I have absolutely no idea as to when or how I fell asleep last night, but when I open my eyes, it’s already half past eight. Shoot, I’m late for work. I groan as I get up, and look around the room. I can’t get used to the fact that I’m actually living with Mr. Kim. Wait a minute. I hope he’s not waiting for me or anything. But if that were the case, he’d have woken me up, right? As multiple questions fly through my head, I remember last night. My cheeks immediately grow warm and I bury my face in my hands. Erm...how am I even going to face Mr. Kim?

I quickly jump out of bed and after roughly brushing my hair, I step out of the room. I eye the living room and tiptoe into the kitchen, but I don’t hear or see any signs of Mr. Kim. Has he left without me? I mean, I know I shouldn’t be disappointed, given that it’s me who overslept. But still...I thought he’d at least give me a wake up call. As I grab a cup and walk towards the fridge, I spot a small note.

I’m giving you the day off.

Take the time to fully settle in and organize your belongings.

I blink. The day off? I turn the note around, but there’s nothing more. I don’t know if it’s just me being overly sensitive, but the note doesn’t feel like it’s from Mr. Kim. It has a rather cold tone, and most definitely doesn’t have the word ‘baby’ in it. Wait, did I just say that? I must be going crazy; I can’t believe I’m actually used to and...enjoying that name now. I shake my head, brushing off the thought as I set the note aside and open the fridge. I need a glass of milk.

I end up doing what Mr. Kim gives me the day off for, and as soon as I’m done unboxing and sorting everything I need for the two weeks I’m staying here (given that I already had roughly organized things the day I got here), I see that it’s almost time for lunch. Already?

“...” I hold my phone in my hand and stare at the screen. My fingers do a little dance around it, as if they’re the ones debating whether or not I should call Mr. Kim. I toss my phone aside, frustrated with not having the courage to do one or the other. Should I call him? Or no? What will I say?

“Hello?” I’m biting my nails when Mr. Kim picks up. I’m half proud of myself for calling him, but I don’t know what to say. Just don’t stutter like an idiot, I tell myself.

“Listen, if you don’t have anything in particular to say, I’m going to have to hang up--” Mr. Kim starts to say.

“Have you eaten?” I blurt out. I try to ignore the fact that his voice is slightly impassive...kind of like the note he left behind. Maybe he’s tired?

“Yeah,” he says after a moment.

“Oh,” I find myself responding. I scratch the back of my head, feeling a bit awkward at the whole situation. I glance at the clock and it’s now a little past noon. “Wait, you ate already?” I ask.

“Yeah, I had a late breakfast,” Mr. Kim replies and soon continues, “I’m a bit busy right now so I have to hang up. Bye.”

And just like that, our call comes to an end. Something is definitely wrong. I sit there with the phone still held up to my ear, my brain struggling to find out what it could possibly be. Did I do something wrong? I replay last night’s last moment with him in my head, but nothing seems to stand out as to why Mr. Kim would be like this. He just smiled and said some blushy things before going into his room, right? It just feels weird having him be so serious to me all of a sudden when he’s always been so sweet and nice.

My stomach growls, interrupting my thoughts. I walk to my room to quickly get dressed and leave the house. I want some of Mrs. Ahn’s sushi rolls. Maybe it’ll help me not worry as much about Mr. Kim. It could be that he’s having a rough day at work… I’ll just ask him and sort things out when he gets back later.

“(y/n)!” Mrs. Ahn greets me as soon as I walk into the restaurant.

“Hello, Mrs. Ahn,” I greet her back. She gives me her signature, warm smile as she gestures for me to sit down at an empty table.

“The usual?” she asks. I start to nod when I stop myself.

“Actually, give me the most expensive deluxe set,” I look at Mrs. Ahn and she laughs.

“Well someone’s hungry. You got it,” she quickly runs to the kitchen. I take out my phone but get tired of looking at it after five minutes of surfing the web. I end up scanning the restaurant; there’s quite a bit of people, which makes sense since it’s lunchtime. As I continue waiting for my food, another customer steps into the restaurant.

His tall, slender figure and broad shoulders make him somewhat familiar. He’s wearing an oversized jacket with dark jeans, but his hair and face are covered by his cap.

When I get a good look at his face, his sharp nose and jawline come into view and I immediately recognize who he is. After greeting the employee by the counter, his eyes begin to scan the room, and his gaze soon falls on me.

“Hey Sushi Girl!” he waves and walks over to where I’m sitting at. It’s Mr. Oh, the chairman of Vivi Company. He slides into the seat across from me and calls Mrs. Ahn over, “Two California rolls, please!”

I don’t even ask why he’s sitting with me when I haven’t even said anything. From what I know, he’s not going to budge anyway. He smiles at me and soon starts a conversation, “So how are you these days? I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Sorry, I’ve been busy with...a lot of things,” I say.

“So busy you stopped coming to the place you said you come often?” he slightly pouts and pours me a glass of water that’s placed on the table.

“Yeah, sorry,” I say again.

“Is Kim Junmyeon loading you with work? If he annoys you, you can come work for me right away,” he grins. I give him a weak smile. Mr. Kim...why is he coming up everytime I try not to think about him? Wait that reminds me.

“Were you guys school friends or something?” I ask. They both clearly talk like they know each other pretty well...and like they almost hate each other.

“Well...Junmyeon and I go way back,” Mr. Oh starts to say. I wait for him to continue and he does, “We used to be best friends in high school, but he started hating me after I treated his depression like it wasn’t a big deal.”

“Depression?” I ask. I remember my dream, where I was trying to save a man from committing suicide. The man who might happen to be...Mr. Kim. Mr. Oh nods slowly, and his eyes are filled with grief.

“Yeah. Junmyeon never wanted to be a chairman. The burden his parents put on him was more than probably anyone can handle. And I always thought he was joking when he said he wanted to kill himself,” Mr. Oh goes on. He laughs slightly, and rubs the back of neck. “And I took it too far. I don’t blame him for not liking me anymore.”

“Oh…” I respond, afraid to ask more. My head’s confused with all this sudden information. I had no idea Mr. Kim was suffering like that. Mr. Oh fixes his cap with one hand.

“Yes, but I think it was after he went to college? There was this one girl who changed--” Mr. Oh begins but is interrupted by Mrs. Ahn, who is carrying two trays with our lunch. She sets them down in front of us and smiles, “Eat up darlings!”

We both thank her and pick up our chopsticks. As we’re both occupied with our food, Mr. Oh clears his throat.

“You know this reminds me. You owe me sushi rolls,” he says as he’s still chewing. Oh, that’s right. I forgot how that’s how we first met. He paid for my meal when I clearly didn’t ask him to.

“Okay, okay,” I respond, half in frustration. Mr. Oh glances at me and chuckles. He takes a sip of water and then opens his mouth.

“Wait, I don’t even know your name. What’s your name?” he says. I almost laugh. All this time he’s been calling “Sushi girl” and it isn’t until now when he finally decides to ask me what my name is.

“(y/n),” I answer as I continue munching on my food. I hear Mr. Oh set down his chopsticks. When I look up, he’s staring at me with a serious gaze.

“(y/n)?” he asks. I nod and tilt my head in confusement.

“What’s the matter?”

“(y/n) (your last name)?” he raises his eyebrows and I’m surprised he knows my last name.

“How’d you know?” I narrow my eyes at him.

“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you from the start,” Mr. Kim covers his face with one of his hands as he continues, “You’re (y/n)? No wonder Junmyeon was so defensive around you.”

    “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say. What is going on?

    “Shoot. Junmyeon probably hates me more now for trying to flirt with his baby,” Mr. Oh groans. He soon starts laughing and I just keep staring at him puzzled.

    “What?”

    “You’re the girl I was going to mention earlier. The one girl who brought the Junmyeon I know back. The Junmyeon who’s...not so depressed,” Mr. Oh says. I feel my eyes growing wider.

    “Me?”

    “Yes,” Mr. Oh answers before continuing, “Well I guess I take back offering you a job at my place. You stay with your Mr. Kim. I don’t want to die young.”

He shudders a bit and I just nod, not knowing whether I should laugh or not. Who would have thought that Mr. Oh and Mr. Kim would be high school friends? It’s a small world.

After we’ve finished our meal, we get up and head towards the paying desk. But before I can even pull out my wallet to pay for both our meals, Mr. Oh hands Mrs. Ahn his credit card. I look at him with large eyes.

“Wasn’t I supposed to pay for your meal this time?” I ask.

“Yeah, well just put in a good word for me when you see Junmyeon, okay?” Mr. Oh winks as he continues paying. He thanks Mrs. Ahn and we both say goodbye as we leave the restaurant. I find myself standing outside in the middle of the street, facing Mr. Oh.

“Thank you,” I say as I clear my throat. I wasn’t planning to eat a deluxe set for free. Mr. Oh bends a little to directly face me.

“No, thank you,” he says and adds, “For being there for Junmyeon.” He then straightens up and puts out his hand. I slowly grab it and he smiles, “Well Sushi girl, it was nice knowing you. I guess we’ll see each other if our paths end up crossing again.”

“Goodbye,” I say and watch Mr. Oh walk to his car and drive off. I let all the information I got from him sink in. I guess I have to be by Mr. Kim’s side now all the more.

***

    I feel like a puppy waiting for her owner to come back from work. I walk around the house; I look through Mr. Kim’s library, the kitchen fridge, more shelves, and then find myself laying down on the couch, staring at the ceiling. When is he coming? It’s about time he--

    Beep beep beep. I hear the passcode being inputted and a low hum before the door slides open. It’s Mr. Kim! I quickly jump up and run to him.

“How was work?” I ask, as I reach out for his bag. Mr. Kim looks at me a little surprised before slowly letting me take his bag. His hair is down and his face looks tired.

“Tired?” I ask, when I don’t get a response. Mr. Kim slightly nods. I respond with a quiet “oh” and set his bag on a chair. He clears his throat and begins to take off his jacket. Is it too warm in here? I search his face, and notice it’s damp with sweat.

“Are you okay? Are you sick?” I go closer. Mr. Kim steps back and begins to walk towards his room, avoiding me. I feel a pang in my heart from the mild rejection. What is going on?

“I’m fine,” he says. I find myself nodding silently. “Did you finish unpacking?” he asks and I nod again. His tone is oddly cold. I want to ask what the matter is but my mouth asks a different question, “Are you hungry?”

Mr. Kim shakes his head. He turns away and begins to his shirt as he makes his way towards the bathroom door. Whoa, hold the phone. I’m literally right here and he can’t wait to remove his clothes until he actually gets inside the bathroom?

“Mr. Kim, wait--” I start to say my voice trails off as he finishes ing. His shirt parts immediately, revealing smooth skin. And...abs. I have to stop myself from gulping and tell myself to turn away.

“...” Right before I can turn away, he rips off his shirt and walks into the bathroom. My eyes take in his glorious back, huge and packed with muscles. Oh God… My face heats up and I force myself to pivot away and walk to my room. I hear a slam, and only then do I take a peek.

Mr. Kim’s nowhere to be seen, and I soon hear the showers running. I look at his clothes thrown on the ground and couch and it feels weird seeing how messy the place looks. Mr. Kim isn’t the messy type. He must be really bugged about something for him to rip off his attire and immediately go bathe, as weird as that sounds. I end up folding up his clothes nicely and placing them on a chair, next to his bag.

Something is definitely wrong, and I don’t know what to do. Mr. Kim has never shown this side of him, and I feel it’s best not to question him at the moment. He needs time to cool. I sit on my bed and swing my legs as I continue wondering what it might be. Is it me? Or is it work? He’s never ignored me like he did just now, and I didn’t hear the word ‘baby’ today. No, (y/n); don’t get used to that word. But a part of me already knows I’m expecting to hear it from him now. I shake my head to get rid of the millions of thoughts running through my head and decide to head to bed early.

   ***

Author's Notes:

Oh my goodness; let me apologize for how boring this chapter is XDDDD

And how there were no sweet moments with Mr. Kim... I'm trying to wrap this story up and for that "things" have to happen...

Don't worry; we shall see Mr. Kim return to the sweetie he is... soon enough XDDD

Thank you so much for reading and know that I appreciate each and every one of you <3

Also to the few of you who give me feedback THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU GUYS LITERALLY MAKE MY DAY *insert heart*

See you soon!