Brain reset. Brain reset.

The best word to describe Yoon Jihyun at the moment was ‘deer’, or more specifically a deer caught in the headlights. Kang Daniel had managed to take her breath away, surprising her to the point that she was rendered speechless, motionless and had probably lost the ability to think temporarily. His strong arm was still holding her securely in place as he took off his sunglasses and gave her a steady intent look filled with concern, “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked softly.

Dammit! Brain reset and reboot!

She regretted opening her eyes because each time their eyes met, she was like a deer caught in the headlights who could only stare blankly at those mesmerizing yet soft gaze of his. She couldn’t look away from him at that moment, why did he look more attractive now? Was it because of the after effect of him being a hero and shielding her from harm? Jihyun urged her brain to quickly come up with some form of response when she saw that Daniel’s face had drawn closer and closer towards her, “Yes! Yes, I’m okay,” she quickly blurted out a reply, fixing her hunched up posture as she fished around in her bag for her phone. Luckily she didn’t have to pretend to check on her phone because she had soon received a call from the person she’s meeting, “I’m almost there. Give me ten minutes,” she hastily replied.

Hearing the rushed conversation, Daniel pulled away and rested himself back to the driver’s seat while glancing at the GPS navigation. Confirming the estimated time of arrival in the next ten minutes, he resumed driving after putting his sunglasses back on and focusing all his attention back to the road. Both of them neither spoke a word nor steal glances at each other throughout the rest of the ride as if the almost accident hadn’t happened, encouraging a silent and awkward atmosphere to slowly fill up the vehicle. Daniel slowed down to a stop once the navigation announced that they had arrived and that their destination was located on their right. He parked at the side of the road away from the traffic to drop her off, but was later doubting the accuracy of the GPS navigation because all he could see around the area were endless shop windows of upscale bridal boutiques, “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” he asked, rolling down his window as he scanned the area skeptically.

“Yes,” Jihyun hastily replied as her hands were frantically pulling on the door handle, completely ignoring the fact that she might cause another minor damage to his car, “and I'm already super late for my appointment,” she added, motioning towards the door with her eyes.

“At a bridal boutique?” Daniel continued asking, paying no heed to her who was clearly struggling with his door. Only when she grumbled in frustration and tried to reach for the buttons on the dashboard to unlock the door did he react, by grabbing her wrist before she could push all the buttons in panic, “Let me,” he said, calmly pressing on one of the buttons as the doors unlocked with a ‘click’. She froze again for the second time, staring intently at his warm hand clasped around her wrist in a gentle almost caring manner as her heart skipped a beat. She softly tugged at her hand, pulling it away from him as their fingers brushed softly with each other, sending sparks of electricity coursing through her arm.

“Thanks for the ride!” Jihyun replied, swiftly unbuckling the seatbelt (luckily she didn’t need his help this time) and making her way out of the car. By the time Daniel realized what was happening, she had sent him a small bow and disappeared inside one of the boutiques.

****************

Daniel lazily pressed the button inside the elevator to the floor where his office was located and started putting on the blazer to complete the overall look of his three piece suite. As the door was about to close a brown leather briefcase appeared, blocking the door and forcing it open for the owner to enter. A male and two females stepped inside the elevator and almost gasped to find that they were about to share an elevator with the company’s creative director, as they hastily apologised and slowly retreated. Daniel pushed the button to keep the door open and poked his head outside, noticing that they were his additional staffs from the marketing department who just started working with his team last month for a joint project, “It's fine, come in. We're all going to the same floor anyway,” he ushered them back inside with a smile. 

His staffs bowed and showered him with gratitude as they stepped back inside the elevator and stood at the very back of it, admiring the view and the humbleness their boss had offered. They have heard words of mouth from the creative director’s staffs about how easy-going, humble and friendly he was to his employees, but were reminded to keep things professional and still give him respect as a superior. However most of them didn't know that Daniel is one of the board of directors’ son, who refused to reveal his true identity and secure an easy spot high up in the hierarchy, and chose to be recognized for his abilities instead of connections. He entered the company the mainstream way, from sending his resume, going to multiple interviews to working his way up the corporate ladder with his own efforts and hard-work. Three years later, he was now a successful head of his own department, coming up with creative contents to promote the company's brand reputation and products.

The elevator arrived at their office floor with a ‘ding’ as Daniel took amble steps towards his room, greeting a few staffs on his way. His secretary greeted and briefed him on the schedule for the day before he stepped inside his room and closed the door behind him. He slumped himself on his chair and threw his bag haphazardly on the table, some of the contents peeking out from the open bag and rolling onto the empty table. He sighed heavily, deciding to take a few minutes rest before starting his busy day. Truthfully, his mind had been occupied by thoughts of a certain girl he had dropped off at Gangnam a while ago, whom he had spent the last forty-eight hours with in chaos. Heaven knows why Daniel couldn't shake off the thought of Jihyun having an appointment at a bridal boutique. He was surprised and positively intrigued when he saw the fleeting glint of excitement in her eyes as she saw the boutique and felt something strangely tugging inside him when he saw how hurried she was to get out of his car and meet whoever she was having an appointment with.

Any normal person’s first conclusion would be that she was meeting her future husband and going to her wedding dress fitting, which seemed to be further confirmed by the wedding planning book he found in his car along with Jihyun’s apartment key card after he had dropped her off. On the other hand, Daniel had noticed another fact that would refute his claims, he didn't see any ring on any of her fingers from their numerous interactions. As he was about to flip through the book out of curiosity, someone knocked on his door and requested to enter.

“I brought the fixed proposal and agreement letter that you requested,” Yoon Jisung greeted with a smile, walking towards his table and taking a seat, “and I also brought you coffee,” he added, offering the takeout coffee to the younger male. 

Daniel quickly stashed the book and key card into one of his drawers and took the file from Jisung, “Thanks, but no coffee for me today. I'm on my meds,” he politely refused, already burying his face inside the papers.

“Another allergic reaction? You haven't had those in a while though,” Jisung commented, eyeing him worriedly with a frown on his face. He obviously knew of his boss and friend’s allergy towards shellfish, learning it the hard way when Daniel almost fainted during one of their company dinners if it wasn't for his long-time secretary’s quick thinking to give him a shot of epinephrine when he had started showing the signs. Since then, all the location for their company dinners has to be approved by the boss himself to make sure they are free from any type of dishes using sea creatures.

“Thanks to my new neighbour’s peace offering, I was wheeled to the ER last night,” Daniel said, softly shaking his head as he reminisced Jihyun's overconfident face when she appeared at his doorstep yesterday, “Genius thinks it's a great idea to put a shrimp in my food,” he chuckled to himself, admitting that the kimchi fried rice would've been the best version he'd ever tasted in his life (second to his mother’s of course) if only there weren't any shrimp in the ingredients.

“You don't seem upset about it though,” Jisung raised an eyebrow, skeptical about his smile and the lighthearted way he was retelling the supposedly dangerous situation.

“She made up for it with a decent breakfast. Besides she looks kinda cute when she’s panicking,”

***************

“You’re finally here! What took you so long?” Sunmi exclaimed once her cousin had entered through the glass doors. She had her back facing the door, already expecting Jihyun’s arrival when she saw her stepping out of an expensive car through the glass window display of the boutique. Sunmi stopped browsing through the endless racks of wedding dresses when Jihyun didn't reply to her question and simply walked emotionlessly, as if she just had her soul out o