Seh's jaw muscles flexed as he shot him an angry look. "I have things on my mind, okay?" Dumping an indeterminate amount of flour into the mixer, he turned his back, hoping Sam would take the hint.

Instead, he felt his neck muscles tense up when Sam asked, "What kind of things?"

"Things that have nothing to do with you," Seh shot back, flipping the mixer on to its low setting.

"Okaaay," Sam said, and Sehun swore he could hear the amused grin in his voice. Leave it to Sam to find humor in his ty mood. "Mind talking about things that do have something to do with me, then?"

"Like?" Sehun asked.

"Like, Sugar. You know, the shop we own?" 

Resisting the urge to swear, Seh rolled his tensed up shoulders. "Fine. Whatever."

"Good," Sam said, his tone turning all business. "I talked to Harry. He double-checked our accounting and he agrees that last month's numbers look great. And I'm thinking that we..."

Even though Sehun was trying to pay attention, Sam's voice faded as he stared at the whirring paddle in the mixing bowl. The batter or dough or whatever the hell he was making probably only needed a few minutes to combine, but only half his attention was on the mixer. 

Every time he thought he'd calmed down, he'd have a flashback to that damn fight with Soojung. He kept hearing her shouting, "I'm not letting you drag me down with you!"

His fists clenched against the cool, steel countertop. Anger, as hot and consuming as what he'd felt earlier, came roaring back with the memory of her words. Well, screw her. She thought he was messing up her life? Fine. She could quit and do whatever the hell she wanted with herself. And he'd find another assistant who—

"Seh, you're not even listening to me, are you?" Sam's slightly irritated voice pulled Sehun back to himself. Now Soojung's little tantrum or whatever the hell her problem was, was messing with his work? Yeah, let her do whatever she wanted. He didn't need this.

"What, Sam?" he impatiently bit out.

"Jeez," his friend muttered, "tone down the pissed-off party, will you? What's your problem, anyway?"

Three controlled breaths kept Seh's temper in check. Swearing silently, he ran a hand through his hair. Soojung had him all messed up; he'd gotten his temper under control years before and now here he was about to cuss Sam out just for trying to talk about work.

But even though his argument with Soojung was the last thing he wanted to talk about, Seh knew Sam was going to find out eventually, so he might as well just tell him now.

He turned around, bracing the small of his back against the edge of the countertop. Staring past Sam's shoulder, he muttered, "Soojung...quit this morning." 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sam's face change. A look of pure shock passed over his features before he schooled his expression into one of mild surprise.

Finally, one light brown eyebrow went up. "Damn," he said, at last. "Why?"

Shoving away from the counter, Sehun paced a few steps one direction, then the other, both hands digging into the pockets of his loose-fitting jeans. "Hell, I don't know. She just went all moody out of nowhere. Said she was quitting. Then we sort of got into a fight. And she..." he turned so only his right shoulder faced Sam. "She said some stuff about my career going down the drain and me dragging her down with me."

. Just saying it out loud had him pissed all over again.

Sam let out a long, low whistle. Sehun glanced at him and stiffly asked, "What was that for?"

Sam shrugged, his face serious. "Nothing. Just...I had a girlfriend once who used that line. 'You're dragging me down with you.'" He shook his head. "Not a good thing, my friend."

Sehun made a face. "Yeah. I kinda figured that since she was yelling at me when she said it."

"So," Sam slowly said, "she didn't say why she's quitting? No explanation or anything?" 

Swiping a hand across the back of his neck, Seh tilted his head toward the ceiling, then met Sam's questioning gaze. "She said she wants to go back to school."

The confusion in Sam's dark blue eyes cleared up almost immediately, only to be replaced by returned incredulity. "And you're mad at her for quitting? What the hell's wrong with you?"

Seh's hands dropped to his sides again. He shot his friend an irritated glance. "Look, you weren't there, okay? She was being bitc...catty. And for no good reason. It pissed me off." He turned his back again, muttering, "How the hell am I supposed to find a new assistant? She knows how crazy my schedule is. Now she decides to quit—"

"After two years of taking care of everything for you," Sam interrupted, "and basically doing all of the boring crap that you don't want to do." His tone dripped with a sarcasm that renewed Seh's desire to punch him or, at the very least, cuss him out. ", Seh, she's practically been wiping your nose for you these past two years. Can you blame her for wanting to be more than your glorified nanny or—"

Sam stopped talking when Seh spun around, glaring at him. "I didn't ask you for a damn lecture, alright?" he spat. "You asked me what happened and I told you, but you can keep your commentary to yourself." Furious, Seh stalked around the island on his way past Sam.

"What the hell, Seh?" Sam called after him. "You need to calm down—and I'm not done telling you about my ideas for the shop."

"Do whatever you want," Seh growled over his shoulder. "I'll be in my office. So, unless the kitchen catches on fire or something, leave me the hell alone."

Not slowing or turning around, he strode out of the kitchen and down the short hall that lead to a staff bathroom and two small offices belonging to him and Sam. Walking into his office, Seh slammed the door closed behind him and slumped down into his leather desk chair.

Within seconds, he was back to staring at the wall.

Just when he'd thought he'd gotten his anger under control, Sam had to make that crack about Soojung wanting to be more than his nanny. It had hit too close to her saying she was tired of babysitting him.

Damn it.

His entire body was so damn tense and wound up, it almost hurt to lean his head back against the chair, but he did. He tried to think about something else, anything else, but for a long time all he could do was sit there, replaying the argument over and over. Thinking about Soojung's betrayal. 

*********

On Thursday night, Soojung had just gotten home from the community college near her apartment. She'd wanted to sign up for some summer classes to help prepare her for starting college again, but the registrar had told her she'd missed the deadline. In order to get into any classes, she'd need to pay a ridiculously large late-fee and get a bunch of forms signed. She'd taken all of the paperwork, but couldn't help but be a bit disappointed. If she'd quit sooner, she could have been enrolled by now.

In a way, this was Sehun's fault, too.

Even three days after their argument, she was still angry. And damn him, she hadn't wanted to fight. Not really, but he'd just kept making those self-centered comments, and she couldn't hold her anger in check. 

She hadn't talked to him since Tuesday and, she bitterly thought, he hadn't tried to call or see her either. So now she was at home watching the evening news, trying to distract herself. But she was kidding herself; even days later, she was still preoccupied by their fight.

Of course he'd made her quitting all about him. Nothing entered Sehun Oh's sphere of awareness unless it somehow affected him—and her quitting was just an inconvenience for him. He hadn't even seemed happy or supportive about her plans to go back to school. No, instead he'd only suggested ways for her to continue working for him, making his life the same cushy joy-ride it'd been for the past two years, without giving a damn how that might affect her studies. 

Well, screw that, she was tired of being at his beck and call even though her stupid heart already missed him. That was part of the rea