,” Joohyun comments shortly, still with her piercing stare. “And yes, you did something very wrong.”

Seulgi is now officially lost, she frowns when Joohyun peers at her without explaining any further. “What did I do wrong exactly?”

“You’re asking me just now? Are you serious? You-” Joohyun points a forefinger in her direction with full of skepticism oozes out when Seulgi confirms for not being guilty at all cost. “You should start calling me unnie, you young lady!”

The older woman now is straight to whining and throwing a supposed to be a menacing glare every chance she gets, only that Seulgi doesn’t find it scary because the woman before her now is looking more adorable rather than the one she deems to pull.

A smug smile makes its way to form on Seulgi’s corner of lips while she puts one hand inside her pants coolly. She observes this supposed older woman who fumes at her childishly over something so simple.

“I don’t want to.”

She then continues picking her pace, leaving Joohyun to stare at her with a certain baffled expression.

“RUDE!”

“We’re only three years apart though.” Seulgi casually speaks when she catches the sight of this small figure from the corner of her eyes. Joohyun by now is trying to fasten her stride in order to reach her. Crafting a small smile of her own, Seulgi feigns nonchalant expression. “Why are you so worked up?”

Throughout their lunch, Seulgi has learned that they have a three-year gap which is somewhat a surprise. She thought at first that they both to be at least at the same age; she even assumed earlier that the latter was younger, bearing in mind that she has such a pure innocent face and petite figure but nope, Seulgi was wrong all along.

“Wow, the nerve of this person.” The smaller woman between them breathes out a comment as she strolls beside her. “Kids nowadays are disrespectful.”

“Hey, what’s in a number anyway? What do they value in this day and age?”

“There’s a lot in it,” Joohyun mutters lowly. “Like ones in your car insurance for example.”

Those last words stifle a chuckle out of Seulgi. She sets her playful gaze on the woman who’s now mumbling endlessly under her breath.

“I refuse to call you an unnie though, period.”

As if their current banter isn’t childish enough, to top it all, Seulgi even sticks her tongue out at her. Joohyun again has to restrain herself from doing anything that will make her regret, like pulling Seulgi’s ear in public for being a brat maybe.

Her supposed to be boss is acting this way towards her. Joohyun wishes to record all their conversations and save it for an useful gaining, just to get back with all the losing arguments she currently suffers.

“What would you do then?”

Joohyun’s eyes twitch at the sight of her wide splitting smile. No, she refuses to let this slip. She has to teach some manner this girl pretty much lacking.

“You should start calling me unnie.” She bites back an answer with a threatening glare. “Or-“

Seulgi questions playfully. “Or what?”

Joohyun contemplates briefly as she has to come up with a good bargain, attempting to turn their table. “I don’t want to talk to you ever again.”

“Hey!”

The black-haired woman, later on, finds herself smiling when Seulgi gapes at her with an incredulous look. “That’s cruel!”

“Sadly that’s a life, Seulgi.”

Joohyun’s eyes come into a slit when out of nowhere the once shocked woman turns at her with a way too confident smirk just in a mere second. It doesn’t settle well with her feelings.

“And so I’ve thought about something. You’re free from the debt like I said before, but in return, you have to treat me like how you normally treat your friend. No unnie, no boss, none whatsoever whenever we’re talking. Just treat me like your mere friend and we’re even.”

“What?” Joohyun holds up a palm, clearly refusing the idea. “But I am older than you!”

“Are you implying that I couldn’t befriend someone who’s older than me?” This time around, it’s Seulgi who doesn’t like her reasoning. “Or would you rather pay it in cash?”

“Whoa! Hold on. That’s what we call cruel. You’re just plain cruel to me!”

Joohyun continues blabbering for the sake of justice, while Seulgi simply finds her determination to be entertaining. “I was fast at forgiving you, wasn’t I? I didn’t even ask anything in return, but you-” the older woman runs a hand against her long black hair in frustration. “Y-you’re practically blackmailing me now!”

“We’re getting an agreement here, Ms. Bae.” Seulgi calmly looks back. She watches in amusement at the torn expression Joohyun uses. She outstretches her hand to seal their deal.

“Are you in?”

“I’m considering hating you at this very moment.” Mumbles Joohyun before she quickly grabs the offered hand and just as fast to let it go with a long strained huff following around. That sulky gesture sends Seulgi to sustain herself from chuckling in front of this person. “It’s a yes then.”

“Yes, whatever.”

X

The phone on her desk buzzes again, indicating other notifications coming but Joohyun pays no care at all. She types on her keyboard and hums randomly just to distract herself from checking her bustling device. With determination filled her mind, she lets her eyes stayed there to scan her monitor and hands are hovering over the keyboard only. She has to finish her task no matter what and any form of distraction coming from Seulgi will be blocked automatically by her self-immune system.

Yes, the said boss is really a woman of her words. Joohyun only realizes it just now. Never had she thought that their simple deal about considering each other as friends would eventually lead her to receive Seulgi’s endless spams on a daily basis.

That younger woman has been contacting her regularly through social media platforms, thinking that it would be easier communicating through it rather than using the conventional one. Or more like, Seulgi who insisted her to do so.

Even her own best friend, Sooyoung, doesn’t even this persistent in contacting her though.

“Come on…” She mumbles with eyes that never leaves the screen. “Just a little bit and yes!”

Joohyun rejoices in her place as she checks her task one last time before sending it to her boss through email. She exhales a relief sigh the moment she has finished all her task for that day. “It’s all done!!!”

Her phone vibrates again and she finally picks it up. She reads the countless chats being sent to her device with raised brows.

“What’s up with her now, huh?” Joohyun stares at the screen and begins to type. She is still in the midst of typing her answer when suddenly a mass of unanswered questions attacks her again.

“How come she wrote all those only in a span of one minute?” Joohyun shakes her head in disbelief. She still can’t grasp the fact. “I couldn’t even finish one word that fast though.” She mumbles to herself again while patiently typing in the pace she is comfortable with. “It took me forever just to reply her single message and yet, she already has bombarded me with the other countless replies.”

“Why is she so fast, huh? Oh my God, this is frustrating.” Joohyun watches with creased brows when the other replies coming from Seulgi are starting to annoy her. “And why did she write those lyrics?”

“Are you seriously asking me that question?” The petite woman mutters with incredulity. “Did my replies weren’t enough to signify just how long it actually took me to type my answer? And at how I couldn’t even understand shorten words?”

Joohyun unconsciously pouts her lips. “She doesn’t have any mercy left for me.”

It’s weird. Seulgi does take a longer time to answer her question. She waits patiently, afraid that she has somewhat disrespected her. But she finds herself smiling when she gets her reply two minutes later with Seulgi eventually agreeing to her request.  

“Hey… done already?”

The sudden voice coming from her right side has successfully startled her, making the grip of her own phone almost loosens. She snaps her head at the intruder and sees Seungwan’s head popping on her right side cubicle.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You shocked me!”

“I’m merely greeting you, grandma.” The brunette grins and cues her eyes towards her blinking phone. “Why are you smiling a lot? I smell something fishy.”

It ends with a snicker and Joohyun rolls her eyes at the sight. Seungwan is trying to mess with her.

“Oh great, fish might be stuck on your nose so yeah explains that fishy thing you smell.” Joohyun remarks back before placing her own phone on the desk, setting it further away from her friend’s reach.

“You’re suspicious.” Seungwan probes further, eyes still tracing her phone. “Do you have a date? Well, if so that explains why you were behaving weirdly for these past thirty minutes.”

“You have been watching me for that long?!”

“Well duh, can’t help it. Your giggles were pretty distracting.” Seungwan nonchalantly points her hidden device. “Which leads me to this conclusion, do you have a date? And why do you hide your phone like that if you don’t have anything to hide?”

“I’m not.” The older woman simply leans back in her seat, pocketing her phone in the process. “I like to have my privacy undisturbed. Thank you very much.”

“Very well, I’ll let this one slip.” Seungwan nods in reply. “Anyway, it’s been a while since we hang out at the bar where your friend works. Let’s hang out there this afternoon though? It’s Friday! Time to enjoy your life!”

Joohyun glances up at her friend and nods in agreement. “You’re right. It’s been like rough weeks for me… Everything just happened and I feel like going through a never-ending roller coaster.” She says more to herself, from the unexpected meeting with her soon to be boss, to a huge debt related to her and for having the said boss pester her in daily life. Like how does her opinion about a late snack even matter to her boss?

That one-time Seulgi had contacted her in the middle of the night just to ask her which snacks are better. It does still bother her in some way.

Looking back at it, she has gone through things just because that fateful day of being late for work.

Who would have thought?

“What’s with the depressed tone?”

“Nah, it’s not.” Joohyun straightens her posture and lends forward in her seat. “I’m in.”

“That’s great!” Her friend claps joyfully before thumbing up. “Okay, I have to finish my own task as well. So, yeah meet you later in the afternoon?” and before Seungwan scurries back to her original place, the latter has just to exclaim loudly, surprising Joohyun yet again while backtracking into her earlier spot. “OH!”

“What the heck Seungwan?!”

“You can invite Seulgi as well!”

And with that Joohyun is left to stare at her pristine white wall with a glare. Something inside her mind finally clicks when she feels another vibration coming from her phone.

Joohyun’s eyes widen as she reads the threat disguised in nonchalant chats. Wasting no time she quickly presses the call button in order to stop this person coming closer to her workplace. She doesn’t want everyone to know about their unlikely friendship the lesser people know is the better. Remembering that Seulgi’s identity is none other than the boss, she tries her best to limit her interaction with her as well. People will surely say unnecessary things if they find out about them being friends with each other. By the time Seulgi has to step up her game, taking the new lead as the CEO of this place, she will no longer around to play along.

It’s for their own good.

“Hello, Joohyun-ssi.” The formal greeting coming from Seulgi has made her rolling her eyes almost instantly. Though her corners of lips are doing the opposite direction, they keep on pulling up to form a wide pressed smile and Seulgi doesn’t need to know it.

“Whatever. Just stay in your place and wait for me there. Any inches nearing my workplace and I will definitely break our deal, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, ma’am!” Seulgi answers back happily and Joohyun can only end their call with a shake of the head. She reads the displayed name and chuckles inwardly before tidying her stuff. “She likes to blackmail me for sure. Just like the real mafia.”

X

“How in the hell you only let me pay for our drinks?!” Joohyun whispers roughly behind the taller girl who only smiles in return towards the waitress before them. “You can help me by bringing those drinks towards our table though,” Seulgi comments while carrying their lunch which is fully consisted of Korean fried chicken. “As you see my hands are already full.”

Joohyun grumpily does her given task and stomps forward past Seulgi with an invisible smoke coming from her nose. The latter chuckles as she sets the tray on their table, noting the still fumed person across her.

“The thing is I already agreed to let you pay for that one.”

“I’ll not believing your words anymore.” Joohyun shoots her a cold glare before she reaches forward to grab the forlorn drinks. She sulkily takes a big gulp of her cola and looks sideways before glancing at her companion as she feels Seulgi's heavy stare. “What are you looking at, huh? Go eat your food.”

Seulgi laughs and shakes her head in return. “You behave childishly like my little cousin.”

Joohyun rolls her eyes, “That one coming from someone who backed off the deal in last minute. You’re the real kid here.”

“You hold against the grudge like a kid would do.” Seulgi casually says as she starts to pick the food using her chopsticks. “That’s because you happened to be allergic to chicken so I don’t see the need of you to pay for it.”

“Tsk.” The black haired girl scoffs and only quietly drinks her cola. “Forget it.” She says after swallowing, “I was going to invite you but after seeing your childish act…” Joohyun wiggles her finger from side to side. “No, obviously not a chance.”

“Where?”

“This is not open for discussion.”

“Joohyun….”

“Nope.”

“Joohyun-ah?”

“No still means no.”

“Unnie?”

“Such a spoiled kid,” Joohyun grunts at the sudden honorific. “You only call me that if you have something to gain.”

“I won’t deny it.” Seulgi beams back with a happy grin. “We need all the strategy to survive.”

Joohyun sighs before placing her drink on the table. “Me and Seungwan slash Wendy, will go to the bar where my best friend is currently working this afternoon. Wendy I repeat, suggested inviting you as well though I doubt you could join us though.”

“Why do you doubt me?”

Joohyun slightly raises her brows. “Don’t you have any appointments?”

“Why don’t you ask?” Seulgi returns her question with another one.

“I’m now, am I?”

It doesn’t take long before Seulgi announces her answer, surprising Joohyun. “Okay. I’m joining.”

“Wait, what? That’s it?” She frowns while watching her carefully. “You can actually make time for it?”

“I’m not a robot so yeah, I can actually make time for having fun as well.” Seulgi beams back at her. “I’ll even let you pay for my drink!” She quickly replies the moment she sees Joohyun suspiciously eyeing her again.

“I somehow doubt you will let me do that. You didn’t even let me pay for this lunch.”

“Mark my words!” Seulgi determinately nods her head, convincing the latter even more with a big fat smile. “I’ll let you have your way.”

Sorry for the late update ^^
Hope you enjoy it, at last, ~ Have a very nice day everyone