After that second encounter, it seemed like all Handong could think about was Kim JiU.

She had been pretty tempted to google the out of that woman and learn everything she could about her, but that’s probably what she wanted, and Handong would never give that extremely annoying (and extremely gorgeous) woman the satisfaction.

The weekend had come and gone, it had been surprisingly peaceful since Yoohyeon and Gahyeon had been busy with work, and Bora had been suspiciously silent. 

Come to think of it, Handong hadn’t heard from her friend since she left her alone at the gala. After her encounter with JiU, there had been no sign of Bora, and she had looked everywhere in the venue for her to no avail. 

The only sign of life that Bora had given her was a weird text that said “sorry had 2 leave early, something came up”  before going radio silent the whole weekend, which had been out of character of her since she was always bothering Handong with going to a party or the country club on weekends to unwind.

Whatever came up must be really important, Handong thought as she made her way into Han Cosolidated’s building.

(The CEO was never going to admit it out loud, but her weekend did feel kind of empty without her loud friend’s presence).

After long hours spent between meetings and overseeing proposals and contracts, all those lingering thoughts about she-who-shall-not-be-named vanished from her mind. 

Ever since she was little, Handong used her work as an escape from the things she didn’t want to face. It was something that her friends always scolded her for, they were always worried about her workaholic ways; but Handong always told them that as one of the youngest CEOs in the country -and to top it off, being a woman- she had to work twice as harder than her male counterparts. Even though they understood her reasonings, they still couldn’t help but worry about her.

And while most of the time she maintained her ice cold facade and just rolled her eyes at her friends, their deep love for her never failed to warm her heart, even when their caring sometimes became a little too much. 

(Obviously, she’d never admit that out loud to them. They’d never let her hear the end of it).

The CEO was in the middle of reviewing some reports when her phone buzzed with an upcoming message, she was about to ignore since if it was really important, they’d call her. 

She kept working when her phone buzzed again. 

And again.

And again.

Handong pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, her concentration now broken. However, before she could unlock her phone, it started ringing.

‘Can't lie, the fire when you in your feels (Woo) / Spice it up a little (Ooh) / Yeah, you know-’

“How many times have I told you not to touch my phone? You-”

Handong was about to go off on the person on the other side of the phone when said person quickly interrupted her.

“Uhhhh… Don’t know, don’t care, just check your messages! Love you, bye!”

The line went dead before Handong could say anything else. She rolled her eyes before finally checking her messages. 

 [lil glucose baby]
you.
me.
lunch.
pick me up in 10.

[y caregiver]
Stop changing your ringtone and contact name!

 [lil glucose baby]
-that sign won’t stop me because i can’t read.jpg-
😘 😘 😘
see u in 10

[y caregiver]
And if i don’t?

 [lil glucose baby]
i’ll cry 🥺

[y caregiver]
…
I’m picking the place and you can’t complain
See you in 10

 [lil glucose baby]
fine
😘 

With a sigh, she started putting her work away and getting ready to leave, her plan to work through lunch was thwarted once again by one of her needy friends. 

“Lia, I’ll be back in two hours”, Handong said to her secretary as she walked past her and into her private elevator.

When she was younger and came to work with her father, she always thought a private elevator was too much; that just because one was in charge of the company, it didn’t mean they were different than anyone else, they were still an employee working to make the company rise in the industry. 

Her father always rolled his eyes when she expressed her concerns, only giving Handong a pat on her shoulder and saying that she’d understand when she was older.

When she had been nothing more than one of the thousand of employees in Han Consolidated, no one had really batted an eye at her, forgetting she was the boss’s daughter and treating her as one of them. 

Everyone had though that her brother Kun would be the next CEO once Mr. Han retired. Imagine their surprise when Mr. Han had announced her daughter would be the one in power. 

At first, Handong had tried to stay true to herself and followed the routine she had followed for years, interacting with everyone as she had before, but as hard as she tried everything had changed.

Little by little, everyone started keeping their distance from her. The invites to celebrate after a milestone died down, when she had asked her coworkers to hangout after work like they did before she was met with excuses, they also started giving her a wide berth in the hallways or the elevator. Even when she assured them that she was different from her father, that she saw them as equals, her words and actions were ignored. The only thing that she got in return were the whispers behind her back. 

So she just stopped trying. 

(And that’s how the rumors about being an Ice Queen started, but if that’s what they wanted her to be, she’d surely given them that and more).

The ping of her personal elevator arriving at the lobby would always instill the fear of God on her employees, making the lobby as quiet as an abandoned mall. 

But today, instead of being greeted by silence as soon as she stepped out of the elevator, a commotion going on in the lobby greeted her.

Several guards surrounded the reception desk, watching with rapt eyes as a blonde woman and the receptionist argument seemed to be escalating. 

“Don’t you know who I am?”, the blonde woman slammed her hand against the desk in frustration, “Just call Handong, she can vouch for me”

“I’m sorry ma’am”, the receptionist looked at the blonde with disdain, her patience running thin, “but Miss Han doesn’t receive anyone without an appointment. No matter who they are.”

“Listen…”, the blonde stretched out over the desk and was about to reach for the receptionist, when the guards finally pulled her away.

“Hey! Don’t touch me!”, she struggled against their grip, “You don’t want to make an enemy out of me!”

Handong had finally reached the reception area, her eyes going wide as she saw who the culprit was.

The guards that weren’t struggling with the blonde approached Handong quickly with a “Miss Han, we’ll you to a safe area”.

That got the attention of the struggling blonde, who was still trying to slip out the grip the guards had on her.

“Hey! Handong! It’s me! JiU!”

As much as Handong wanted to ignore the blonde’s presence, she knew that the longer this mess kept going, the worse the outcome would get. The least Han Consolidated needed right now was a scandal coming out of this, much less one that involved Kim JiU.

She gave a silent sign to the guards to release the blonde and whispered, “Don’t forget to do damage control”, before leaving.

Dusting herself off, JiU glared at the guards and ran after Handong.

“Hey! I was just looking for you! They wouldn’t let me in, can you believe that?”, JiU said as she caught up with the redhead..

“I don’t know how things are done at Kim Global Union, but here in Han Consolidated one must make an appointment first. We’re not barbarians”, Handong side eyed the blonde.

A beat of silence. Maybe that annoying woman got the hint that I want nothing to do with her and-, a hand in her arm stopped her. She had to give it to her, JiU had balls, no one -excluding her best friends- had ever dared to talk to her or treat her as JiU had done so far. 

Not that she was impressed or anything. Not at all.

Handong forcefully pulled out of JiU’s grip, who seemed to reach out for her again but was stopped by the redhead’s fierce gaze.

“Woah”, JiU lifted her hands as a sign of defeat, “No touching, I get it. I just...want to apologize”, her last words came out as a mere whisper, as if they were something foreign to her.

It puzzled Handong, this kind of shy image of JiU rubbing the back on her neck and bouncing nervously on her feet was a stark contrast to the cocky woman that had propositioned to her at both galas.

“I shouldn’t have come off too strong before. You’re a lady of a certain stature and you should be treated as such”, the blonde bowed her head in remorse.

Now this was something, since according to the rumors, Kim JiU was nothing more than a cocky insufferable but attractive woman that made her way through the female population without care of the broken hearts she left in her wake. 

JiU took a step closer to Handong and looked deeply into her eyes, “Which is why, I want to start with the right foot this time and make it up to you”

“No, thank you”, was all Handong said before continuing on her way, if she was late to pick her friend she would never hear the end of it.

“Wait, what?”, JiU gave chase once again after the redhead, “What do you mean no? You’re rejecting me? Again?”

It seemed like the blonde was as stubborn as she was beautiful. Handong picked up her pace, “Not everyone has to fall over you, Miss Kim”

“Well, I just want you!”

Handong chuckled, “I find that hard to believe”

“Laugh all you want, but it’s the truth”

The redhead had been so immersed in walking as fast as possible and making her way to her private parking spot that was on the street behind the company’s building, that she didn’t notice the two teenagers racing on their bikes and about to collide with her.

But JiU did.

“Move!”, one of the teens had yelled while laughing.

That caught Handong’s attention, she stopped and looked at the teens making their way towards her.

In the blink of an eye, before she could react, a body smashed against hers, moving her out of the way. 

Handong’s hands clutched the blonde’s shirt, while JiU held the redhead with one hand on her waist and the other on her back. Both women were panting and looking into the other’s eyes.

Everyone stared in awe at the pair, to them, it seemed like the typical scene from a romance movie: the damsel in distress in the arms of her knight in shining armor.

The sound of someone whistling brought them both back to reality, Handong quickly straightened herself up and pushed JiU away, a light blush adorning her cheeks.

“A thank you would be nice”, JiU joked. 

Handong felt unsettled by the whole ordeal, those few seconds that she had spent looking right into JiU’s eyes had shaken her to the core. And she didn’t like it one bit.

So she did what she always did best when in the blonde’s presence: she ran away.

“I’m...running late. Goodbye”, were the last words she said before walking the last meters separating her from her car as fast as she could. 

Not again, JiU felt defeated as she watched Handong leaving. At least she said goodbye this time?

Once Handong was safely in the inside of her car, she took her head in her hands and screamed in frustration. It seemed like as much as she wanted, she just couldn’t escape from JiU. 

After giving herself a few minutes to calm down, she put the car on drive and left to pick up her friend, hoping that a nice lunch out would help her forget about the whole ordeal.

HOT NEW ROMANCE ON THE HORIZON!
Has the Heartbreaker been tamed by the Ice Queen?

The country’s resident heartbreaker, Kim Global Union’s Kim JiU, was surprisingly spotted looking cozy with Han Consolidated’s CEO Han Dong. According to some of our sources, the pair had been taking a romantic stroll when some punks in bikes almost ran them over; but JiU’s reflexes were to immediately pull her girl out of harm's way and right into the safety of her arms. Thankfully, none of the women were hurt. 

See the pictures of this heartwarming moment here: [link]

did i spent listening to handong's solo on loop while writing this chapter? maybe so.
hope you liked it!!! tell me what you think so far uwu

you can also find me on tw: @anothershipper
cc:/anothershipper

also, sorry for any mistakes this has been proofread like once but english aint my first language u.u