I limped my way into work the next morning having barely slept the night before. I had taken the painkillers the doctor had prescribed for me, and while they took away most of my pain, my ankle still hurt. But that wasn’t the real reason why I couldn’t sleep. Ever since Jin had found me buried under all those files, I couldn’t shake one stupid thought from my head.

The thought that maybe… just maybe… Jin might have feelings for me. I had laughed at myself enough during the night as that thought took root in my brain. I mean, why would someone like Jin be interested in me? But the more I thought about it… the more evidence my brain seemed to produce.

I’ve only been at the company for two months and Jin handpicked me to lead one of the biggest contracts we have, even though there are other people on the team who would probably have done a much better job, and who wouldn’t have literally buried themselves in work.

Plus, there's the fact that ever since I started working there, Jin has never been as harsh on me as he is with practically everyone else. Although he's never outright mean, he can be quite harsh, but he's never been like that with me. He has critiqued my work, but it’s always been in a positive way.

Plus, whether by accident or not, he's always stepped in whenever Wonsik has gotten too much. I don’t know if it’s just always been by chance, but almost every time Wonsik has tried to talk to me, Jin has somehow managed to intervene.

These thoughts had kept me all night. Over analysing every conversation we had had over and over again, trying to work out what it all meant. Needless to say, all I had gained was a banging sore head and a lot less sleep than I needed and no answers.

I hobbled out of the elevator, cursing the fact that teleportation isn’t a thing yet. Someone needs to look into that, like right now. I turned the corner to my cubicle to see someone sitting at my desk.

I inwardly cursed. “Wonsik, what are you doing here?” I asked, my voice tired and weary, I was not ready to talk to him. I require way more caffeine before facing this train wreck of a conversation. He jumped to his feet at the sound of my voice. He spun around to face me, his words dying on his lips as he noticed me leaning against Jackson’s desk to take the weight off my ankle.

“What happened to you? Are you okay?” he asked, his warm eyes shining with concern. I straightened my shoulders, pushing away the tugging in my chest at the worry in his voice. “I’m fine.” I said firmly. He gave me a disbelieving look. “You don’t look fine, sit down.” He said as he pushed my chair so that it was in front of me. I wanted to refuse his help, but I couldn’t deny that standing up was starting to hurt. I sat down with a sigh and Wonsik crouched down in front of me.

“What happened?” he asked again, that note of worry still in his voice. “I said I’m fine.” I said as I gripped the desk and started to pull myself towards my desk but Wonsik grabbed the arms of my chair, his strong arms caging me in my chair as he stood up, his tall frame hovering over mine. I could smell the all too familiar scent of his cologne. It’s the same one that I used to buy for him all the time. The scent brought back a million memories, all of which I'd prefer to stay buried.

“What are you doing?” I asked, hoping the waver I heard in my voice wasn’t as obvious to Wonsik as it was to me. “I’m worried about you and I want to talk.” He said earnestly. “There’s nothing to say.” I said, my voice flat. We’d already said more than enough.

“Nari…” he said, his hand reaching up to cup my cheek.

I bristled at his touch, but before I could say anything or push his hand away, a welcomed, beautiful voice sounded from behind us.

“Take your hand off my employee or I will sue you for ual harassment.”

Wonsik turned to see a stony faced Jin standing behind him. Wonsik removed his hand from my cheek, turning to face Jin, but subtly moving to stand in front of me, as if he was protecting me from Jin. The thought was laughable. “This has nothing to do with you.” Wonsik said coolly. Jin ignored him, peering around him to meet my gaze, his eyes turning soft. “Are you okay?” he asked. I nodded, my words catching in my throat. He nodded at me, as if confirming something before he turned back to Wonsik, the softness in his eyes completely gone.

“If I see you harassing my employees again I will call the police. Now please go to the office you were assigned to or return to your own workplace.” Jin said, his voice low and level. Wonsik cast a look back at me, as if hoping I would tell him to stay. “You should go.” I said. I could sense Wonsik's frustration even though his expression didn’t change. I could see the stiffness in his movements as he grabbed his bag from my desk before he stormed off, making sure to bump shoulders with Jin as he went.

I released a long sigh, letting my head fall back to rest on the back of my chair. Jin took a couple of steps towards me, stopping in the spot where Wonsik had been only a moment before. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, that softness returning to his eyes again. I smiled up at him, not wanting him to worry. “Yeah, everything’s good.” I said, hoping he would buy my lie.

He studied me for almost an entire minute before he rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. He his heel and went back to the end of the row, grabbing two coffee cups that he must have left there before he had intervened. “I thought you might need this.” He said as he placed one of the cups on my desk before heading into his own office without another word.

I smiled down at the coffee cup, inhaling the sweet smell of caffeine. “This is gonna be a long day.” I muttered to myself as the familiar sound of Jackson’s voice sounded down the hallway.

Jin

I couldn’t focus. I've spent the last two hours just staring at a blank computer screen instead of actually working. I don’t know why seeing that Wonsik guy with Nari makes me so angry.

I flexed my hands, the overwhelming desire to punch Wonsik square in the jaw still bubbling just beneath the surface. “The quicker we can end this project the better.” I muttered as I grabbed my mouse, hoping to actually get something done before lunch.

I barely managed to open a folder on my computer before someone knocked on my door. I shouted at them to enter, and immediately regretted the decision when Wonsik appeared in front of me. I wonder just how much of a problem it would cause with Star if I punched one of their employees?

He closed the door behind him and approached my desk, choosing to stand instead of sitting on one of my rather comfortable chairs. A feeble attempt to dwarf me and make himself feel superior to me. It’ll take more than that to impress me.

I leant back in my chair, meaning that I didn’t need to tilt my head back to look at the man in front of me. “Is there something I can help you with? Perhaps you'd like to apologise for harassing one of my employees this morning?” I asked casually, enjoying the brief flash of anger behind Wonsik's eyes. It was obvious that he was trying to keep calm. Let’s see how long he’ll last.

“What is your problem?” he spat. I barely raised an eyebrow at his question. “What are you referring to?” I asked. I could see the tenseness in his shoulders as he answered. “Why do you keep on interfering with me and Nari?” he asked. “I have no idea what you're talking about.” I replied, keeping my tone light, even though hearing Nari’s name coming from his mouth was making me angry.

“Look, Nari and I have history together, and I would appreciate it if you would out of our business.” Wonsik said. I scoffed at his words. “I don’t care what kind of history you two have.”

A lie.

Knowing that he has some kind of tie to Nari infuriates me.

“But while you are a guest here, I suggest that you act accordingly. This is a place of work, not a place for you to relive your history with one of my employees who doesn’t seem to share your interest in reliving old memories.” I said, my anger slowly slipping through my words. Wonsik scowled at me. “Look, not that this is any of your business, but Nari and I were engaged and we’re going through a bit of a rough patch and we’re just trying to sort things out.”

My hands tightened around the arm rests of my chair as I forced my expression to remain neutral. “As I just said, this is not the place for it and I would appreciate it if you would cease harassing my employee.”

He studied me for a minute, his eyes landing on my almost painful grip on my arm rests before he let out a sharp laugh. “You like her, don’t you?” he asked. I smirked back at him. He probably expected me to deny it, but I decided to throw him off guard. I stood up to my full height and smiled down at the man in front of me. “Yes. I do.” I could tell by his expression that I had been right. He had expected me to deny it. “You can’t.” He spat. “We’re engaged and- “

“Used to be engaged.” I corrected with a smile. He lost control of his expression, his neutral expression morphing into one of rage. “Listen here, you piece of sh- “

A loud knocking at the door interrupted the insult that was undoubtedly coming my way as Nari opened the door to my office, freezing when she spotted Wonsik in front of me. “Uuummm, sorry to interrupt, but we’re ready to start the meeting.” She said, her eyes darting between me and Wonsik, obviously sensing the tension between the two of us. “We’ll be right there.” I said, my gaze still on Wonsik.

I saw her nod from the corner of my eye, before she looked between the two of us one more time before she backed out my office. “We have a meeting to attend, however, I wouldn’t be against you not attending. In fact, I would much prefer it if you would just return to Star and remove yourself from my sight all together.” I said. “But it looks like you're quite a stubborn guy, judging on how you're still chasing after Nari even when it’s clear to see that she is no longer interested in you.”

I picked up the files I needed for the meeting. “If you do intend on staying here, then remember what I said. You are merely a guest here, and you’ve already overstayed your welcome. And if I see you harassing Nari again, I will report you to the police.” I said, the threat clear in my words and tone. “Now get out of my office.” I said as I shooed him away with my hand, knowing that it would get his blood boiling.

His hands were clenched into fists and part of me hoped that he would swing for me. It would be the perfect excuse to remove him from the building and put some distance between him and Nari. Unfortunately, he chickened out. Instead turning on his heel and leaving my office. I let out a sigh and ran my hand through hair. “It looks like I’m going to need to keep a closer eye on Nari.”