most of the italic words are spoken in english, except one lol

---

Things don't get better the next day.

After the meeting with the IT department, all of the directors are solely focused on solving this problem currently looming on top of their head. The possibility of them gaining such a huge loss this year because of this has become a whip of motivation for them to finally resolve the problem. But no matter how hard they worked, no matter how hard they tried to know what's wrong, there is still no sight of them finishing this in the span of a week.

This situation also has its own toll for Seungwan. She barely slept, she even barely bothered to eat. Whenever Joohyun came into her office, she always stared at her computer, typing about something. Or she will find her reading the folder about the latest update, trying to search about anything at this point. Anything that can help them to reach the light.

They are in their hotel room right now, the president suite in a five star hotel at the center of the city. Joohyun splashed her face with water, her last effort to freshen up after taking a shower to strip off her exhaustion from another stressful day at work.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror as her mind started to wander towards a specific someone who shared a space with her inside this enormous hotel room. When Joohyun was about to take a shower, Seungwan was sitting in front of her laptop, continuing the work she did today back in the office. Now that she is done with her shower, she can hear the faint sound of Seungwan talking with someone on the phone, about the same thing that they have been talking about at work.

Almost an hour has passed, and Seungwan is still not doing anything but work.

Joohyun would lie if she said she doesn't worry about her boss' condition. She might not look like it from outside, but whenever Seungwan only took a bite over the lunch she bought for her, it pained her. It broke her heart to see other food go to waste because Seungwan chose to be buried inside work all the time instead of taking a breather for a second and living her life.

The secretary walked out from the bathroom with a used towel circled around her neck. She turned her head to look at Seungwan who was still talking with someone from the phone.

Her fiancee is a mess, that's the word that Joohyun thought would perfectly describe the current condition of Son Seungwan. Her short hair is everywhere and untidy. There are dark eye bags underneath her eyes, formed because of the lack of sleep she gets for a few days. The frown on her forehead has basically become permanent by now because Joohyun always spots it whenever she takes a proper look at Seungwan. She can see the curve of her cheekbone very clearly.

This can't be done. This needs to be done tonight.

"Yes, please check over the purchase that we did over the last quarter," said Seungwan in her perfect English as she was probably talking with the finance department of the U.S. branch. "Send all the data to me and the finance department of the main branch after you are done."

Seungwan turned off the call after that while Joohyun unhook the towel around her neck and put it on the couch, with her boss focusing back onto the graphs that were shown on the laptop screen in front of her. She fixed the position of her reading glasses before typing something in such a fast movement Joohyun wouldn't even bother to know what. There is a second cup of black coffee right beside her, and Joohyun knows it's already empty.

A rage bubbling inside her, under what reason Joohyun doesn't know. But she stomps her feet towards Seungwan, and stays rooted beside her.

"What?" Seungwan simply acknowledged her with such a short question, asked in her most emotionless voice. Joohyun feels like she's going back in time to her first year of working with Seungwan, and she doesn't like that to the least. "I'm working."

"I can see that," Joohyun simply replied with the same tone. She takes another look at Seungwan, who is still not even giving her a glance. "Let's go get dinner."

"I'm busy," answered Seungwan, still in short sentences. "Just call for room service."

Joohyun takes a deep breath to calm the emotion raging inside her. "And seeing you eat only a bite of your food for the hundredth time?"

She watches the way Seungwan closes her eyes in frustration, surely doesn't want any of this stupid argument right now. But it's an advantage for Joohyun, because she knows this is bugging her. "I can't leave this."

And that is the limit for Joohyun. She gritted her teeth before she took a deep breath. She secretly slipped her palm right behind her laptop screen, watching if Seungwan caught her slightest movement. But when she's not and keeps proceeding in typing for her work, Joohyun slammed the screen to close the laptop. Enraging Seungwan as she finally looks at her.

"Hey!"

"Oh? Is this the state of our relationship right now? Raising your voice when things don't go the way you want?" asked Joohyun, challenging her boss while raising her eyebrow to see if she dared to do more than yelling at her. She watched Seungwan gritted her teeth before clicking her tongue in annoyance, knowing that she can't do anything. "We are going out to get dinner. Like it or not."

"Fine," hissed Seungwan, absolutely pissed off with how Joohyun acted. "I guess we are doing things the way you want right now."

Her eyes darkened from her last sentence, she doesn't like how Seungwan makes it sound. But Joohyun held back her frustration. The important thing right now is to make Seungwan stop working, go out, and eat. "Go wash your face. That's the least you can do before we leave this damn hotel."

Seungwan pointedly stared into her eyes before she turned around to go to the bathroom and wash her face. Joohyun sighed loudly after she slammed close the bathroom door, finding her hands were shaking because she was absolutely bothered with what Seungwan told her. But Joohyun takes a deep breath, trying to calm the rage inside her and keep her head cool. That's the least she can do to handle this rationally because clearly Seungwan wasn't in a perfect condition to do that.

The walk towards where they are going to eat is cold. Not because of the environment nor the air surrounding them. Because they just simply walk side by side, and act like strangers instead of an engaged couple.

Usually, whenever they go to another country, Seungwan will always instigate to hold her hand while they are walking together. Due to the fact that no one basically knows them, it becomes some sort of freedom for Seungwan to do physical displays of affection just like any normal couple with Joohyun. She would sometimes snort because she found it silly, but she just let Seungwan either hold her hand or kiss her forehead since she loves to do that kind of thing.

So it feels odd to not do any of that, when they are spending time together in another country.

"Where are you taking me?" Seungwan finally breaks the silence between them as they walk along the pavement together with the bustling crowd of people who just go home after work. 

"Somewhere," answered Joohyun shortly, and didn't want to give her any hint.

Seungwan snorted from the way she chose to not share with her. "You better not take me to a pizza place."

---

"Thank you," said Joohyun after she paid for the food. There was a small smile on her face as she accepted two plates filled with two slices of pizza on each plate. One for her, and one for Seungwan.

Her boss is a bit of a health freak. She loves to workout and stay in shape, to the point she already installed a gym in the empty room of their shared home. She always blends a fresh juice every morning for her to drink after her gym session. And Seungwan always tried to not eat too much carbohydrate and keep her daily calories taken at bay. This resulted with Seungwan having such a nice shape of body that she is proud of, and always teasing Joohyun about it because she knows she secretly loves her built arms and well-defined abs.

That's why, to watch Seungwan eat and miraculously finish two cheesy slices of pizza would be a sight for Joohyun to enjoy.

"Seriously?" deadpanned Seungwan as her eyes simply watched Joohyun put the plate in front of her before she took the empty seat beside her fiancee. Joohyun acted nonchalant with her complaint, but she was watching her from the corner of her eyes, who was taking the slice of pizza and grimacing when she took a close look. "Do you even know how many calories this slice of pizza has?"

"Just eat," Joohyun deadpanned back before taking her first bite of the pizza. She let out a small moan from such a good taste enveloping her tongue, ignoring Seungwan who raised her eyebrow from her reaction. "This is the best pizza place in this city, you will love this. And let's not forget the fact that you barely ate today?"

Seungwan grumbled under her breath, knowing she doesn't have a chance to win in this argument. She took a careful bite as Joohyun watched her grimace turn deeper. But after a few munch, her grimace slowly disappeared as she started to eat more of her pizza. 

She snorted from the change of pace. Anyone can see that Seungwan is currently looking like someone who hasn't eaten for days by how she finished her pizza in such quick bites. If only her boss was bothered enough to eat properly in the past few days, surely this wouldn't happen. Seungwan even managed to finish first before Joohyun, after practically inhaling her two big slices of pizza.

"Not bad," commented Seungwan before she wiped with napkins. 

"Just admit that you like it," scoffed Joohyun as she took the first bite for her second slice of pizza. She can feel Seungwan's eyes staring at her, wanting for another bite. But if she's really hungry for another, then she should be the one who acted on it instead of her. Joohyun had enough of babysitting her. "I thought someone doesn't like to eat high calorie food at night?"

Her expression turned sour from the jab. Seungwan grumbled under her breath as she chose to drink her water until it's empty to erase the hunger inside her. Joohyun rolled her eyes from her childish behavior, in disbelief because Seungwan still chose to protect her ego instead of taking care of herself. She decided to take matters into her own hands—again—as Joohyun handed her a slice of pizza for Seungwan to take a bite.

"Quick," prompted Joohyun, practically shoving her pizza into Seungwan's face. "I'm still hungry."

"Sometimes you are super annoying when you are mad," huffed Seungwan in protest as she took a bite of Joohyun's slice of pizza. A big bite, if she might add. 

"And who's fault is that?" Joohyun replied back with such thick venom in her voice, to the point Seungwan was flinching a bit because of her tone. "I did everything I could, Seungwan. I did things that weren't in my job desk as your secretary. I bought your favorite lunch. I delivered it to your desk. Yet you refuse to eat them. You refuse to take care of yourself."

Seungwan stayed silent, just like what she expected. She let out a sigh before finishing her last slice of pizza, letting the time ticks away with both of them engulfed in awkward yet calm silence. There is only a sound coming from the pedestrians who passed by them talking with each other, the loud car horn sound, the ruckus and chaos coming from the kitchen of the pizza place. 

"This is nice," Seungwan suddenly breaks the ice after a few minutes pass with both of them not exchanging a conversation with each other. Joohyun refused to look at her, and she knows Seungwan did the same. "I forgot the last time I heard such noisy traffic like this."

Joohyun didn't say anything, but she turned her head to look at Seungwan. The latter was closing her eyes while tilting her head up. For the first time ever since the start of the chaos, Seungwan looked peaceful. Exhaustion was still present on the line of her face, but she looked like she was finally taking a break from work. From the heavy responsibility she needs to bear with her shoulders.

"Thank you," said Seungwan, being the one who broke the ice again. She opened her eyes to look at Joohyun who was still staring at her. "For pulling me here."

She remained silent for a few seconds before she left her seat. Joohyun patiently waited for Seungwan until she stood right beside her. Her hand naturally laces against Seungwan before she tugs her arm to start walking. She heard the taller woman chuckle, tightening the hold she has on her palm before catching up with Joohyun so they could walk side by side. 

It feels nice to do this. It feels like there is nothing important currently waiting for them back at the hotel. It feels like they are only Seungwan and Joohyun, a couple with a wish to spend the day just like any other normal couple out there.

There's a lot Joohyun wants to talk about, there's a lot of things she wanted to say to Seungwan. Throughout their walk back to the hotel, Joohyun can't stop contemplating whether this is a perfect time to start talking about this with Seungwan. They are finally having the time for themselves right now, but their surroundings are too noisy for Joohyun to talk about something serious. And for once, they are in such a peaceful state, and Joohyun doesn't want to ruin that. 

Seungwan helped her to decide when she threw her arm around the shoulder to keep her closer, to keep their side flushed against each other. Joohyun gently sighs as she unbeknownst leaning closer to get more of the warmth Seungwan currently gives her. 

Yeah, this moment is too good for Joohyun to disturb.

But everything changed as soon as they arrived back in their hotel, as soon as they entered their suite. Joohyun already had a hunch that Seungwan will not immediately rest like a normal person when the night is already late. And she was right when she watched her take off her coat and just threw it on the couch. Rolling her long sleeves before it passed her elbows as she prepared herself to continue the work she left earlier.

Joohyun closed her eyes in frustration. "Seungwan-"

"Just go to sleep first, Hyun," cut Seungwan while she was rolling the second sleeve. "I will join you later."

"No. You are going to sleep right now."

This time, the heavy sigh is coming from her. "I have a lot of things I need to take care of."

"Can it be done tomorrow?" asked Joohyun, more like a counter because at this point, this has become such an ultimate joke. "Do you really need to do this tonight?"

Seungwan stayed silent, knowing that Joohyun was right. That she can continue to do this tomorrow and take a rest after such a tiring day. But Seungwan is stubborn, and her boss is the type of someone that will not stop until she is done with everything. Until she makes sure that everything is perfectly handled without a flaw. "I need to do this."

She responded with a chuckle, the disbelief one. Joohyun pinched her eyes in anger. "Have you looked at yourself?"

"You are the last person I expect to act like this, Hyun," Seungwan finally said what she had in mind. Joohyun's gaze hardened as Seungwan finally bothered enough to look at her after they arrived back. "You are someone who always needs to finish your work on the same day for 'convenience'. I merely did the same thing as you. I don't understand why you are being so worked up right now."

"Will you just please TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF!"

The gaze in her eyes was wild, Joohyun forgot the last time she was this mad. Being this frustrated over someone. Seungwan already shut . But from the look in her eyes, Joohyun knew she was surprised with this sudden outburst.

"You are a ing mess right now, Seungwan. An absolute mess. I guess I need to handle things the way I want right now because clearly, you are incapable of doing that," seethed Joohyun, finally saying out loud what has been bugging her inside her mind. "You don't take a shower. You don't eat and only drink black coffee everyday. You never sleep in bed anymore. I might continue my work past the work time often, but I'm still mindful enough to take care of myself. You don't give a damn about yourself and you still don't understand why I'm being so worked up right now?"

Seungwan stayed silent, but she changed her gaze down to look at her feet. Joohyun takes a step closer, to slightly erase the gap between her and her boss.

"I am your fiancee, I am your partner, I am your lover. I am all of that, Seungwan, am I not?" asked Joohyun, taking another step closer. Seungwan raised her head to look at her again. This time, Joohyun can see how troubled she is just from a stare deep into her eyes. "Like it or not, you have become one of my concerns. Have you taken a shower? Have you eaten anything today? Have you slept tonight? Those are the kind of questions that will always be in my mind, and I will do anything to make sure that you have done all of that."

This time, Joohyun is already right in front of her. Seungwan was sitting at the headrest of the couch, looking so small by how she looked up to keep her gaze still on her eyes. Joohyun reached out, cupping her face that felt so fragile inside her palm. 

"Do you even know how hurt it is to look at you like this? Do you even know how painful it is that no matter how many times you try, it all goes down in vain?" whispered Joohyun softly while using both of her hands to cup her face gently. "My heart broke when I saw you simply wash your face or even just brushing your teeth before we go to work. My heart broke when I needed to see another lunch go cold after just a bite. My heart broke when I saw you sleeping in front of your laptop again, in such an uncomfortable position. It hurts, Seungwan, and you have no idea how painful it is to see your loved one ruin themselves like this."

Her breath hitched, trying to not have a breakdown in front of Seungwan. Someone that used to be strong, right now needs her help to function like usual. And she needs to be strong for Seungwan because no one else will.

"You are the only person I truly love in this world, Seungwan. The one who still lives with me and breathes the same air together with me," Joohyun added lastly, her thumb gently her sharp cheekbone that was present because of this. She connected their foreheads together as Joohyun took a deep breath. "At least make this easier for me to do, because that's the only thing I want from you."

Seungwan looked at her, before she buried her face on her chest. She took a deep breath, one that is shaky and hard to do. Joohyun wrapped her arms around her neck, her smooth hair as she kissed the top of her head, trying to calm her down. She can feel Seungwan her shirt on her waist, trying to have a pillar for her to hold on. They stayed like that for ages, just being inside each other's arms. Something they had never done ever since they landed in this foreign country.

"I'm tired, Hyun," Seungwan whispered, she sounded so small Joohyun almost didn't catch what she just said. "I'm so tired."

"Then rest, Seungwan," Joohyun whispered back, a bit louder than her. She gently helped Seungwan to look at her again before planting an affectionate kiss on her forehead. "It's okay to take a break. Everybody needs a rest sometimes."

Joohyun can't fight the urge to kiss her lips, and it seems like Seungwan thinks the same because they met in the middle. It's different from their usual kiss. It was usually filled with lust, hunger—a desire to please each other ually. This one is comforting, affectionate—a kiss to tell each other that they will always be here. They will always be there if they ever need one another.

"Go to sleep, Seungwan," begs Joohyun for one last time after they broke their kiss. "I miss having you sleeping by my side."

Seungwan chuckled from her confession before she pulled her in for another tight hug, to bury her face inside the comfort of her chest. She feels Seungwan nod, and it's enough of an answer for Joohyun to take. 

---

She slowly parted open her eyelids as Joohyun woke up because she forgot to fully close the curtains of the bedroom's huge window, causing the morning sunlight to spill inside the square room and erase all of the darkness inside. She tried to slightly move and found a bush of black hair underneath her chin, with someone tightly wrapping their arms around her, flushing their face on her chest.

Her fingers gently brushed away the fringes that were covering Seungwan's face to be clearly seen by her. The woman is still deep in her sleep, and Joohyun doesn't have an ounce of urge to wake her up anytime soon. She closely scans the features of her face, easily finding some faint lines of exhaustion adoring her beautiful expression. Her eyebags are too dark for Joohyun's liking, and her cheeks that used to be full are starting to become hollow. Her heart breaks from the sight again as she wished for all of this to be over soon while kissing the top of her head.

Joohyun never likes it when Seungwan is the one who worked too hard between the two of them, and she doesn't think she ever will. Ever since she worked together with her, Joohyun hates the time whenever she still finds Seungwan holed up inside her office, when the time to come home has passed since hours ago.

For now, she deserves this rest.

But the moment of tranquil silence soon ended when she heard the loud buzzing sound coming from Seungwan's phone on the nightstand. Joohyun tried her best to move as quickly as she could while not bothering Seungwan with her movement and waking her up. She got a few grunts when Joohyun got a hold of her phone, but her eyes remained shut. Joohyun released a relieved sigh before she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Ms Son, this is the IT department," a man from the other line replied in English. For a moment, Joohyun forgot they are currently in the U.S. "We-"

"This is her secretary," interrupted Joohyun, with the best English she can say to those people on the other line. "Ms Son is still resting right now. If you wish to talk about something important with her, it will be best to do it once we arrive at the office."

"Of course, Secretary Bae," they answered, although there is a bit of a stutter in the beginning. "Please inform us once you arrive so we can talk to Ms Son immediately."

Joohyun nodded before ending the call, although she knew they couldn't see it. She carefully put the phone back on the nightstand so as not to wake Seungwan again. The latter turns out still deep in her sleep, undisturbed with the call nor with the movement Joohyun did in her embrace. A lot of time ticks away to wait for Seungwan to wake up, to be free from the warm caging of her arms. But Joohyun prefers this tons of time instead of having to put a blanket over Seungwan who was slumped over the desk, deep in her sleep.

Seungwan stirred before she opened her eyes. She let out a deep sigh as she was still having her face buried deep inside her chest. "What time is it?"

"Ten," answered Joohyun, playing with the smooth strands of her short hair again. "I don't want to wake you up."

"Yeah, I wished for you to not wake me up last night," responded Seungwan, to which Joohyun only replied with a snort. They stayed silent for a while, and Joohyun thought Seungwan went back to sleep as she asked another question. "Are there any phone calls?"

"From the IT department," admitted Joohyun truthfully. She is still her secretary, after all. "They said they have something important for them to talk about with you. I told them to say it once we are at the office, and they agree."

Her boss simply gave her a sleepy hum as her answer. She raised her head then, crawling closer towards Joohyun who remained still in her position. Seungwan raised her fingers and brushed the locks of her hair, smoothing the knot that exists because of sleep. Her head gently dips down, taking her lips in a sweet morning kiss which Joohyun accepted by kissing her back and having her arms around her. None of them care about morning breath as the kiss is too addicting for them to be far apart.

"Good morning," whispered Seungwan right above her lips after they broke the kiss reluctantly to take a breath.

"Good morning," Joohyun whispered back, holding her face softly with her palm. Seungwan leaned into her touch, to the point she gave her hand a kiss while still having her eyes on her. "How are you?"

"Better," admitted Seungwan truthfully. There is a smile on her face, close to her usual teasing expression. "Thanks to someone."

Joohyun rolled her eyes because she knew Seungwan was talking about her outburst from last night. That's why she kissed her again to erase that annoying smirk off her face. Seungwan lightly grinned before she kissed her back, slipping her hand underneath her t-shirt to rub the soft skin on her curve. There is nothing ual in her touch, only comfort. "Do you still want to stay in bed?"

"As much as I want that, we are late. And a whole department is waiting for my arrival to talk about something important," sighed Seungwan, almost purring because Joohyun was running her fingers through her hair. She knows her boss loves that gesture more than anything else in the world. "We still haven't had breakfast yet."

She raised her eyebrow from the sudden change. "Really?"

Seungwan nodded. "Ever since I told Mom that we have landed, she has been informing me about a place we need to visit if we have free time. One of them is a nice café near our hotel. We can stop by and have our breakfast there. What do you think?"

"Sure," nodded Joohyun, resting her palm gently on her nape. "That sounds nice."

Her fiancee flashed her such a wide smile before she kissed her lips again. It was long, full with a smile and clashed teeth—a messy and lovely sweet kiss both of them secretly adored. "Let's take a bath together."

This time it was Joohyun who nodded, without even giving her a warning to not do something unnecessary while they were taking a bath together. Because she knows Seungwan simply just wants to be with her, and Joohyun also wants to enjoy this moment a bit longer.

Because she knows, everything will revert back once they arrive at the office.

---

Joohyun grits her jaw as Seungwan throws the poor folder into the center of the meeting table, causing all of the directors to cower in fear on their seats. No one dares to say anything, no one dares to even look at Seungwan and her fiery gaze.

She let out a sigh, a loud and frustrated one to make sure every single person in the meeting room right now knows how angry she is over this situation. It has been four days and there is no significant change that will save the branch from this problem. Seungwan already expected more from the people who work with her, yet so far all of them just keep disappointing her.

"What the hell are all of you doing? Are you even doing something right now?" asked Seungwan in a voice that does not let anyone disappoint her once again. That does not let anyone to even dare to make another mistake again if they ever tried for the nth time. She takes a look at every single person in this room, except for Joohyun. "Do you think because you are a director right now, your position is safe in front of my eyes? It has been four days and I have already started to think about the criteria I want for the new directors if by the next day all of you are still unable to take care of this problem."

Everyone fell into silence that if she dropped a pin, Joohyun was sure she would hear the sound of the impact. But Joohyun can still audibly hear the sound of their fearful gulp, worrying for their position and for their future in this company.

"Tomorrow will be my last day here," started Seungwan as she gave them her last ultimatum. "Every hour is important. Don't you dare to slack."

"Yes, ma'am!" responded all of the directors inside the meeting room, still not daring to raise their head and meet Seungwan's killer gaze. Seungwan simply scoffs from looking at their pathetic state, before leaving the meeting room and Joohyun dutifully follows behind her.

They already went back to their hotel room yet things still haven't gotten better for Seungwan. She keeps calling someone, having an important conversation with them and making sure to let out her frustration once the conversation is over. Seungwan has reversed back to her messy state, and Joohyun admits that the current one is the worst.

She has never seen Seungwan being this lost before, losing the control of herself and everything that makes her a capable CEO in front of the stakeholders and the board of directors' eyes. Her eyes filled with panic and fear, yet at the same time she still doesn't know what went wrong in the way she handled things. Her whole body was shaking—either from fear or from the feeling that she is incapable of being given such a huge responsibility—and Joohyun knew Seungwan didn't realize that unless she pointed it out.

Joohyun bit her bottom lip as she secretly texted someone she hoped would be able to pull Seungwan out from this clawing slump. Out from the hole that cost her every control she has in herself.

This is her last chance to make things right, her last ticket to bring back Seungwan that she knows well. To bring back the dependent and cool-headed woman everybody needs.

---

what a rollercoaster chapter after i gave you the rated one in the previous chapter lol

anyway, thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter!