"Good morning, boss! Here's your coffee—venti, triple shot, non-fat, caramel syrup, a sprinkle of chocolate shavings, and 78 degrees!"

Without a word, Bona takes the cup from Eunseo while walking through the double doors which her secretary holds open with her other hand. 

She places her bag on the mahogany table, sets her coffee on its porcelain coaster, and finally settles on her custom-made office chair. Once her laptop boots up for about nine seconds, Bona faces her secretary and asks about her schedule.

Not missing a beat, Eunseo replies, "Number crunching in half an hour, staff meeting starting at ten o'clock, lunch meeting with executives at twelve thirty, board meeting starts at one forty-five, and finally documents signing from four thirty to five o'clock." She pauses to take a breath and continues, "Basically, your only free time is now until nine thirty. Sorry about the sched, boss."

"It's fine," Bona sighs, taking her head in her hands and massaging her temples. "Can't do anything about it."

"Rough night again?" The younger girl asks as she rummages through a cabinet and mumbles a hushed 'Found it!'. She then sets a pill beside a glass of water already on the table.

"Not really," Bona takes a sip of coffee before continuing. "Just can't sleep. It's a big day."

"I don't think you've been sleeping much for the past week," Eunseo replies, her eyebrows scrunching together in worry. "Unnie, you need to rest. If you want, I know this doctor who can—"

"It's fine, Eunseo," Bona smiles at not only her secretary for almost three years, but also her friend. "Once this day is over, I'll get some sleep."

"Some well-deserved sleep," Eunseo adds. "Let's hope you get through this day then."

"Right," she sighs once more, slumping down in her seat.

————————

The one thing Bona only really looked forward to was the lunch meeting with her fellow executives. It wasn't really a meeting per se—it was just a term that Exy, or Sojung to the rest of the company, came up with to have a reprieve in the middle of the day.

Bona enters the room, ready to unload the stress that came with just one staff meeting, and immediately covers her eyes.

"Seola unnie! Soobin!"

She turns around and leaves the room, shutting the door. Shivers run down her spine as Bona tries her best to remove what she just saw from her memory.

I did not need to see that.

A few moments pass and the door opens to a beaming Soobin, "You can come in now, Bona unnie!"

She takes a tentative step inside and after making sure that both of her friends are decent, Bona sits on the chair to Seola's left.

"Sorry about that," Seola sends her a sheepish grin, sharing a look with Soobin.

"Learn to control yourselves, will you," she teases the both of them, grinning back. "Anyone else could've walked in and—oh, your collar's wrinkled."

Soobin leans closer to Seola and fixes the collar of her white button-up, laying a quick peck on her cheek after. "Done!"

Bona swears she sees literal heart eyes from the two and wonders if she'll ever have something like that.

She supposes it's kind of her fault—since graduating from college, Bona didn't really make time for romance in her life and poured all of her energy on to her work, and the only hobbies she had were shopping and watching televison dramas. Most times, she'd be content with what she has right now, but it's when she sees love so blatantly displayed right in front of her that Bona feels lonely.

Before her thoughts could spiral down into a darker place, fingers snap right before her eyes.

"Earth to Bona!" says Exy, who she didn't notice already arrived.

"Huh?" Bona jolts. "Oh, Exy."

"Oh, Exy?" the other repeats, scoffing. Bona just shrugs, not knowing how to explain her thoughts.

"Anyways, you haven't answered my question," Exy continues, looking at her expectantly. The younger girl sees that Bona has no clue on what she asked and mumbles something along the lines of 'I've been talking to you for about thirty seconds and you just...'.

Frowning, Exy asks again, "What's up with those dark circles under your eyes? Your makeup can barely hide it."

"She hasn't been sleeping much lately," Seola answers while feeding Soobin.

After swallowing, the latter continues, "She's been working overtime too."

Bona just looks at the two of them and raises an eyebrow. "How did you know that?"

"Our secretaries talk."

"Right." Bona purses her lips.

Still frowning, Exy says, "You should take better care of yourself, Jiyeon."

"I promise," Bona says, eyes boring into her younger friend's own, "that when this day ends, I'll sleep well and rest and probably just lock myself up in my room, ignoring the rest of the world."

Exy nods her approval. "Make sure you do."

————————

"That is all for today, ladies and gentlemen," Seola announces. "Thank you for your hard work."

Upon hearing that, the people in the meeting room begin to stand and file out the room. There are some who stayed behind to discuss a few more things with their colleagues, but most have already left, leaving Bona in her seat.

The meeting went mostly well, the fault of some board members who couldn't help but question and doubt what she presented, but it was nothing a professional like Bona couldn't handle.

————————

[a/n]

inspired by this fancam !