“I’m going to go out for lunch, would you like something Miss Kim?”

Joy’s sweet voice brought Bongcha out of her thoughts. Blinking slowly, Bongcha mentally pushed away the words of the convoluted contract that had been haunting her all morning. Glancing her at wrist watch, Bongcha ruffled her hair before remembering that Joy was still waiting for her response.

“No thank you.” Bongcha smiled.

Nodding at her superior, Joy then leaned her body to the other side.

“What about you Mr Do?”

Bongcha heard a muffled response followed by the sound of footsteps and to her surprise, she saw Kyungsoo pulling on his jacket, getting ready to leave with Joy.

“You’re not getting anything Bongcha?” Kyungsoo frowned at the girl who remained seated behind her desk.

“I’m not really hungry.” Bongcha shook her head.

Even if she was feeling hungry, whatever appetite she felt had evaporated now, and her gut feeling told her that joining those two for lunch would only worsen her lack of hunger. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Yibo’s words had gotten to her. What if Kungsoo preferred the type of cheerful, sweet and bright girl like Joy? If that was the case then there was no way Bongcha could compete.

Staring at the contract in front of her, Bongcha glared at it so intensely that it might light on fire. Sighing loudly, Bongcha proceeded to pack up her belongings and call it a day. Kyungsoo may be unhappy with her actions and accuse her of skiving work — though that was highly unlikely — but she felt like rebelling today and no one was going to stop her.

・・・

“Thank you for treating me for lunch Mr Do,” Joy chirped as they returned to the office.

“You’re welcome,” Kyungsoo replied as he headed inside his office.

Glancing at the takeaway bag he was holding, Kyungsoo gently knocked on the door that connected his office with Bongcha's.

“Bongcha, I know you said you weren’t hungry but it’s not good to skip lunch.”

After waiting for a while and hearing no response, Kyungsoo frowned and pushed the door open and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw that it was empty, the girl no where in sight. He quickly pulled out his phone, planning to call her, but then noticed that he had an unread message from Bongcha, informing him that she had gone home early but would complete her work later in the evening.

“Joy, did Bongcha say anything about going home early today?” Kyungsoo poked his head out.

Joy looked up from her computer, glancing towards Bongcha’s office, confusion in her eyes before she shook her head.

Sighing, Kyungsoo closed the door of his office and sunk into his chair, staring straight towards Bongcha’s empty desk. Where had she gone? What happened? Was she okay?

So many questions and yet no answers.

・・・

Bongcha tapped her feet against the ground as she stared at the glaring red ER sign on the entrance. She had almost made up her mind to turn around and return to the office when the arrival of an ambulance and a bunch of doctors and nurses pushing a patient inside caused Bongcha to be carried in by the wave of people and now she was trapped inside. Her eyes drifted around the place but found no sign of her brother, and thus she let her feet guide her towards Junmyeon’s office. If he was not there, she would just have to wait for him until he showed up, or until it was time to go pick up Aecha.

Reaching Junmyeon’s office, Bongcha did not bother to knock on the door and forged her way in, taking both Junmyeon and Minseok — who were having their lunch — by surprise.

“What do I do?” Bongcha let the question slip out.

“What’s wrong?” Junmeyon jolted out of his seat, fussing over Bongcha and worrying that she may be hurt.

Seeing that she had no visible injuries however, Junmyeon pulled the girl inside and closed the door behind her before guiding her towards the sofa and pushing her to sit down next to Minseok.

“What do I do?” Bongcha repeated, her voice eerily monotonous.

“Did something happen at work?” Junmyeon asked, trying to get some sort of answer out of the girl.

Minseok remained quiet, simply observing what was happening.

“Bongbong come on,” Junmyeon gently urged the girl. “If you don’t explain I can’t help you.”

“What do I do with Kyungsoo?”

Bongcha’s voice came out like a soft whimper, reminding Junmyeon of a lost puppy. Finally registering what she had asked, Junmyeon and Minseok both balked, wondering whether they had heard wrong. Seeing that Junmyeon was still in a frozen state, Minseok decided that it was time he stepped in.

“Could you repeat that?”

As if just realising that Minseok was also there, Bongcha snapped her head towards him. Her eyes were unfocused but she managed to find her voice again.

“Kai and Yibo have both messed with my mind,” Bongcha let out a sudden yelp, yet again taking Minseok and Junmyeon by surprise due to the sudden shift in her tone. “They’ve messed up my tempo. I can’t believe.’

“I think something snapped in her brain,” Minseok whispered at Junmyeon. “She’s saying coherent words but it’s not connected sentences.”

“Maybe I should give Yibo a call,” Junmyeon mumbled back.