Onew POV

“WHHHHAAATTT!?!....ahdhskjfkehaofijdh*$^?DKD^!!*#^…,” she trailed off into cursing under her breath.  Her fists tore at her hair in utter frustration.  She jumped up to go pacing along the mirrored wall, her heels ticking like an ominous clock.  We could have been furniture for all that she paid attention to us.

“Ummm…maybe we should go and get some drinks,” Jjong suggested timidly, already backing away toward the door.  “Good idea, hyung,” Taemin agreed, flicking a nervous look at ____.

I raised an eyebrow at Key, who was adjusting his hair in the mirror.  Without looking at me, he spoke up.  “Don’t look at me, Onew-ah, I told you it was going to be a mess.  You’ll have to take the hit on this one.”   He nonchalantly patted my face before heading out after the other two.

“And you, Minho, are you going to share your manly advice on how to handle an upset woman,” I asked.  I was genuinely hoping for some sort of miracle trick.

“Bad news, hyung.  _____-ah isn’t just any woman.”  With that cryptic statement he shook his head at me and headed out the door.

Leaving me to face the wrath of _____.   I had hoped that filling her in on the details of the situation would distract her, and it did.  But she was obviously irrational.  NO WAY was I going to interrupt her until she looked normal.  I looked longingly at the door, but I had the foreboding feeling that if I tried to run away, I mean leave her to her thoughts, I would die some terribly grisly death.  Probably something involving long knives or ants and honey. 

I snapped out of the contemplation of my own demise when she stopped dead in her tracks and came stalking toward me.  I couldn’t help but hurry to my feet, blindly scurrying away until my back hit the wall.  And still she came, marching right up to me and slammed her hands on either side of my neck.  The crack of her hands hitting the wall made be flinch, but I stayed very, VERY still. 

My brow furrowed. 

Hang on...isn’t this usually what the GUY does to the GIRL, trapping them like this?

I was miffed for all of a nanosecond, and then I was distracted.  She leaned in, her body pressing against mine from chest to toes, her nose brushing mine as she stared into my eyes.  It was the gaze of the cobra, paralyzing me.  I couldn’t have moved if my life depended upon it.    

Then she spoke…

Your POV

“You  JERK.”   You hissed it at him, layering it with as much venom as possible.  “Nappeun Namja....” 

“You stupid, stupid MAN!”

No response.  His eyes were stuck wide open, apprehension clearly written in his expression.  Yes, you were fully aware that you were pressed on him like white on rice.  You didn’t care.  This wasn’t about attraction, this was about FURY.   I could feel my Cuban heritage rising up within me- all raging Latina-gorgeous and deadly.

Boy, did it feel good to let that pour on out- coloring the space between us in lashings of red-hot heat, and not the y kind.

“You call the PRESIDENT OF YOUR COMPANY, not after asking me, noOOOooo, but BEHIND MY BACK.  You broker this whole CRAZY *BLEEPING*  idea, and just casually tell me that

ONE OF THE BIGGEST CAREER MOVES OF

MY.   WHOLE.    LIFE. 

is riding on a single presentation.”  

He tried to speak, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“Shhhhh,” I whispered with a sickly-sweet tone, running a finger across his lips.  “I’m not through.” 

He gulped, his adam’s apple bobbing in what I secretly admitted was a y way.  I could see sweat breaking out along his hairline.  It was a side of me that a past boyfriend may have recognized, but this was his first exposure to my wild side.   It had to be shocking, because I certainly wasn’t being my usual sweet Korean self.  Not this time.

Am I making you nervous, JInki? You should be.  Oh, yes, you should be.

I moved my face, rubbing our cheeks together.  I could feel heat build from the contact as he finally broke out of his stasis to grab my waist.  Before he could push me away, I chuckled softly into his ear.   I could feel our hearts pounding away.  He froze again, his hands unconsciously tightening.

I knew it couldn’t go anywhere, he still saw us as friends after all, but this was my revenge.  I knew he had purposefully waited to drop the bomb on me- to distract me from the whole “pity” issue.  He was right- we HAD known each other too long.  When I put in the effort, I could read him like a book. 

Plus, I wasn’t stupid. 

Does he think he can hide what he’s truly thinking from me? PABO.

“This is going to take a lot of groveling, Onew-ssi, a LOT of groveling, before I forgive you for saddling me with this utterly terrifying, insanely difficult, mind-blowingly amazing project.  I accept the terms.  I accept the job.” 

I could feel his cheek rise against mine, probably because he was smiling.  I definitely felt the deep breath he took, probably about to say something cheerful.   

Well, I can’t have that. Time to remind him that I do have limits. And he passed them.

I roughened my whisper again.  “Don’t try to arrange my life again.  EVER.  Just remember,  Onew-ssi, I don’t have to use skinny jeans to cut off the circulation to your balls.  I’ll use my sewing scissors.”

I pulled away as his hands fell limply from my hips.  I surveyed the impact.  His eyes were wider than ever.  Mouth gaping wide.  Holding his breath.    He was stunned.  Perfect.

Walking over to my abandoned sketches,  I shuffled them into a loose stack and into my nearby bag.  I swayed off toward the door, my earlier klutzy incident a distant memory, and paused at the entrance. 

This is too good! *evil laugh* I just can’t resist-

I looked over my shoulder.  “Would you be a dear and tell Mr. Lee Soo Man that I’ll be calling to set up a meeting soon?  After all, if I only have A MONTH, I should get started. Kamsamnida.”    He nodded at me mechanically, still silent.  I swept out, pulling the door shut behind me with a confident click.

And laughed madly all the way back to my house.