Location: OFFICE OF ML ENTERTAINMENT

“How many times do I have to tell you that this is wrong?!” a loud voice was heard through the office. The employees looked at each other and snuck their head down to avoid being yelled at by their manager. The manager pointed at the small errors on the report and threw it on one of the desks loudly. “One error and it could cost us millions. Do this report again. I want it by the end of the day,” the manager sternly said as she walked away, heals click-clacking until she entered her office. A loud “bam” was heard and the employees released their breath, feeling as though they were suffocated for a minute or so. 

“Ha~she is always so ruthless,” one of the employees commented as they went and get some drinks in the employee’s break area. 

“Yeah, she has been like that for years. If she wasn’t the manager, I would just----KWAK!” another employee joined in, motioning a jab move in the air. “Ha~ she is younger than us, that is why I am so pissed. Like who does she think she is, being fking rude to us just cause she is the manager? She just randomly appeared out of nowhere and has no credentials. Just so fking bullshz--”

“Sakura Miyawaki. Transferred here from Japan. 28. Multilingual,” a voice joined the two employees in the break room, walking toward the coffee machine. She inserted her money and got sweet tea. The girl bent down to grabbed it and when she got up, she glared at the two who were -talking their manager. “After she came here, the department's profit increased significantly and everything has gotten more organized because of her. Her credentials? Ph.D. in management at Duke University. Did you know how many position offer she got before deciding to come to Korea? More than 100. So, I do not think that you should be asking whether she has the credentials but whether you can catch up to them,” the girl said as she smirked, looking at the two employees who were blushing madly due to embarrassment. She ran her hand through her hair as she checked the time on her watch. 

“W-w-Who are you?” one of the two employees asked, still averting their eyes from the person.
The girl half-heartedly smiled, bringing her hand out as she introduced herself, “I am Yabuki Nako. I’m a transfer from Japan, starting as Ms. Miyawaki secretary.” 

The employees shook her hand and bowed, excusing themselves from the awkward situation. Before they ran far, Nako uttered, “looking forward to working you~” Her smile broke as she stared at the two of them and scoffed. “They keep saying it is unfair but can’t even match up to her level. How is that even unfair?” Nako shook her head as she made her way to her manager’s room. The girl knocked on the door and heard a voice telling her to come in. She entered, seeing her manager reading a stack of files. “Sakura-chan.”

Sakura stopped herself and tilted her head up, seeing the petite girl. She broke into a small smile and got up, going toward Nako. Nako thought that the girl was going to hug her and spread out her arms but the girl grabbed hold of Nako’s hand instead and cupped them with both of her hand. “I’m happy to see you. I am looking forward to working with you.”

Nako chuckled seeing how the girl never changes and nodded her head. “Yeah, I’ve been wanting a different working scene.”

“That is great. Well, Ms. Kwon, my current secretary, can explain and transfer everything that she has to you so that you can get started.” Sakura called in her secretary and told Nako to follow her. 

Afterward, Sakura checked her wristwatch to see whether if it was time for lunch. She looked at her watch and saw how the second hand wasn’t moving at all. She tapped on the face of the watch then suddenly felt a sudden surge of energy inside her body escaping out from . Her heart pounded hard as she backed up to a wall. She placed her hand on her left chest, wondering why she was feeling this way. After a few second of shortness of breath, she could feel her heart had calmed down. Sakura straightened her body as she breathed out heavily. ‘This is probably because of overworking....’ She deepened her breath and closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them. Before Sakura went back to her office room, she heard a voice pierce through the air. She furrowed her eyebrows thinking that she misheard it. She slowly turned around, seeing a girl running toward her, calling out her name. 

“SAKURA!”

The voice echoed through the whole office, catching eyes from many. 

Sakura looked at the girl who was running toward her. Everything felt like it was in slow-motion. She noticed that everybody in the office was staring at her and how a security guard is chasing the girl that was coming at her. The guard stopped as he gasped for air, panting hard. 

“SAKURA!” 

Sakura heard the girl called out again. 

“SAKURA!!”

Again.

“KURA!”

And again until she felt the girl wrapping her arms around her shoulder and neck. She felt a tight squeeze once more, hearing the girl calling out her name. “Kura...I’ve missed you so much.”

Sakura furrowed her brows and finally came back to reality, realizing what was happening. She pushed the girl away from her and slapped her in the face. “Who the hell are you to touch me,” Sakura snapped as she glared at the girl's face which was buried by her long hair. 

The girl turned her head straight to look at the girl. Her eyes were filled with sorrow and sadness as she bitterly smiled. “Sakura......” The girl ran her hands through her hair, revealing her face to Sakura. 

Sakura glared at the girl for the longest time, wondering what business she has with the girl. She was upset that the girl showed up of nowhere and hugged her without her permission. Sakura does not do skinship so having a stranger touch her made her furious. “Who the hell are you?” Sakura asked the girl again but all the girl was doing was staring back at her with her sad lonely eyes that Sakura couldn’t help but look straight into. ‘Her eyes........why can’t I look away...’

The girl broke their eye contact when the security came up to her and forced her out. The girl resisted as she looked back at Sakura and frowned. Sakura continued to watch the girl being forced out of the office. Before the girl got out of her vision, she read the girl’s lips saying, “I’ve missed you so much.” 

The whole office was quiet as they stared at their manager, wondering what in the actual hell happened just now. ‘Was that her girlfriend? Ex?’ Most of them thought as they peaked at each other signaling to go to the employee breakroom. 

Sakura glanced at the employees before going into her office room. She closed the door and backed up against it. “Who the hell was she.....?” Sakura shook her head trying to not think about it but it kept bothering her. 

The mysterious girl was the talk of the office for a few days. The news even got down to other branches at the company. Sakura Miwayaki was known to be a cold-hearted workaholic woman who does not seem like she has a lover. The girl never talks about her love life with anyone because she does not have one or is interested in anyone because she does not care about loving anyone or receiving love. The employees were guessing that the girl was an ex or even a stalker. Worse was probably a gang member or poor family member asking Sakura for money. Either way, the girl remained a mystery.

***

“I told you not to do that and that you will get to meet her soon,” a voice said as they entered the room with a cup of water and some food. They set the food on a table right next to the girl. “Now you’ve made a bad impression.”

“I couldn’t help myself. I’ve missed her so much. There was no way for me to just stay put and wait,” the girl said, burying her face in her thigh as she wrapped her arms around it. “Even though it is the same person, at the same time, she feels so unfamiliar.”

The person sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed next to the girl. “Because she is a different person. She is not the same Sakura Miyawaki that you’ve married and fell in love with. This is Sakura Miywaki from this dimension. I’ve told you before that it is not going to be easy.”

“I know.....I am just happy to be able to see her face again...and felt her warmth...” The girl said as she loosened up the tension in her body and lay down on her bed. 

The person saw how the girl was ignoring her meals and was about to say something but stopped herself, trying to give the girl some space. “I’ll leave you be, Chaeyeon. Tomorrow is when you start to be Lee Chaeyeon.”

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TBC