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Author’s POV

            Jiyeon rushed to the dressing table and checked herself in the mirror one last time that morning. She fixed her hair and makeup, making sure she was perfectly ready for her first day of work. She turned a few times in front of the mirror while checking her outfit. Her white blouse was nicely tucked in her mint-colored skirt and she looked perfect. Finally satisfied, she grabbed her handbag and rushed downstairs. While walking down the stairs, Jiyeon noticed Sehun was already waiting for her. His tall body also looked perfect in navy blue suits and purple tie. His hair was neatly slicked back and he looked like a total gentleman.

“You look beautiful.” Sehun said as soon as Jiyeon stopped in front of him.

“And you look perfect Sehun. My eyes are blessed.” Jiyeon joked and they both laughed.

“My parents want to see you. Mother sounded so excited.”

“It’s been weeks since I don’t see them. I miss them.”

“Let’s go then.”

            Sehun stopped his luxurious sports car right in front of the entrance. He even waited for Jiyeon and they walked side by side through the entrance. Arriving with the executive director caused Jiyeon to earn unnecessary attention from all the staffs of the company. She was shy from all the stares she received, but Sehun couldn’t care less. He wasn’t intimidated by the gaze they received while Jiyeon was struggling to avoid meeting anyone’s eyes.

“Just ignore them, Jiyeon. People who knows nothing loves to assume things.” Sehun calmly said.

“This reminds me so much of my first time walking next to you at school. I received this exact attention from the students. As expected of Oh Sehun, you’re still out of my reach.” Jiyeon joked and chuckled alone. She only stopped when she noticed Sehun was giving her a cold stare.

“I was never out of your reach, then and now.” Sehun sternly said.

Jiyeon suddenly curled a sad smile and looked at the ground, “I know. It was a joke.” She explained. No Sehun, it wasn’t a joke, though I wish it was. She then thought when he saw Sehun’s tense expression disappeared. She still had her sad smile. It still felt like Sehun was so far from her although they’re so close right now.

“Come Jiyeon, I’ll show you your department.”

“Okay.”

            Jiyeon’s first day of work was spent by tidying up her desk and ice breaking session with her officemates. Luckily they were friendly enough to approach the timid Jiyeon and help her making herself comfortable there. She was grateful that they didn’t ignore her and left her alone. But some of them were really curious of the gossip about her arriving with Sehun so she decided to just tell them that they are friends since high school and they finally stopped asking. She went for lunch with two of her new officemates she just met, Euna and Sooji who helped her to familiarize herself with the company and the new project they’re working on. The day went on very smoothly until the office hour come to an end. She was preparing to leave when she received a text message from Sehun.

‘Are you leaving now?’  Sehun texted.

‘Yes, I’m about to.’ She replied.

‘Wait for me at the lobby. I’ll drop you home.’

Jiyeon became restless as she received the text from Sehun but she quickly replied, ‘Sehun, Seongwoo will pick me up. Sorry I forgot to inform you.’

‘Ah I see. It’s okay then. I’ll pick you up tomorrow.’

‘Seongwoo said he can take me to the office too tomorrow.’ Jiyeon was somehow nervous every time she was replying to Sehun.

‘I get it. Take care. Say hi to Seongwoo.’ Sehun ended the text there and Jiyeon just sighed in relief that it finally ended. She felt bad for having to reject Sehun’s offer but she thought that was probably the best for them now, to not be seen together all the time. Luckily Seongwoo volunteered to be her driver just at the right moment so she just grabbed the chance.

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            It’s already her fourth day at the company and Jiyeon was finally getting more comfortable with her job. Before this she was always doing research only, but now she can finally practice her designing skill. After lunch time, Jiyeon and her team gathered at the meeting room. It’s her first official meeting since she started working, and it’s gonna be her first time seeing Sehun after her first day. She heard that Sehun was extremely busy and he barely left his office unless necessary such as going for a meeting or appointment. They said he wasn’t even out for lunch.

Does he it properly? Does he even eat? Jiyeon thought as her fingers were busy playing with the pen while they were waiting for Sehun to come.

“Hello everyone, sorry to keep you guys waiting.” Sehun’s voice brought Jiyeon back to reality. He was fixing his suit before taking a seat at the most end of the table. Jiyeon was just staring at him and a soft smile appeared on her face as she was secretly adoring the guy.

“Shall we begin now?” Sehun asked and everyone nodded.

Jiyeon stopped staring at Sehun and began checking the handouts she received. It was regarding the project they will be working on. Jiyeon’s team leader had informed her about the project called Serendipity, which turned out to be Sehun’s first initiated project since he started working. The project was already planned for the past few months the proposal was just approved. Jiyeon gave her full attention on Sehun who was presenting the project proposal to them and she was still amazed by his limitless capability. Remembering the moment she was amused when she first saw Sehun on the stage as student representative, it now felt like a dejavu seeing Sehun in front of her as a director.

“I need you guys to understand the meaning of serendipity so we can all implement the same understanding while working on this project for a perfect unified result. As we all know, in general, serendipity means finding something valuable when you’re not even looking for it. It was when you didn’t expect or plan it, but it turns out you discover something important, something very valuable that you felt like you are so fortunate. One thing for sure, you don’t wanna lose it.” Sehun explained and for a moment, Jiyeon realized that he was staring at her as he talked, as if the words were just for her,

“That is how I want us all to understand the meaning of serendipity.” Sehun finished talking and others just nodded understandingly while Jiyeon couldn’t took her eyes away from him.

Was that all… for me?   

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            After the meeting, Jiyeon went back to her desk and began planning out the idea on the perfume bottle designs for the project. She was excited for her first project so she really wanted to take it very seriously. However she couldn’t help but to get distracted, remembering Sehun’s words during the presentation so she couldn’t think of any ideas.

“Serendipity…” She muttered to herself and recalled the meaning of serendipity as Sehun told.

She tried to recall her live events that could possibly be serendipity. She remembered the moment Sehun saved her from the hell house. Her body still shivered every time she was reminded of the dark times, but she could still clearly remember the feeling when Sehun grabbed her and took her away from there. It was so warm. For the first time after so long, she saw hopes, she wanted to live and to dream again. She heaved out a loud sigh as she felt emotional upon recalling the past. Her eyes were teary but she held herself in and curled a light smile.

“I never expect I’d find someone so precious to me, and I didn’t know Sehun would be that someone when he took me with him. That is… serendipity.”

Jiyeon quickly jotted down the details she understood and began listing out the possible ideas that could be used for the project. Understanding the meaning of serendipity from her own experience, ideas kept coming out from her head. She spent the hours gathering ideas for design from various sources, benchmarking, and sketching some draft designs. She was so into her work that she didn’t realize that it’s already almost 9.00 p.m.

“Oh! I missed dinner?” She talked to herself. She looked around and noticed that the department was already empty, she was the only one left. She checked her phone and saw a few miscalls and messages from Seongwoo, “Ah, I forgot to inform him.”

Seongwoo had been picking her up and dropping her every day since she started working. His office wasn’t so far from hers so he told Jiyeon that she should just ride with him to work and they agreed on that. Too immersed in her work, Jiyeon felt bad she forgot to inform Seongwoo that she stayed back. She then dialed his number.

“Jiyeon-ah! Where are you? You’re still at work? Why didn’t you answer my call?” Seongwoo threw questions as soon as he picked up the call.

Jiyeon just chuckled hearing his worried voice, “Calm down Seongwoo. I’m still here, got some work to do. Sorry I didn’t inform you beforehand.”

“Still there? At this hour? Does Sehun give you a lot of works? Aish that guy, I’ll call him and scol