hole-and-corner

Chapter 4. Proximity

It wasn't just another ordinary day. Minji excitedly drove on her way to work even when she's going in a bit early today. Feeling good about the pleasant weather and listening to the beats of a city pop song inside her car, she let out a smile as she was looking forward to today's meeting with the clients from SeeU Apparel.

It has been two weeks since the previous meeting with them and since then, she had her eye on that interesting assistant, Kim Yoohyeon. She couldn't help but to smile every time she remembers the happenings last meeting...

"I'm sorry, Miss Lee couldn't make it today. She called in sick earlier today." Kim Yoohyeon said as she bowed to her.

It didn't come in as a surprise to her as Minji already had an idea that something like this is about to happen. Bora phoned her earlier today to request an emergency leave but didn't say the exact reason. It's probably because of this. She was actually thinking that they might cancel today's appointment but she was suprised that Siyeon let Yoohyeon take over this important meeting. It shows how much the young CEO trusts her assistant. Pretending that she had no idea at all, the CEO looked at the client and gave her a compassionate smile. "It's unfortunate, hopefully Miss Lee would feel better soon. Anyways, I'm glad that you made it here for today's meeting. I'd make sure to send you all the data afterwards so you could properly report it to Miss Lee."

The girl blushed at the kind words. She shyly smiled and thanked the CEO.

The sight made Minji's smile bigger. She then proceeded to walk towards the lift with Yoohyeon trailing behind her. They were alone in the elevator and Minji could feel how tense Yoohyeon has become. She wasn't really like this when they first met. Minji had thought that she was this confident and congenial young assistant. Not that there's something wrong with being nervous, it's just not what Minji expected and to be honest she thinks it's cute.

They arrived at the third floor of the building and walked to the meeting room where Yubin and Handong was.

Handong also became directly involved in this project through Yubin's recommendation to the CEO. She was a new hire but her work ethics are commendable. She appears a bit shy and timid to Minji but there's probably something that Yubin sees in her that would be beneficial to the project. The CEO knew how much of a perfectionist Yubin is and that she doesn't easily trust people especially if it involves her work, that's why she didn't hesitate to approve. She knew Yubin wouldn't do something impulsively without giving it much thought.

The CEO immediately noticed how Yoohyeon's expression changed when they entered the room. It was as if a switch was triggered, and she could feel her confidence building up. Minji tried to divert her focus to the matter at hand and soon enough, the meeting started.

With the help of Yubin, the two of them discussed the slides in detail. Yoohyeon interactively speaks in between pauses and asks a ton of questions regarding the presentation. At the back of her mind, Minji couldn't help but to think of how amazing the assistant is. Her confidence was oozing yet she isn't giving off that intimidating aura. The way she enthusiastically asks her questions with curiousity makes the meeting a bit livelier and it lessens the tension. Even Yubin, who's always wary of other people, seems quite comfortable in answering Yoohyeon's questions.

The meeting ended at around lunch time. Minji thanked Yoohyeon for attending the meeting and accompanied the girl down to the ground floor.

"See you in two weeks' time, Miss Kim." The CEO said with a smile.

"Thank you, Miss Kim." Yoohyeon replied politely with a bow before heading out of the building.

Minji watched as she walked out of the main door before turning around and taking the lift to go back to her office. Once she entered, she saw an unfamiliar envelope on the table. It wasn't hers. She opened it and saw some documents with SeeU Apparel's logo in it. Yubin must have seen it on the meeting room and initially thought that it was hers and placed it in her office since the envelope doesn't have a name nor a logo on the outside.

It was unusual for her to be hesitant but Minji stopped to think whether she'd just keep the envelope with her and give it to Yoohyeon on their next meeting or should she just drive over to her company and hand it back to her. She made up her mind to do the latter with the thought that it might contain really important documents. Good thing is that it's still lunchtime and she could just go out for a little while to hand this over to the assistant.

She swiftly got her keys and went down the building once more. As she headed over to the parking lot, she saw a familiar figure, walking back and forth, looking so tensed.

"Miss Kim...?" She called out as soon as she recognized that it was really Yoohyeon.

The girl was startled and almost dropped her phone upon hearing her voice. "CEO Kim! Why are you-"

"Are you alright? What's the matter?" She approached her with concern painted all over her face.

"Uhm, just ran into a bit of a problem with my car..." Yoohyeon pointed out the flat tire. "I was just about to call the roadside assistance."

Minji was checking out the flat tire as Yoohyeon was making a phone call to the roadside assistance. It was immediately answered and she explained the issue and asked for help in replacing the tire with her spare one. They asked her location and told her they would arrive in 10 minutes at most. Yoohyeon sighed in relief as she ended the call.

"Good thing you have a spare tire.", commented Minji.

"I do. It's just that I don't know how to change it. Never happened to me before.", replied the girl as she leaned on the nearby wall, finally feeling a bit of relief from the situation.

There was a dead silence for a few seconds until Yoohyeon finally realizes that she was just casually talking to the CEO.

"A-Anyway, Miss Kim... What brings you here at this hour?", asked the assistant.

Minji handed her the envelope. "You forgot this. I was just about to drive and hand it to you but it seems like you saved me the effort."

She smiled at the other girl who shyly took her envelope. "Oh, I'm sorry Miss Kim... and thank you."

"It's alright. Besides, you're still here so I really didn't do much."

There was another moment of silence between the two of them. And no one dared to talk for about a minute or two. It was beginning to be totally awkward that Minji broke it with her question. "Are you going to just stand here and wait until they finish the repair?"

"Most probably, yes."

"Then, I'd wait here with you."

Yoohyeon looked at her with a questioning gaze and the other looked back at her with her warm gaze. "It's because you're a client and you're having trouble on the company premises. I just couldn't leave you alone here, you know."

Whether it is just an excuse or if there is truth in Minji's words, Yoohyeon blushed upon hearing it. "It's fine, really... This doesn't really relate with the project-"

"It does. It involves you, thus I can't just leave it behind."

Yoohyeon, who was left in awe after hearing those words, didn't have time left to react as she received a phone call from the roadside assistance telling her that they were near. It was after a minute when they arrived and asked Yoohyeon to explain the issue.

"How long would it take to finish the repair?", asked Yoohyeon.

"Around 20-30 minutes at most." The repairman replied.

Yoohyeon stepped farther from her car and took the spot behind Minji. She was thinking on how to get past the next 20 or 30 minutes with the CEO when her stomach grumbled so loudly. Minji couldn't hold back a chuckle and even the repairman smiled as he tried his best not to laugh.

"You should go grab lunch while waiting for this to get done." The repairman commented.

Minji composed herself before looking at the embarrassed Yoohyeon. "Let's go eat lunch. The cafeteria here isn't that bad."

The other girl just wanted to sink into the ground to hide her embarrassment but Minji was smiling at her and she couldn't turn out her offer since she was really, really hungry. She hasn't eaten breakfast because she was so nervous going into the meeting alone.

She nodded in agreement and was shocked when Minji grabbed her wrist before walking back to the company building. The warm hands felt nice on her cold skin. It felt as if she was basking into the morning light, warming her body inch-by-inch, and it felt comfortable and relieving...

They reached the cafeteria in five minutes and Minji enthusiast