The building seemed slightly ominous as it towered over the small girl.  Fuu’s breath quickened and a smile formed on her face as she gripped the cardboard containers in her hands; the first day on the job always seemed to bring a sense of excitement and fear, and Fuu wasn’t sure which feeling was making her more nauseous. She strode forward, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible balancing two boxes in her arms, though it proved to be tougher than it looked as she teetered left and right, trying not to spill any of the contents.

It had been a whirlwind of activity the minute her plane had landed in Seoul not five hours before. After unpacking what little she had brought with her, she had barely enough time to introduce herself to her new roommates before she organized her work materials and hailed a taxi heading towards the J.Y.P. Entertainment building. This was unnecessary, however, as she found that the building was less than a few blocks from her apartment; even worse, she had a feeling that the taxi driver knew she was a foreigner, whether it was Fuu’s lousy Korean that tipped her off or what, he had tried to get her to pay more than she knew she owed.  

Sighing, she vowed she wouldn’t let anything else interfere or faze her that day in order to make a good first impression. When she reached the double doors of the entrance, Fuu struggled to push it open with her shoulder. She was confused as to why she was receiving strange looks from people, and her confusion was replaced by surprise when movement caused her to fall backwards as she sat down hard, the boxes slipping out of her arms as papers and pens spilled out on to the ground. She started collecting all of her belongings as quickly as possible, hoping she wasn’t attracting too much attention.

“I’m sorry.”

Fuu made sure she had gathered everything before looking around, wondering whether or not the acknowledgement was directed towards her. A hand was extended in front of her and she looked up, following the well built arm to a sharp, handsome face. He smiled at her, showing a row of larger-than-average teeth, nonetheless his face looked apologetic. She hesitantly took his hand; Fuu could have sworn her feet had left the ground momentarily as he pulled her up with little to no effort on his part.  

“I’m sorry,” he said again. His voice was deep and husky, and Fuu felt the goosebumps rise on her arms.  

She nodded her head to indicate that it was alright and the man suddenly started speaking Korean very quickly; Fuu stood dumbfounded as she tried to grasp bits and pieces of what he was saying.  It seemed he was trying to explain himself, indicating the door and the ground with his hands, chuckling between every other sentence. Though her Korean wasn’t the best in the world she managed to understand him and she suddenly grew embarrassed. Apparently the doors were pull, not push, which explained why she was getting weird looks trying to force open the door with her shoulder. The young man had been heading out and hadn’t noticed her on the other end when he opened the door. After he finished he looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“My... Korean isn’t very... good,” she said, trying not to sound awkward.  

“Really? How about English?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Fuu nodded happily, relieved that she knew that language much better. She was about to make idle conversation when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out she saw that she had a new text and she flipped the device open; she had promised to be in the Advertising department a few minutes ago with everything already set up, her new manager was wondering where she was. She was suddenly panicked and she mumbled a quick thank you to the stranger, and was about to turn around and be on her way when he grabbed one of the boxes in her hands and held the door open for her.  

“Let me help you. I’ve got time, and consider it my way of saying sorry.” He gave her one of those toothy grins and Fuu felt the heat rise in her face.  

Walking towards the elevators, a sort of awkward silence fell between them. Pressing the button, she racked her brain trying to find something to say, what would be a good conversation starter? The metal doors slid open and the two found that they had the compartment all to themselves, which seemed to have heightened their situation. Both of them stood there, with him staring straight ahead and her swaying to the music as she didn’t know what exactly to do.

“I’m Taecyeon,” the young man said after a few seconds, breaking the silence.  

Of course, introductions, why hadn’t she thought of that?

“Huang Fuu Mi,” she said, bowing slightly in his direction, her hand tightening its grip on the box. She noticed how her voice seemed to waver as she introduced herself, and she didn’t try to make eye contact.

For some reason, the air was stifling in their enclosed space and Fuu hoped he didn’t hear her erratic breathing, even more so her loud heartbeat. She was vaguely aware that their shoulders were almost touching and Fuu mentally slapped herself for wanting to close the small gap between them. She shuffled awkwardly, happy he didn’t see her fidgeting on her side of the elevator. He was looking forward, a small smile on his face, and she couldn’t help but notice his amazing profile. What was this? Was she suddenly reduced to a fidgety school girl? Was this how a small schoolyard romance affected her? She tried to calm herself down, although her sweaty palms made it hard for her.

They reached her floor and she let out a big breath, surprised she had been holding it in the first place.  Walking through the maze of cubicles, she saw that many people were looking their way, and she knew for a fact they weren’t staring at her this time. Taecyeon seemed to command attention, whether it was because of his height, his build, or his looks; Fuu was guessing all three. Avoiding eye contact with everyone she found her designated office and smiled, it seemed the new job didn’t really hit her until she was staring at her own workspace. Taecyeon placed the cardboard box next to her desk.

“Here, I’m sorry again for what happened.” He stood there for a few seconds before turning around, he waved back at her and headed towards the stairs instead of the elevators.

Once he was out of sight Fuu collapsed in her chair, unsure of what really happened, who she’d met, and how she was feeling at the moment. A smile was plastered on her face and she decided to preoccupy herself by unpacking her stuff. Pulling out her more important papers, she rummaged through them and came across a copy of her resume. She looked over it, taking in all of the information she had written down, all of her references and examples of her graphic work. It had been pure luck on her part that she was even hired for this position, she owed it to her impeccable timing; apparently the previous person working the position had retired and Fuu’s resume had come in just in time, and her work was good enough for them to consider her.  

Peeking outside the confines of her office, she surveyed her surroundings and tried to take in all of the faces she would be working with for the next few years. Her eyes darted to the stairway and she couldn’t help but smile when she remembered him, albeit most girls probably wouldn’t want to remember a guy who had pushed them down in public, but in his defense it was accidental.

“Taecyeon...” she said wistfully, sliding back down in her chair.