01 - HELP ME

 

 

 

"...and here's yours, Lee Juyeon-ssi..." Chief Editor Sangyeon smiled at the younger kindly, sliding the folder at his direction gently and cautiously, as if he was only doing this because he has no choice.

 

The guy named Juyeon stared at the file blankly, subtly hating its very own existence. He might look nonchalant with the way he's leaning his back on the swivel chair comfortably but he was actually feeling burned to hell.

 

As if left with no choice, Juyeon straightened on his seat and took over the honor of sliding the folder closer to him, his senses alert to the possible outburst of reactions from his colleague. 

 

They'll all probably laughing at him inside their heads right now. 

 

Come on, who wouldn't, right? If he is to received the greatest misfortune in his twenty-three years of existence. 

 

Once near enough, Juyeon stopped on sliding the folder to shot the oldest in the room a glare, an subtle indication that he wasn't happy with everything at hand.

 

Again, Sangyeon just smiled at him, albeit a little awkward this time.

 

"Son Danbi?" He asked and when the other nodded timidly, Juyeon scoffed as he rolled his eyes, looking away from the head of the team. 

 

That moment, all tension got lifted as every other editors present in the meeting finally burst out laughing at the misfortune of the youngest but undoubtfully the best editor the company could have. 

 

"Don't worry, we know you'll be able to fix her work, Juyeon ah. FIGHTING!" one of the older editors, Mr. Song, wished the youngest good luck in fits of laughter, his hands tapping Juyeon's back comfortingly. 

 

"We both know you're the best in here that's why they decided to give her to you, come on man, why the long face?!" Another editor, a woman this time, smiled kindly at him, ruffling him in the hair to which he wanted to dodge but failed miserably. 

 

In seconds he got his hairdo messed up that only added up to his irritation.

Sangyeon stared at him fondly this time, reaching out at the back of his hand. 

 

"You can do this, Juyeon-ah..." He whispered lowly. 

"Fighting!" He made a fist bump with the air and the youngest could only glare at him. 

 

"Come on, you should try to be more enthusiastic than that! Fighting!"

 

One by one, the meeting room started getting vacated, the workers exchanging cheers of good luck and compliments for the job well done resonating in the air. However, Lee Juyeon doesn't feel like going home just yet, because if he does, then that would only mean that he's agreeing to this ed up job.

 

The job of becoming Son Danbi's editor and working with her almost 24/7.

 

"What do you want to eat? It's on me!" Sangyeon tried to brighten up the mood by bribing him with food but Juyeon was just blankly staring at him.

 

Or wait, 

 

Was he glaring at him?!

 

--

 

Ever since she stepped on the building that morning, Danbi could hear people whispering with each other, gossiping like old maids. She ignored the employees antics and go on her own way, she had a lot more concerns than trying to figured out what the gossips are all about. 

 

However, the talk seemed to be following her because thrity minutes in the building, right inside the elevator, the whispers seemed to becoming a whole lot louder. 

 

Seems like everybody is talking about it, and she's the only one who's not in the bandwagon of gossiping just yet. 

 

Again, just like earlier, Son Danbi ignored all the gossiping employees and went on her own way. 

 

Pushing the sliding doors of their office open, she was caught off guard she stood still in shock, eyes widening at the way her co employees were staring at her. 

 

She wasn't sure of it earlier, but by now, she was sure they were talking about her. Because just now, right before she opened the door, it was noisy only to be replaced with a deafening silence caused by the loud sound the opening of the door made. 

 

It was the kind of silence that makes you sure the people behind the door you just pushed was talking about you just before you came in.

 

Another thing that had her eyes widening was the fact that there was a grown man comfortably sitting at her very own seat, her very own spot. He was looking at her blankly but the way one end of his brows curled told her he was irritated at something. 

 

He looked calm but when you look at him closely, there was something in this situation that makes him mad.

 

Not only that, he was crossing his arms on top of his chest, his legs crossed on top of the other and the way he was leaning back on her swivel chair makes him look arrogant. 

 

This got her frowning too. 

 

Danbi cautiously stepped inside the room, lifting and lowering her feet very carefully as to not make any noises with her wedge heels. She kept the staring battle with the man as she crossed the room to get to her place, which was inhabited by some unknown man this morning. 

 

Just earlier, people inside the room shamelessly stared at her but nobody dared open their mouths. Instead,they watched every movement as if it was a scene straight out from a drama and they were grasping the next scenes to unfold. 

 

Finally, when she was a favorable distance away from the guy, she took the courage of speaking, but even her voice betrayed her. 

 

"T-t-that's m-my s-s-s-seat..."

 

Crap. She didn't want it to sound weak but it did anyways. 

 

How couldn't she be weak if there's a guy staring at her straight as if he was scrutinizing her, as if he wanted to get a glimpse of what's running through her mind?

 

As a response to her revelation, Juyeon just offered her a smirk before blinking several times. Upon realizing something, he dropped his smirk and spoke loudly so every individual in the room could hear,

 

"Are you guys done staring?" He could not help but smirk haughtily again when one by one, the workers in the room started minding their own business, typing away in their computer minutes before he came to this room to sit at Son Danbi's chair. 

 

He scanned his unfocused gaze from one place to another, sensing any stares directed at them and once sure that everyone is minding their own business, he zoned in on her widened eyes again, smiling at her. 

 

"Son Danbi?" He asked kindly and the girl frantically nodded her head, blinking rapidly. 

 

"N-n-ne," she mused and his smile dropped as well as the kind facade he worked on. 

 

Standing up abruptly, he shot her a deep glare. 

 

"Follow me."

 

--

 

Danbi scratched the soft spot at the back of her ear as she awkwardly stared at the unknown guy who seemed to be enjoying the fresh air the company garden has to offer. He had his back on her but the way his head was raised up in the air and the calm look on his face told her he was actually enjoying the current situation. 

 

How can he be so rude one moment and then calm after? 

 

She sighed, The duality of this man.

 

Hearing a sigh right behind him pulled Juyeon out of his reverie. 

 

He might look calm and collected to whoever was studying him right now but he was actually feeling the opposite. He was actually trying to rake his brains of effective ways to improve her writing so his efforts will never put to waste. 

 

He looked behind him to see her staring at his clothes a little awakwardly, one of her hands scratching at something behind her ear and he frowned. 

 

"What's wrong?" 

 

She looked up at him in surprise and blinked several times. His question caught her off guard she didn't know how to respond at first. 

 

"You were zoning out, what's wrong?" He asked again when she didn't answer him the first time. 

 

He placed his hands inside his pockets as he waited for her answer after turning his body sideways to face her. 

 

"A-ah," she smiled awkwardly, cutting the staring contest with him. "It's n-nothing," she stuttered, focusing on the fabric of his clothes instead of his face. Upon realizing something, she looked up at him once more, her eyes widening. 

 

"W-wait!" She started, her pupils shaking slightly.