“Chaeyoung.” Her soulmate calls to her, the cub quickly moves to put the table in between the two of them. She naturally looks like she's picking out food and only half paying attention to her soulmate, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Even if she wanted to ignore the woman, she wasn’t sure she would be able to. Every time that she calls her name, it sends electricity through her body and attempts to propel her towards the woman. When Dahyun got here, she’d have to ask if the bond was always like that or if this only happened when soulmates refused to be together. 

“What are you doing here?” The cub is hoping that the answer is something easily excusable, but she doubts she’ll have such good luck. By the look of her soulmate's smile, she might have sentenced herself to hell just by agreeing to come. 

“I haven’t introduced myself, have I?” Mina shows off her gums as she smiles, and the cub bites her tongue to keep from smiling at the sight. “My name is Myoui Mina.”

A beautiful name for a beautiful woman, Chaeyoung subconsciously mutters it to herself, “Myoui Mina.” In shock at how nice the name feels to roll off her tongue, lost in her own world for a moment she doesn’t realize that Mina is now standing next to her. 

“I’m glad you made it. Thank you for signing the contract.” Mina extends a hand towards  her for a handshake. 

“Myoui . . .?” Chaeyoung’s brain attempts to function, but it’s moving slowly in the presence of her soulmate. Mina is clearly trying not to laugh as she watches the gears turn in the cubs brain. “Wait!” Myoui Enterprises.

“I’m the CEO of this branch of Myoui Enterprises. It’s very nice to meet you, I look forward to working together for the next six months.” Mina grabs her hand before Chaeyoung can stop her, setting her skin on fire. 

The CEO. Her soulmate is the boss, but not just any boss. Her boss. And if the last name is anything to go by, she’s a generational boss. Oh, Chaeyoung is in deep, deep waters, unable to swim. Their hands go up and down as Chaeyoung’s eyes shake searching for a solution to this predicament. She already signed the contract, how does she get out of it without paying that fee? Maybe, if Mina hasn’t signed it yet, she can still back out. 

“Don’t worry about the contract, by the way. I already signed it. I wouldn’t shake hands with you if I hadn’t.” She winks at the cub. Mina seems to have read her mind, and now there’s no way out without breaking the contract. Unless?

“Actually, about that. I feel like I rushed the decision, maybe I need more time to think.” Chaeyoung takes her hand out of the hold, finding it a little difficult as she’s having to fight her own body to do it. Mina just sends her a sly smile.

“You think you made the wrong choice?” For someone who just heard their soulmate isn’t interested in working with them, Mina looks too happy for the cub’s liking. “I’ll let you break it, without having to pay anything.” 

“Really? You would?” Chaeyoung asks suspiciously, giving Mina a look of disbelief. 

“On one condition.” 

Of course. Chaeyoung runs a hand through her hair, almost missing the slight blush that tints Mina’s cheeks at the sight. Her soulmate clears , and seems to adjust her shoulders to stand a little straighter.

“Marry me.” 

She says it so naturally that Chaeyoung honestly thought she misheard her. Marry her? They barely met each other again after six years, and she wants to get married already? Granted they were both in their early twenties, and soulmates were made for each other yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to rush anything!

“No?” Chaeyoung means to say it as a statement but it comes out more as a shocked question. “I’m not going to marry you!”

“Fine, move in with me. I have this really nice and spacious apartment in a good neighborhood. There’s more than enough room for us both.” Mina counters the rejection, clearly not wanting to give up.

“I have my own apartment! Plus, my friends are about to move in with me.” The last bit slips out, something about the bond prefers her being honest with Mina and she always blurts out things she didn’t plan on saying. If she’s going to work here, the cub either needs to get a handle on it or learn how to avoid the CEO at all costs. Maybe both.

“Are they?” Mina seems genuinely surprised, and it takes her a moment to recover. “Alright, you won’t marry me and you won’t move in right?” Chaeyoung nods. “Then you have to keep working here.” 

“You did this on purpose.” As much as she hates it, Chaeyoung actually feels calmer now that Mina is close to her. Her brain isn’t screaming at her to get close to Mina, not since they shook hands. 

“What else was I supposed to do? You weren’t going to talk to me on your own, plus you’re the one who signed the contract without asking to meet with me.” Her soulmate intelligently points out, making Chaeyoung realize that yeah maybe she should have done that. 

“Fine, I’ll keep working here. Only for six months, then I’m gone and you leave me alone.” She turns back to the food, now deciding to fill her plate up. Since Mina’s the one paying, she’s going to eat as much as she wants. Her soulmate owes her this much, at least. 

“If you want to back out of the contract early, my offers still stand.” Mina says softly before she heads back the way she came. The door stays open behind her, and Chaeyoung lets out a deep breath. She is beyond done with this night.

******

Chaeyoung finally makes her way towards the elevator, she was going to leave right away but had been pulled into a group of very happy and slightly drunk people. She had just now escaped, but on her beeline to the doors, she’s pulled backwards by a hand tugging on her elbow.

“Chaeyoung?” A little surprised, the cub turns to see Nayeon. 

“Nayeon? What are you doing here?” Chaeyoung hadn’t expected to see her friend here, she didn’t even know Nayeon had been looking for work. They only ever saw each other when Jeongyeon brought her soulmate to community art projects and get togethers. 

“I got hired here, but you already have a job don’t you? Did something happen?” Nayeon expertly leads them away from the crowd and towards a spot near the elevator.

“No, I still have my job at the studio. I was offered a contract to work here as sort of a graphic designer. What did you get hired for?” Chaeyoung diverts attention from her contract, not even wanting to think about her new job. 

“Oh! That’s you? I’m actually in charge of the department you’ll usually be working with! This is going to be great, wow.” Nayeon beams and claps her hands together. “My office is probably going to be on the fourth floor, want to go check it out together?”

“Sure, they said my office would be up there too. Supposedly.” Chaeyoung kinda shrugs, she still wanted to leave but she hadn’t seen Nayeon in awhile. A little bit of time wouldn’t hurt, as long as they avoided Mina. 

“You’re getting an office too? How long is the contract for?” Nayeon asks as she presses the button to call for the elevator. 

“Six months, and not a second longer if I can help it.” Chaeyoung scoffs, irritated at the thought of being stuck here three times a week. Her soulmate was clever, she would give her that much at least. 

Nayeon doesn’t miss the look on Chaeyoung’s face, but says nothing as the two of them get into the elevator. Chaeyoung looks behind them as she gets on, and locks eyes with her soulmate from across the room. Mina’s eyes are wider than usual, the shock showing in her expression. She tilts her head at the cub, clearly indicating that she wants to know why Chaeyoung is getting into the elevator with someone. Chaeyoung just sticks her tongue out at her as the doors close. 

The two of them walk around in silence, aside from Nayeon ‘wow’-ing every time she sees something cool looking. The office is more than prepped for work to start, all of the supplies necessary already put in the right rooms. They’re currently where Nayeon will be working, it's an open office space separated from the main hall. Her desk is larger and at the head of the room, and the desks of the people she's in charge of are set up in cubicles of four spread about the room. Nayeon is muttering to herself about how she plans to decorate her desk and the rest of the office when there's a knock at the open office door. 

“Getting a good look around before work starts?” Leaning against the doorway is her soulmate, she’s smiling but something in Chaeyoung’s bones tells her it's not a real one. The cub refuses to speak, just staring at Mina. 

“Ms. Myoui! Yeah, we wanted to get a lay of the land first. I hope you don’t mind.” Nayeon respectfully responds, clearly excited to see the CEO talking to them. If only she knew why.  

“I’m glad we had this party then, some of you already seem to be getting along well.” Mina walks into the room towards them, the glare and weight of her words sending a clear and spine-chilling message to her. Chaeyoung has to bite her tongue to keep from explaining the misunderstanding. 

“Oh no, actually,” Nayeon starts, not at all affected by the weird atmosphere and tension between her boss and her friend. “We know each other through my soulmate. It was just a  coincidence we got hired to the same place.” 

At the realization that Nayeon already has a soulmate who she clearly gets along with, Chaeyoung can actually see the subtle change in Mina’s posture as her shoulders seem to relax, and her smile becomes more genuine towards Nayeon.

“Oh really?” Mina asks, just empty filler to prompt more out of Nayeon. Chaeyoung won’t have it though.

“Yeah, her soulmate is great. Jeongyeon has stuck by Nayeon’s side no matter what. They’re like the textbook definition of perfect soulmates.” Chaeyoung clenches her teeth as she says it. Nayeon giggles at the compliment, while Mina and Chaeyoung have a staredown. The cub refuses to back down, wanting Mina to know how frustrated she is. She’s not sure why she’s being a little childish about it, interacting with her soulmate is only going to hurt her in the end anyways. She’ll get hurt all over again. 

“Oh! We haven't actually seen Chaeyoung’s office yet. She said she didn’t know where it was.” Nayeon interrupts the silent communication, pulling Mina’s attention off of her. In a way, Chaeyoung feels like she won that time. Not that it’s a competition.  

“Ah, she hasn’t been shown around the building yet, since she just signed today. Her office has already been decided though, so I can show you both where it is.” At that, Mina turns on her heels and walks out. 

There’s a certain grace that she walks with, like she’s the most important person in the room. There’s an elegance about her that makes Chaeyoung wonder if it’s natural or if she had to practice it. Nayeon quickly follows the CEO, leaving the cub with no choice but to trail behind. Lo and behold, her office is right next to Mina’s. Maybe I should ask Nayeon to switch.  

Mina opens the door to the office and walks in, Nayeon following behind as Chaeyoung peeks over her shoulder. There’s a good amount of space in the middle of the room, a desk pushed up against a corner of the room by a window. On another wall there’s an easel set up, with what looks like paint supplies on the small counter next to it. From the door, Chaeyoung can see that there are sketchbooks on the desk with what looks like colored pencils and crayons and pencils. 

This is all for me? The artist looks at Mina, who is standing next to the easel with her eyes solely on Chaeyoung. A few minutes ago, her emotions seemed to be subtle and easily hidden behind a smile. The vulnerability on her face now, the fear that Chaeyoung can see in her eyes, makes those subtle emotions look small. As if this emotion right now, this worry about Chaeyoung’s thoughts, is so strong it’s impossible to conceal or downplay. It feels too genuine for Chaeyoung to be able to pretend it’s not there. She must have put this together herself. That’s surprising.

While Nayeon browses through the paint supplies, Chaeyoung walks past both of them towards the desk. A million different things run through her mind, and she’s beginning to question a lot of things she’d rather not think about. She grabs the sketchbook on the top of the stack. It has a simple black cover, but printed on the bottom right corner is a cartoon lion cub and penguin.

 Curiosity gets the better of her, and she opens it to the first page. Her heart beats so fast it’s as though it stopped beating entirely, the first page is not blank like she had hoped. There’s a drawing of a scene she remembers all too well, but from a point of view she never thought she’d see. She recognized herself at first glance, her short blonde hair with the undyed roots and those beat up converse she wore all the time back then, because the memory of that day is burned into her mind. In the drawing she’s in the airport, walking towards the artist. A smile on her face, hope burning in her eyes. The moment before Mina looked away, before she ripped her heart out of her chest, was what was drawn on the page. At the bottom she suddenly notices a title and signature, she assumes it’s Mina’s, the title catches her off guard though. My Inevitable. It sends chills down her spine.

Her head whips around to look at the source of the drawing. At first glance, it appears as though Mina is heavily engaged in conversation with Nayeon. Under more careful scrutiny, the cub notices that her fingers are tapping against her thumb, and her body is angled in a way that she can steal glances at Chaeyoung over Nayeon’s shoulder. She does, at that moment Mina looks right at her. 

Chaeyoung holds up the drawing, not worried about Nayeon seeing it since she's facing the other way. Mina’s eyes flick down to the drawing, back up at Chaeyoung, off to the side at nothing, before returning to Nayeon. Her emotions are more tightly concealed than they were when the cub walked into the room, but even now it’s obvious to Chaeyoung. She’s nervous, she’s worried about what she thinks of the drawing. 

Chaeyoung isn't sure what she thinks, all this effort? Drawing that moment and using that title? She doesn’t think this could be the same girl who just left her in that airport, it doesn’t make any sense. I’m so confused. She does what seems most natural to her in the moment, unsure of all her actions right now. She closes the sketchbook and puts it back on the desk before joining the conversation, where Nayeon is raving about how excited she is to work here. 

“So, what do you think of your office?” Mina looks away from the cub, her eyes looking towards the ground. Chaeyoung is silent until Mina looks her in the eyes, she’s puzzled about the situation but the effort put into the office means something to her. The drawing means something to her, so she’s honest. 

“I like it, thanks.” The cub gives her a soft smile, and turns to Nayeon while wiggling her eyebrows. “It’s nice, right? Aren’t you jealous, I get my own office and you don’t.” 

“Oh please,” Nayeon pushes Chaeyoung’s shoulder jokingly. “I’m going to be stealing your office all the time, whether you’re here or not, Chaengie.” 

At the familiar nickname, a sound comes from the CEO that they had almost forgotten was there. A quick hum of shock, but whether it was about Nayeon using a nickname or the nickname itself, the cub didn’t know.

“Ah, that,” Nayeon laughs a little nervously. “I’m just kidding Ms. Myoui, we joke like this a lot normally. I promise you I’m very happy with my current office space.” There’s a fondness in Mina’s eyes as she looks at Chaeyoung, a mix of some sort of relief and curiosity.

“It’s alright,” Mina sends both of them a sweet smile. “I’m glad you two are such good friends.” This time is different from earlier, when Chaeyoung noticed Mina was faking her emotions. She really seems genuinely glad that Chaeyoung and Nayeon are friends. Is it because we’ll be working closely?

At that time, a phone goes off and Chaeyoung watches her soulmate pull out her phone. Is that her dog? Honestly she had expected something simple like a black case, but the case is blue and pink with a dog and the name ‘Rei’ on it. It was cuter than the cub had expected.

“Excuse me, I have to take this.” Mina’s face turns serious as she leaves the room, settling into a hard line.

“We should probably head back down.” Nayeon suddenly states, turning to Chaeyoung.

“Yeah, I’m probably going to call a cab. It’s getting late and I need to head home.” Chaeyoung takes a last glance around the office, her eyes landing on that sketchbook again. Her fingers twitch at the thought of taking it home with her, but she shouldn’t. If Mina checked, it might send a message she didn’t want to convey. It would have to stay here.

The two of them walk into the hall, slightly bowing to Mina as they pass. She’s headed into her office as they exit, still on the phone. There’s another moment of eye contact between the two, and Chaeyoung isn’t sure if it’s just because they’ve been so close tonight but she feels calm. There’s no pull to get closer, only a want to keep their eyes locked. The buzzing of a different phone knocks Chaeyoung out of the daze, and she turns to the elevator.

“Jeongyeon said she’s free to pick me up right now, we can drop you off at your place if you want.” Nayeon nonchalantly suggests pressing the button. Chaeyoung nods, not really wanting to deal with waiting for a cab right now. For a brief moment, the idea of waiting until Mina is done with her call and staying here with her flashes in her mind. She quickly eradicates the thought.

AUTHORS NOTE: I really was gonna wait until thursday to post this but i like this chapter too much and want to know what yall think too badly to wait for that long so enjoy the early chapter lmao. I'm still debating if i want to post the next one on thursday or if i want to wait. I'll probably end up posting on thursday anyways lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know your thoughts!