Being given a holiday in the middle of the week was rare for Jihyun and she had been enjoying her own quality time to the fullest by staying indoors, unpacking the last few boxes of her belongings and unwrapping two new electrical appliances, housewarming gifts she received from her brother and coworkers. She had just woken up from a much needed afternoon nap when she was summoned by Daniel to pay a visit to his office with a nice bag of homemade food since he would be working overtime. For the past two weeks she had been working involuntarily as his unpaid personal chef, preparing infinite menus from breakfast to dinner as a way to pay off her debt and get her schedule planner back. Despite her strong reluctance she had no choice but to cave in to his requests, wildly digging through her fridge in the evening for some meat, vegetables and fruits (she made an effort to store all her beloved seafood in a separate compartment as to not mix them with the ingredients for Daniel’s meals) to put together two complete sets of packed meal (dosirak) from appetizers to desserts. Daniel took his requests to a new level that day with an additional note that she has to deliver them personally before the sun sets.

She could have easily put up a fight with him and refuse all his demands, but deep down inside she was nudged by the feeling of guilt for ‘poisoning’ him and the fact that the accident could have been her fault in the first place. With the book still in Daniel’s possession, her day to day job as a wedding planner for the past two weeks had been a struggle, because she was only allowed a glimpse of one page from the book in exchange for each meal she’d prepare for him. As a preventive measure in case a similar incident could happen in the future, Jihyun made extra copies of the contents by saving a picture of the pages in her phone, typing them in her iPad, writing down in a new planner book and even tried to memorize them by heart. Jihyun had texted Daniel and reported herself to the receptionist upon her arrival, as she was now waiting in the lobby of Yeongdo Group building at exactly 6 p.m. with a neatly packed dosirak sitting on her lap, while considering if he should be compensating her travelling expenses after being unexpectedly promoted from her position as a personal chef to a delivery girl. This was her third visit to the company, both first and second time had her running urgent errands for her brother, Jisung.

It had been almost a month since she moved into her new apartment and her brother was still left in the dark about the identity of the man she had been involved in an accident with. There was no doubt that he would realize the truth sooner or later, but Jihyun had been meaning to prolong the secret for as long as she could to avoid her brother from getting in trouble at work due to her mistakes. Wearing a red oversized hoodie, Jihyun felt like the Little Red Riding Hood journeying into the dangerous woods on her way to see her grandmother whom had been unfortunately eaten by the Wolf. Red was definitely a bad colour choice for blending in the crowd when you’re surrounded with a sea of formal working attires, but it was the only clothing she had that was big enough to cover her figure and hide her face in case she bumped into Jisung . To make matters worse, Daniel’s specific instructions were to deliver his meal straight to his office which increases the probability of Jihyun running into her brother (she made a mental note to study the art of disguise, since she had a strong feeling that deliveries like this wouldn’t be her last). After receiving a guest nametag from the receptionist, she headed to the elevators with light and quick steps while wishing that Jisung had left work earlier that evening.

Jihyun prayed that she would arrive soon before the discomfort could swallow her whole as she pulled the hoodie over her head and moved further to the corner of the elevator, when she received curious glances by the few people occupying the elevator due to her bright clothing and the delicious aroma wafting from the package in her arms. After sensing imminent danger from the increasing attention she had received, she pushed her way through the packed elevator and sprinted for the open door. Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest when she arrived at his office floor after taking the emergency staircase the rest of the way up, as she multitasked in keeping an eye on Jisung, hiding herself and look for Daniel’s office all at once. The whole building actually felt like the dangerous woods in Little Red Riding Hood’s story as she was now standing alone in the middle of the deserted office (she had been expecting at least a few of the staffs to be working overtime), feeling shivers running up her back at the thought of a wolf pouncing on her unnoticed at any moment. She took small hesitant steps further into the office floor, trying to recall where she had last seen her brother’s work cubicle when a tall figure loomed above her, creating a large shadow under the bright ceiling lights, “What are you looking at?” a familiar mischievous voice asked.

Jihyun spun too quickly and crashed into the tall figure, sending her stumbling backwards as she landed on her bottom with a loud yelp and lost the grip of the package in her arms. By reflex, the man extended his arm and grabbed onto the package before it could topple over, releasing its delicious contents all over the floor, “How could you be so reckless? You could’ve ruin my precious dinner!” Daniel chided, shaking his head in disapproval of her clumsiness and ignoring the girl who was lying flat on the floor of his office with wide eyes.

“Why are y-you here? W-where’s your office?” pointing her finger in his face, she blurted out the first thing on her mind once she laid eyes on Daniel, before darting her eyes around the eerily quiet area for any signs of anyone who might be watching their interaction.

Daniel raised an eyebrow and returned the food in her arms once Jihyun sprang back to her feet, considering whether he should be judging her odd behaviour while his mind wandered at the unusually short time she took to arrive at his office after he had confirmed her arrival, as if it wasn’t her first time here, “You’re late. Follow me,” he grumbled, walking away in the direction to his office.

Jihyun confirmed that danger had been averted once they stepped into Daniel’s office, closing the door behind her and sighing in relief, glad that the worse was over and she could finally let her guard down from getting too worked up on the idea of being caught red-handed by her brother. She carefully set the food on a large table situated in the middle of the room as her eyes roamed over the modern interior, feeling a similar vibe when she first stepped into his house. The reality of Daniel’s relatively high-position in a corporate business and the amount of influence and authority he would have as one of the directors in the company sank in deeper into her brain once she sat on one of the black-leathered sofa’s arm rest to catch her breath, further convincing her to keep the secret acquaintance with him as her neighbour from her brother, in fear of jeopardizing Jisung’s career. He made her feel small and inferior, it was incomparable to her job as a wedding planner of a small event management company with modest earnings. At the same time, she couldn’t help to grow curious as to why Daniel chose to reside in an apartment targeted specifically for those in the middle-class when he could have easily bought a luxurious apartment with his income, maybe he has a humble side that she has yet to discover or he could just be a stingy person for all she knew.

While she was drowning in her own thoughts, Daniel had settled into his chair and buried himself in his work once more, too preoccupied to notice Jihyun walking towards him, “Excuse me,” she cleared .

He raised his left hand as a sign for her to wait while his right hand skillfully wrote down a few notes and left a signature on the file he had been perusing for the past hour, leaving Jihyun no choice but to simply nod and wait patiently from fear of interfering with his work. How could a man look attractive just by flipping through mundane paperwork with intense gaze or pressing his temples with his fingers? He’s got the brain and brawn, not just a mere eye candy. And she meant a drop dead gorgeous kind of eye candy. She let out a deep breath as quietly as possible, feeling her heart starting to race as she watched him review the paperwork in a serious mode and she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from him. She couldn’t stop herself from acknowledging that Daniel’s handsomeness increased by tenfold just from his simple actions and formal working attire; the perfect combination of the lazily rolled up sleeves of his white shirt, the exquisitely tailored pinstriped navy vest and a matching necktie. Jihyun had seen too many of his mischievous side that this professional working side of him was almost strange and uncharacteristic, it made something tickle the pit of her stomach with unsuspecting infatuation.

Daniel finally looked up from his papers a minute later and their eyes met. Jihyun quickly averted her gaze to focus on something else, coughing a little in an attempt to distract herself from how insanely good-looking Daniel was, “I’ll l-leave now. Don’t forget to bring me back the box when you’re done. Enjoy your dinner,” she said, quickly dismissing herself with a quick bow.

“Stay,”

“I’m s-sorry?”

Daniel had no idea that Jihyun felt like throwing herself out the window out of urgency she had to leave the room, and muttered one word that strangely held so much power to successfully stop her from leaving. What was his intention by asking her to stay? Aside from her brother, she was also hoping not to bump into the woman person that would be accompanying him for dinner which was her initial thought when he ordered her to cook two portions of the similar dishes and pack them separately. Did he expect her to serve him and his date friend as a waitress? “I don’t feel like eating two portions of food for dinner,” he said,