Chapter 4

Glass Bead
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Sojeong is standing by the glass window of her office, folding her arms in front of her chest, gazing at the scenery outside while daydreaming, when her office door knocked then slowly opened. Yerin's face emerged from behind the door. Yerin is sighing before decided to enter that office.

"Eonnie..." Yerin called as she walked over to Sojeong, but the one she called still didn't budge. Yerin had arrived right behind Sojeong, but Sojeong still doesn't seem to notice her presence. Until Yerin decided to softly poke on Sojeong's arm which immediately made her gasp in surprise.

"Yerin, how many times have I told you, don't startle me." Sojeong is scolding.

"If I meant to startle you, how could I poke you that gently... I would have screamed loudly while slap on you with all my might." Yerin replied.

Sojeong just snorted.

Yerin is pouting, “then what should I do? Before I came in I already knocked on your door several times but there was no response, so I decided to opened and entered. I called you, but you didn't hear me. I have a good Otolaryngologist acquaintance. I don't mind accompanying you to check on your health." Yerin said teasingly.

"What do you want?" Sojeong asked coldly, rushing to interrupt to stop Yerin to nag her any longer.

“I just want to report that 'our catch the day after tomorrow' has been used properly as planned. The orphanage is safe, will not be evicted again. We have secured the land by buying it. We have also finished taking care of the land purchase deed. Umji was very helpful in the process of changing the name of the deed, so it could be done quickly. Today, Umji will be handed over the land deed to the Manager of the Orphanage. There is also some left over for the renovation of the orphanage building and their operational costs in the next few months.”

Sojeong gladly smiled, "thank you so much for your hard work."

Yerin nodded, "Yuju will be home this afternoon, she wants us all to be able to gather for dinner together." Yerin said.

Sojeong nodded again, "Okay."

"Okay, I'll reserve a place for us to eat later."

Sojeong nodded.

 

Yerin doesn't go too far to work on her plan. While calling their favorite place to eat to make a reservation, Yerin is keep looking at Sojeong from behind. Even after Yerin finished the call, Sojeong is still froze in her spot. Yerin sighed, then go near Sojeong again, "What's the matter, Eonnie? Why have you been so deep in thought that you didn't hear me called you earlier? Why do you look so lethargic? Are you sick?” she asked her while reaching out to touch Sojeong's forehead, to check her temperature.

Sojeong dodged, "I'm healthy."

"Are you having a problem, Eonnie?" Yerin asked again, worried.

Sojeong shook her head while smiling, “no. You have solved all my problems.”

"Then what is it?"

"Nothing. I'm just a little tired."

Yerin frowned slightly, couldn't help but feel sad whenever this one of her best friends who in front of her is in a bad condition, "Eonnie, you haven't had lunch, have you?"

Sojeong shook her head, “I'm not hungry yet."

"Non sense!" Yerin scolded, "let's eat now. I haven't eaten either." Then she pulling Sojeong's hand.

"I'm not hungry yet." Sojeong said again, holding back from Yerin's tug.

Yerin turned her head, showing a sullen face, “but I'm hungry. And I don't want to eat alone. I want Eonnie to accompany me to eat RIGHT NOW. Do you want my GERD relapse because my stomach is too empty? Eonnie want to see me in pain? Eonnie…”

Sojeong immediately stopped Yerin's whining, "Okay, okay...let's eat now." Then now Sojeong is who pulling Yerin's hand out of her office, towards the elevator. Meanwhile Yerin silently smirking behind her back.

 

In Sowon's company cafeteria…

The presence of 2 big bosses of the company in that place was enough to make the employees feel a bit awkward. The cafeteria workers immediately run out of the kitchen to ask what they want to eat.

"No need to bother. This is a self-service canteen, like the others, we can pick our meals up by ourselves.” Yerin said casually as she taking a tray and cutlery.

The cafeteria workers are still uneasy looking at them, until Sojeong nodded her head while waving a sign to tell them to leave, then they finally obey to returned to their respective positions.

 

"What the heck... they only obedient to the CEO... I'm both COO and CFO here." Yerin scolding, pretending to be annoyed.

Sojeong grabbed the tray that Yerin was holding, then walked ahead of her, “Boss, what do you want to have for lunch today? Let 'this servant' serve you." Sojeong asked in a polite manner that was clearly made up, teasing Yerin.

Yerin cleared , "I want to eat that one... that... and that too..." Yerin pointed her index finger at some of the food menus available in the cafeteria buffet, and Sojeong calmly but deftly took every food that Yerin wanted, also ordered drinks for both of them, even brought Yerin's tray of food and drink to the empty table that Yerin wanted, in the corner near the window.

Sojeong even backed up a chair for Yerin and then politely said, "Please have a seat, Boss."

Yerin then sit down with a smile, "thank you" she said cheerfully.

After take her own food and drinks, Sojeong then sat in front of Yerin.

"Why haven't you eaten yet?" asked Sojeong who saw Yerin hadn't even touched her cutlery.

"Waiting for you, of course." Yerin sweetly said.

"The boss waiting for me?" Sojeong teased.

Yerin chuckled hearing that, "you are the boss here. The proof is that they are obedient to Eonnie."

"And that's wrong. They should know that you are the real Boss here. As for me… what am I…” Sojeong humbly said then start to eat.

“They really respect you as the CEO we rely on.” Yerin said, also start to eat.

"I can tell them the truth." Sojeong said nonchalantly.

"What for?" Yerin asked.

"You want a respect," Sojeong argued.

Yerin laughing, "hey... come on, don't be so serious… We're eating here, you might have trouble with your digestion…."

Sojeong glaring at her in annoyance, "you were the one who complained earlier..."

“Yeah… yeah… sorry. Don't mind me.” Yerin finally said, still chuckling.

 

“But Yerin, really… you should be the CEO. I've told you from the start." Sojeong said.

"No! This is our agreement, the six of us. Eonnie is the CEO." Yerin denied.

"No. I never agree from the start. That's what the five of you want."

"Yeah, the five of us really want it... and Eonnie lost out to the five of us." Yerin chuckling.

Sojeong sighed, “I still can't understand why the five of you are doing all this to me? Placed me here, on a position as high and important as this. And still beyond all this, you guys are willing to help and even facilitate what I do. I still remember once that SinB that Insolent Girl called me 'Crazy Criminal', but now she is also helping my madness."

Yerin laughing out loud when she heard Sojung's nagging.

 

***

 

*Flashback to years ago…

 

It was already midday, but it was still a few hours before lunch, when Yerin, who (for the umpteenth time) skipped her class and went to Sojeong's place, a small room in an cheap apartment building not too far from Yerin's campus. She often runs away from his campus to go there. Yes, Sojeong did live in that low-cost flat after leaved the orphanage about 3 years ago, because of the orphanage's policy, all orphans after graduated from high school must be independent, no longer allowed to live in the orphanage, considering that there are many younger children also to provide rations for new children who need to be cared for there.

 

Yerin came with Yuju who carrying a bag containing a violin on her shoulder after completing a compulsory course for second year music students, practicum music ensembles in public, which that morning was held in a city park not far from their university.

"Why don't you just leave your violin in the locker anyway?" Yerin scolded Yuju.

"It was Eonnie who told me to hurry, that's why I didn't have time to store my violin in the locker." Yuju argue.

Yerin snorted, pouting.

"What's the hurry anyway? Isn't Sojeong Eonnie usually working at the big supermarket near the station at time like this?"

"Yeah, Sojeong Eonnie must be busy there right now. I was in a hurry because I didn't want my Professor to find me out. You know, my professor knows my father, that's why he likes to make sure I'm in his class. He didn't even hesitate to look for me, if I wasn't in his class. He's managed to find my hiding place in the cafeteria several times, so this time I'm going to hide a little further away so he can't find me." Yerin said.

"I think it gonna be lot easier if you just don't come to campus, Eonnie."

“This morning I had to hand in my assignment paper from another subject. Then there will be a class from my Favorite Lecturer. I also had to fill in the attendence form of that Professor's class first, before I ran away here."

It was Yuju's turn to snort, "do you have to going for college for real, Eonnie?"

"Of course. It's like... you know... I am from a famous family of bussinessmen who have been known successful in maintaining the family business for generations and have also been successful with new branches and startups. So at least I have to understand about the basic of Business Management so I can 'relate' when I'm join on family chatting. I don't want to miss or lose out from them. It's just that… the problem is that I don't like some of subjects or lecturers.” Yerin said casually.

Yuju rolled her eyes in annoyance, give up on her friend's behavior.

 

The two of them had arrived at the front door of Sojeong's flat. Yerin reached into her bag looking for something.

"Isn't Sojeong Eunnie doesn't leave her room key under the pot as usual anymore, because you come here too often, Eonnie?" Yuju asked.

Erin nodded, "Yes. It isn't? What a troublesome…” Yerin scolded.

Yuju smirked hearing that, "It was Yerin Eonnie who was wrong, instead... you are nagging at Sojeong Eonnie?"

Yerin just chuckled, still rummaging through her bag.

"What are you looking for?" Yuju asked.

"Key." Yerin said.

"What key?"

“The key of this door.”

"Yerin Eonnie has the key?" Yuju was surprised.

"If I don't have the key, then we can't get in. You also know that at this hour Sojeong Eonnie is working, right?"

"That's why I was actually wondering since earlier… Why we go here? how do we get in?”

"Well here it is!" Yerin cheered, finding the key after she finally poured the entire contents of her bag onto the floor.

"How did you get the key?"

“Well... I was inspired to made a duplicate of it.” Yerin chuckled proudly, while carelessly reloading the entire contents of her bag.

Yuju glared in surprise, “Oh my goodness… I honestly amazed by your 'creativity' on this kind of matters. Sojeong Eonnie would be angry if she found out.”

"It's fine. We're safe as long as you don't tell her."

Yuju sighed while shook her head, astonished on the behavior of her high school senior.

 

Yerin is puting the key into the key hole, then turned it, but couldn't.

"Hey, what's wrong? Could it be that Sojeong Eonnie knew I duplicated the key, so she changed the lock?” Yerin is wondering.

"Here, let me try." Yuju offered to help. But the result is the same, the key cannot be turned, even though the key fits snugly in the hole. But luckily, even though the key didn't work, Yuju deliberately just turned the door handle on a whim, it turned out that the door could be opened. "Well... it's not locked..." then she checked on behind the door, there was a key there, "no wonder... it's because there's a key in the hole on the inside."

 

Although surprised, but in the end they both entered. Inside, the main light wasn't on, but it wasn't too dark because of the small light on the front of the door that automatically because sensors sensed the movement under the lights, as well as the sunshine streaming in through the gaps in the partially open curtains. Yerin and Yuju jolted when they saw Sojeong lying sprawling on the couch. Yerin was about to turn around to run away to save herself from the anger of her best friend, because she had barged into her residence without permission from the owner.

But Yuju did the opposite, "Sojeong Eonnie, what are you doing?" Yuju felt that something was wrong, when he saw Sojeong's face which looked paler than usual.

"Hey.. don't you wake her up! She gonna be scold us later." Yerin tried to stop the younger girl.

"But Yerin Eonnie… look, Sojeong Eonnie's face is so pale." Yuju said, it makes Yerin pay more attention to the girl who was motionless while her eyes closed on the sofa.

“Oh my… Sojeong Eonnie is hurt! The left side of his body is bleeding…” Yuju screamed, scares. The girl couldn't stand the blood. Even if it wasn't her blood, just the mere sight of it was enough to make her nauseous. So then Yuju immediately went further and looked away, preventing the nausea she was feeling from continuing become a dizzy that might gonna make her faint later.

Yerin instead came closer to check on Sojeong's condition. And yes, the black jamper was torn on the left side. When yerin checked around the tear, it turned out that there was a wound on Sojeong's body in that part. The torn cloth of the jamper felt stiff, because the traces of blood that had stuck to it had dried.

 

While holding back her nausea, Yuju immediately took the initiative to call an ambulance, which soon came and took Sojeong to the hospital. At the hospital, Sojeong's wound was stitched up, then got an IV.

"How is my friend, Doc?" Yerin asked the doctor who had just done treated Sojeong.

"The wound is rather deep, and seems to have been from yesterday or at least last night, but was not treated, so she lost quite a lot of blood, that lead onto infection, which made he

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Vict68
There's also Moonbin character in this story. What am I supposed to do then?...🤔

Comments

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shrexy
#1
oh wow this is really interesting
SingingStar #2
Chapter 3: Sojeong's personality here makes me
curious
JustWish
#3
Chapter 1: I actually created a new account and suddenly want to become active in reading here again after knowing that you're back ㅠㅠ
I'm excited for your new story<3 thank you