“One iced chocolate please and add it with caramel syrup and whip cream,” Irene said to the bartender behind the table. She ended her order with a sincere smile.

 

Her mood was behaving nicely since the moment she opened her eyes this morning. The weather is bright with the light of the sun slightly hidden by the clouds. She too wore matching and stylish attire today with a pinch of additional purple on her blazer and purse. Today would be her payday and since it’s already 11 am, the good amount of salary should have been transferred to her bank account. She was one of the Project Managers for the South Korean area branches and her company focused on the E-Commerce business, selling about all of the fashions for both women and men.

 

To add more reasons to her seemingly good mood, this month would also be the month when she would receive her yearly bonus from her company. Last year she got 5 times her salary as her bonus and if her intuition didn’t betray her, she would receive more amount than what she got last year. No, she hadn’t checked her bank account through her mobile phone but the happy news coming from her kakao groups/groups from work was enough to strengthen her theory.

 

“Here is your order, Mam.” The voice came from the cute man in front of her returned her back from her innocent musing.

 

“Thank you. Here are some tips for you.” She wasn’t used to be this kind but hey, this is a happy day so she got every right to be kinder than her usual self the other days.

 

“OH MY GOD!! I AM SORRY!!” Irene wasn’t aware of what was happening until she felt coldness around her body; stomach area to be more precise. She looked down and found her supposed to be a white shirt and black blazer with few lines of pink changed color into brownish ones.

 

“…..” Irene was still speechless and found her happiness slowly but sure excused itself, leaving the foul mood to stay with her.

 

“Are you blind or something?! How could you so carelessly walk without having both of your eyes opened!!” Irene yelled to the culprit who turned out to be a woman, slightly taller than her by 2-3 inches with jet black hair.

 

“I am so sorry. I was in a hurry that I didn’t see you were in front of me.” The woman bowed that Irene couldn’t see her face that clearly.

 

“Do you think it’d be my business whether you are in hurry or not?! Look at my dirty clothes! It looks so gross now!” Irene showed a disgusting face. Her smile had turned into a frown and her happiness had transformed into anger.

 

“I will pay for your laundry bills. Just leave me your number and I will immediately contact you.” The woman who ran into her finally looked up and Irene got a chance to see her face. The woman had thin pinkish lips, a well-shaped nose, monolid eyes, and brown slightly sculptured eyebrows.

 

“How can I be so sure you will contact me after? Heck, I don’t believe this stain can be removed.” Irene rolled her eyes annoyingly. Her bad sides which had been tried to be buried over years slowly resurfaced.

 

“I see. Then here is my business card. You can contact me about the laundry bills. If it turned out that the stain stays, I will buy you the new shirt and blazer, maybe not with the same brands and models but I will try my best to look something similar to it.” The woman hurriedly rummaged her purse and took out her business card to give it to Irene.

 

“Kang Seulgi. Commercial Senior Manager of xxx company. So you are rich, huh? Never mind. Keep it. It’s not like I am a mendicant that I cannot afford this kind of clothes again. I hope to never see you again and be careful next time.” Irene scoffed and walked away, didn’t forget to put the business card on the table, emphasizing her mistreatment of the woman called Seulgi.

 

Irene threw the remaining of her ice cappuccino in the trash bin before she made a call to her work colleague, informing them that she wouldn’t go back to the office after lunch because of the café incident. She too asked her friend to just reschedule the meeting for tomorrow morning or maybe after lunch if she woke up late.

 

That was Irene for you. She wasn’t actually a bad woman but she grew up being spoiled by her father. Her mother left her to heaven when she was still in elementary school and her s with her siblings were too far away. Her older sister got married when she was still in junior high school while her older brother got married when she just entered senior high school. They left home; her sister lived in Europe while her brother in Philippines, leaving her only with her father in the U.S.

 

Her father was a lawyer, a famous one indeed. He was paid a high salary, making him able to spoil Irene and fulfil whatever the girl needed. He bought Irene a luxurious two-seats car as her 18th birthday gift and not to mention the huge party where almost half of her college friends were invited. Thus, she ripened as a spoiled, arrogant, bossy young woman with the proverb of her life; what Irene wanted, what Irene got.

 

In the age of 21, she was graduated from the university. She took Business Management as her department back in college. Her father asked her to just work with him so she wouldn’t need to waste the time and effort to apply and seek jobs. Irene had considered it so many times and had asked for advice from her best friends about it. Wendy, one of her entrusted best friends advised her not to stay in U.S because if she insisted to accept her father’s offer, she wouldn’t ever be able to be independent and would be forever dependent on her father.

 

It took her a long long time to convince her father that it would be okay for her to live alone. She followed Wendy and flew to South Korea. Wendy’s parents lived in Korea and her parents were willing to let Irene stay with them as the woman tried to find a decent and nice place to live in. Irene accepted the proposal and left her father in the U.S. Almost 10 years past since then and she now lived alone in a grand apartment in the center of Seoul.

 

She met new friends as years gone by. She joined her current company 6 years ago, after moving from companies after companies. She started as a staff and only within those years, she had managed to escalate her position into Project Manager. In her company, she made many new friends such as Yoona and Yuri. 3 years after she entered the company, she helped Wendy to join her company, leaving her working under the same building and the same company.

 

Yes, her personal attitudes probably were hard to accept but her professional attitudes were much different from that. Back at work, she was known as a perfectionist, responsible, high-achiever, and hard-worker. However, she was lack one thing; she barely could be an on-time person. Her habit that was impossible to be changed would be her wake up time.

---

 

“Hello~~” Irene’s slurred voice answered the phone.

 

“YAAH!! WAKE UP YOU SLEEPY HEAD!!” Irene cringed hearing the scream just after she woke up. Her soberness wasn’t even able to gather into her sleepy body.

 

“Shusshh.. Stop yelling, Seungwan-aah~ It’s too early.” Irene mumbled. Her breath slowed down and eventually, sleepiness took her sanity.

 

“EARLY MY !! IT’S 8.15 AM FOR GOD’S SAKE!! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?! YOU HAVE MEETING AT 9!!” The blaring voice and the truth that Wendy just elaborated made all of her sleepiness go away in an instant.

 

“What!?” Irene sat up, taking her clock on the table, and goggled her eyes out.

 

“Don’t What me! I don’t care how but you have half an hour to get ready and 15 minutes to reach the meeting room. BYE!” The phone hung up and Irene in a flash got down from her bed and ran to the bathroom.

 

She had a quick bath, didn’t even bother to wash her hair, and chose to just use hair tonic instead. Washing her hair meant more time to blow dry it and she had no time for it. It took her only 10 minutes until she had had her working attires on. She applied some BB Cream, eyeliner, and lipstick. She thought to just employ the finishing later in the car. She walked briskly to the front door, didn’t forget to take her phone, the charger, and her wallet beforehand. She gasped for breath while inside the elevator. She took a quick glance and slightly happy that she was already in the lobby in less than 20 minutes. It’s a miracle!

 

She decided not to bring her car today and just chose a taxi. If she did, then she couldn’t apply the rest of her outstanding makeup on her face. The facial appearance was important for her. She had to look beautiful and astounding. The meeting held in a moment would be between her company and her future vendor. There would be 4 vendors today and one of them would be awarded as the winner and responsible to provide the services of goods shipped to customers.

 

Fortunately, the distance between her company and her apartment wasn’t that far, moreover when it’s supported with kind-hearted traffic. She added more money as tips for the driver before she got off of the taxi car. Today would be busy because it’d be full of meetings with vendors as a continuation of the sequential tendering process. She would be the user while Wendy acted as a procurement who would help her to decide the winner of the tender later.

 

“Yes yes I am in the lobby waiting for the elevator right now.” Irene got another phone call from no other but her beloved procurement.

 

“Sheesh!! It’s not even 9 and she was already that nosy.” Irene grumbled under her breath. She quickly pressed close button when she was inside the elevator, preventing her from delaying her arrival to her company’s floor.

---

 

“I have told you so many times not to be late for today! You were late during the pre-bid meeting last week and now you’re almost late again.” Wendy welcomed her with her ramblings as soon as she entered the meeting room.

 

“Focus on the word ‘almost’ please? At least I am already here and it’s not even 9 yet.” Irene replied.

 

“Fine fine. Anyway, you know what’s the agenda of today right?” Wendy asked. The smile had returned to her face. She was Irene’s best friend anyway so once the arguments related to work had done, she would be back to her kind normal self.

 

“Hmm.. The vendors would present about the operating plan they already proposed for the tender right?” Wendy smiled and nodded her head.

 

“Good. The next question would be, have you read the operational proposal books from them?” Wendy raised one of her eyebrows in an annoying manner.

 

“Errr.. Well you know that I am smart, blessed with amazing intelligence from God above that-“

 

“Fine fine fine. Stop being arrogant~~” Irene chuckled hearing the statement.

 

“Just ensure you will hear the proposal meticulously. No phone allowed during their presentation. Got it?”

 

“Yes, boss!!” Irene saluted.

 

“Chohee, ask the first vendor to come in.” Wendy talked to the receptionist.

 

“By the way, I have faith you haven’t had your breakfast so here, I bought you a sandwich and coffee to freshen up yourself from your heavy sleepiness.” Wendy presented the brown paper together with the coffee cup from Irene’s favorite brand.

 

“Thank you, Wannie! Remind me to treat you to a delicious lunch later!!” Irene excitedly opened the paper and had a bite of her tuna sandwich.

 

“Tsk! I wonder how your personality can be easily flipped just because of simple things.” Wendy murmured.

 

“Well, simple things are meaningful most of the time.” Irene replied and continued eating as she waited for the first candidate.

---

 

There were already 3 vendors conducted presentation regarding their operational proposals that they would execute should they were chosen as the winner of the tender. One was a local vendor, focusing on warehouse and inventory management yet they were ready to expand their business to shipment services. However, based on the way they answered the questions Irene threw, both Irene and Wendy just knew they didn’t have many links needed for abroad shipments and customs services.

 

The second one specialized in light vehicle rental. The third one was the most compatible for Irene’s company so far, yet since the company came from abroad along with the fact that that they didn’t have all required equipment, it made the bid data sheet slash proposed cost was higher than Owner Estimation/cost prepared by Irene’s company to use the vendor’s services.

 

Irene decided to have a lunch break right after they were done with the third vendor. The meeting was attended by Irene as the user, Wendy as the lead procurement, Jangmi as the procurement staff, Yunho as HSE Representative from Irene’s company, Sehun as Legal, and Suho as Senior Manager from Irene’s division.

 

“What do you think of the candidates so far?” Suho asked the audience.

 

“I don’t think the business license from the first company is in accordance with the services we need them to provide so I am certain to say we need to eliminate the first vendor as a candidate for our contractor.” Sehun stated confidently

 

“Are you sure? Because eliminating with baseless reasons is a violation.” Wendy asked for confirmation.

 

“100%” Sehun answered.

 

“Okay. I will have the vendor crossed out then.” Wendy typed on her laptop.

 

“What is your opinion about the second vendor?” Suho asked again. The next meeting with the vendor wouldn’t occur until an hour from now so he utilized the time to review the previous meetings.

 

“Obviously, the risks for light vehicle rental is different from the risks for our services. As far as I concern, the risks for the light vehicle is medium risks with the highest risks would be fatality by the incident but the risks for our company would be fatality involving many people at a time. We need multiple types of shipments; land, air, and sea. To conclude it all, I really think the second candidate is suitable for us.” Yunho exclaimed.

 

“Fine. When it comes to safety, I cannot say anything. It’s the priority above all so I shall immediately eliminate them if that’s alright with you Sir and Hyun.” Wendy responded.

 

“I agree. You can eliminate them.” Irene nodded her head, followed by Suho.

 

“That leaves us only with the third vendor. No matter how appropriate this vendor is, the fact that they offer us an unreachable cost cannot be erased. I truly hope the last vendor would be the best amongst all.” The others could only nod their heads as approval.

 

“Hello. Chohee, has the last vendor come?” Wendy talked on the phone; loudspeaker.

 

“Yes, Mrs. Wendy. But there is only one person, a woman if I may add.” Chohee informed

 

“It’s okay. Ask her in.” Wendy ended the conversation.

 

“Woman and alone? Uhh I like that~” Sehun jokingly said.

 

“Irene is a woman, alone, and single too. Don’t you like it?” Wendy teased.

 

“I like it! But well, I don’t think she likes me.” Sehun threw a quick glance at Irene.

 

“Glad you knew it.” Irene flatly answered. Laughter soon heard from the meeting room, bullying and mocking Sehun.

 

Excuse me.” The voice distracted them and automatically seized their attention to the source of the voice itself.

 

“Oh. Good afternoon. Please come in.” Wendy stood up, followed by others. Irene, like others, tried to see the face of the vendor’s representative just to be startled. It was after all the same woman who clumsily ran after her and dirtied her clothes. How could she forget when the event took place just the day before?

 

“My name is Kang Seulgi and I am the representative for Reveluv Integrated Logistics.” Seulgi genuinely offered her hand and shook the hands of the audience one by one.

 

“My name is Suho. Please to meet you.

 

“My name is Wendy.”

 

“I am Sehun.”

 

“Nice to meet you. The name is Yunho.”

 

“Irene.” Well, eminently Irene would still be cold to this person. She just couldn’t erase the bad memory where Seulgi had caused turmoil for her mood during that day.

 

“You can start the presentation, Seulgi.” Wendy smiled and asked the others to sit down. Almost all of them seemed welcomed and sincere. Almost was used because there’s an exception. Irene was the only person with y face. She paid attention closely to Seulgi; each word that came out from Seulgi would be used later by Irene as a moment to return the favor. Yes, she would continuously ask Seulgi the difficult questions and embarrass the woman as an act of revenge. She would make Seulgi look dumb which would make her fail and lose in the tender.

---

 

“How do you ensure that our goods are safe during shipment?” Irene asked the question as soon as Seulgi was done with her presentation.

 

“We have our equipment together with the goods we ship covered by insurance so should worst-case occur and your goods are damaged, we would immediately report it and follow up for the replacement of your goods be it through cash or others.” Seulgi calmly answered.

 

“What if we want to ship our goods from abroad through vessel or sea transportation? Lead time is critical for our company and the main reason why our customer still stays with us is due to the fast arrival date from since the customers paid for their goods on the internet and we prefer to stay that way. Convince us the estimation time from when the goods are out from the factory until it arrived in Korea.” Irene challenged Seulgi with a more difficult question.

 

“No need to worry. We have held a firm cooperative relationship with numerous suppliers from around the world, including with the agents responsible for customs at ports. We ensure you that our demurrage time would be much lesser compared to other vendors. When others need up to weeks, we would only need days, and if other need days, we would merely take hours.” Seulgi confidently replied. The others were amused while Irene became crankier.

 

“How about the tracking and tracing capabilities from your company? How precision is the actual status of goods compared to the data shown in your system?” Irene showed no sign of giving up.

 

“The system is capable to update the current status of goods shipment once in every hour automatically. We set highly technology advanced GPS in each of every land transportation we own. Meanwhile, for sea transportation, we will send you the coordinates of our ship once every 6 hours and for air transportation, we will provide data of the departing time. Further, we also will be responsible for the system integration with your current system, including for the invoicing process.” Seulgi smiled and easily answered the question.

 

The questions and answers were going on for at least one more hour and it’s believed that it wouldn’t be stopped if not because of Wendy. The petite woman stood up between Irene and Seulgi, saying that the time had up plus if Irene still needed more time to confirm the ability of Seulgi’s company, she should just do it outside. One by one left the room, except Seulgi and Irene.

 

“I really not wish for you to be the winner.” Irene cynically stated as she watched Seulgi gather up her belongings and shut down her laptop.

 

“I am so sorry about that. I really didn’t have any intention to ruin your shirt yesterday. Have you put it in the laundry service?” Seulgi asked her in a friendly way.

 

“I don’t care about your intention but what you did yesterday was enough to make me want to fight against my team just so you won’t come out as the winner.” Irene rudely said.

 

“I hope what I did yesterday won’t change the term of professionalism that you believe. I mean, business is business but what happened yesterday just stays between you and me.” Seulgi flipped her laptop and put it into her backpack.

 

“Unfortunately, although I am considered as a believer for business is business; it cannot change the truth that should you be the winner, your user will be me. In another word, I personally will be your customer and I cannot say what I will ask you in the future would only be related to works.” Irene sneered with the corner of her lips pulled upward.

 

“Are you threatening me, Ms. Irene?” Seulgi sighed, trying to control her emotion since the woman she was facing at the moment had the potential to be her future customer with lots of estimated revenue.

 

“Who knows~ I am just saying what’s inside my mind. Besides, it’s not like you will come out as the winner anyway. The other candidates were as good as if not better than you.” Irene lied.

 

“I see. And please contact me if you had the laundry bills with you already. I still insist to pay it. Well then, I will see you around. That is if I am not the winner.” Seulgi luckily still able to keep her composure. She bowed and left the room.

 

“Damn! Please don’t make her the winner.” Irene cursed to herself.

---

 

Irene was sent abroad almost as soon as the tender meeting with vendors was done. Suho asked for her assistance to teach the employees in one of the company’s branches that just opened in the Philippines. He requested her to conduct coaching, elaborate on the system guidelines, and how to implement it as well as refreshment about the Code of Conduct to prevent smuggling, bribery, and frauds. Well, Irene was a smart woman so Suho utilized Irene as much as possible, with a good fee of course.

 

The assignment of Irene to the Philippines made her unable to keep in touch with the tendering process or the continuation or being involved in vendors’ judgment and selections. She was asked to stay for over two weeks and during her stay, not a day could pass without her being busy and focus on her work. Thus, she had no idea what had happened when she wasn’t around at work back in Seoul.

 

“Hyun, have you arrived?” Irene was inside the taxi and just managed to inform her work what’s app group about her arrival.

 

“Yep, Wan. What is it? I am dead tired right now.” Irene wearily replied.

 

“Is it too much if I asked you to drop by at work first?”

 

“Do you even need to ask that? I am so tired, Wendy. I still worked during weekends and I barely could sleep 6 hours a day.” Irene barked. She was tired and her bed was the only thing she missed the most right now. She might be a dedicated hard worker but even a hard worker needed a proper rest, right?

 

“Just two hours max. I have consulted Mr. Suho and bargained that you could take two days off instead of one if you can make it to work right now.”

 

“Fine. Just promise me it won’t be long.” Irene gave up. Two hours bartered with a day off sounded too tempting anyway.

 

“Great! I have bought you your favorite snack too. Come here quickly!!”

 

“I’ll be there in an hour. I really hope it’s an important issue, Wendy or I swear I will make you run around the golf court tomorrow!” Irene threatened. She heard Wendy laughing before she hung up the phone.

 

“Sir, turn around here. Change the direction to xxx building. Wake me up when we have arrived.” Irene didn’t give the chance for the man to reply. She had closed her eyes when the man was about to nod.

 

It took Irene less than an hour to reach her office building. The time showed 13.30 PM right now. Good thing she had her lunch on the plane or she was so sure she would be cranky and resentful toward Wendy later. She descended from the taxi and entered the lobby of the building with her luggage dragged behind her. She didn’t have any plan to visit her office today so she didn’t bother to wear her working attire. Yet, she had jeans with a checkered shirt and casual sneakers. Wendy asked her suddenly to drop by right so it’s not her fault to have a casual style.

 

“Irene, where are you?” It was Suho this time.

 

“On my way up, Sir.” Irene politely answered.

 

“Good. Immediately go to Amethyst meeting room as soon as you reached the floor okay.”

 

“Yes, Sir.” Irene shortly said. She sighed and wondered; if she kept being busy like this then when she would able to find her soulmate?

 

The brunette commended her luggage on the receptionist woman, Chohee, and asked her to inform the office boy that she wanted hot bitter tea to help her stay sober. Right after, she made her way to the meeting room. She entered and bowed to the audience as her eyes roamed around the room. Familiar faces were there and it brought a smile upon her face until her eyes landed on a particular face that she disliked the most.

 

“Thank you for taking the time to attend today’s meeting. I am sure you still remember Seulgi right? Apparently, her company has become the winner of the tender announced just last week.” Suho and Seulgi stood up.

 

“WHAT?!” The loud voice made most of the audiences’ faces cringed.

 

“How could she become the winner?!” Irene slightly forgot her place with her statement.

 

“Uhm, Hyun. You can sit down first. It’s a formal meeting held to discuss the gaps found between our company and Seulgi’s. She even brought her team today.” Wendy stood up as well, trying to calm down her best friend. She just knew there’s something fishy between Irene and Seulgi. Yes, Irene was never one that was friendly to new people but at the same time, she too wasn’t the one who could have an amount of hatred for someone she just met.

 

“Seulgi. You can introduce your team to Irene.” Wendy turned to Seulgi and smiled.

 

“Well of course. Good afternoon, Ms. Irene. This is Sooyoung from the commercial team like me. He is Minho as our QHSE Manager and lastly Kwangsoo from operation department.” Seulgi tried her best smile in hope that Irene wouldn’t bring up her long time overdue grudge about coffee spilling.

 

“Hmm. My name is Irene. A pleasure to meet you and I am sorry for my rude behaviour earlier.” Irene changed her attitude immediately. Finally, she had an idea that this was work, and what happened with Seulgi was outside of work.

 

“Nice. Then shall we start the meeting?” Wendy smiled, feeling relieved that at least Irene’s mood had been okay even only for now. Soon the meeting started and again, thankfully nothing alarming occurred during the meeting.

 

The meeting went on for almost two hours. The result was, Seulgi’s company was given 2 weeks to revise the operational proposal as well as the HSE Plan and the programs contained in it. Seulgi’s company stated the agreement that they would re-evaluate the proposal and revised it based on the discussion held within that day.

 

“Thank you everyone for attending the meeting. I have read the minutes of the meeting and hopefully, each person in charge can do their outstanding and close it on time.” Wendy closed the meeting.

 

“I hope to see you again with some improvements and revised documents in two weeks. It’d be better if your team can do it faster since the work shall start approximately in one month and a half.” Wendy added.

 

“I will try my hardest and convince my team to do overtime so we can comply with your requirements.” Seulgi confidently exclaimed.

 

“Of course.” Wendy smiled. Alternately Irene’s team left the room, but Wendy and her.

 

“Hyun, I will go first okay? I need to officially send the MoM through email to the related PIC. I am afraid I would forget to do it if I delayed it any longer.” Wendy approached Irene and explained.

 

“It’s fine, Wendy. I too will go home after this.” Irene nodded.

 

Seulgi and her team were still inside the meeting room. Well, all of them looked ready to leave though. Irene didn’t care much about it. She wanted to get away from Seulgi as soon as she could. Somehow, her intuition said that Seulgi meant bad luck for her.

 

“Seul, are you coming?” Sooyoung asked. She was already standing in front of the door.

 

“You can go first with Minho and Kwangsoo. Besides, I brought my own car here.” Sooyoung nodded and left with the rest of her team members.

 

“Mrs. Irene.” Irene sighed but stopped halfway.

 

“What again? Do you want me to say congratulations to you? Never gonna happen!” Irene then ignored Seulgi and kept walking forward.

 

“No, it’s not that.” Seulgi tried to catch up from behind.

 

“Look. I don’t have time for you. I just landed from the Philippines 2 hours ago and I am so dead tired right now. So if you think what you’re about to spill is important, say it right now. If not, then I am going home.” Irene stopped in her track and Seulgi walked around until she was face to face with the brunette.

 

“I see. Maybe that’s why you haven’t contacted me for repaying the laundry bills.” Seulgi assumed.

 

“Even if I didn’t go anywhere, I wouldn’t still contact you.” Irene shook her head with a scoff.

 

“Good thing I made an initiative then. Here, I bought you a white shirt with a blazer as a replacement for the dirtied ones before. It may not have the same design but I have bought the same brand at least.” Seulgi opened her backpack and took the plastic bag from inside it.

 

“No need to. I can always buy myself a new one if I want to.” Irene turned down the offer. By now, they were standing not far from the receptionist desk.

 

“Please. It’s the least I can do to lessen my guilty feelings for what I have done to you.” Seulgi insisted.

 

“I don’t need to Seulgi. Just give it to your friends. I don’t accept bribery.” Irene tried ruder words to hurt Seulgi and stopped her from being stubborn.

 

“I don’t mean bribery here. Besides, I have appointed as your vendor which means we will be involved to work together often in the future. Having a bad term with you is the least I want to have.” Seulgi tried again. She stepped forward a bit, trying to persuade Irene.

 

“No is no, Seulgi. No need to worry, I will try to stay professional no matter how much I dislike being in the same room as you. No offense but my hunch says that being around you would only bring me bad luck.” Irene assertively stated and it silenced Seulgi almost immediately.

 

“Goodbye, Seulgi.” Irene turned back her body, totally being oblivious that Seulgi had accidentally stepped on her shoelace that it stopped her from stepping forward. The worst then happened. Irene tripped by her trapped foot and fell down with her face touched the ground first before her own body.

 

“OH MY GAWD!!” Seulgi screamed. Again, she had ruined if not worsened the situation between Irene and her.

---

 

“I really didn’t mean to harm her in any way, Mrs. Wendy.” Seulgi sighed, mentally facepalming herself. She fully realized Irene’s displeasure attitude toward her and making it worsened was the last thing she wanted to do. Seulgi was serious when she said she didn’t want to mix personal issues with the business. However, the third meeting with the woman called Irene was enough to inform her that it would be hard for Irene not to dislike her in both professional life and personal life. Therefore, she wanted to fix their bad terms sincerely. Never once thought, she would worsen it instead.

 

“I know and yet she ended up being hurt.” Wendy sighed while looking at her unconscious friend.

 

“I notice something has happened between both of you. I never once saw Irene dislike someone to this extent. May I know what’s going on?” Wendy turned to Seulgi. She slightly pitied Seulgi. The jet black-haired woman’s expression said that she really felt sorry for what she did to Irene.

 

“Yeah. It was accidental though. I ran to her when she just got her ice coffee and at that time, she wore a white shirt. You know what happened next.” Seulgi re-enacted the event and ended the short story with a sigh.

 

“And probably that’s why she didn’t come back to work that day.” Wendy made a conclusion. Seulgi sighed again.

 

“Listen, Seulgi. She is actually a very bright woman. She can become cranky at times and seems rude, arrogant, bossy, or anything you may see from her but she isn’t like that to people she cares about.” Wendy started.

 

“I am sure you really have no bad intention to her but the accident is enough to make her angry at you. Plus, the recent event just poured more fuel to the already blazing fire. I don’t know what she would do to you the moment she opened her eyes.” Wendy tapped Seulgi’s shoulder, trying to give her some encouragement.

 

“I know right. Honestly, I was trying to replace the blouse I ruined. I am sure it will be difficult to remove the stain completely. I already brought it and she said she didn’t need to. When I insisted, I stepped forward and incidentally stepped on her shoelace. She still said no and turned around. She wanted to hurriedly leave when.. Well, you know what’s next.” Seulgi breathed deeply.

 

“I want to accompany her but my husband is already here. Can I trust my friend with you?” Wendy saw the clock hanging on the wall and it showed 6.45 PM.

 

“Of course.”

 

“When she wakes up, there’s a huge possibility that she would scream at your face before she finally realized the situation she is in. Whatever words she would say to you, please don’t take it into the heart. And since you’re responsible for this, you must take care of her until the cast is removed.” Wendy said and Seulgi only nodded her head weakly.

 

“I don’t mean to bother you and worry you with her but she has no one here. She hasn’t married and her father is abroad. Her siblings are married with children and live in another part of the country. It means she is alone.” Wendy continued.

 

“Do you have a family living with you? I mean, it would be hard for you to take care of her and take care of her family at the same time but if that’s the case then maybe we can find another way out like hiring a personal nurse?” Wendy ended her statements.

 

“I don’t have anyone living with me actually. My parents are in Gwangju as well as my older brother. I live in an apartment downtown and yes, I will take care of her.” Seulgi remarked.

 

“Good. Thank you. Just try to be patient and stay around her. You will know another side of her that she rarely shows to anyone.” Wendy smiled and left the room.

---

 

Seulgi was alone with the unconscious woman when Wendy left. She was truly scared about what would happen once Irene opened her eyes and knew that again Seulgi had brought misfortune to her life. The first time it happened, it only destroyed her white blouse but the second time, and hopefully, the last time happened, it wrecked Irene’s body.

 

Feeling guilty was an understatement for Seulgi. Heck, she was so sure she wasn’t one who usually brought misfortune to others’ life. She was a person who was logical and often played with risk assessment, meaning she was careful. She calculated every step she wanted to make in a very detailed way so what happened between her and Irene was totally her hidden bad luck.

 

Seulgi was reading the Scope of Work from Irene’s company while making a note about the corrections her company needed to make when she felt the woman stirred. Seulgi put away her laptop and started to blurt some mantra in the Korean language.

 

“Ugh..” Irene groaned. She felt dizzy. Her head felt so heavy. She in reflex wanted to move her right hand to massage her head when she felt she was unable to do so.

 

“Uhmm.. Your right hand is cast so it must not do unnecessary movements. Your right wrist is sprained and the doctor advised you to have it cast to prevent the frictions.” The voice was so familiar. Slowly but sure, Irene opened up her eyes.

 

“YAAHH!! WHAT THE HELL?!” Irene growled as soon as she had an idea of what just took place and what the impact it had brought her.

 

“Errr.. I am sorry but I unintentionally stepped on your shoelace and-“

 

“I still clearly remember what happened. My head might be knocked on the floor thanks’ to you but I am not attacked with memory loss or something.” Irene quickly interjected. Oh, how she hated the woman before her.

 

“Yeah, that’s what happened. Uhm.. How are you feeling now? Do you feel any pain?” Seulgi carefully asked.

 

“Is that even a question? Look at my wrist! I cannot even- Ouchh.. Damn it hurts.” Irene hissed when she again tried to lift her right hand.

 

“Wait here. Let me call the doctor.” Seulgi proactively remarked. She didn’t wait for Irene to reply and in a rush getting out of the room. First, she didn’t want Irene to suffer the pain longer, and secondly and perhaps most importantly, she needed to run away. Irene was just too scary at the moment.

 

The doctor came and greeted Irene with a smile. Thus, how could Irene not reply to the smile right? Seulgi saw the blinding genuine smile with her eyes formed a thin line when she smiled widely. Seulgi was right. Irene was really, really beautiful. She already was when she only got solemn face completed with wrinkled eyebrows whenever Seulgi presented, moreover when she smiled just like then.

 

The man in the white coat allowed Irene to go home didn’t forget to remind Irene that her hand must not get wet and try not to move the right hand too much or in other words, Irene had to find ways to eat with her left hand, write with her left hand, and do other things with her left hand and leave the right hand abandoned. He also added that after two weeks and if things were according to plan, she could remove the cast.

 

“I will help you to get home.” Seulgi quickly said when the man had left the room.

 

“I don’t need your help.”

 

“But I was the one who made you like this. The last thing I could do is to ensure you won’t bring more harm to your right hand.” Seulgi reasoned out.

 

“I appreciate your good motives but should I remind you what just happened to me when you previously tried to be nice to me, hmm?” Irene sarcastically scowled and it shut Seulgi from saying things more.

 

“At least let me observe you. If I see you don’t need any help, then I won’t do anything.” Seulgi bargained. Good thing this time Irene didn’t say no. Seulgi asked the nurse to accompany Irene out of the hospital. Then, she watched as Irene went to the receptionist and asked her to hail a taxi. Yet, half an hour passed and Irene hadn’t gotten a taxi.

 

“I brought a car with me so I can drive you home.” Seulgi said to Irene. She ensured she had distanced herself at least with a 1-meter gap.

 

“What now? Do you want me to be a victim of a traffic incident?” Irene arrogantly replied.

 

“I promise I will drive carefully. I was the one who brought you here and nothing happened. If anything, I am confident in my driving skill.” Seulgi said back.

 

“Fine. But promise me you won’t exceed 40 km/hour.” Irene threw a deadly glare at Seulgi.

 

“Of course.” The woman gulped.

---

 

“Wake up!! It’s almost 7!!” Seulgi helplessly shook Irene’s body.

 

“Ngghhh.. I am still sleepy~~” Irene turned her body around and continued sleeping.

 

“God! I am so giving up waking her up!!” Seulgi protested. She then tried another way by climbing the bed and sat on Irene’s thighs. She pinched Irene’s nose and yes, after seconds passed the brunette coughed and sat up.

 

“YAH!! Do you want to kill me or something?!” Irene pushed Seulgi with her left hand until the latter fell down on her back.

 

“Hahhaha.. Sorry, Irene but I don’t know other ways to wake you up. Now go and try to have a bath on your own. I will prepare breakfast.” Seulgi laughed, jutting out her tongue, and got off.

 

“Geezz!! Devil’s descendant!” Irene still complained and watched Seulgi leave the room.

 

Three days had passed since the incident where Irene fell on her face due to Seulgi's carelessness. Seulgi insisted that Irene needed someone to take care of Irene at least until her right hand could function as it used to be. Irene surely at first tried numerous ways to say no. Seulgi gave up after an hour of debating with the brunette. When it came to stubbornness, Seulgi had just to accept she could never win over Irene.

 

The second day was a surprise for Seulgi. The brunette gave Seulgi a call, saying that she took back her words and rejections. She reasoned out that she spent an hour only for trying to bathe, another hour to feed herself using her left hand, and one more hour to get dress. All in all, she wasted 3 hours just to do trivial daily activities. Seulgi smiled and gladly accepted the invitation. She realized Irene would be demanding and y but since it was her fault, she could barely complain about it.

 

Seulgi brought huge luggage with her to Irene’s place enough for two weeks' stay. She had packed her working attire, knowing she would go to work from Irene’s place, her sleeping pajamas, and even her best buddy which was her fluffy hairy Teddy Bear.

 

It was a lie if Irene and Seulgi could get along just like that; like a best friend who had a sleepover at her friend’s place. Irene was used to living alone. Yes, she had a luxurious and spacious apartment with 3 bedrooms but since she was always alone, she transformed her unused bedrooms into her working room and her storage room, leaving only one bedroom available to sleep.

 

Irene was arrogant and it wasn’t a new thing. Irene was annoying, that too wasn’t surprising but Irene was spoiled, and childish were her other traits that Seulgi just found out. The woman didn’t want to share her bed, saying her bed was only meant for her and her only, meaning Seulgi had to sleep somewhere else where she could easily hear Irene’s call whenever the latter needed attention and help.

 

Seulgi spent the first night sleeping on the couch in front of the TV screen. She asked Irene to open the bedroom door so she would be able to hear the call from outside. Irene was rude to her and very very bossy. She would leisurely ask Seulgi to put a nail polisher on her nail, dry and brush her hair, apply make-up on her face, and so many more. The worst would be when Irene asked her to help her bath.

 

The next day, Seulgi decided to buy a rollaway bed so she could sleep on the floor comfortably. Irene was oblivious about it. After Seulgi drove Irene to work, Seulgi went to her own office and spared some time to the market and bought the bed. That night, Seulgi couldn’t sleep properly because almost every hour she was resurrected by her annoying master; saying Irene wanted to pee, to poop, hungry, thirsty, and worst; bored.

 

“SEULGI!!!” Seulgi sighed and turned off the stove. The call came from the bathroom.

 

“Yeah?” Seulgi was already in front of the bathroom now.

 

“I cannot wash my hair! Help me!” Irene answered from the closed door. Seulgi braced herself and entered.

 

Seulgi wasn’t a gay woman. All of her exes were men and she was even once married to a man. Yes, that man had cheated on her and that’s the main reason why she divorced his ex-husband. For her, a commitment was a serious matter, and once betrayed, she wouldn’t take a hassle to give him a second chance. She didn’t have any guarantee he wouldn’t do what he had done before, right?

 

The moment she saw her ex-husband on the bed half with an unknown woman, her love for him just vanished like that. She was hurt and she cried but she didn’t suffer and go on with the pain for a long time. Her heart was shattered and it would take a very very long time for it to be rebuilt again like how it used to. She didn’t even need a week to submit the divorce paper to him and to follow up immediately to the hearing.

 

Four years passed since then and she was enjoying her life up until now. She didn’t have any plan to build a new family. There were men who came and went in and out of her life but none was taken seriously. And yes, they were all male. She was rich, she had a stable and good position, she had almost everything a person wanted in her or his life but she was lack of something and that something was nothing but love. The question would be, was she ready for another love?

 

Back to the story, Seulgi was straight and she had many times seen men and even had passionate sessions with them. But still, it felt weird to witness a woman if the woman wasn’t her nephew or herself. Nevertheless, Seulgi had to admit that Irene had a very slender body, completed with nice curves. Her s were perfect, not too big and not too small. The areolas were light brown close to pink. Her stomach was flat like there weren’t unnecessary fats contained in it. The area below,.. Well, let’s just said Seulgi wasn’t dared enough to look.

 

“Seulgi, wash this area too!!” Irene intentionally or innocently spread her thighs and asked Seulgi to bring her hand to that sacred area there.

 

“B-but Irene.” Seulgi stuttered.

 

“What? You are not gay, are you?” Irene mocked.

 

“Of course not!” Seulgi felt offended and quickly led her right hand there while her left hand was holding the shower and let the water flow to clean Irene’s forbidden place.

 

It was the most excruciating 10 minutes Seulgi had ever passed. Her hands were still shaking due to touching Irene’s area which was cleanly shaved by the way. And no, Seulgi wasn’t gay. She was 100% sure of it.

---

 

“I heard Seulgi stays with you.” Wendy came to her room without knocking.

 

“Yes she is. I thought you asked her to do so?” Irene stopped typing.

 

“Yep, that I did but I also said if it would trouble her, she could always hire a nurse to serve you instead of having herself involved in a slavery led by the ruthless Irene Bae.” Wendy took a seat in front of Irene’s desk.

 

“Oh. She never mentioned that.” The later shrugged casually.

 

“She is a good woman you know. She was so sorry for what she had done to you. I am sure that’s the main reason why she decided to help you and even went as far as moving out from her place to yours temporarily.”

 

“I never asked her to sacrifice her own self though. As you said, it’s her own decision to do that.” Irene sipped her already cold coffee.

 

“Are you treating her nicely?”

 

 “What do you think? Am I Fir’aun that improperly treated person and even made them as his slaves?” Wendy didn’t answer. She only raised one of her eyebrows as a response.

 

“Ask her yourself if you don’t believe me.” Irene huffed.

 

“So how long is she gonna stay in your place?” Wendy asked another question.

 

“I don’t know. She said she planned to stay until my cast is removed but who knows, right? There’s always this possibility that what she said was none but bluffing. I am sure she will give up in less than a week.” Irene confidently exclaimed.

 

“What if she doesn’t?”

 

“Then I probably have to charge her the rent cost.” Irene chuckled.

 

“Meanie Irene is mean.” Wendy rolled her eyes.

 

“That’s a joke, Wendy. I don’t know. She seems like a good woman. Well, since she never said no to any of my demands so far. I even asked her to bathe me and she obediently did so.” Irene laughed harder.

 

“She what?! That’s too far, Hyun! How could you do that to her?!” Wendy complained.

 

“Are you defending her?”

 

“No! But what you did is inhumane! It’s not like you are a three years old kid who still needed her mother to take a bath~” Wendy said.

 

“I know but if she didn’t stupidly step on my shoelace, I wouldn’t fall and if I didn’t fall, I wouldn’t have my hand casted and-“

 

“I get it, Hyun. Just don’t torment her too much. I can see she is truly a good and responsible woman.” Wendy reminded.

 

“We’ll see Wendy. She can always give up and leave if she found my attitudes were unbearable.”

 

“Right. I am gonna have lunch outside with others. Are you coming?”

 

“Nope. Seulgi said she would pick me up and have lunch with me.” Irene shook her head.

 

“Be careful of what you play with or more with whom you play with, Hyun. You never know what will happen. Like people said, small and adequate fire is useful and beneficial but huge fire is deadly.” Wendy warned seriously.

 

“OH MY GAWD! It’s not like she is gay, Wendy! And what I do to her is harmless.” Irene defended.

 

“I know. She looks like a normal straight woman but the question would be, are you?” Wendy asked with a hint of suspicion.

 

“The hell, Wendy! Of course, I am!! Although it’s been some time since the last time I am involved in a romance, I still am and forever will be normal. More trust, please!” Irene growled annoyingly.

 

“I know you are, for now, but who can predict the future? If she is that good and you are that dependable toward her, well.. Let’s just be cautious of your heart. She is a good woman but there’s no guarantee she can be bent.” Wendy assertively quoted.

 

“You are insane. There is no way that would happen.” Irene raised her voice, feeling offended by the accusations.

 

“I am not saying it would happen. I am just warning you as a best friend.” Wendy smiled.

 

“Well then, see you later.” Wendy added and removed her from the chair, leaving Irene trapped in wondering about Wendy’s predictions regarding the possibility of her and Seulgi.

 

“No. There’s no way it will happen. I just know it. I am normal.” Irene said to herself.

---

 

“Where are we going to eat?” Seulgi asked as she drove.

 

“Western.” Irene shortly replied.

 

“Are you in a bad mood?” Irene sensed the concern from Seulgi's voice but she pretended not to know. What Seulgi did to her was bad so it would only be fair if she did the same too to her.

 

“I am always in a bad mood whenever I am with you.” Irene barked. That was enough to make Seulgi silenced.

 

“I know a western restaurant nearby. I haven’t been there myself but my friends who have visited said that the food is tasty.” Seulgi diverted the topic.

 

“We can go there.” Irene again answered shortly. Seulgi didn’t say anything after. She had a hunch that it would be better to leave Irene alone for now. The rest of the journey was spent with Irene played with her phone and Seulgi busied driving.

---

 

Another three days passed that it meant this would be the seventh day since Seulgi stayed with Irene and took care of everything for the brunette. Irene still treated Seulgi badly, like Seulgi was Irene’s maid instead of her housemate or her business partner. As the days went by, the treatment went worse. How worse?

 

“Seulgi!!!” Irene roared.

 

“Coming!!” Seulgi answered.

 

“I want to take a bath.” Irene stated when Seulgi had arrived in Irene’s room, gasping for air.

 

“I will prepare the water. Do you want it to be warm or slightly hot?” Seulgi asked again.

 

“Warm.” Irene went back to her bed and played with her iPad with the left hand.

 

Irene was rude and mostly bossy toward Seulgi and yet, the taller woman still kindly responded to each and every order Irene made to her. Seulgi was never a fool. If she were, she wouldn’t be promoted to be a senior manager of commercial in her 30th age. She acknowledged the intentional treatments Irene addressed to her but she didn’t complain at all, not because she couldn’t but more like because she thought it was a way to repent her sin to Irene.

 

Seulgi was raised to be a woman with a good manner. Her parents taught her to be polite and patient; to always respect the elders and not to ever be a rebel no matter how hard the obstacles get in front of her. Further, her family also trained her to be sincere and never hold a grudge toward someone else no matter how that someone had badly hurt her. Thus, she let Irene be bossy and arrogantly treated her as her personal assistant if not worse.

 

Seulgi thought after two weeks, the tortures would end. That after two weeks, she could go back to her comfortable apartment or even took days off so she could visit her family and her lovable dog. She missed them very much and living with Irene became more unbearable as time went by. She just needed to pass another week and everything would be back to normal or that’s how she thought it would be.

 

“Seul, the pubic hair of mine has grown long. It’s itchy that I wanted to remove it as soon as possible. Do you think you can help me with it? There’s no way I can shave it on my own.” Irene requested but it sounded more like a demand.

 

“Are you asking me to shave your pubic hair?” Seulgi asked to reconfirm. Deep inside, she hoped she misheard it even though the possibility was small.

 

“Yes.” The reply came and Seulgi sighed heavily.

 

The movement was reluctant but she needed to calm down herself if she didn’t want to make a scratch on Irene’s private area. What she was doing wasn’t one to be looked down upon because of one wrong move and she could be placed in hell by Irene. Seulgi took the razor before she squatted in front of Irene who sat on the edge of the bathtub. Automatically, Irene opened up her leg to ease Seulgi in doing her job.

 

“Why are you so nervous?” Irene casually asked, like having someone to shave her pubic hair is the most normal thing to do.

 

“O-of co-course I am.” Seulgi stammered and Irene found it cute.

 

“Be careful, Seul. This is my treasure, my future.” Irene hid her giggling.

 

“I know. I.. I am trying my best.” Seulgi never knew shaving would be harder than making slides of presentation overnight. Heck, it was even harder than achieving her yearly target revenue. The sight before her was just… Strictly restricted.

 

“I want it to be perfectly clean, Seul.” Irene said after some 5 minutes of silence.

 

“Ooo…kay.” Seulgi panted even when she didn’t do anything physical. Irene just smiled to herself.

 

‘Cute. Too cute.’ Irene mentally remarked.

---

 

“Seul. I want to wear my favorite pink blouse tomorrow. Have you ironed it?” It was the weekend and instead of spending it outside to play with her friends, Seulgi was in Irene’s apartment, doing laundry and ironing while waiting for the washing machine to stop spinning.

 

“Which one?” Seulgi set the iron away and looked up.

 

“This one.” Irene gave Seulgi the still crumpled clothes Seulgi.

 

“Okay. I will iron it and prepare it for you tomorrow.” Seulgi nodded, didn’t say anything else and Irene felt there’s something odd with Seulgi. Usually, the woman would always try to make small talk when she was there.

 

“What happened to you?” Irene sat on the unoccupied chair beside Seulgi.

 

“Huh?”

 

“What? Is it so wrong for me to ask first?” Irene clicked her tongue.

 

“Nah. It’s just rare. That’s all.” Seulgi smiled.

 

“Are you not going anywhere today?” Seulgi added.

 

“Nah. I don’t feel like to.” Irene shrugged.

 

“Do you not like living with me? Am I troublesome?” Irene normally wouldn’t care about what Seulgi thought or did but since the morning, the latter was quiet and Irene was too used to Seulgi’s unimportant ramblings that she felt something was lacking.

 

“Not really.” Seulgi sighed.

 

“Can I be honest with you?” Seulgi carefully asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

“I don’t dislike my current living arrangement with you. I mean, I am used to live alone and there are moments when I feel lonely and need someone to talk with. Sharing the same roof with someone else made me happy in a way. I knew you might see it as a punishment for whatever I did wrong to you and I don’t mind. Really.” Seulgi paused.

 

“But.. you know.. I kinda hoped that I wouldn’t feel lonely anymore; that I would have someone to talk to, to gossip with. Before you assume, I want to clarify that I really am okay with you ordering me around and act bossy but it’s just.. I mean.. Can’t we talk like normal people? Like friends maybe? Even strangers would become friends at the end if they live under the same roof.” Seulgi reluctantly said.

 

“Hmm.. I hope you don’t misunderstand. I often spend my weekend in my apartment too, doing my not-so-important stuff like playing with my neighbour’s cat and paint my nails but sharing a living place with another human is different, and uhmm.. Sighed. It’s hard to say it.” Seulgi talked more to herself and Irene stayed quiet, waiting for Seulgi to continue.

 

“I realize it’d be hard to trust me, moreover to befriend me, the very person who caused you nothing but calamity and the same person who brought you a misfortune.” Irene frowned her eyebrows. Yes, she ever thought of Seulgi that way but that thought never crossed her mind again since Seulgi had shown her sincerity through every little thing she did for the brunette.

 

“Never mind. I will go out of your place in another week anyway. Ignore my previous ramblings.” Seulgi aborted her plan to request Irene to be kinder. She ended her sentence with a weak smile.

 

“Another week?” Irene asked.

 

“Yes. You will have your cast removed in a week and it means my job here is done.” Seulgi replied.

 

“So after all you stay just because you pity me? I should have known.” Irene scoffed.

 

“Excuse me? I never once pitied you. Yes, I feel guilty but if the reason I stay here was because of pity, I would have rather hired a real maid for you instead of bringing my own self here and keep up with you and your bossy attitudes.” Seulgi’s emotion got triggered a bit. She was sincere and wanted to help Irene. She could even swear to God that never once she felt pity for Irene.

 

“Besides, aren’t you the one who couldn’t treat me as your friend?” Seulgi added.

 

“I never said so.” Irene defended herself.

 

“You never said that but your behaviours when I am around you loudly declared it.” Seulgi argued.

 

“I…” Irene was speechless, unable to debate back.

 

“It’s fine. I understand. I will have your clothes ready by tomorrow. Now if you will excuse me.” Seulgi got up and went to the kitchen, leaving Irene being dumbfounded and confused.

 

Irene didn’t see Seulgi anymore for the whole day until night came. While Seulgi was being away, various images attacked Irene’s brain. She replayed the past week since Seulgi came and stayed with her. She couldn’t deny that what Seulgi and Wendy said to her was right. Seulgi was a helpful person, both at home and at work. She did her job with full of responsibility at work while at home, she would fulfill each and every Irene’s requirement even when Irene’s request was weird like shaving her pubic hair and such.

 

Another image popped up; when Seulgi kept her safe. Irene was nosy at first, waking Seulgi up once in an hour just to trouble the taller woman, asking this and that, and yet never once Seulgi complained about her. When she had stopped waking up during midnights, Seulgi hadn’t stopped keeping her eyes on her. There were times Irene could feel Seulgi fix her blanket or simply check whether the lights inside her room had been turned off.

 

Seulgi knew Irene’s taste after living with her for days so she learned to cook Korean food although she preferred to eat Japanese dishes. The brunette once protested because Seulgi kept on cooking fusion food. Thus, since then, Seulgi would prepare Korean food for her more often. Yes, that too was acknowledged by Irene.

 

The doctor once said that Irene had to be careful not to move her wrist too much and not to make the condition severe by not adding a burden to her wrist. Seulgi clearly remembered it, so she ensured the toilet was clean and not slippery by brushing the floor once in 2 days. She did it when Irene had fallen asleep but once, the brunette witnessed it when she woke up at midnight.

 

“I guess I am indeed too rude to her.” Irene admitted her defeat.

 

“Wendy is right. She is sincere and good. How can I accuse her like that?! I am the worst.” Irene facepalmed. Yes, pride was very important to her but what’s there to be proud of? Why she still insisted to retain her dignity when Seulgi had no bad intention for her?

 

“I need to be kinder to her. I only have one week to do that.” Irene encouraged herself.

 

“I am home.” The front door opened and came in Seulgi.

 

“Where have you been?” Irene got up, intending to welcome Seulgi.

 

“Oh I worked in the café while trying to freshen up a bit. Sorry, I yelled at you before.” Seulgi removed her boots and placed them properly inside the shoe cabinet.

 

“Have you had dinner?” Irene answered by shaking her head.

 

“I am sorry I didn’t cook before I go earlier. Do you want me to cook you something?” Seulgi smiled as she was taking off her jacket.

 

“It’s fine. You are tired.” Irene smiled and Seulgi’s expression was enough to make the brunette giggled.

 

“Come in and let’s talk.” Irene turned around and walked ahead of the still anxious brunette.

 

“I have been thinking.” Irene started.

 

“What you said was right. I was too much when the past week had proven to me that you have no improper intentions. I am sorry, Seulgi.” Irene continued.

 

“Huh?”

 

“If you didn’t take away what you have said.. We can be friends.” Irene nervously said. She didn’t have any idea why she blushed while saying so.

 

“Do you mean it?” Seulgi asked again, still found it hard to believe.

 

“Yeah. But!” Seulgi’s smile was postponed.

 

“But?”

 

“But it doesn’t mean you can act carelessly. I mean, you still have to fulfill my needs at least until my cast is taken away.”

 

“Of course. You can keep my words.” Seulgi chuckled a very relieved and sincere one. The kind of smile Irene never got to see from Seulgi.

 

“So, friends?”

 

“Friends.” Irene smiled along.

---

 

"Good. I expect you have the operating plan ready for the shipment of our steel pipes by next week. While I will give you another week to prepare the operating plan for the pipe inspection a month from now.” Irene said to Seulgi and her team during the weekly meeting with the vendor.

 

“Of course, Mam. I will report it back to you immediately when the operating plan and quotation are ready.” Seulgi answered it.

 

“I will be waiting.” With that, the meeting ended. Both parties from different companies stood up. Sooyoung walked first, followed by others.

 

“Seul.” The woman halted.

 

“You can go first. I’ll see you at work.” Seulgi signalled to her friends.

 

“Yes, Mam?”

 

“You can call me Hyun.” The brunette grinned.

 

“It’s still working hour.” The brunette tried to keep her professionality.

 

“Silly. Let’s go to my office.” The brunette took Seulgi’s hand and pulled her with her.

 

It’s only been the fourth day since they officially announced they could be friends and yet they looked like long-time best friends. Irene never once felt regrets with her decision to open her heart and make Seulgi her friend. Seulgi was already kind when she was still merely a housemate, moreover now that they have become friends.

 

Seulgi never once knew that actually, Irene was a very talkative person. Clingy, childish, and demanding traits have been figured out before but talkative was a new one. The brunette too just knew that Irene could be a caring and responsible person. She once even was the one who picked Seulgi up from her office and treated her to a nice dinner to ease Seulgi from her stress at work.

 

Vice versa, Seulgi was a good listener and would loyally hear each and every story coming from Irene’s mouth, starting from unimportant ones to the important ones. There were times when it would be Seulgi’s turn to do the talking, even though Irene had to ask first because apparently, Seulgi was not the one who loved talking. She preferred to keep what she felt inside and not share it with others, even with her parents and best friends at work.

 

Surprisingly, the two very different women could get along well. Irene’s traits were compatible with Seulgi’s ones. Irene even let Seulgi sleep with her, willing to share her bed with Seulgi. Yes, the progress was too fast but hey, both of them never knew they could be this close that fast and since none felt disadvantages rising from their friendship, both of them chose to let it flow and let the friendship blooming nicely.

 

Irene had changed since they let Seulgi come into her life. The brunette didn’t realize how Seulgi’s existence had drastically diverted her world. No, she never knew that she had grown too clingy and dependable to Seulgi. Yes, Wendy had once warned her but she was too distracted by Seulgi who spoiled her that she forgot she only had 2 days left living with the brunette.

---

 

“Heeyy~” Irene was watching TV inside her bedroom when Seulgi entered.

 

“Hey. Just done showering?” Seulgi nodded and walked closer to the bed.

 

“Come here.” Irene patted the unoccupied space beside her.

 

“What are you watching?” Seulgi slipped her slender body under the same blanket that Irene was using and fix per position.

 

“Beauty and The Beast.” Irene answered, eyes still attached on the TV screen.

 

“DVD?” A nod came.

 

“I never thought you’re into Disney.” Seulgi chuckled.

 

“What’s so wrong with watching Disney?” Irene took the remote, paused the movie, and turned to Seulgi, frowning.

 

“Not wrong at all.” Seulgi smiled.

 

“So, if the schedule is not changed, you will have your cast removed by tomorrow right?” The question startled her. The frown got deeper. Having her cast removed meant having Seulgi removed from her house too and most likely from her life too.

 

“Are you that happy to know that you can leave me soon?” The careless question came out without second thoughts.

 

“What do you mean? I am just asking, Hyun-ah.” Seulgi’s voice tone made Irene feel guilty.

 

“I am sorry.” Irene sighed.

 

“What’s wrong? Shouldn’t you be happy knowing that you can use your wrist properly again?” Seulgi’s question again felt like a slap to her. Yes, in the normal terms, she should have felt happy instead of feeling disappointed. It’s just the thought of losing Seulgi that made her feel.. something indescribable.

 

“I am.” Irene flatly said.

 

“You don’t look like one.” Seulgi came closer, trying to observe Irene.

 

“Gasp!” Irene didn’t realize how close Seulgi’s face was when she looked up and suddenly able to notice how smooth Seulgi’s face skin was, how thin and yet kissable her lips were, how her button nose was cute, and how her eyebrows were forming a deep angle as she was staring closely at her.

 

“I don’t know. So when will you leave?” Irene changed the topic.

 

“You are not happy because you know having your cast removed means me going out from your place?” The blunt question made Irene’s cheeks reddened unintentionally.

 

“Wh-what? Of course not! You are overconfident.” Irene pushed Seulgi and looked away, embarrassing.

 

“Oh, then you are okay with that fact. Sure, I will pack and leave the day after tomorrow before we go to work.” Seulgi shrugged, hand reaching out to grab the popcorn inside the bowl on Irene’s lap.

 

“WHAATT!!!!” The loud shriek almost made Seulgi jumped together with the bowl of popcorn.

 

“You are so happy to know that you’re gonna leave me soon?! That you will be free from this demanding loud talkative bossy single woman!” Irene added, her reddened face now was caused by anger.

 

“Hey, I am just joking. No need to be angry.” Seulgi took the bowl and put it away, kept it safe from Irene’s wrath.

 

“Sooyoung said she would help me to find the perfect person who has a good background so she will pay the rental fee on time.” Seulgi reached out, straightened the wrinkles on Irene’s forehead.

 

“What do you mean?” Irene tilted her head.

 

“Yes, we’re being friends not that long ago but I cannot lie that I feel comfortable having you around. I love our current living arrangement and I am hoping you feel the same way too. I mean..” Seulgi cleared , feeling reluctant to continue her sentence. She was slightly afraid that she was being overconfident since there’s this possibility that Irene didn’t feel the same way.

 

“You mean?” Irene repeated the last few words mentioned by the brunette.

 

“I mean I am planning to rent my apartment and keep living with you here. The difference would be, we would share the renting cost.” Seulgi remarked. She stayed quiet as she was nervously waiting for Irene’s answer.

 

“Your proposal is accepted.” Irene weirdly felt happy with Seulgi’s initiative. She was feeling contented knowing she wasn’t the only one who wanted their current living arrangement to stay the same, even after the cast being removed.

 

“Good.” Without any warning, Seulgi jumped and hugged Irene, startling the unprepared woman.

 

“Oops. I am sorry I forgot about your hand.” Irene was about to hug back when Seulgi already withdrew her body.

 

“It’s okay.” Irene hid her disappointment through her smile.

 

“I will start packing my things tomorrow after I have driven you safely back from the doctor.” Seulgi said.

 

“I want to come with you.”

 

“No need to, Hyun-ah. Besides, I have asked Minho to help me.” The mention of a guy’s name irked Irene. Another trait Seulgi hadn’t discovered was possessive, but hey, she was about to know it soon.

 

“Add more reason to come with you.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“There will be only you and Minho there. What if he did something improper to you? No one will help you. Heck, is he even married?” Seulgi was taken aback with this new side of Irene. Judging by the tone, it was like Irene was jealous but of course, it wouldn’t happen, would it?

 

“Errr.. He was married but his wife was dead due to cancer two years ago.” Seulgi answered.

 

“And no spouse until now?” Seulgi shook her head slowly, unsure where the conversation would take her to.

 

“It’s unsafe so it’s decided that I am going with you tomorrow.” Irene made her determination clear with a firm voice tone.

 

“I really have no idea where your judgment about him coming from. I have worked with her for years, Hyun-ah to the extent I know him and his families, even his children.” Seulgi explained.

 

“Then answer me. Did he ever do something to get closer to you after his wife’s death?” Irene challenged.

 

“I am not sure. I have treated him as a best friend for so long so it’s pretty normal for me if he invites me to lunch or casual dinner.”

 

“Just the two of you?” The brunette gasped while the brunette became more confused than ever.

 

“Yeah. What’s so wrong with it? Your dynamic voice tone sounds as if my friendship with him is not normal.” Seulgi retorted. She started to dislike where this was going.

 

“I don’t have any intention to debate with you so I leave it as it is now. I am going to sleep. Goodnight.” Irene didn’t give any chance for Seulgi to reply as she grabbed the remote to turn both the TV and DVD player before she pulled her blanket and gave Seulgi’s her back view.

---

 

“So I have heard you continue living with Seulgi. It’s almost been a month by today.” Wendy came into her office room.

 

“I am busy, Wendy-ah. Later.” Irene nonchalantly said.

 

“Oh come on, it’s almost lunch and I am sure what you’re doing now is nothing but wait for Seulgi to pick you up.” Irene kept her silence, knowing what the taller woman said was true.

 

“I wonder why you haven’t removed the cast.” Wendy added.

 

“The doctor was abroad so I am waiting for him to come back by this Sunday.” Irene pretended to play with her mobile phone, hoping Wendy would leave her alone.

 

“You can always find another doctor to do that. Why choose the harder way and wait for him?” It turned out that Irene’s wish couldn’t come true. Instead, Wendy sat in front of her.

 

“I don’t believe other doctors.”

 

“Or more like you still want to have the full right to control Seulgi and at the same time be clingy, spoiled, demanding woman toward her.” Irene felt offended that she put down her phone rather harshly.

 

“What I will do, am doing, and did get nothing to do with you. Give me some privacy, please!” Irene raised the tone a bit.

 

“I have known you over a decade, Hyun so I know that you are confused by now.”

 

“What are you implying?” Irene wrinkled her eyebrows.

 

“A month ago, Seulgi was the first person you hated the most but look at you now~ You are so clingy and dependable to her. I never see you going to the club, spending your nights away with your clubbing friends and men anymore. You have stopped drinking and playing with your not so good friends.”

 

“Shouldn’t you be happy about it?” Irene rolled her eyes, pushing her back to her comfy swiveling chair.

 

“Of course I am happy but I couldn’t help but feeling worried as well.” Wendy shrugged.

 

“Why should you? I am a big woman, Wendy. I don’t need you to be worried about me.” Irene tried to reply in the nicest way.

 

“Honestly that’s why I am so worried. You are not getting younger, Hyun. When will you settle down? I already have a 4 years old son and a very understanding husband.”

 

“You know I am not interested in a long-term relationship, Wendy. I prefer to heal my loneliness by drinking and clubbing.” Irene shrugged.

 

“Which you haven’t done so lately. That has got something to do with Seulgi, right?” Irene looked away, chose not to answer it.

 

“I am straight, Wendy.” Irene finally said something when Wendy stopped talking.

 

“I know you are one but you cannot lie that Seulgi is the best one compared to any of your exes, right?” Wendy pulled her chair closer to Irene.

 

“How could I compare her to my exes when she is a woman?”

 

“Listen. I am going to tell you things I have known about Seulgi. First, she is a widow. She divorced her husband because he was caught red-handed cheating on her. Second, she is single while her families live in Gwangju, and lastly, Minho has been crushing on her since a year ago. There is no guarantee he wouldn’t confess his feelings soon to her.”

 

“Why are you telling me this?”

 

“Because you are too stubborn to admit that you feel something different with Seulgi lately or else, you wouldn’t have your cast removal postponed. I know you are a hard worker and since the cast prevents you from working normally, you would want it to be immediately released but here you are still wearing that unbearable cast although your wrist has healed completely.” That managed to shut Irene up.

 

“I don’t care if you become gay for Seulgi, Hyun. I know she is a good woman and I just have the guts that she will take care of you very well. I believe she would never disallow you from clubbing and drinking and yet you have stopped with her doing nothing. Doesn’t it mean something?” Irene didn’t reply so Wendy chose to continue.

 

“It means you respect her or you have a crush on her that you don’t want her to know your not-so-good habits. I know it would be hard to accept that you have feelings for a woman instead of a man but it’s up to you. If you still don’t want to be stamped as gay then perhaps it’s time for you to find the right man but if not.. Well, you know what you should do. You are a big woman, right?” Wendy smiled.

 

“I didn’t ask you to answer me right away. Just confirm your feelings to her soon, okay? If you don’t feel anything then it’s fine but if you do, you better do something about it immediately before you are burdened with regrets. Time is ticking, Hyun.” Wendy then got up, leaving Irene thinking deeply.

---

 

That day, Irene rejected Seulgi’s invitation to have dinner together, saying that she still had many things to do at work. The conversation with Wendy previously haunted her to no end. She was afraid and excited at the same time. What she felt was far from being normal that it scared her but knowing the person was Seulgi who was kind, sincere, helpful, understanding, and lovable made her excited because indeed, none of her exes was better than Seulgi.

 

Irene got to admit she became very very possessive when it came to Seulgi but she thought it was normal because she was pretty much like that too toward her other friends. She was blunt, demanding, and bossy to Seulgi but hey, it was normal since she was the one who brought unfortunate events and made her wrist casted. But with all the consents and Seulgi’s too good treatment toward her, never once thought that her feelings would divert onto something she never expected.

 

No, she wasn’t sure what she was feeling but yes, she couldn’t deny the flaring jealousy when she saw Seulgi laughing with others or when she noticed the too much attention Minho gave whenever Seulgi was around. The problem would be, what did she feel? Was what Wendy insinuate was right? Were her feelings for Seulgi was more than just friendship ones? She made another sigh, giving up.

 

It hadn’t even been a year. Heck, it’s only been a month! If what Wendy told her turned out to be true, then she must scold herself; how could she easily fall for someone during merely a span of a month?! On top of that, it’s a she instead of a he! Irene got stressed out that time flew without her knowing. She hadn’t had dinner and it’s almost 10 PM and Seulgi was still nowhere to be seen. Irene was about to give the brunette a call when the bell was ringing.

 

*DING DONG*

 

“Seul, is that-“

 

“Good evening, Irene-shii!” Instead, it was Minho.

 

“Hi, Hyun! Did you wait for me for long?” Seulgi’s face popped up from behind Minho’s back.

 

“Where have you been? It’s late.” Irene tried to hide her annoyance seeing her probably crush standing side by side with another man who also had a crush on her.

 

“I am sorry. My car’s tire suddenly blew out on me and since I was around Minho’s place, I called him to ask for help.” Seulgi smiled.

 

“Minho-yaah. Thank you very much for helping me and even drove me back home.” Seulgi turned to Minho and bowed.

 

“It’s fine. Well then, Irene-shii. I shall go home now. I will see you soon.” Irene didn’t answer and only nodded at the statement.

 

“Have you had dinner? I had one with Minho while waiting for the mechanic to fix my car. I thought you haven’t-“

 

“BAM!!” The sound came from the door which slammed hardly by Irene. Seulgi almost jumped due to the sudden loud sound.

 

“Say, Seulgi. You once made a vow that you would do anything to help me doing my daily activities while my wrist is still being casted, right?” Irene walked abruptly toward Seulgi and made a stop in front of the brunette woman.

 

“Yeah I still remember it alright. But the vow’s validity will only last until this Sunday. That means 2 – 3 days from now.” Seulgi counted using her fingers.

 

“I don’t mind.” Irene replied.

 

“What weirder requests do you have in mind, Ms. Demanding?” Seulgi teased, unaware of the solemn mood of the brunette.

 

“I have one if not expanded into more at the end.” Seulgi raised her eyebrow, expecting.

 

“Kiss me.”

 

“Wh-what?!”

---

 

The first chapter is out. Hopefully, you like the story's progress so far :))

Stay healthy and safe wherever you are! And a TMI from me; I am from Indonesia. Drop by to say hello and let's be friends ^^