“Junmyeon, it’s ing one in the morning, what is it this time – “

               “She has…she has a damn kid, Sehun.”

               The voice on the other end of the line fell silent. “...S-Say that again?”

               The young man simply rubbed his eyes for the thousandth time that day. “Joohyun, she has a ing daughter and it’s probably mine.” His tone faltered for just the slightest moment, but he swallowed the lump in his throat and breathed in deeply.

               “B-But how do you know it’s yours? How do you know she’s not just bluffing?”

               “Sehun,” he groaned into the receiver. “She gave me attitude about how I don’t get a part in their lives because I walked out on them almost ten years ago.”

               “And how do you know she’s not going to try and use that to get a claim on your money – “

               “No. Don’t…don’t say that.” Junmyeon sighed and stared down at his phone. “Joohyun isn’t like that. She wouldn’t. She’s far too proud to do something like that.”

               Sehun clicked his tongue over the phone. “For someone who’s supposed to be getting married within the next year, you’re still awfully hung up over someone from your past.”

               “I…” He simply let out a breath in frustration. “…You know what? You wouldn’t understand anyway. Good night, Sehun.”

               “I – W-Wait! Wait – “

               “Good night, Sehun.”

               Junmyeon turned off his phone and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Was this really the retribution he deserved for something he couldn’t control? Junmyeon had lost count of how many times in the past week he’d had to pull himself out of his own mind, out of thinking about Joohyun and their past circumstance.

               “A kid...she has my kid…”

               Junmyeon dragged himself out of his seat at the dining table and trudged out of the room, shutting off the lights behind him and letting the sounds of his footsteps carry him upstairs. The harsh light of his bathroom mirror met him, and the puffy redness of his eyes were daunting to look at. Junmyeon his faucet and let the icy cold water run through his fingers before cupping them and letting the fluid pool in his hands. Through the dissonant hum of the bathroom sink, he stared at himself in the water and swallowed thickly.

               The water was a stinging coldness against his skin, and it left him panting and clutching the edge of his sink. Junmyeon lifted his eyes back up to the sheen of his mirror, and he almost gasped at his own reflection. The red in his eyes had intensified, now bloodshot and likely irritated. His hair, normally clean and combed, was slightly soaked at the tips and stuck to his forehead in strands. He looked like a madman, and it only took a week to undo ten years of progress.

               “Get a hold of yourself, Junmyeon…you’re getting married in a few months. This is nothing.” This should be nothing, he thought, reaching up to rub at his eyes again. Kim Junmyeon was completely content to have drowned out the rest of his life by indulging himself in work and marrying someone that no one objected against. Except for the part when his girlfriend from high school walked back into his life and told him that she was raising their kid by herself.

               He clutched his hair until his knuckles turned white, while exhaling and breathing out hot air. His body moved on its own accord, moving him through the relative darkness of his bedroom until he was standing in front of his nightstand. He looked down at the pill bottle in his hands in a daze, admiring the clean labeling in the dim glow of his lamp.

               “…Two should do the trick.”

               Her skin was soft upon his lips, but he hoped she wouldn’t feel the vibrations of his heart pounding against his ribcage. They traveled up from her collarbone, against the flesh of her neck, and once again on her own lips. He hummed softly, ignoring the beating in his chest whilst her fingers were tangling in his curly locks.

               “…J-Junmyeon…,” Joohyun whispered, unable to pull away, but wanting to shy away from him.

               The teenage boy pulled away at the sound of his name. “Joohyun? What is it? Do you want to stop?”

               She shook her head, black strands coming loose to fall in front of her face. “I’m…I’m just nervous.”

               Junmyeon reached up and swept the hair from the front of her face, tucking the strands behind her ear. His hand came to rest on her cheek and gently tilted her up to look at him. “Hey, I’m nervous too…but you trust me, right?”

               She smiled softly and returned his gaze. “I wouldn’t be sitting right here if I didn’t.” Junmyeon opened his mouth to speak, but the girl already s her arms around his neck and was mere inches from his face. “…I love you, Junmyeon.”

               A smile stretched across his face. “I love you too.” His lips melted on her again, and his jelly limbs might have given out on him had he not remembered he was holding a half- schoolgirl in his lap. With fingers splayed across the small of her back and another hand under her skirt and halfway up her thigh, Junmyeon’s thoughts were swimming in the clouds. Seeing her stretched out underneath him with only the gentle orange glow from his nightstand illuminating her sent butterflies to Junmyeon’s stomach.

               His hands trembled, crawling up the pale skin of her stomach before –

               Junmyeon’s eyes shot open, still as red as they were just the previous night. His arm shot out of his blanket, smashing down on the surface of his nightstand blindly as he tried to find the source of his blaring alarm. His fingers enclosed around the plastic casing of his phone, and he squinted as he lifted it to stare at his screen. 6:02AM. His thumb languidly dragged across the screen, silencing the horrid noise, before he turned over and buried his face in his pillow.

               “…Good morning, huh?”

               Her lips were still stained red from last night, but they were mostly smudged in the aftermath of the previous night’s activities. She let out a sigh as her eyes glazed over the nonchalant text message displayed on her phone’s screen. Just because she was used to seeing the obligatory good morning message from Junmyeon – complete with an emoji – didn’t mean that she couldn’t feel the guilt tugging at her heartstrings.

               “…Hnnngh…Soo…Sooyoung, it’s still early…”

               The brunette looked over her shoulder at the sleeping figure now sprawled across her side of the bed. Youngho’s hair was mussed up and all over the place; Sooyoung resisted the urge to sink her fingers into that black mop.

               “I’m coming back to bed, don’t worry,” she whispered, before turning back to the phone in her fingers. She sighed inwardly and put it back in her purse, then shuffled back under the sheets with the sleeping man. She could afford leaving him on read; Junmyeon was used to it anyway.

               The morning had been pleasant for Joohyun thus far. The train station wasn’t as packed as it usually was for that time in the morning. It wasn’t raining cats and dogs like it had been the previous week. Even her hair managed to cooperate, framing her face in gentle waves after it’d been blow-dried in a hasty manner. Soojung, the receptionist at the front desk who usually kept an unreadable poker face, acknowledged her and gave her a once-over. Joohyun knew her combination of empire-waisted slacks and a pristine white blouse would be killer.

               “There’s coffee waiting upstairs in your cubicle because Seulgi went out for a coffee run. Hope you like French vanilla,” Soojung said, eyes scanning monotonously over the screen of her computer.

               “Thank you…? Sounds good.”

               And before Joohyun could step away from the front desk, the icy receptionist spoke up again. “There’s also a caramel macchiato on your desk. That’s for Mr. Kim. Best not keep him waiting; he didn’t look too good from the way I saw him enter the building just ten minutes ago.”

               Joohyun narrowed her eyes but nodded in understanding. “…Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”

               Not feeling well, huh? Her tongue darted out and slipped over her glossed, bottom lip as she thought about the events that transpired just last night. The fact that she had lied about having a daughter by him, and seeing the color drain from his face before exiting his car. Even after last week’s breakdown and the prospect of seeing the same scumbag that left her ten years ago, maybe she was finally going to get the due she deserved. After all, a high-paying, prestigious job and getting revenge on her ex were not mutually exclusive in her book.

               “You’re looking nice today, Joohyun? Is there a special occasion I should be aware of?” Seungwan stopped by her cubicle, peeking over the divider as Joohyun stuffed her purse in the drawer.

               “Nothing. Today seemed like a really nice day so I decided to be a little more generous with my attire.” Joohyun shrugged at Seungwan but there was a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

               “Okay,” the other girl replied. “You meeting up with the boss man soon?”

               Joohyun could only roll her eyes. “Yeah. I have to bring up this coffee and then probably get briefed on today’s work…I hope it’s not too tiring.” She flashed Seungwan a smile before picking up the cup of iced coffee and striding across the floor to the elevator.

               Upon hearing the soft ding of the elevator as the doors closed, she allowed herself a deep breath in the solitude of that steel box. The moment she stepped out of that elevator and walked into his office was the first time she was seeing him since she left him last night. And from what Soojung at the front desk told her, Mr. Kim wasn’t looking too well that morning. Joohyun inhaled sharply, not denying the sudden sinking feeling in her stomach, but she wasn’t going to lose this round either.

               Her eyes followed the indicator at the top of the elevator as it rose to the top of the building. Another deep breath. Eyes closed. She hated herself for allowing Junmyeon to reduce her to this state. It was a repeating series of flashbacks in her mind when something as simple as the sound of his name came to her ears. Her eyes finally opened when the elevator came to the stop, and the soft ding of the indicator was accompanied by the sound of the steel doors sliding open.

               The empty corridor was filled with nothing but the sound of her heels softly clacking on the marble floors. The cup of iced coffee was cool to the touch, but it would take much of her willpower not to dump the beverage on Junmyeon once she walked into that office. Allowing herself one last deep breath, Joohyun placed a manicured hand on the wooden frame of his office doors and pushed it open.

               Junmyeon’s office was just as silent as she remembered last week. Joohyun forced herself to look up at him, only to realize he wasn’t even looking at her. Just like last week, he was standing in front of the window of his office again, with the gentle sunlight streaming into the room behind him. Junmyeon was holding a packet of papers in front of him, and he scrutinized the paper behind thick frames. If Joohyun looked any closer, she might have noticed the dark circles surrounding his eyes.

               She cleared . “…Good morning, Mr. Kim.”

               Junmyeon raised his head as if hearing a siren in the distance, and then turned to look her. He cautiously regarded her from above his lenses. “…Ms. Bae. Good morning to you too.” His voice was quiet, but the silence in the room was stifling enough as it was, and the sound of his voice only increased the tension in the room.

               Joohyun chewed on the inside of her cheek before replying. “…They asked me to bring this coffee up for you. Iced caramel macchiato. Other than that, I’m here for the daily briefing.”

               “…Ah. Okay.” Junmyeon nodded stiffly and placed the packet of papers down. “You can set the coffee down here on my desk. Thank you…for bringing it up. Tell that to Soojung as well.”

               “Got it.”

               “And while we’re at it, ah…I have something I need to give to you.”

               Joohyun tilted her head in confusion as she approached his desk, quietly setting the cup of iced coffee down on the surface while keeping her eyes glued to the CEO. Junmyeon was currently bent over behind his desk, rummaging for something in his bag. Joohyun watched him from the other side intently until he stood back up to face her. She moved her eyes to the small box the young man was now holding in his hands.

               “I…forgot to give you this last night before you, um…left.” She eyed him closely; it was subtle, but he was fidgety, something uncharacteristic of someone of his caliber. Joohyun watched as he handed the box over to her, showing off the simplistic packaging on the front.

               “This is…”

               “It’s a new tablet. I picked it up yesterday during my lunch break. I figured you’d need your own instead of borrowing some of the older models that we have laying around,” he said, matter-of-factly. Junmyeon adjusted his glasses and gauged her reaction.

               Joohyun looked down at the box then back at Junmyeon, her lips falling open but failing to come up with words to say. “I…I-I can’t take this, this is – “

               “Nonsense.” He waved his hand and smiled (albeit, dryly) at her. “It’s already pre-loaded with some of the necessary apps, as well as contacts with some of our regular clients. It’s more than enough of what you’ll be needing if you’re going to be continuing your job as my personal assistant.” Junmyeon sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, creasing the fabric of his button-up. “…It’s the least I could do.”

               Joohyun noted the distant look in his eyes and swallowed. She could tell there was a hint of animosity behind those eyes of his, possibly stemming from the events of last night.

               “…Well?”

               “Ah…thank you, Mr. Kim, sir. This is incredibly generous of you. I’m not sure what to say.”

               Junmyeon scooted over and sat himself in his seat, turning his attention back to the papers on his desk. “You don’t have to. I’ve already sent you the agenda for today; just check your company email. You can ask Ms. Kang down in tech for your company login and password.”

               It was as if a chill ran down her spine, but Joohyun simply clenched her fingers and shook herself. “I will be going then, sir.”

               Junmyeon didn’t spare her another look, and she almost scowled. She briskly turned herself around and marched out of the office, heels again clacking on the marble floor. Her heart was pounding like it was, but she could feel the warmth spr