The reason behind Mina’s decision to not talk about their past haunts Nayeon for the following days.

Mina looked as if she wanted to explain but something was holding her back and it was just so confusing for Nayeon. What’s a reason so important that it overrides Mina’s own desire to give Nayeon an explanation?

Nayeon can now admit—at least to herself—that yes, she still has feelings for Mina and yes, it’s why she’s so curious but no, she isn’t certain what feelings she has exactly and how she feels about them.

“Ah, it.” Nayeon carelessly throws the documents in her hands to the table and instead leans back against her chair.

She’s not going to get much work done at this rate and she needs to do something else before her concentration can come back.

She sees an excuse in the form of the (now washed) blouse that Joohyun lent her a few weeks back. Guess she can spare some time to go to legal, return her unnie’s blouse, and catch up with the latest legal gossip.

Not that there’s much, anyway.

Their legal department only consists of Joohyun and two interns after all.

On her way out of her office, Nayeon comes across Ryujin who seemingly just got back from her afternoon break.

“Oh, sunbae-nim, where are you off to?”

The smile that crosses Nayeon’s lips is automatic, as any other smile that she gives Ryujin. She’s been Nayeon’s assistant for less than a year but she’s already Nayeon’s all-time favorite ever since she easily agreed to simply call her sunbae instead of daepyonim.

“Just think of me as an older, more experienced colleague. Daepyonim makes me feel old.”

“Uh, okay… sunbae-nim.”

Nayeon can still remember the flush that crept up on Ryujin’s face when Jennie turned to her when she heard her call Nayeon sunbae for the first time.

Ah, good times.

“Sunbae?”

Nayeon blinks. “Oh. Uh, I’m going to legal.” She raises her hand holding the paper bag with Joohyun’s blouse in it. “Gotta return this to Joohyun-unnie.”

“I can do that.”

“No need. I want to talk to her, anyway. Thanks, Ryujin-ah.”

“Okay.”

“Call me if anything urgent comes up.”

“You got it, sunbae.”

With Joohyun being used to Nayeon barging into her office without even knocking—she’s learned to not do anything scandalous after that one time Nayeon walked in on her and Seulgi—Nayeon comes into Joohyun’s office with an “unnie!”—

—and stops dead in her tracks when she comes face to face with Myoui Mina.

They have got to stop randomly bumping into each other like this.

Mina freezes on her spot as well and Nayeon catches how the papers in Mina’s hand crumple with how tight she’s holding them.

“Nay?” It’s Joohyun, but Nayeon can’t tear her gaze away from Mina’s wide eyes.

What is she doing here?

Nayeon blurts out the first thing that pops into her mind. “Are you stalking me?”

Mina blinks and she flinches as the words sink in. “Eh? W-What? No!”

Before Nayeon can respond and demand to know how Mina is here in Nayeon’s workplace of all places, Joohyun pipes up again, “Mina-ssi, you know Nayeon-ah?”

Joohyun’s call of her name gets Mina’s attention and she quickly turns halfway to face Joohyun. “Ah, y-yes, sunbae-nim. She’s…”

Mina’s eyes flicker to Nayeon and Nayeon immediately knows what’s going through Mina’s mind.

Because it’s the same thing that’s in Nayeon’s.

What are we now to each other, anyway? What do you even call exes who didn’t have any closure? Fiancées who didn’t have a proper breakup?

But Nayeon’s learned how to get herself out of sticky situations long before she met Mina, and she easily answers, “We knew each other back in college.”

It’s the truth.

Well, at least half of it. They did know each other back in their first year of college and then they were more for the rest of their university years and beyond.

But Nayeon doesn’t have the energy to explain to Joohyun that Mina is the ex. Not when she only wanted to return Joohyun’s blouse that she borrowed.

She doesn’t have the mental preparedness to explain to one of her closest work friends that the person standing in their office is Nayeon’s ex-fiancée.

How does one go about that, anyway?

Mina eagerly nods at Nayeon’s given answer. “Yes.”

Joohyun only lets out a quiet, “Ah.”

And Nayeon is instantly suspicious. It’s unlike Joohyun to not have follow-up questions especially when such coincidences happen around her. College classmates meeting years after? What were the chances?

But then Joohyun smiles and Nayeon casts her doubts aside for now.

“Well, since you’re here now. Nayeon-ah, meet our newest corporate counsel, Miss Myoui Mina. Mina-ssi, this is Im Nayeon, our company’s Creatives Director.” Joohyun smiles at Mina who looks between Joohyun and Nayeon before deciding to bow in Nayeon’s direction.

“Nice to see you again, Nayeon-ssi.”

Nayeon blinks, uncomprehending.

Mina works here? Here? Of all companies? Of all architectural firms, Mina is working here?

And when did Mina shift from criminal law to corporate, anyway? Before their engagement, Mina was already well on her way to becoming a partner at a big law firm in Korea, clinching and winning big cases left and right. So why the sudden shift?

Joohyun coughs and Nayeon realizes she’s been staring at Mina.

Well, not consciously!

Trying to hide the fact that she was spacing out seconds ago, Nayeon also bows to Mina. “Nice to meet you again, Mina-ssi.”

Joohyun, oblivious to the awkwardness lingering between the two, grins wider and continues, “Today is Mina-ssi’s first day in our company. She’ll be helping me with contracts and HR conflicts and—you know, actually, I’ll introduce her to the team tomorrow, anyway, so I don’t think introductions are necessary right now.”

“Of course, sunbae-nim.”

“So true, unnie.”

The simultaneous agreement makes Joohyun squint at them and Nayeon resists the urge to tell Mina to leave and never show her face here again.

Joohyun looks suspicious now.

And Nayeon knows what that means for her.

Interrogation.

Has Nayeon mentioned that Joohyun is a good lawyer? And an even more intimidating person in general?

She’s so ed.

“Okay,” Joohyun drawls out the y. “For now, Mina-ssi, go to Yeji—you know, one of our interns?—and tell her that I asked her to give you a company tour. I’ll come fetch you later for your formal orientation.” She caps off her statement with a smile that’s supposed to be reassuring but Nayeon feels anything but reassured.

“Of course. Thank you, sunbae-nim.” Mina bows to Joohyun.

And then she’s facing Nayeon again, and dear god, how many awkward exchanges are they going to have in one day?

Nayeon sees Mina gulp and blush before she shifts her eyes away and bows. “I’ll see you around, Nayeon-ssi.”

Then, without looking at Nayeon again, Mina leaves.

And Nayeon is left wondering what the hell just happened.

Until Joohyun clears and Nayeon thinks that she’s better off running away now before her unnie can begin her line of questioning.

But when Nayeon turns to Joohyun, instead of receiving questions, she only gets a look.

Joohyun eyes her and Nayeon can hardly endure the impulse to squirm under the scrutiny. Joohyun can be intimidating if she wants to be and Nayeon loathes being under that intense gaze—even if Nayeon usually receives it, anyway. Joohyun and Jihyo are similar in that way.

“What?” Nayeon finally asks, unable to withstand the staring any longer.

Joohyun shrugs. “Nothing.”

But she continues to stare. And the more Joohyun stares, the more Nayeon withers.

And it’s not just because her unnie is so pretty when she’s serious. She’s also very scary, and Nayeon is easily scared, okay?

Knowing she can’t weasel her way out of this one, Nayeon admits defeat to herself. “Okay, fine. That was my ex. My ex-fiancée.”

Joohyun smiles, it’s not unkind but more... knowing. Teasing. “I know.”

“What?”

“It was obvious.”

Obvious? “What?”

“Your voice became soft, and I know you’ve only been like that when you were talking to your fiancée.”

“Not to sound like a broken record but—what?”

Joohyun answers as if she hasn’t just damaged Nayeon’s brain. “I haven’t met her before, but she fits your description way back when you kept gushing about her.”

Nayeon can feel her cheeks burning. “I did not gush abo