A heavy, strained silence filled the car as Sehun drove back to his condo so Soojung could pick up her car. After her announcement, he'd just stared at her with an incredulous look on his face, but that look had quickly turned to a mix of anger and disbelief. Then, circling around to his side of the car, he'd muttered a tight-lipped, "Let's go," before getting inside and slamming the door.

Now Soojung was in the passenger seat, staring out the window, both of her hands folded in her lap. The fact that her hands weren't fidgeting only vaguely surprised her because the tension in her body, and the anger flowing from Sehun was almost too much to deal with. She knew things had gotten out of control back there, but she couldn't completely regret her words. She'd always planned to work up to the subject, get him used to the idea of her leaving and then, when she felt like he wouldn't completely flip out, she'd tell him she was quitting. Only, the past few months of frustration had finally gotten to her and the words just came out before she had a chance to think about it. 

But, she thought, stealing a glance at Sehun's tense face, this was for the best. Soon, she'd be able to move on with her life, go back to school, and with a miracle, figure out a way to get over him.

Her stomach knotted as Sehun pulled the car to a stop just outside the entrance to his condo's underground parking garage. This was usually where he let her out so she didn't have to ride the elevator back up to the street-level. Only now, with him staring straight ahead, one large fist strangling the gearshift, it felt like he was kicking her out of the car.

Unhooking her seatbelt, she turned toward him, lightly wetting her bottom lip.

"Seh..." she started.

He didn't look at her. "Can you hurry up? I'm blocking the driveway." 

His short, dismissive tone pissed her off and she defiantly leaned back in the seat, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not getting out until you talk to me." 

With a low curse, Sehun shoved the gearshift into park and stared out the drivers' side window. "What the hell do you want me to say, Soojung?" 

"You know I hate it when you swear at me!"

At her raised voice, Sehun turned to face her and the fury she saw glowing in his eyes jolted her. "Then you'd better get the hell out of the car or start talking. Otherwise, I've got a few more swear words I'd like to throw your way."

In an instant, her contrition vanished, quickly replaced by irritation. Here she was trying to have a calm, civilized conversation with him and he was acting like an . 

Giving up on diplomacy, she muttered, "What do you want me to say? I'm quitting. People do it all the time."

She saw the muscles in his jaw flex as he ground his teeth together. His hazel eyes narrowed, making her pulse speed up. "People, Anna—people quit all the time," he said. "Not you. And not with me."

Oh yes, of course, she'd forgotten. He was the celebrity chef, after all. How could she ever consider leaving him until he gave his okay? Well, he could get over that center-of-the-universe crap right now. 

"You'd better get used to the idea, then," she said, "because I'm serious about this."

Another tense silence settled between them as he continued to stare at her, a hard expression on his face. Then he went back to staring out of the windshield before asking, "Care to tell me why you're laying this on me all of a sudden?" He sounded calm, but she knew that just meant he had a tight leash on his temper.

Sighing, Soojung ran her palms up and down her thighs a few times to calm herself. "It's not that sudden, really. I've been out of school for almost three years. And...me working for you wasn't supposed to turn into a long-term thing."

"I know that, but it did." He glanced at her, his tense expression softening a little. "Come on, Soojung, you can't just...leave." He said the word like it was foreign. To him it probably was. 

Soojung knew that women didn't really leave Sehun Oh. No, he usually took care of that himself. And the crazy part was that his long list of conquests were usually left feeling honored for having basked in his presence. Clenching her fists, Soojung vowed she wouldn't be like those women. Not anymore, at least.

Still, as his tone gentled even more, she felt her resolve weakening. 

"Can't you go to school part-time?" he asked. "You'll need a job, right? You'll still have bills to pay. I assume that requires employment, unless the laws of capitalism have changed."

Soojung's mouth quirked at his bad joke, but she forced herself not to give in to his charm. "I just want to get it over with," she told him. "Part-time would mean having to wait another two years before I finish. I don't want to wait that long." Plus, she didn't think her heart, or her sanity, could last another two years if she stayed on as his assistant. "I have to quit," she repeated, more to herself than to him, because she was still scared she might back down.

"Son of a ," Sehun said, his voice tight and quit. "I can't believe you're doing this to me. " He lowered his forehead to the steering wheel and closed his eyes. "Damn it. Of all the crap timing for you to pull this, you had to choose now, didn't you?"

Soojung scowled at his handsome profile. Why did everything revolve around him? It was like he thought she didn't have a life unless he was in it. Irritated all over again, she flung the seatbelt over her shoulder and opened the car door. 

The sound caught Sehun's attention and he sat up. "Where the hell are you going?"

Fuming, Soojung cut him off with a fury-filled look. "Just so you know, I'm not doing anything to you, Sehun. I'm quitting for me. You may not have noticed, but working for you hasn't exactly been my dream job lately." 

Glaring right back at her, Seh angrily shoved the car into gear again. "I never asked you to do me any favors, Soojung," he said coldly. "It's not like personal assistants are goddamn diamonds—they're a dime a dozen. And when did I ever force you to stick around? Tell me that and maybe I can figure out why you're pulling this martyr act right now."

This wasn't at all how Soojung had wanted this conversation to go, but her anger flared even hotter and she couldn't help herself when she fired back. "You want to know why I stayed even though you never asked me to?" she half-shouted, hating that he'd made her lose her temper. "I stayed because I knew, I knew you wouldn't be able to handle all of this without me. But, you know what, I'm tired of babysitting you, Sehun. You might be fine watching your career collapse around you, but I'm not letting you drag me down, too!" Scrambling out of the car, she slammed the door and took a few stumbling steps backward.

For a long, tense moment, she felt pinned by Sehun's hard gaze as he stared at her through the passenger side window. The glass was lightly tinted but his furious glare, and his anger, came through clearly. Then he looked away, pressing the remote on the car's visor. The condo's mechanical garage door opened and he gunned the engine, tearing into the underground parking area. 

*********

A while later, Seh barreled through the swinging silver doors separating Sugar's back kitchen from the main dining area. Ignoring the two prep cooks and the curious stares they shot in his direction, he didn't stop walking until he made it to the back of the kitchen, bracing both hands on the edge of the stainless steel countertop. His entire body felt tense and strained.

ing Soojung.

He could not believe this. What the hell did she mean she was quitting? 

For a minute, he just stood there, staring at the wall, then his eyes fell on his stand mixer, pushed up underneath a shelf crammed full of spices and utensils. Shoving up the sleeves of his sweater, he pulled the mixer—Charlie's old mixer—out and frowned into the large, silver bowl attached to the rounded base.