Ri In’s POV

I immediately stepped on the brakes. The other driver did the same thing. We were so close to bumping into each other. The other driver put his hand up in apology. I nodded in acceptance then he drove away, worry creasing his face. I realised I was blocking the road so I drove and stopped in the curb. It took a while for me to calm down. That was so close. I could have ended up in an accident. After resting for about four minutes, I drove off to the company, being more careful about my surroundings.

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Junsu’s POV

I was working peacefully now. The sick feeling went off already. My stomach no longer felt like it had butterflies. I was reading some things when I heard some commotion outside. I turned my head towards the window outside to see what was happening but I couldn’t see anything. Not bothering to go outside, I called Taeyeon.

“Junsu?” Taeyeon called through the receiver.

“What’s happening outside?” I asked her.

“That came,” she answered. I could feel the anger in her voice.

“Why did she come?” I asked.

“I don’t know. She just bought some cake and now everyone is crowding around her,” Taeyeon replied.

“Get everyone to go back to their work,” I instructed her.

“Araso,” she followed and hung up.

“Everyone, get back to your work!” I heard Taeyeon command. In normal instinct, I looked outside and saw Ri In. My heart was suddenly beating very fast. I clenched it. Why is my heart beating so fast at the sight of her? I quickly shook the thought off and crouched down over my work.

“Do you want some?” I heard Ri In say to Taeyeon. Why can’t she just up? It was suddenly silent though I heard some gasps. Curious, I peeked out and saw a cake splattered on the floor. I, too, gasped. It was a mess. Taking Taeyeon’s side, I walked out.

“Clean this all up, Ri In-shii!” I commanded her. I never forget to add the –shii behind her name. She looked up at me, innocence filing her eyes. I know she didn’t do it but I wouldn’t want to put Taeyeon into trouble. Ri In just crouched down and started wiping the mess without any sound. I saw Sunny lean down and help Ri In wipe the mess. I felt enraged. No one should help Ri In at all!

“Sunny, get back to your work now! You shouldn’t have to help an outsider clean up this. After all, it was her fault,” I commanded her. She ignored me and kept on helping Ri In.

“I said, get back to work!” I demanded. Ri In touched Sunny’s hand and stopped her.

“I can do this alone. Just get back to your work, Sunny,” she told Sunny.

“No, I’m helping you,” Sunny stubbornly said.

“Please, Sunny,” she begged. All of the sudden, everyone helped Ri In clean up the mess.

“What are you guys doing? Get back to your work!” Ri In ushered them. They all ignored her and continued on their cleaning up.

“Whoever doesn’t get back to the work in ten seconds, they are fired!” I threatened them. I saw everyone scatter back to their work except Sunny, Changmin, Yunho, Yoochun and Jae Joong.

“Didn’t you guys hear me? I will give you three seconds,” I boomed. Everyone ignored me and kept on cleaning. I was on the verge of killing somebody.

“Hey, hey. What’s happening here?” Appa asked as he walked to us. He must have heard all the commotion.

“It’s nothing big, Appa,” I told him.

“Ri In? Why are you here?” Appa asked Ri In.

“I thought I might come by and visit everyone,” she answered.

“What’s with the mess here?” he asked. Ri In looked reluctant to answer. I stared at her sternly and tried to pass my message through my eyes. She thought about it for a moment.

“I accidently dropped it,” she lied.

“Mr. Kim, Taeyeon-shii actually swiped it out of her hands,” Sunny covered Ri In. I felt angry.

“Is this true, Taeyeon-shii?” Appa asked.

“A-aniyo, it’s not true!” Taeyeon denied.

“Mr. Kim, Sunny was right. Taeyeon-shii did swipe it out of Ri In’s hand,” Jae Joong backed up Sunny. Appa looked at Taeyeon with a disappointed face while Taeyeon was looking at the floor, ashamed.

“Why did you do that?” Appa calmly asked.

“B-because I saw a f-fly on it and t-tried to swipe it away but accidently hit the cake instead,” she lied.

“Alright then. Everyone, get back to your work!” Appa commended. Everyone scattered away. Appa walked away but I could see the disbelief in his eyes. I think next time something happens like this, Taeyeon will lose her job.

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Ri In’s POV

I was finished cleaning everything on the floor and exited the kitchen in the office. When I walked out, I met Appa.

“Appa,” I acknowledged.

“Ri In! I just wanted to talk to you about the dinner that I wanted to have with you two,” Appa said.

“Yes, Appa?” I asked politely.

“Will two days later be fine? I have talked about this to Junsu already and he said it was fine,” Appa told me. Two days later…that was perfect, in some terms. I can talk to all of them at the same time about the cousin thing.

“Sure thing,” I confirmed.

“Great, thanks,” Appa said.

“My pleasure, Appa,” I said.

“I have to go now. See you!” Appa excused.

“See you!” I said back. Appa turned into the other direction and walked off. I sighed. Things were going to be easier than I expected.

“Why did you protect her like that, huh?” I heard someone yell at another person from behind the stair way, the emergency exit places. The voice sounds familiar. It was Junsu’s voice! I leaned closer to the door to have a peek.

“She is my best friend!” I heard someone say. I changed my angle and saw Jae Joong.

“Don’t say you don’t have any other feelings for her, do you?” asked Junsu. Why was Junsu asking Jae Joong like this?

“I don’t! She is like a little dongsaeng to me!” Jae Joong shouted. Jae Joong hated being accused, “Not like you! You cheated on Li Yin! You were never like this,”

“It was because of Ri In-shii that I was like this!” Junsu stated. So that’s what changed him like this. Me. My decision on divorcing Junsu was stronger.

“Do you even know how much of a Taeyeon is?” Jae Joong asked.

“Don’t you bad mouth her!” Junsu commanded and landed a punch on Jae Joong. Jae Joong fell backwards and there was blood coming out of his mouth.

There were many things running through my head now. I tried to open the door to the stair way before anything else happened. I also realised what made Junsu angry. It was Taeyeon. His love for her is strong. I will never be able to replace anyone in Junsu’s heart. Jae Joong stood up while I was frantically try to pull the door open. Jae Joong swung his arm and his fist landed on Junsu’s face and Junsu fell backwards.

I finally came to my senses and realised that I was supposed to push the door open. I quickly pushed it open while holding the door knob. I dashed to Junsu’s side once I was in.

“Jae Joong, no, stop!” I cried and prevented Jae Joong from throwing another punch in Junsu’s way. I wrapped my arms around Junsu protectively while Junsu was sitting on the floor, wiping the blood off from under his lips with his thumb.

“Li Yin?” Jae Joong asked me, confused.

“Jae Joong, please don’t hit him,” I begged.

“Why, Li Yin? He doesn’t love you,” Jae Joong reasoned.

“But I do!” I stated, like it was so obvious.

“Fine,” Jae Joong said and walked out of the stairway. Once he was out of sight, I turned to Junsu.

“Are you okay, Junsu-shii?” I asked him and attempted to touch the bruised corner of his mouth. He flinched away from me and stood up. Without a word, he walked away from me and out of the stairway while wiping the remains of blood that was on the corner of his mouth. It pained me to see Junsu like this. It was like someone had burned a hole in my chest. I was on the verge of tears seeing Junsu like this. But part of it was because he wasn’t like this because of me. He was like this because of Taeyeon.