Chapter 2

The aroma wafting through the live cooking counter was appetizing. The chef was making roasted chicken with grapefruit while three layered trifle was being presented on another side. Dahyun’s mouth watered. Of all her past dates, she’d never been to someplace so fine and expensive. She looked around at other diners: entrepreneurs and their wives that belonged to the elite class or people closing their profit deals. Their tables were laden with lavish meals and a luxury bottle of wine resting in the center of each.

Dahyun’s eyes wandered to the entrance door of the restaurant where the aura had a sudden shift. A familiar face stepped in. A woman clad in a sleek grey suit; tall, slender and beautiful, had her overcoat taken care of by one of the servers. She asked some question to which the server pointed at a particular direction among the seating area.

Dahyun recognized the face a moment away. She was Kim Sana, the CEO of Kim Food Industry. Kim Foods was a multimillion conglomerate and Dahyun’s daytime workplace. She was a part of the research and development team there as a quality control inspector. At work, the departments rarely ever got together other than joint-project assignments and it was even rarer to meet any of the higher ups in management. However, Dahyun had seen Ms. Kim coincidentally two times on an elevator ride to their respective floors. There’s no way she could forget that stoic face and the aura of power and discipline.

Fancy seeing her at this place. Dahyun said to herself, thinking another coincidence like this funny in an ironic way. The irony began to weigh down as she realized her boss was walking in her direction. For some small talk maybe? Her heart began racing in her chest. Uh-huh. There’s no way The Kim Sana even remembered the face of a meager employee like her, let alone stop to hold a conversation.

With each step of Sana’s stiletto echoing on the lotus motif tiles, Dahyun felt being nailed down to her seat. Please, let this be a dream. Please, please!

“Ms. Hirai?” sounded her deep voice.

It took a while for Dahyun to register she was talking to her and remember that was the name of her client for whom she was substituting. She nodded hesitatingly, refusing anymore eye contact. All she wanted right now was to dig the ground open and bury herself inside.

“Kim Sana. Good to see you.”

And there she was, Kim Sana in all her glory settling in the velvet bound chair opposite Dahyun’s. Extending her arm for a handshake, she smiled ever so faintly in a gesture of greeting. And the moment dragged on awkwardly as Dahyun sat stiffly instead, staring at her hand. Sana withdrew her arm in confusion and offence.

“Hope you found it appealing.” She said instead to start a conversation, leaning back and crossing her leg.

“W-what?” Dahyun took a quick sip of the water, still with shaky eyes that looked everywhere except Sana.

“My restaurant.”

Dahyun spit out the water. She was in a fit of cough when Sana reached out in concern but Dahyun quickly reclined and grabbed a tissue to wipe her face. To say she was embarrassed was an understatement.

“Your restaurant? You own Paradise?” Dahyun asked, still coughing.

Sana smirked with pride at her surroundings and hummed. “I’m its largest shareholder. However, recently I’ve also been trying to get involved in the administrations and menu decisions. You can’t let outsiders manage everything; they’re never up to standards.”

“Your standards, you mean.” Dahyun whispered but Sana seemed to have heard.

“Precisely.”

Dahyun was at a loss for words. What was she supposed to do now? It was too late to call it bluff and she was too nervous to proceed with this date normally. Every time Sana looked at her sent her heart rocketing.

“So, did you like it? I made them redo the interior last month.” Sana repeated and Dahyun nodded nonchalantly.

“It’s uh…it’s nice.” She said as she sipped more water.

“Nice?” Sana mocked her tone.

Dahyun observed the edge of Sana’s lip quiver in annoyance. Oh, she was so, so offended. Great start! She was pissing her date off already. And then as if a lightbulb switched on inside her tiny brain, Dahyun knew exactly what she had to do. That’s it! I’m going to ruin everything about this date that she’ll want to cancel and leave. They always did say she’s short of temper. Dahyun remembered the countless office rumors by employees’ word-of-mouth.

It was Dahyun’s turn to cross her leg over smugly. “I’ve seen better.”

The statement seemed to have caught Sana’s attention. “Could you name them? I’m always one to learn from the competition.”

Dahyun wanted to smack herself for thinking she’d been so genius earlier. She had zero knowledge of other fine dining places. Heck, the most fantastic place she’d been to was the Chinese food stall two streets from her home.

“It was umm…someplace abroad. Maybe Italy…I can’t remember. Been a long time.” Dahyun forced a smile, controlling the urge to shake the same leg to shoo off the anxiety.

Sighing with instantly lost interest, Sana gave a half-hearted reply: “Hmm. Interesting.”

In the time that took for Dahyun to come up with another scheme, Sana removed her coat and rolled up her sleeves. A golden wristwatch adorned her thin wrist as she picked up with the menu card, her other hand brushing through her smooth waves. Dahyun got distracted her good looks instead.

Why does she have to be so hot? Dahyun’s eyes trailed over Sana’s figure. Neatly styled hair, beige tinted lips, delicate neck and broad shoulders. The suit was so well-fitted around her bosom and waist that Dahyun’s imagination began to go wild. Sana was beautiful everywhere. Dahyun pushed the lump down and mentally slapped herself. She wasn’t here to simp over her boss. She was here to get rid of her.

What kind of a partner would she hate? Dahyun wondered. With how put-together Sana was, she’d surely not be able to stand someone on the other side of the spectrum. Dahyun clapped her hands in the air loud enough that the staff and customers turned their heads to her.

“Waiter!” She called, almost yelling, “I’m ready to place my order!”

An ill-mannered loudmouth? Wouldn’t want to date one now, would you? Said a tiny Dahyun with horns and a red trident that manifested on her left shoulder. Watch this!

“And could you change my water! It’s too warm!” Dahyun rose her pitch and forced another smile at Sana. “I hope you could work out the nitty gritty stuff too. You know, everyone has their own preference of…the flavor of water.”

“Water temperature does affect the flavor and texture. Noted.” Sana also smiled.

The little stunt seemed to have an opposite effect instead. Sana seemed even more relaxed. She crossed her fingers and observed Dahyun, her curiosity back and reflecting in her eyes.

Being all sarcastic, huh. Said the tiny figment of her i