I worked late for the next few days. Determined to do well on this project. I knew that I would need to lead a team meeting soon, and I wanted to be as prepared as possible. My eyes landed on my proposal which Jin had returned to me, his corrections written neatly over the pages. Although I would never admit it out loud to Jackson, I have noticed that Jin treats me a little differently from the other people in the office. It’s nothing major, but it’s as if he's just a little less mean to me than the others. I have no idea if he knows about my failed wedding attempt and maybe feels sorry for me or something, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.

Learning from the Kim Seokjin is an honour, and to have him place his trust in me for such a big project is a dream come true, especially when I've only been with the company for two months. There are others there that are probably way more qualified and competent than me, but for some reason, he chose me.

“You’ve got talent. It’s still quite raw, but there's an honesty to your work which cannot be taught.”

Jin's words ranging through my head, making me swell with pride. “He thinks I’m talented.” I said with the slightest proud smile on my face. I leant back in my chair stretching out my muscles which were protesting from me being practically glued to my office chair. “I think I better call it a night.” I said as I stifled a yawn. Everyone had already left ages ago, the rest of the office in darkness. I saved all of my work and shut down my computer, snapping off my desk light before I went.

I walked quickly towards the elevator, hating having to walk through to dark office alone. I pressed the button for the elevator, looking over my shoulder every few seconds despite knowing that there was nothing and no one else on this floor. “Hurry up.” I muttered as the numbers slowly flashed above the elevator doors. Finally the elevator beeped as it arrived at my floor. I took one step towards the elevator when a large hand appeared on my shoulder.

I let out the loudest, most bloodcurdling scream I could as I grabbed my bag, swinging it around full force to hit my attacker. “Nari!” I heard an all too familiar voice say. I opened my eyes, not knowing when I had closed them, my jaw dropping when I saw who my ‘attacker’ was. “Mr Kim!” I half whispered. I just messed up big time. I just smacked my boss clean in the face with my handbag. I’m so getting fired.

“I’m so sorry!” I said as I quickly bowed in front of him. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise anyone else was here! And you just appeared out of nowhere! And it’s so dark up here it’s really creepy and I just panicked!” I blurted out so quickly I'd be surprised if he could make out the individual words. I slowly lifted my head, Jin looking at me with a mixture of bewilderment and amusement on his face. “I’m sorry I scared you.” He said apologetically. “But you left this behind.” he said as he handed me my phone, which I must have left on my desk.

“Oh, thank you!” I said as I gingerly took the phone from his fingers. “But, what are you doing here at this time of night?” I asked curiously. “I forgot to take some files home with me.” he said, gesturing towards his office. He must have been in the file room or something and that’s why I hadn’t seen him around. “What were you doing here so late?” he asked. “Ah, I was getting things ready for the team meeting. I want to be prepared as possible.”

He smiled slightly at me, “It’s good to see how passionate you are. But don’t overwork yourself. Oh, that’s right. I forgot to tell you. Star will be sending over one of their representatives to join in the meeting. They’ll be a part of your team while we plan their new advertising schedule, so make sure you have a copy of all the things they’ll need, okay?” he said. I nodded. “Of course.”

Jin smiled at me and pressed the button to open the elevator doors, gesturing for me to get in. “Get home safely, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said. I nodded and gave him a small bow. “I will, thank you Mr Kim.” I said as the door slid shut. My heart was thundering in my chest as the elevator slowly descended to the bottom floor. “Get it together, girl.” I said as I cleared my throat, squaring back my shoulders as walked out of the elevator.

Finally the day of our first team meeting arrived. I was nervous as I made my way to the meeting room. I was still relatively new to the team, and even though everyone was really kind and friendly, I was going to be leading them. It was nerve-wracking. I stopped outside of the meeting room, taking one last chance to smooth out the non-existent wrinkles in my clothes. “You’ve got this, Nari.” I said before I put a smile on my face and opened the door. My eyes landed on Jackson first, my energetic best friend giving me a thumbs up which made me smile.

Everyone else on my team gave me encouraging smiles until my eyes landed on Jin. His face was expressionless, but he gave me the slightest of nods which boosted my courage. I stood at the head of the table and plugged in my USB to the waiting laptop so that I could begin my presentation. “We’re still waiting for the representative from Star Jewellery, they should be here soon.” Jin said, looking annoyed by being kept waiting.

A few minutes later the door swung open to reveal the last person I ever wanted to see. Kim Wonsik.

We both froze as our eyes locked. Why the hell is he here? Wonsik looked at me with a pained expression but before either of us could say anything, Jin spoke up. “How nice of you to finally join us.” He said icily. If there was one sure fire way to rile Jin up, it was either mess up your grammar, or not be punctual. Wonsik had the decency to look apologetic as he turned to Jin, leaving me standing at the opposite end of the room, ready to bolt out the door.

“Sorry, traffic was worse than I expected.” He said, his eyes darting over to me. I steeled my emotions, keeping my face free of emotion as I needlessly organised my files in front of me. “Everyone this is Kim Wonsik. He’s the representative from Star Jewellery.” He said, his attention turning back to me. Wonsik took his seat, his information pack already sitting in front of him. I tried to ignore his intense stare as I cleared my throat and tried to focus on my presentation.

I already let Wonsik mess up my life once. I won't let him ruin this chance for me again. I launched into my well prepared presentation, thankfully everyone laughed at the right places and everyone looked interested, except for Jin who looked like he wasn’t paying any attention at all, but I knew he was listening to every word I said.

Wonsik's eyes didn’t leave me the whole time. He didn’t even open the information pack in front of him. I usually liked to make eye contact with everyone in the room, but I purposely skipped over Wonsik. The urge to hurl something at his face was simmering just below the surface and I didn’t want to mess up my presentation.

When the presentation ended, everyone headed back to their cubicles, Jackson making sure to give me another thumbs up before he left. I started picking up my things when I saw a familiar frame standing beside me. The all too familiar scent of the cologne I had bought him for his birthday invaded my nose. I used to love the smell of that cologne, now it just made me feel ill.

I stood up, facing Wonsik for the first time in months. I had been actively avoiding him since we broke up. He had tried to get me to forgive him for weeks after I caught him with our wedding planner but I no longer wanted anything to do with him. Despite that, it was still so hard to see him in front of me. He was still as devastatingly handsome as he had been since school. His broad shoulders and strong arms filled out his black dress shirt nicely and his tailored trousers showed off his long legs. “What are you doing here?” I asked, my tone icy.

“Nari…” he said, his deep, warm voice washing over me. “I’ve missed you.” He said, his voice raw. I crossed my arms over my chest, my nails digging into my biceps. “I asked you why you're here. I didn’t know you worked for Star.” I said, trying to keep any anger out of my voice, I wanted him to think that I didn’t care anymore, even though deep down, the wound he had left on my heart was still as raw as it was the day he inflicted it on me. He looked at me for a few seconds, as if trying to work out the right words to say.

“I got fired from my last job. I just couldn’t bear going in after everything that had happened so they fired me. I eventually got the job at Star and I knew you were working here and when I heard about the opportunity to work with your company… I couldn’t pass it up.” he said, his tone almost pleading. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves as I gave him a level stare, keeping my expression neutral. “Look, I don’t know what you were hoping for by showing up here. But if you were hoping that there was any chance of us getting back together, forget it.” I said firmly. I would not let Wonsik back into my life.

“Nari, please…”

“No Wonsik. Why can’t you understand why I don’t want you in my life. You hurt me.” I said, saying the words that I had told him a million times since that awful day. “You hurt me and no amount of apologies can fix that. I’ve got a good thing going here, don’t screw it up for me.” I warned. Wonsik opened his mouth to say something as I heard the door open and I quickly cut off whatever rubbish Wonsik was going to say. “So we’ll be having a progress meeting next week. There’s no need for you to attend, I can email you the information you’ll need, okay?” I said, my gaze warning Wonsik not to say anything relating to us and our relationship in front of whoever had just opened the door..

Wonsik glanced over to whoever had come into the office and nodded. “Okay. Thank you.” He said as he picked up his belongings and left.

I let out a long sigh, turning around to unplug my USB when I came face to face with Jin. “Everything okay between you two?” he asked. I nodded stiffly. “Yeah, everything’s fine.” I lied. “I better get back to work.” I said with false enthusiasm as I pocketed my USB and gathered up the rest of my things and left the room, resisting the urge to run out there at breakneck speed.

Jin

I left my phone in the meeting room again. I really need to start keeping it in my pocket and stop leaving it lying around. I went back to the meeting room, voices sounding from inside. I could just barely hear Nari and the guy from Star’s voices. I knew it was wrong but I couldn’t help but listen.

“I’ve got a good thing going here, don’t screw it up for me.”

I opened the door and saw Nari freeze from the sound. She quickly changed her tone and the topic, the dismissal clear to hear in her voice. I could tell that the guy Won… whatever wanted to say more to her, but with her clear dismissal, and my appearance, he wisely decided to leave.

I glared at the other man until he left before my gaze landed on Nari. I went up to her side, “Everything okay between you two?” I asked. She nodded stiffly, obviously not wanting to let on that anything that had just happened between her and that guy. “Yeah, everything’s fine.” She said, the lie clear to hear in her voice, but I decided not to push her about it. “I better get back to work.” She said as she grabbed her things and all but ran out of the room.

I sighed as I watched her go. Something had bothered me about that guy from the moment he had walked in the room. I wanted to chalk it up to the fact that he had been late, but I knew that wasn’t the case. I knew it was because of the way that he had looked at Nari. It bothered me seeing him staring at her with such… longing. It was an expression that I was all too familiar with.

I let out a sigh as I grabbed my phone before heading back to my office. Dreading tomorrow when Won-boy would become a permanent presence in our office.