Chapter 3

The Encounter

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6 months later…

Jiyeon panted as she ran as fast as she could in her colored heels across the street.

It was like this every single day. Despite having at least 10 alarms set up, being the heavy sleeper that she was, Jiyeon still managed to sleep right through all of them. By the time she actually woke up, she only had 10 minutes to get ready and 5 minutes to run to work (it was a 15-minute walk).

Because of her clients, she had been only getting, at most, 3 hours of sleep every night even pulling a couple all- nighters here and there, making it even more difficult for her to actually wake up in the morning. This also explained why she was currently holding an iced coffee in her hands as she quickly dodged people walking in the other direction.

Jiyeon silently cursed in her head at her outfit of choice today. She was wearing a white blouse tucked into a pastel orange-pink colored skirt that ended mid-thigh with a matching blazer. It was definitely not an outfit made for running.

As she turned the corner, she ran into a hard chest and it literally felt as if she had run into a brick wall. Because of the impact, she stumbled backwards, causing her to drop her folders and papers that she had no time to organize that morning, as well as her purse and a few things inside.

It also caused the coffee in her hand to spill on the figure holding onto her to prevent her from falling.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!” said Jiyeon quickly in English, before catching herself and apologized in Korean instead. Whenever she was feeling panicked or flustered, her English would accidently slip.

“It’s fine, “grumbled Sehun, looking down at his shirt that now had a coffee stain on his white dress shirt. He quickly let go of Jiyeon as she quickly bent down to pick up her things, not noticing the spill she had caused.

Sighing, Sehun bent down to help the girl pick up her things, when he caught a whiff of her pomegranate perfume. It wasn’t a prominent smell but was still detectable and made him pause for a quick second.

“I’m so sorry, I was in a rush and I didn’t see you when I turned the corner,” rambled Jiyeon, quickly gathering the things that had fallen out of her purse.

The two of them stood up at the same time as Sehun silently handed her the papers and folders that had fallen to the ground, not quite catching her face.

“Thank you,” said Jiyeon in a small voice. She was still staring at the ground as she mentally cursed herself for being so careless and clumsy, before bringing her head upwards to look at the person who she had bumped into.

Jiyeon felt her breath get caught in as she stared at the attractive male in front of her. She immediately noticed his black hair that was messily styled as well as his sharp features. He had very defined eyebrows as well as a sharp gaze that seemed to penetrate right through her. He had to be at least 6-foot-tall and had a jawline that could cut paper. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating, but in her eyes, he was breath taking.

As their eyes met, Sehun couldn’t help but stare at the figure standing in front of him. His heartbeat quickened, making him wonder what in the world was going on. She was petite and looked like she only reached his chin, despite her heels. She had long brown hair that was effortlessly styled, making it look messy but neat. But what had caught his attention were her eyes. They were a light shade brown and had a slight innocent glisten to them. In his eyes, she was beautiful.

A loud ring interrupted the causing the two of them to quickly break the gaze. As her face grew red in embarrassment for staring at the male, Jiyeon quickly fumbled through her purse, looking for her phone. After what seemed like 5 minutes, but was actually just 10 seconds, she finally found her phone, answering as she brought it to her ear.

“Hello?” she asked as she felt the male’s gaze still on her.

“Jiyeon!” shouted a voice through the phone. She immediately recognized the voice to be her coworker and close friend, Byun Baekhyun. “Where are you?”

“I’m coming right now,” said Jiyeon.

“Hurry!” said Baekhyun urgently. “Chanyeol is looking for you.”

Park Chanyeol was the current CEO of Seoul Architects, also the one who had hired her. She had initially thought that the CEO of such a big company would be intimidating, however when she met him, she was completely surprised to find that he was the complete opposite of what she had initially predicted. She immediately became close with him and Baekhyun, who was the supervisor of all the branches and Park Chanyeol’s best friend.

“Do you know why?” asked Jiyeon, as she began to chew her lips- something she did whenever she was nervous.

“I don’t know, but he’s not in a bad mood,” said Baekhyun before adding. “Then again, when is he not.”

“Alright, I’ll be there soon,” said Jiyeon, letting out a sigh of relief.

Ending the call, she turned back to look at the figure still standing in front of her, only to gasp when she saw the dark stain on his dress shirt.

“Your shirt!” said Jiyeon, immediately apologizing. “I am so sorry. I’m such a klutz and I should’ve been more careful.”

“It’s really fine,” said Sehun giving the panicking girl in front of him a small smile.

“No,” said Jiyeon. “I ran into you, so I should be responsible. It looks like it’s going to stain…”

“It’s okay,” assured Sehun.

“But-“

Before Jiyeon could finish her sentence, her phone binged, indicating that she had a text message. Glancing at her phone, she saw that it was Baekhyun telling her to hurry.

“Look, I am so sorry about your shirt, but I really have to go,” said Jiyeon without thinking, as she stepped to the side. “I’ll pay for your dry cleaning or a new shirt the next time I see you!”

Before Sehun could reply, Jiyeon took off running, making Sehun turn around to look after her running figure.

“Again, I’m so sorry!” shouted Jiyeon once again as she looked back at Sehun before making her way in the direction of her office.

W