Day 68.

It’s been five days since Taeyeon returns back to the office. Everything seems fine, or that’s how she convinced herself. Amber and Bora are still refreshing with their jokes, Jinki is still busy as bee, Jonghyun is nowhere to be found around the office, Changmin and Henry are always up for some escapades to the nearest coffee shops.

Everything seems okay. Suho is very helpful still. Everything’s great to be honest. Well, yeah, except Minho.

She purposely eliminated any courtesy talks between them – the longer she’s facing him, the more she has the urge to punch the man in the face. She only speaks with him if it’s very necessary and no Suho around to convey her message. The first two days for example, she only said yes and no few times. The rest were carried through email and notes on post it.

Less than one month to go, she thought. Though she doesn’t speak with him, she’s actually not avoiding the man. She just preferred to work independently. Being professional she is, her speed at work is still as extraordinary as prior. Before she would approach him whenever she finished with her part of work, but now she rather asked directly to Suho or Hyungsik whether they need some extra hands or not.

And when both of them don’t have anything to pass on, she took the opportunity to get in her thesis. She quite amazed how much she could cover during her free time, until Minho sends her some emails about some design reviews or dropped sketches on her desk without saying anything besides leaving some notes on the top of each paper.

It’s better this way, that’s what she told Suho when the later became frustrated one afternoon with the tension and whole awkwardness stagnant in the air. Good thing, Suho never pick the matter anymore learning how hardheaded Taeyeon can be.

This morning, after she’s done sending some commission works she did for a friend to the printing company, Taeyeon came a bit early. Or she thought.

On Changmin’s desk, Bora, Amber, and Shindong are already making some commotion.

Shindong waves excitedly, “Whoa, Tae! You’re early!”

“You are early. What the heck are y’all doing this hour?”

“A donut place just opened down the street. Free milkshakes and mini donuts for the first 20 customers. So, donut?” Bora offered the box under her nose. Absolutely tempting, definitely life savior for her bottomless belly.

“Let me grab some coffee from the pantry first.”

She dashed to the pantry when Changmin can only nods, lips tight still trying to munch the dough inside his mouth. What greets her at the pantry though, it’s quite surprising. Minho’s sitting alone by the bar table at the window. Air pods plugged in and eyes stuck to whatever hooked him outside there.

He stays unbothered until Taeyeon clumsily dropped her phone on the oak table top and made him leaving his trance to check what’s going on. Minho caught a glimpse of Taeyeon cursing before she quickly marched back to the gang.

“Why the hell no one told me that Minho was there?” she shrieked to the bunch as if she was a criminal who just encountered a bounty hunter.

“Minho’s here already?” Bora knitted her brows together because since she’s arrived, she didn’t see any signal of Minho. At all. Is he actually a ghost?

What Taeyeon failed to catch was the exchanged look between Changmin and Amber when she rolled her eyes on Bora’s words.

“Yeah. And I felt like a thief at the street market you know. I just ran when he looked at my direction.”

“Young Lady, you really have a problem. If you want to ignore him, then do so. Like forget him even exist. Just like when my last girlfriend broke up with me. That’s the end. Who is Tiffany again?”

Changmin tried to ease the situation with another bad luck story of his love life.

“Well, he’s neither my boyfriend nor my ex and he could be so scary and transform into Hulk, so, nu-uh. Now where is my donut again?”

***

“Yeah, I can do this.”

“Are you sure?” Suho put his concern look and Taeyeon can only chuckle.

“Dude. Since when you have doubt on me?”

“It’s not like that.. I know you have plenty on your plate at the moment,” he glanced to Minho’s direction expecting some interruption from the tall man, “I don’t want to add another weight.”

“Pfft. Non sense. I’ll be here for less than a month, gotta make the use of me.”

“Sounds so ,” Suho wriggling his brows and Taeyeon burst into laughter, “Taeyeon is back, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is and she ain’t playing this time.”

“I almost forget how cool you are.”

“Stop it. Just show me which one I need to work on.”

“Been waiting to hear that words,” Suho spreads huge blue print on the empty space between his desk and Hyungsik’s, “My part is over here. So if you can, try to take the beach club and its connection to the main lobby building. I have some sketches from earlier discussion, just some ideas I was working on with Minho.”

Taeyeon took the papers from Suho’s hand. Her heart skipped a bit when she caught Minho’s hand sketches there. She knows she’s stupid for being like that, but she cannot lie she has soft spot for those silly emoticon he drew among the lines.

“You can start from the layout, but if you think mass study is faster, you can take the 3D immediately,” Suho paused while he realized Taeyeon is not with him anymore, “Tae? You okay there?”

“Uh, sure. Yeah. I’m just thinking where I should start, some idea just popped in my head.”

 Suho failed to notice the somber atmosphere clouded her face, “I always know I can count on you.”

“The only purpose in my life,” she winked and it’s Suho’s turn to laugh, “So I get thi—“

“MINHO! MY ROOM. NOW.”

The whole office went silent, Jinki just stepped to the entrance door and looks like about to murder someone.

“And take with you whoever worked on the Guam resort!”

The horror on Suho’s face is real. But it’s nothing compared to what’s plastered on Taeyeon’s. It was her who finalized the proposal about a week before she knocked out by the flu. She carefully retreated herself to her desk, wondering so hard where all the stuff she did went wrong. Not tiny thing came up her now blank mind.

Minho cursed silently, he stands stiffly by his chair, he wanted to punch himself for seeing Taeyeon’s trying to hide her shaking shoulders.

“CHOI MINHO!”

Jinki yells again for no one showed up by his door. He took the folder file of the Guam’s project, Taeyeon’s staring at him desperately asking some help.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. Just take your notes, I have everything with me.”

She nods weakly and followed Minho’s steps steadying herself before she lose her balance and out on the floor. Before she turned away, she saw Bora about to run her side but Changmin hold her. The worry of other’s eyes is so real she’s ready to faint. Nobody ever been summoned unless they made very very terrible mistake. Nobody ever been summoned to the glass room to discuss something about the project. It’s always Jinki and Jonghyun who walked around from one desk to another to check their works. The glass room is restricted and now it’s ready to swallow an intern.

“Explain this.”

Jinki threw his iPad onto the piles of printed project proposal. Taeyeon can see, it’s the presentation she made for the resort proposal.

“Can you calm the down? You’re scaring someone here.”

“They’re supposed to be. How can this be happening?! Taeyeon! What did you do?!”

She wanted to answer so bad but her tongue tied and betrayed her.

“Whoa, whoa. Hold on. Everything needs to pass me first.”

“Oh, now suddenly you’re acting like a knight?! Days went by she tried so hard to get your attention she had to work independently and now you told me to not complain to her?”

The man trying so hard to keep his cool, the vein on his temple are about to burst anytime soon.

“She did what I told her. All her works are indirect result of my instructions. So if she did it wrong, it was me.”

“Huh? Really?! If you said so. Explain why she was freaking stupid making a presentation like this?! Unfinished proposal?! She jeopardized this company!”

Taeyeon still cannot figure out what she did wrong. When she took over the work from Suho, the man told her to finish the design proposal with anything she had. Her ideas, her design styles, it was up to her. She took the responsibility, very seriously, she got approval on the design not only from Suho, but also Hyungsik and Kyuhyun.

“Jinki, it was me. Minho wasn’t at the office that time. I took the project from Suho because he had to handle the other two deadlines.”

“Now you’re talking. Who the hell told you to put that layout?! No details, no 3D visualization, only mood board!”

“I made the 3D, I even had some altern—“

“You sketched. You hand drew it and put it in photoshop. You think this is preliminary discussion for a small house renovation?! It’s a big cash project!”

“I didn’t put it there without permission. Suho said it’s okay, he said it’s not the final presentation.”

“Suho is not the boss! And he’s not the one who presenting the desig