Genre: Angst, Fluff, Romance, Supernatural

Summary: An Yujin, the new rising CEO of An Corporate, has everything she wants in life. From having the company she longed for since she was a child, to having a beautiful fiance. She was happy. When she finished university, she swore to herself that she would do anything to bury whatever happened during that time. But some things just don’t wanna stay buried. Just when Yujin thought her life was complete, her past came back to haunt her. Except Yujin can’t remember her past. Love is like a disease, it can either kill you or make you stronger.

Word Count: 11269

Hashtag: #JinjooFiestaS2_LoveTattoo

 

Love Tattoo

 

An Yujin just turned 22 years old three months ago. Her birthday party was not only to celebrate her becoming 22, it was also to celebrate her official appointment as CEO. It was the best day of her life, as far as she can remember. Oh, the joy she felt that day. It’s incomparable. However, An Yujin is unique. Her whole family is. 

 

They are a family of vampires. Their immortality is a gift. It was first given to Yujin’s grandfather by a witch five centuries ago. Two centuries later, Yujin’s father was born. Her father had lived for another 220 years trying to build a name for himself. When he knew his business was stable, he decided to settle down and start a family. 

 

In 1955, Yujin’s father found the love of his life. Her mother was a human. She was vulnerable. She was mortal. Her father knew this. And he was ready to watch his lover grow old and one day die. But her mother had other plans. Her mother begged Yujin’s father to turn her into a vampire. 

 

She was ready to give up everything to be with him forever. She knew she would have to watch her family and friends grow old without her. But at that moment, she thought her love for her husband was worth risking the rest of her life.

 

On September 1st, 1998, An Yujin was born. The apple of their eye. Their love for her was unconditional. Yujin was born with a golden spoon in . 

 

Young Yujin saw how being a vampire tore her mother into pieces when her best friend died of old age. Not only did her maternal grandparents pass away before she was born, her mother’s best friend passed away as well leaving her mother alone with just her husband and child. Her mother was depressed for several months after the death of her best friend. Yujin could tell her mother regretted her decision for choosing to become immortal. 

 

Her mother grew cold towards her own husband. After months of not speaking to her entire family, she shocked everyone when she announced she wanted to travel the world. 

 

Yujin was only 10 years old when her mother decided to travel the world. Growing up, Yujin only had her father to lean on. Her mother was so consumed with regret that she neglected her own daughter. Yujin liked to blame immortality for the loss of her mother. Despite knowing she will never receive motherly love, Yujin still yearns for that love. She hopes one day her mother will come back to her. After all, she can quite literally wait forever.

 

You may wonder, how is Yujin growing up if she is immortal? For most vampires, they become immortal as soon as they are turned. Well, immortality works differently for descendants of vampires. Vampirism only kicks in when Yujin becomes 18. 

 

In the current time, Yujin has been the CEO of An Corporate for three months. An achievement she is very proud of. You see, the lack of love from her mother forced Yujin to focus on fulfilling her dream, hoping that one day her mother will come back and be proud of her achievements. 

 

She had dreamed of one day taking over the company. Yujin has achieved that dream. Though, nothing is achievable without sacrifice. 

 

Yujin looked out her window and smiled contentedly.

 

This is heaven. This beautiful view is only one of the reasons I wanted to become CEO.

 

Being the CEO of the biggest corporations in Korea has its perks. You get to be on top of the world. Literally. The An Corporate building is the tallest building in Korea, making the view from the CEO office spectacular. An Corporate is the top super car manufacturer in the world. It has been the top car manufacturer since 1998.

 

Being on the side lines watching her father have control over so many people motivated her to want that same control. Seeing how much these people trust her father, made Yujin yearn for that same loyalty. She spent nine months being by her father’s side as his apprentice. And in that time, she had gotten to know how her father earned that loyalty. While learning everything she needed to know about the company, she socialised with the staff there to get to know them and to earn their trust. This definitely made things easier when she finally became the CEO.

 

In the three months she was CEO, there was nothing that went wrong that she couldn’t control. She was relieved. She has proven to her father that she could be trusted with the company.

 

Yujin chuckled at the lengths she went through just to achieve this fantasy. But there was still a part of her that wasn’t satisfied. She couldn’t pinpoint what exactly that made her feel incomplete. She has the company, a beautiful fiancé, what else could she possibly need? Yujin released a heavy sigh. She knew she shouldn’t feel this way. 

 

A knock echoed through the empty office shaking Yujin from her thoughts.

 

“Come in.” Her voice was tight to show professionalism. She had expected that it was her secretary to inform her of an upcoming meeting that she must’ve forgotten. She had least expected her father walking through those doors.

 

“Appa? What are you doing here?” Yujin walked to her father and gave him a brief hug. Despite him being harsh on Yujin when she wanted to become CEO, their relationship was loving. He never once raised a hand on Yujin. He believed lessons are to be taught through words and never violence. “Is there something wrong? You never drop by the office unannounced.”

 

He said nothing and handed Yujin a brown envelope. Yujin hesitantly took it. Her eyes widened at the contents. 

 

“How is this possible? We have yet to release these designs. How did our competitors get their hands on these?” Yujin scanned the papers once again to ensure her eyes aren’t fooling her. She read the papers that had the competitor’s logo at the top announcing their new designs which are to be released in three months. She read through the designs and found that it was exactly the same as the designs that were just discussed last week.

 

“I don’t know how this happened. But fix it immediately.” Her father said while poking at Yujin’s collarbone rather harshly. He left right after.

 

Yujin dropped her shoulders. The papers are thrown everywhere. She shouted in frustration. This was her first big project after being CEO and she screwed up. 

 

“MS KIM!!!”

 

“Y-yes, Ms An?” Her secretary stepped into her office trying to keep her cool. She has never seen Yujin this mad before.

 

“Organise a meeting with the staff that was present when we discussed our designs for the new project.”

 

“Right now?”

 

“Yes, now.” She said without looking at her secretary.

 

“B-But you have a meeting in 15 minutes.”

 

“Postpone it. Tell them I will meet them tomorrow.”

 

“Yes, Ms An.”

 

Chaewon left her office swiftly to avoid getting yelled at again. As soon as the door closed, Chaewon smirked. 

 

Yujin was frustrated. A clear mind was what she needed. She exited the room swiftly and made her way to the elevator. While she waited for the elevator to reach her floor, she heard a snicker. Yujin used her super hearing to listen further, thinking it was her employees gossiping about her.

 

“Seems like she found out. After I organise that meeting, I will give her my resignation letter. My job here is done anyways. Having her to find out herself is more dramatic anyways.” Chaewon whispered to herself while giggling at her foolish boss.

 

Yujin, who was clouded by betrayal, stormed back to her secretary’s desk.

 

“You’re fired.” Even though she was fuming, she had managed to say that in a calm voice. Yujin could visibly see Chaewon freeze up when she heard her voice. “Clean your desk. I want you gone by the time I get back.” If it were according to Yujin’s feelings, she would have held Chaewon by her neck against the wall by now. But she composed herself, she had an image to protect.

 

Why? Why did she do it?

 

Yujin needed to know why. She had treated all her employees with respect. She trusted them. All she wanted back was loyalty and competency. 

 

Why do things like these happen when I just became the CEO? God, give me a break.

 

“Why?” The question came out as a whisper. Chaewon looked up at her ex-boss and smirked.

 

“Because all your family has ever done is to take from me. It was time for me to take back something from you.” Chaewon smiled slyly. Yujin’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. “Oh you don’t remember do you? Of course not. You were not even born yet. But I’m sure you know how many lives your father has ruined just to get this empire.” Chaewon waved her arms around to emphasise on the company. Yujin was extremely confused. “Aww, did daddy dearest not share the stories on how he ruined my father’s company just to get this company to where it is now.”

 

Yujin’s frown disappeared after she finally understood everything Chaewon was saying. 

 

“Revenge? Is that what you want? And stooping as low as my father did to ruin my family’s company, is revenge?“ 

 

“An eye for an eye.” Chaewon smirked, feeling accomplished.

 

“Get out of my sight. Do not come back here. If I ever see your face again, I will not hesitate to end you.” Yujin threatened her. Chaewon swallowed visibly. Chaewon grabbed her purse and quickly left, not bothering to collect the items on her desk. 

 

Before Chaewon managed to walk away, Yujin grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer.

 

“I have the means to end you right here for messing with my company. But I will not because your life is already messed as it is.” Yujin spoke in a low voice. Yujin leaned down to her ear. “So remember this, you are standing right now because I allow you to. You can wake up tomorrow because I am showing you mercy. And if I ever see you again, I cannot promise your heart will still be in your chest.” 

 

Yujin stormed away to the elevator and continued to make her way to the roof. Once she reached the top, she screamed until her lungs ran out of air. The building she currently stands on towers over all the other skyscrapers. Buzzing of the cars in the streets was loud. People on the street look like tiny ants from up there. Yujin wondered if ruining other people’s lives was worth this view. The calming breeze did nothing to calm Yujin down. 

 

Yujin took a deep breath and watched as cars drove past. Time passed by in a blink of an eye. Her mind is occupied. In the end, Yujin took out her cell phone and dialled her admin assistant.

 

“Yena unnie, can you help me to arrange a meeting with our top designers?”

 

“Oh Yujinnie? Why arrange a sudden meeting? Is something wrong?”

 

“Long story. Meet me at my office in 10 minutes. Oh and Yena unnie, put up a notice that I am hiring a new secretary.”

 

“Huh? Why-” Yujin immediately hung up. 

 

~~

 

Yena rose from the couch in Yujin’s office when she saw Yujin walking to her desk.

 

“So what happened? A sudden meeting for unknown reasons and where is your secretary? Did you fire Ms Kim? Why? I thought she was a good secretary?” Yena bombarded Yujin with questions while tailing after her.

 

Yujin slumped on her seat and released a heavy sigh.

 

“Unnie, am I a bad CEO?” Yujin whined while pouting. Yena melted at the sight of puppy-eyed Yujin.

 

“Aish, Yujin-ah. Of course not. You may not be the best CEO at the moment,” Yujin’s frown deepened. Yena realised her mistake. “But! This position has been yours from the moment you are born. You have worked hard to earn this position. You deserve this.”

 

Breaking eye contact, Yujin walked towards her window.

 

“Now, can you please tell me what’s wrong?” Yena followed suit and stood beside Yujin to stare out at the city.

 

“Ms Kim had sabotaged us and gave away our recent car design to our competitor.” Her voice was calm as if she had already accepted that fact.

 

“WHAT?? Those designs had just been finalised and it was leaked? That was our biggest project this year! Now, what are we going to do?” Yena exclaimed. She had paced around the room trying to digest this new information.

 

“Don’t worry, unnie. Just arrange that meeting. We will try to design something before the deadline to send the designs to our production team. If we can’t finalise our design by then, we will have no choice but to delay the launch.” Yujin spoke with a hint of worry.

 

“We can’t afford to delay that launch! If we do, it would be bad for our publicity.”

 

“I know. That is why I am trying to fix this as soon as possible. The meeting will commence after lunch.”

 

“Okay. I will meet you later then. I will post a job notice as soon as I can.” 

 

After finally being alone, Yujin went back to work.

 

Yujin was oblivious of the time until Yena called her to remind her of the meeting.

 

Yujin groaned. Lunch was forgotten while she tried to fix the damage done. Yujin decided that she was just gonna grab dinner on her way home.

 

The meeting went smoothly without any interruptions. Some of her employees had complained that they worked hard on the previous designs but they started on another design promptly after. 

 

The entire team stayed in the meeting room for another 5 hours discussing all the possible designs that they can use. It turns out, discussing a new design right after knowing your previous design got stolen is not good for productivity. Even after 5 hours of putting their brains together, they only managed to come up with one design. 

 

Yujin slumped back on her office chair after the exhausting meeting. Yujin rubbed her temples to ease some of her headache. 

 

Right after discussing that one design, Yujin released her employees for them to go home. She had instructed them to come up with at least 2 more designs by the next day. Her employees stared at her in disbelief but none of them said a thing to avoid angering their boss further.

 

Yujin went back to her office to continue working. She ended up working until very late that she decided to just spend the night in her office.

 

~~

 

A woman dressed in black with long brown locks, double eyelids, pink plump lips and beautiful proportions was seated in a corner cafe. 

 

Every day since she graduated university, she has scoured the internet looking for her. One day, when she thought of giving up, the person she has been looking for is big on the cover page of The Korea Times. For 3 months, this woman kept tabs on that company. She had been patient enough to wait 9 months, she is sure she can wait longer for this person.

 

When she was doing her routine of checking up on that company, she was shocked to find a notice. She felt like she had won the lottery.

 

I’m coming for you. 

 

~~

 

A few knocks woke the sleepy CEO from her slumber. Yujin jerked up from the couch to fix herself. Yujin took a look at her wrist watch to see that it was a few minutes past 8 am. Yujin took out her phone to check her makeup to ensure she looks presentable enough in front of her employees. Yujin lazily stood up from the couch and opened the door.

 

Yena pushed through the door while looking at her phone and proceeded to talk. “Alright so the job notice I put up yesterday already has a few applicants. I will ask HR to shortlist them later and they will come for an interview tomorrow morning. Is that okay…?” Yena’s words trailed off when she finally looked at the CEO. “Wait Yujin, did you go home yesterday?” Her eyes wandered off to Yujin’s office. She saw all the papers scattered on her table and the obvious dent in the couch. 

 

Yujin scratched her nape while smiling sheepishly. “I may have stayed the night because it was too late to drive home by the time I finished work yesterday.”

 

Yena glared at her friend knowing too well that Yujin was a workaholic. The older woman pinched Yujin’s ear and dragged her out of her office. Yujin yelped in pain and moved to pick up her valuables.

 

“I am taking you home to wash up because you stink.” 

 

“I don’t!” Yujin pouted while lifting her arm to sniff her armpits. Yujin scrunched up her nose at the smell. “Okay maybe I stink a tiny bit.” 

 

“Exactly.” Yena continued dragging Yujin towards her car. “Now, you will clean yourself up and come back AFTER you eat breakfast. Understood?” Yujin only nodded like a little kid getting reprimanded.

 

As they exited the building, they bumped into a woman who was standing outside the door. 

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Yena bowed to the woman while apologising. 

 

“It’s fine!” the woman smiled at Yena. As soon as her gaze landed on Yujin, that sweet smile was lost. Yujin was frozen. She feels like she has seen that smile before. Her eyes remained stuck on the beautiful stranger. 

 

The woman, on the other hand, was flustered. She had not expected that she would meet the CEO this soon. She tore her gaze away from the disappearing figure while clutching her chest. 

 

Why does her eyes look so empty? 

 

The stranger wonders as she tries to keep the heart from beating too fast.

 

~~

 

After breakfast, Yujin immediately made her way back to her office. She knew how much work needs to be done for the day. Surprisingly, her design team managed to make 2 more designs as per Yujin’s request. With her work piling up, Yujin did her work as fast as she can but it still took longer than expected. 

 

With one last look at her wrist watch, 3.35 am, Yujin laid down on the couch and closed her eyes hoping she would get some sleep before continuing her work. 

 

The same rhythmic knock woke Yujin up from her deep slumber. The CEO had only wanted to take a nap for 30 minutes but her fatigue took over and she ended up sleeping till 8 am. Without giving the CEO time to adjust her look, her admin assistant barged in hoping to catch the CEO red handed.

 

“HAH! I knew it! Yujin-ah! Why didn’t you go back home again?? I told you we have job interviews today! What is your soon-to-be secretary gonna think of you when they see you like this? Aish, Yujin-ah. You stress me out.” Yujin was quiet. Partly because she was feeling guilty and partly because she was still feeling a little dazed for, she had just woken up. “Just change into this and wash your face please.”

 

Yujin did as she was told and left for the bathroom. Thank god Yena brought extra clothes for her. Yujin made a mental note to treat Yena to some korean beef for all the times Yena took care of her.

 

Not long after, Yujin made her back to her office before she was being stopped by an employee from the human resources department.

 

“Ms An, the interviews are taking place here.” The employee directed the CEO to one of the rooms.

 

Yujin saw that the interviews had started without her. After apologising for being late, Yujin just sat on the chair designated for her. In truth, Yujin doesn’t need to be present for any job interview but since it is for a job as her secretary, Yena had forced her to attend.

 

Once seated, Yujin placed her folded clothes under the table and looked up to the first interviewee. She froze. It’s her. The lady that we bumped into yesterday. Wow she looks much more beautiful up close. 

 

Yujin scanned the papers in front of her and read her profile.

 

Name: Kim Minju Qualifications: Business major. Engineering minor. Studied in: Seoul National University 

 

Ahh, that is why she seemed familiar. She studied in the same major and university as me. Maybe I saw her in one of the mass lectures. 

 

Yujin shrugged off the new information and continued listening to the candidate. Yujin knows that it is good manners to look into a person’s eyes when they are talking. In the first few minutes of the interview, Yujin maintained eye contact with the interviewee. This candidate portrays herself confidently. She even looked each of the interviewers in the eye.

 

But every time their eyes meet, the interviewee’s lip curls up into a slight smirk. Yujin felt a little uncomfortable so she resorted to taking down unnecessary notes to avoid any more eye contact.

 

Call her a coward but there’s something about this Kim Minju that makes Yujin have chills run down her spine.

 

“Excuse me. I’ll use the washroom real quick.” Yujin announced as soon as the first interview was over. Everyone was a little taken aback at the sudden departure of the CEO. Yena just shook her head at her stubborn friend.

 

Yujin took a deep breath as soon as she left the room. The awkwardness in the room was suffocating. She was craving for fresh air now. Her mind was clouded with worry. Worry that she might need to delay the launch. Worry that she’d have to rely on Yena to act as her temporary secretary. Truth be told, Yujin doesn’t have confidence that any of the candidates are qualified enough to be her secretary. 

 

As soon as she reached the balcony on that floor, she closed her eyes. While trying to remove her worries, she doesn’t notice the person who had followed her here.

 

“Hi.”

 

Yujin jerked at the sound of the intruder. 

 

“Relax, it’s just me.”

 

“Oh, it’s you, Ms Kim.” Yujin acknowledged the presence of the intruder and turned back to the view in front of her.

 

“No need to be so formal with me, Yujin-ah.”

 

Yujin stiffened at the informality used by this stranger. 

 

“Excuse me? Do I know you?”

 

“You still haven’t changed, huh? Still a workaholic, why did you stay the night in your office?” Minju ignored her question. Minju lifted her hand to smoothen the frown formed in between Yujin’s eyebrows. Yujin’s eyes still convey her confusion. 

 

Minju sensed her confusion and she immediately pulled her hand away. 

 

Is she pretending or does she really not remember me?

 

Minju was about to burst into tears at the revelation. 

 

Before Yujin could even question her further, Minju spoke. 

 

“I’m sorry. Ignore what I said. I apologise for calling you so informally. I will go now.” And with that, Minju almost sprinted out of the balcony and left the building, not forgetting to thank the other interviewers. 

 

As soon as she got into her car, Minju opened the dam and the tears flowed. The thing worse than being dumped is being completely forgotten. 

 

No, I will not allow all this time finding her go to waste. If really, she has forgotten me, I will make sure she will never forget me ever again. Before that, I need to know the reason why she left me.

 

Minju harshly wiped away her tears. 

 

~~

 

Yujin stood there dumbfounded. 

 

Who is this girl? Regardless of who she is, she is definitely NOT gonna become my secretary. There is something about her that stirs my insides. 

 

Yujin shivers just thinking about Kim Minju.

 

“Yena unnie, I think I’m just gonna continue my work.” Yujin whispered in Yena’s ear to avoid disturbing the ongoing interview.

 

“What?? No, you said you will be here to-” Yena whispered-yelled.

 

“I trust your decisions unnie.” Without waiting for a response, Yujin walked away with yesterday’s clothes under the table. 

 

~~

 

Yena barged in the next day without even a knock this time.

 

The first thing that Yena said was, “Good.”

 

“Huh? What’s good?” 

 

“It’s good that you didn’t sleep in the office again.” Yena went beside Yujin to pat her head.

 

“What makes you think I didn’t sleep in here?” Yujin teased.

 

“YOU WHAT?!” Yena’s fingers on her head gripped her hair pulling it from its roots. 

 

“I’m kidding! I went home last night!” Yujin winced at the sudden pain. Wow, she’s strong. “Please don’t kill me.” Yujin pleaded while pouting.

 

Yena untangled her fingers from Yujin’s hair. 

 

“Tsk, as if you can be killed.” Yena rolled her eyes. 

 

Yena is also a vampire. The Choi family has been a friend of the An family since a century ago. Yujin’s father had saved their entire family who were on the verge of dying after a fire had engulfed their village. Their entire village was trapped under some rubble when he found them. He had no choice but to only heal those that survived. The Choi family was lucky enough to be found alive while most of the villagers perished.

 

He had fed all of them his blood to heal them. Consuming vampire blood also turned them into immortals. Since then, the Choi family felt indebted to Yujin’s father. And so Yujin’s father offered them jobs in his company for sticking with his family for all these years.

 

“Your new secretary will come in at 8.30 am later.” Yena informed the CEO.

 

“Okay. I trust your choice, unnie.” Yujin went straight back to doing her work and Yena left to continue with hers.

 

*knock knock* 

 

“Come in.” Yujin said without looking up.

 

“Good morning.”

 

Yujin froze at the familiar voice. Yujin slowly looked up to find the last person she expected to see in her office.

 

“Minju-ssi? What are you doing here?” Yujin asked, her mind going back to their conversation yesterday.

 

“I am here as your secretary of course.” Minju