I headed to the office with a big smile on my face, a backpack in front of me and another backpack I’m carrying on my actual back. I also have another hand carry bag filled with treats and necessities for my master.

Ggomo’s in his carrier bag right in front of me. It’s a little old, which is maybe why he’s grumpy, but it still works. I did promise to get him a new one. It’s just that I got a little busy and I haven’t dropped by a pet store yet.

But he’s coming with me and I hope that’ll bring his mood up.

This is my first time joining the company out of work. Another one of Miss Ahn’s ideas of working in a different environment. Miss Kim is always opposed to this as one my colleagues have said but most of the time, which is always, she can’t say no to Miss Ahn.

And since we’ll be out for three days, they encouraged us to bring our pets if we have one. Which is why I packed Ggomo’s necessities for the trip and why he’s strapped in his backpack.

“Good morning!” I happily greeted everyone with a bright smile on my face.

They all greeted me back but their eyes immediately averted down to my master. He has received a lot of compliments from my colleagues.

I’m loving it. He doesn’t.

Seulgi-unnie brought her cat. Joy brought her dog. Nayeon also brought her dog. Chaein has two dogs under her care but she left them with her parents.

The dogs were playing around but the cats stayed in their carrier. Ggomo doesn’t want to go out. He already complained when I opened the bag and picked him up. My master’s already giving me glares.

A few minutes later, Miss Kim and Miss Ahn arrived, together with Byulyi-unnie. The pets are placed back in their carriers as we gather around to check if we’re already complete. Miss Ahn gave out instructions and made sure that we had snacks and drinks on the road before we headed out to get into their car.

“Miss Jung,” Miss Kim called.

I stopped in my tracks to face her. “Yes, Miss Kim?”

“You’re riding with me”

“Oh”

Byulyi-unnie saw me coming and left the trunk of Miss Ahn’s car open to help me carry one of my bags. She walked me towards Miss Kim’s car as she said, “Miss Ahn’s allergic to pets, Whee”

“Eh!?” I exclaimed, eyeing unnie with wide eyes. “Then we should’ve left our pets at home”

She helped me arrange my bags in Miss Kim’s car trunk as we continued on the conversation. “Not in confined spaces. She can pet them but she can’t spend a long time with them”

I pouted at Byulyi-unnie, feeling perplexed. “Are you sure she’s going to be fine?”

“She will be,” Miss Kim answered as she came to stand beside Byulyi-unnie. She stared at me for a second before focusing on Byulyi-unnie. “Drive carefully, Miss Moon. Don’t get too distracted”

“Yes, Miss Kim,” Byulyi-unnie answered, standing in attention as she nodded firmly.

“Drive will be for hours. Stay awake”

“I will, Miss Kim”

“Eyes on the road all the time. Focus”

“Alright, that’s enough, Mom! We’ll be fine” Miss Ahn interrupted, dragging Miss Kim by her elbow to engulf her in a hug.

I covered my mouth as I snickered at Byulyi-unnie. She looked like she’s about to pee when she was talking with Miss Kim. I could even see the way bobbed from nervousness.

“I’m serious, Hyejin-ah”

“I’m flattered by your concerns, Yongyong, but there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll be fine! Stop worrying”

“I worry about your well-being”

“Yongyong-unnie, cute,” Miss Ahn teased.

Miss Ahn giggled as she cupped Miss Kim’s cheeks and squeezed them in her hands. Miss Kim just allowed her. She doesn’t look pleased but she never complained. Only Miss Ahn can do that to her.

I may not understand what they’re saying. Only a few words here and there from Wendy-unnie’s lessons. But I kind of get the gist based on the earlier conversation and their demeanor.

Miss Kim told me to sit on the passenger seat so I settled there after Byulyi-unnie and I placed my bags in the trunk. In Miss Kim’s car with me are Seulgi-unnie, Joy, Nayeon, and Wendy-unnie. The rest are with Byulyi-unnie and Miss Ahn since they don’t have pets with them. Wendy-unnie volunteered to stay with us since she wanted to play with our fur babies.

My fur baby is such a diva. Still not pleased at all.

“Is this the boyfriend and the master?” Miss Kim asked, giving Ggomo a glance.

I giggled as I nodded my head. “Yes. He’s a little grumpy though”

“Maybe he wants to come out?”

“I don’t know… He hissed at me earlier”

I opened the zipper and reached inside to pet his head. “Ggomo-yah… Do you want to come out?” I asked.

“Bring him out, Wheein. I want to see him” Wendy-unnie said. She even peeked over at my seat to chance a glance at my master.

I fully ped the bag and laid it on my lap so he could get out. “Ggomo-yah… Do you want to get out?”

He peeked his head out, curious eyes roaming around inside Miss Kim’s car. Everyone cooed when they saw his face. I joined in as well, grinning at Ggomo as I scratched his neck.

He withdrew his head back, moving away from my touch. So I just watched him. Let him take his time until he’s comfortable to get out. If he wants to get out.

There was a lot of hesitation and a lot of surveying that Ggomo did. Only his head was out of his carrier at this time but slowly, he got half of his body, earning more cooes from the passengers in the backseat.

“He’s cute,” Joy commented and I agreed, smiling proudly at my boy.

His nose started twitching, smelling the unfamiliar place. He completely moved out of the carrier and straight into the center console. Hands reached over to put him but he ducked his head and lowered his body to dodge them. They were able to retrieve their hands before he striked with his murder mittens.

“Ggomo-yah… that’s bad” I scolded, pouting at him.

He continued his little adventure. He moved forward, paw touching tentatively inside Miss Kim’s car as if unsure of where to go. And then suddenly, with his nose still twitching, he touched his paw on Miss Kim’s leg and moved forward. Both of his paws are now leaning on Miss Kim.

“Ggomo…” I whispered, unsure if I should get him back or not. “Not there”

He surely chose to go there so he wants to be there. But I don’t want to bother Miss Kim. If I get him back, he might be mad at me. And he’s always mad at me.

“I’m sorry, Miss Kim”

“It’s fine”

Miss Kim pressed a button before she left her car to drive on its own. She watched Ggomo with a small smile as she slowly moved her chair back, giving Ggomo more space.

“Hello, sir” Miss Kim said to Ggomo, amused.

Ggomo then climbed onto Miss Kim’s lap and started smelling everything by Miss Kim’s side. The wheel, the door, the handle. He even smelled Miss Kim’s lap before he turned and laid on Miss Kim’s lap, settling there.

“I’m sorry, Miss Kim. Let me—”

“It’s fine” she cut me off while smiling down at Ggomo.

She gently scratched Ggomo’s cheek and ran her palm on the fur on his back. Ggomo did not protest. He just laid down and closed his eyes, claiming his spot on Miss Kim’s lap.

“I guess I shouldn’t move anymore now”

“I’ll get him if he bothers you from driving, Miss Kim”

“This is fine. Raven can drive itself”

Miss Kim continued to pat him and I think he likes it. He wasn’t dodging or hissing or meowing. He just laid down comfortably with his eyes closed.

And did I just hear him purr? Traitor!

I wanted to pout at Ggomo but I can’t help but smile at the sight of him on Miss Kim’s lap while Miss Kim caresses his back. He’s such a diva. Wendy-unnie tried petting him while on Miss Kim’s lap and he allowed her this time. Seeing that Wendy-unnie was successful, the others tried to pet him too. And he stayed curled up while sleeping.

He really found comfort on Miss Kim’s lap.

Miss Kim looked over at the passengers in the backseat through the rearview. “Any pets that want to sleep on my lap is welcome as well”

Everyone giggled and sighed at Miss Kim’s remark. I think the air somehow shifted after that comment. Everyone relaxed and enjoyed the drive.

The company stayed in the largest house lodging in a mountain hotel with six rooms. Miss Kim and Miss Ahn stayed in one room. The rest paired up to stay in one room while me and Byulyi-unnie automatically claimed the second largest room.

We settled in our rooms in the morning and then ate outside for lunch. We came back and held meetings in the dining area of the house. The first day was dedicated to work, which is not much considering that we started in the afternoon.

At night, we had a barbecue right at the small backyard of the house. The chore assignment was through the room pairings. Unfortunately, Seulgi-unnie and Wendy-unnie lost the game and were assigned to clean up after. Byulyi-unnie and I both volunteered to cook samgyeopsal. Some prepared the dessert and other dishes.

Miss Ahn also joined in and cooked samgyetang while Miss Kim was her assistant. There wasn’t much to prepare so the two were already sitting down and talking.

“Fire!” I sang while laying meat on the grill.

Byulyi-unnie started the fire earlier. She’s good at it but she’s impatient to wait for the meat to be cooked. And so she guards the fire while I guard the meat.

“Fire!” I kept singing, making unnie laugh beside me.

“Do you want me to get plates?”

“Scissors first, unnie”

Byulyi-unnie left me while I started flipping the meat. The smoke was too strong for my liking and it’s going in my direction, making me cough and cry. It was getting harder to see what I was doing with how thick the smoke was, from the tears in my ears, and the fog on my glasses.

I was suddenly dragged to the side and around the grill where it was free of smoke.

“Are you alright?”

I heard Miss Kim’s voice but I wasn’t sure if it was her. I hastily cleaned my glasses before I looked beside me, confirming that it was really her.

I smiled at her and nodded. “I’m alright now, Miss Kim. Thank you!”

“Hmm…” She rubbed her hand on my exposed arm, fingers tracing the butterflies for a short second. “It’s getting colder now. Aren’t you cold?”

“Not with the fire blasting in front of me. No, Miss Kim. It’s actually getting a little warm in here”

“Okay.” She tipped her head towards the grill and said, “Watch what you’re cooking”

“Oh no!” My eyes widened, remembering the grill, and hurriedly continued flipping. “Ah… Good thing they’re not burned yet”

I shyly smiled while chuckling when I heard Miss Kim laughing beside me.

“I’ll leave you to your grilling then” she said with a grin before she walked away.

I touched my cheeks with the back of my hand, feeling myself warmer in that part when Miss Kim traced the tattoo. Maybe that or the hot fire right in front of me. I am sweating too so maybe it was the fire in front of me.

“Wheein-ah!” Byulyi-unnie came with scissors in hand and another set of tongs.

She flipped the rest of the meat while I started slicing them into small pieces. We worked synchronously without much words exchanged between the two of us. I still kept whispering and singing ‘fire’ under my breath, keeping unnie entertained.

Only when we were done cooking and was transferring meat to the plates that Byulyi-unnie started talking.

“I saw Miss Kim coming here earlier”

“Yes. I was covered in smoke and she helped me out. She also left me alone immediately”

“Hmm…”

I threw a curious glance at Byulyi-unnie and saw that she’s rather too focused just to be transferring meat to the plates.

“Why, unnie?” I asked, curious.

She shrugged before her expression changed and she gave me her usual smug smile. “Nothing. Just saying”

I pouted at her but accepted her response even though I think she’s thinking of something.

Does she also think that I am Miss Kim’s favorite because of our short interaction? It’s good that Miss Kim is talking to me, even casually, but it’s starting to feel like I shouldn’t feel this way. That I should not easily accept the attention Miss Kim is giving to me. That I should repulse it.

But it also doesn’t feel right that way, which is why I am simply accepting whateve