Friday. Deadline of the old and arrival of the new. 

"Yes!" Minji exclaimed as she typed the last word of her assignment. She stamped her feet and was making unnecessary noise like whispering yes, yes, yes and oy yeah, oh yeah with her arms rotating. She was feeling as if she won a lotto. "Now, I just have to review it before passing it to team leader Chaerin." She smiled, wide smile. "I heard you making noise. Although, it was all whispers but it's kind of loud, even your stamping." Tiffany suddenly appeared but Minji was not startled because she was too focused on re-reading and reviewing her assignment before passing it to Chaerin. "Mmm-mmm."  You were just standing too close at my cubicle, Minji thought."I see that you are successfully done with your assignment." "Partially, I'm successful. It will be a complete success if Chaerin won't find any problem that will make her return this assignment to me." "Okay." Tiffany sat on the edge of Minji's desk. "I'll ride you home tonight. It's been two days since you're using that bicycle." "There's nothing wrong with using it as a vehicle." Minji said, too focused on her five pages assignment. "I know you are forced to use it because you didn't have money for taxi because you're-" "I'm broke. Yeah. I know that." eyes on the monitor's screen, right hand on the mouse with index finger on the scroller. "So just let me ride you home. It's going to rain tonight. You don't have an umbrella and if you do, it will be hard holding an umbrella while riding a bicycle. And you don't have a rain coat." "Okay. I'll ride." "Did you even know that it's going to rain tonight?" "Says who?" "The weather forecaster. The news. Do you watch news?" "No." Tiffany rolled her eyes. She wanted to talk, a chit chat at boring hours like this but Minji was too focused that makes Tiffany get annoyed. "You're boring." Tiffany stood up. "And you're distracting me." And Tiffany let out an unbelievable sigh. "See you later. I don't like it when you're too focused at work." "Okay, bye. Me too." and Tiffany walked away. 

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TOK! TOK!

"Come in. It's open." Chaerin said with a positive tune. Chaerin's office is just like any other office you can find. The tiles were decorated with bamboos so it liked a wooden floor and it's shining like crystals. The windows are located at the back of Chaerin with classy, elegant, black curtain. Chaerin hates to roll it to the side because she hates the sun ray hitting her back. Her desk is clean white in color. Her PC is the most updated PC in this floor and it's all white in color. She was surrounded by glass walls so she can see who's coming and they can see what is Chaerin doing and these glass walls don't bother Chaerin's privacy at all because all she do is work, work and work. Nothing interesting. Minji entered with her printed assignment in a folder (it looks presentable) and walked to Chaerin's desk. "Minji. Take a sit." "I'm done with it." Minji said as she placed the folder in front of Chaerin and Chaerin stared at it for five seconds. "Wow. You actually did it today." Chaerin said with an expression of oh god, I can't believe what I'm seeing right now. "Yeah. Why?" "I mean... I thought you're here to ask me to give you an extension." She took the folder and her eyes run through the pages. "I'm going to read this." She smiled and set it aside. "Thank you. So I'm clear with this assignment?" "Yeah. You're clear with the 'old' assignment and I'm about to give you you're 'new' assignment." Chaerin said as she clasp her hands and pressed her to the desk and it's pretty obvious, she's excited to give the news. What!, Minji shouted in her mind. "Assignment?" her eyes opened wide as she shouted inside. "Do you know about this dating scandal between an underrated rapper, Dollar, and quite popular actress, Nam Se Joo?" "Uhm... no." She heard Tiffany saying, do you even watch news? She doesn't know about this dating scandal, she doesn't even know it's going to rain tonight! "Okay. I'm going to assign you with this story. It's quite interesting and people are anticipating to this." There was a silence. Chaerin's words repeated on Minji's mind and it echoed and echoed and echoed... "Minji-ah?" SNAP! "Me?" "Yeah. You." "Me?" she pointed to herself. "Yes, Kim Minji you. You are assigned to this story. I'm betting on you." "But... why me?" "I just thought you're an entertainment writer." "But I'm broke." she said in a lower voice and she's the only one who can hear it. "Excuse me?" "Huh?" Chaerin chuckled. "Are you shocked about your new assignment?" "Uhm... kind of. Yeah. Really." Minji was nodding her head like a she doesn't know why she's at Chaerin's office. "Don't worry. You'll have your partner." What!? Partner!?, another scream inside her mind and it made her eyes wide again. "I have a... partner?" "Yeah. And He's just in time. Ji Young, please take a sit." She didn't turn her head to Ji Young who is approaching to his seat in front of Minji. The embarrassment, it came back. Minji was probably praying that please let her faint for no reason. "I'm sorry. I'm late." Ji Young was panting. "Ji Young, Kim Minji is going to be you partner." Chaerin said, smiling. So he knew already about this assignment, Minji thought. She, somehow, felt betrayed. "I'm so glad to be working with you." Ji Young said. Obviously, he was talking to Minji who is trying her best to avoid him since the embarrassment came back and who is also trying act normal but actually, she's not acting normal at all. She was frozen at her seat with her eyes fixed only on Chaerin. It's like a fear that evolved since that night happened. But she can't just say nothing or ignore him. "Yeah. Me too." she just gave a quick eye contact with her face forcefully smiling. She's not even sure if their eyes really met. "Great. I' ll be giving you six days to finish this." Chaerin said. Six days!?, another scream. "Yeah. Sure. No problem." Ji Young sound optimistic and confident while the other felt down. 

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Right after the announcement that made Minji's day partially bad, she went to Tiffany's office. 

TOK! TOK!

"Sorry, I'm busy." Tiffany said as Minji opened the door and her head forwarded. "You're busy staring at your empty desktop." "Can't you see, I'm too focused." Minji raised her left eyebrow because Tiffany is being unbelievable right now. "What do you want?" Tiffany crossed arms. "Coffee time?" "You're broke." "I just need coffee, hot choco rather. And I need you to come with me. I just need you to keep saying that 'You're broke. Your life is miserable.' to me. And lastly, I have something to share with you." And here Minji sounded restless. "Why? Did something happen back there?" "I'll tell you if you'll have coffee time with me." Tiffany looked at her watch and said "Okay. Let's go."

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After ordering Tiffany's Iced Americano (in the morning?) and Minji's hot chocolate, they sat by the cafe's entrance. Tiffany sipping already on her Americano while Minji leaned her back on the chair and was staring at her hot chocolate and she can smell it and she knew it's delicious but she's embarrassed. "I thought you want some hot chocolate?" "I do." She leaned forward and grabbed her cup of hot choco. Why is exactly Kim Minji embarrassed? "What do you want to share with me?" "Well, I have a new story assigned to me." "So that's why you look unhappy after you passed your assignment because Chaerin assigned you another story and you were thinking like 'What the heck?! I just finished my assignment.' You want time to be lazy, I mean to rest but the thing is, you've got another task to finish." "And I have a partner with this task." "That's great. You'll finish it in faster rate." "My partner is Ji Young." Tiffany gasped. Minji was kind of enlightened, thinking if Tiffany knew what happened that night. But she hasn't said anything to her. But Tiffany is a good gossiper. Maybe Ji Young and her are friends already and Ji Young shared the story of a drunk girl at the Banpo bridge or maybe Ji Young has told about it to Minho and Minho shared it to Tiffany. "No way. Just like that?!" Tiffany sounded and looked shocked. "You already have an assignment together? Oh gosh." Nope. Tiffany doesn't know what happened that night. "You are one lucky woman, Kim Minji. Everyone's wanting to work with him, desperately. Not because he's handsome and good looking and had that cute smile but because he's professional. Have you seen his shots during Christmas season that was featured on an article at the website called ummm ugh! can't remember." "You stalked him." Minji said blankly and started her first sip on the hot choco. "No, I didn't. You're office-mates did." Of course, Tiffany would knew because she was never absent patrolling around our cubicles, like a police in a crime scene. "But wait, why are you not happy about it?" Tiffany raised her eyebrow out of curiosity. Minji sighed. "Ohhhhhhhh." Tiffany, she knows what Minji will share. "Do you remember when I said that Ji Young's face is so familiar and I remembered it and I was about to tell you but I refused because I said it's too embarrassing." "Yup. I remember every single word you said to me that moment." "I'm going to tell you now." "Hmm-mm." "I was drunk... that night. I didn't know what I'm doing. I didn't know where I'm going. I stopped at Banpo bridge and I don't know why did I stop there. As far as I can remember, I was feeling the air of Han River. And then crossed over the bridge's deck." "No, you did not." "I did. So these people passing by thought I was crazy, thought I'm going to commit suicide but actually, I'm not. I'm so drunk. Then here comes one guy who interrupted me because he thought I'm going to jump. He was kind and polite, judging from his voice. He had talked to me. We had a conversation that I can't even remember. Suddenly, he pulled me off the bridge's deck and I started crying and I can clearly remember I said to him that I have a miserable life and I was crying like a kid, I don't deserve to be respected as a woman that night. And that guy is Ji Young who is currently my office mate and my partner. And so embarrrraaaassssing." 

SILENCE. Tiffany was trying to imagine what is Minji saying but her imagination with the scene was worst than the actual. Minji understands Tiffany's facial expression. She waited until Tiffany can talk and respond. Will Tiffany understand the embarrassment? Will she understand Minji's side since she's also a woman? "Say something." Minji said, worried. "Okaaaaaaay." that was a long okay. What was that supposed to mean? Minji thought. "So that's you first met Ji Young?" "Unfortunately, yes." Okay, that's bad, Minji declared. I knew it, she was face palming herself. Minji trusts Tiffany's words, statements. She somehow feel satisfaction with Tiffany's babbling, serious or not. She trusts her. "Really bad? What do you mean bad? Like how bad?" Minji sounded desperate and begging like Tiffany owe something from MInji. "It's bad in a way that he already had an idea of how miserable your life is. It's bad that he saw you drunk and thought you're going to commit suicide at that bridge. And finally, it's bad that he saw you cried, as you've said, like a kid." EXACTLY! That's why Minji felt so embarrassed. Tiffany "all - killed" what Minji is thinking and feeling and she doesn't sound friendly. Working with is really awkward. "What am I going to do?" Minji bumped her forehead on the edge of the table, she was about to cry. "Just act like nothing happened." Tiffany took another sip on her Americano. "Act normal. Don't let him you're embarrassed about it and you remembered the whole night. It will just add up to the awkwardness. It will only make things hard." "You know I can't hide what I'm feeling inside. It automatically affects my physical appearance." "Then deal with it. You can't run away now." Why do we have to meet in that way, huh? Why can't I act normal? Did he still remember me, that night at Banpo bridge? Of course! Why not!, random thoughts stated running on Minji's mind that she finished her choco in one final sip. 

To be continued...

Note: If there are typo errors, the author is sincerely sorry. She'll going to edit that as soon as she can. Don't forget to subscribe!