“Hey hey hey, good morning ladies.”

Yerin fretfully turned around to bow as soon as she heard that already familiar voice.  She awkwardly placed both hands in front of her—unconsciously going on defense mode—while faking a smile in front of one of her new bosses. She just arrived about half an hour ago and she met one of her new co-workers, Yoon Sohee, who helped her set up her I.D. to get into the building. Sohee is a few years older than her but she could see herself being close friends with the woman. “Good morning, Mr. Kim. By the way, this is our new creative associate, Kwon Yerin.” Sohee initiated the conversation and introduced her.

“Don’t worry, I know her already. I did one of her interviews.” Kim Junsoo, the executive manager of Advantgarde’s creative department, waved off the intro and faced Yerin much closer completely ignoring Yoon Sohee’s existence. “It’s good to see you again, I’m excited to work with you. Really.” He greeted with a beam and to Yerin’s much surprise, she was pulled into a hug. She lifted her shoulders in shock and glanced at Sohee who was looking very apologetic but at the same time, she seems like she’s used to it.

“O-oh, a hug. That’s very friendly of you, thank you, sir.” Yerin gently pulled herself away after patting his arm awkwardly. She looked around hoping to see Kyungsoo soon, maybe have the guy get rid of Junsoo but she knows she can’t do that. “Alright, let’s get you started, shall we? Come to my office.” Junsoo invited charmingly and gestured her to follow. Yerin gave Sohee one last glance before following. “So first, I like my coffee plain and strong and I like orders done fast. Really fast, okay?” Junsoo cut straight to the point as they made their way to his office. “Yes, sir. I will do my best.” Yerin politely responded while skipping faster to catch the tall man’s pace. He’s tall, built and handsome like a model, she’s guessing he’s in his early thirties. Yes, he is attractive and all but he just doesn’t do it for her at all. Maybe one big reason is him looking and acting like a total player.

“I will get you started with just organizing some files that I have piled up at one corner of my office, I haven’t had the time to organize it and my assistant just recently quit. I know you’re not my personal assistant but let’s start with that since we still need to fully introduce you to everything and everyone here, alright gorgeous?” Junsoo turned to her and winked. Yerin faked a grin and nodded, she swore she almost had the urge to gag when he called her gorgeous. It just sounds so suggestive when he says it even though she knows it maybe just be his endearments. Once again, Yerin looked around hoping to spot Kyungsoo anywhere. The store is opening in half an hour and she would expect that he’d be here already. She came really early that she even had to wait for an employee, which happened to have been Sohee, to come and open up.

Then she realized. . . Do Kyungsoo owns this damn place, he doesn’t have a schedule for God’s sake. He probably can come anytime he wants.  Just as they arrived at the executive floor, Yerin’s eyes travelled straight to where she can remember Kyungsoo’s office is at. It’s at the very end of the hallway so it’s far away but she could see the lights glaring back from the frosted glass walls. “Wow, our. . . CEO is very early at work today. He’s always like that?” She couldn’t help but ask making Junsoo look towards where she’s looking. “Nah, I came here really early too so I know. To correct you, he didn’t come early. He hasn’t left since yesterday and yes, he’s always like that.” Junsoo chuckled while punching in the code to his office door.

Yerin glared at Kyungsoo’s door wide-eyed, concern slowly hoarding around her chest.  Junsoo then moved close to her ear which surprised her terribly. “That’s why he’s the crazy boss, be careful. I know he helped you get this job through his charity event but don’t be too fooled by that, he can be quite of a monster. He doesn’t get much sleep, he’s like a zombie, he’ll eat your head.” He warned playfully before opening his door. “Oh, i-is that so?” Yerin faked a laugh while nodding. She glanced at Kyungsoo’s door one more time before following Junsoo in once he opened the door. “I’m the nicer one here, of all the bosses. He’s directly my boss. But honestly, I never saw him that way, I grew up seeing that shy little boy.” He continued with his story, still mocking Kyungsoo.

He gestured Yerin to start cleaning up at the filing cabinet. “That’s usually in order, by the date, but I’ve ruined it so just please fix it. Not too hard, right?” He nodded nicely before walking to his own table. “Yes, sir.” Yerin followed his order right away and started looking into each drawer and starting with one. “CEO is. . . shy? He’s quite well-mannered and tough, I’d say.” She then asked. She knew he was shy back in university, of course she knew, but she felt very intrigued that this guy knew the old Do Kyungsoo. He must have been working here for a long time. “Was. All in the past, you see.” Junsoo laughed arrogantly while glancing at her from his desktop. “A little gossip for you right here, everyone who’s been working here even before he became the CEO knows the story. He’s not even supposed to be the CEO. He has an older brother who’s supposed to take over, his brother was my best friend. We went to university together.” He broke the news like it’s the most ridiculous story ever.

Yerin also knew that but it was her first time to hear it from a different point of view, not Do Kyungsoo’s. And it surprised her.

“But everyone here has to act like he’s the only child, like Seungsoo never happened at all. Seungsoo is his brother by the way.” Junsoo added at the end. Now Yerin just kept quiet the whole time. She did ask if Kyungsoo was a shy boy but she wasn’t expecting this guy to reveal such private information. Now she knows he’s not trust-worthy at all and she needs to be very careful. “It just annoys me until now. Everyone here knows, everyone prefers Seungsoo. He’s the smarter leader. He’s very kind, extremely kind in fact. But instead we get this bastard who hates the world. The charity you went to? Those Avantgarde charities was started by Seungsoo, he actually worked as a CEO here for a very short period of time before he let go of everything and ran away. Kyungsoo was only forced to continue the charities when he took over.” The man goes forward into the story and Yerin was shocked at how pissed the guy was at Kyungsoo. She remembered Kyungsoo mentioned that they were friends. Well, he isn’t a real friend after all.

“I know a lot about this company. If Seungsoo was still the CEO, I would probably have been in a much higher position. Like the vice president or something. But with that bastard, I feel like he’s keeping me down here. He hates his brother so he probably hates me too because we were best friends. Story of my life.” Junsoo sighed and Yerin just hoped it’s the end of his unnecessary story. It bugged her so much. She knows Kyungsoo doesn’t hate his brother at all. If anything, he misses him. The trip to Japan that he’s been planning over and over again still hasn’t happened because of his heavy workload.

“Speaking of the devil, I need to take this to him. Can you just do that for me? I’m expecting a phone call in two minutes.” Yerin turned around and took the folder Junsoo was handing. “Yes, sir.” She bowed before walking out of the office. She has to keep it all to herself, everything she heard. If only she could fight back and defend Kyungsoo to Junsoo, she could have done it. She can’t believe Kyungsoo considers this guy a friend. Aside from being a ert, he sure is an too. If it was true that Kyungsoo’s brother was the kindest person, she doesn’t understand why he befriended Junsoo at all.

Arriving in front of Kyungsoo’s door, she exhaled heavily before knocking three times. “Come in.” She heard his faint voice from inside. She shook his head in worry before opening the door. Right away, she spotted him on the couch at the corner, lying down and having his arm over his eyes. “Hey.” She simply called and Kyungsoo immediately sat up in much surprise and looked at her. All she had to say was ‘Hey’ and he already knew it was her. Well, she has heard many times that her tiny but raspy voice is pretty unique. “Good morning, CEO.” She politely bowed while smiling. Kyungsoo cleared his throat while looking away, rubbing his eyes like a little baby. It was obvious that he was embarrassed.

He seems still out of it so Yerin just placed the folder on top of his office table. “Mr. Kim just asked me to hand this file to you. Anyway. . .” She glanced at the door. “I probably have to go back real quick, he gave me a task and I’m not done with it yet.” She bids goodbye immediately making Kyungsoo stand up. “H-how is he? Is he nice to you so far?” He asked while putting his suit back on. “He’s. . . he’s nice. He talks quite a lot but I can handle it.” Yerin gave him a brief answer, still working very hard to keep shut.

There was a short silence between them. Kyungsoo only stood there motionless while staring in space. Yerin sighed, eventually giving in. “Kyungsoo go home. I heard you worked all night.” She suggested, concern obvious in her tone. The man cleared his throat. “No, actually. . . I just really fell asleep here. I worked late, yes but I kind of drank a little bit so I decided to stay.” He admitted, shame evident in his voice. He doesn’t have a drinking problem, it’s just a coincidence that Yerin always seems to catch him involved with alcohol – including his cough syrup shots.

‘But instead we get this bastard who hates the world.’

Yerin looked at him, watched as he walked towards the washroom. He left the door open and started washing his face. She sighed. He doesn’t hate the world. If anything, he probably feels like the world hates him. She could see it in his eyes, every single day. The pain, pain that he tries so hard to cover up with arrogance. “I don’t know why you keep drinking, it’s . . . it’s not good for you. I know you’re very tired but alcohol isn’t the solution to your problems, don’t lean on it too much.” She sighed heavily while shaking her head. She turned around to leave.

Kyungsoo on the other hand, stared at the mirror to watch her as she walked out of the office. Once she was gone, he slammed his hand on the sink. “Where else do I lean to then. . .” he muffled before stepping out of the washroom. Instead of going home, he just washed up there and changed into new clothes that he usually keeps. He always does this so his office is fully equipped with everything he needs. It’s just never practical for him to drive home just to wash up then go back.

He still couldn’t believe that Yerin officially works for him now. That’s also one thing that kept him awake and stressed out last night. He was restless and scared. Very scared to be close to her every day. Knowing her presence could always be a minute of walk away, it makes his chest pound hard. Knowing that he doesn’t have to wonder and worry all day what she’s doing but has to stop himself from texting her, he can just sneak out of his office and into her work area to check on her. He’s afraid he’s going to overdo it.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter