i actually didnt plan to post anything today but i suddenly finished this so happy wenrene day!

---

How can things become worse? How come things have started to have their downfall when it just becomes better? They just had their breakthrough when the IT department told her that they just found what could possibly be the main reason why they got tangled into this problem. Yet, it still has its loopholes, and Seungwan still doesn't know what.

She rubbed her face in frustration, trying to think about the stuff she has learned over the past few days. 

Did she miss something? There is no way a mistake could be so perfect that they didn't leave the slightest trace at all to make things how it's supposed to be again. But Seungwan has been so thorough in her search. There is no forgotten space she doesn't get through and investigate, not even the slightest inch. Yet everything doesn't make sense.

Seungwan looked at the row of files presented in front of her again. On those files, they wrote all the reports and searched over the things that could go wrong, over their deduction and assumption of the reason that has their possibility to become the culprit.

None of them has become fact.

At times like this, the urge to give up has been overwhelming for Seungwan to keep fighting back. Her body is tired, begging for a proper rest. She doesn't know how many medications and pills she has taken just to stay awake and focused on this problem. Her head hurts, her eyes burn, and her back is sore. But she can't stop. No, she is not allowed to stop.

"Ms Son?"

Her ears perked from the cautious mention of her name along with a gentle knocking on the door. Seungwan raised her head, finding Joohyun peeking from the slight gap. Her expression might be her usual deadpan, but Seungwan easily spots the worry in her eyes. She ignored it, something that has become a skill of hers for these past few days. "What is it?"

"There is an important call you need to take right now," answered Joohyun, showing Seungwan her work mobile phone along with a call that is waiting for her to accept.

But Seungwan is currently not interested in any of this bull. "Tell them I'm busy."

"It's from the main branch."

Seungwan froze from the mention of her original office. Her eyes widened in horror as her mind started to fill up with negative thoughts. 

There is no way the main branch is also tangled into some kind of problem right now. The last time Seungwan checked from the call with the directors, they reported to her that things had been running fine while she was here to take care of some stuff. And suddenly, she got an important phone call from the main branch without any prior announcement?

She silently accepted the mobile phone from Joohyun, who immediately left the room as soon as they were inside Seungwan's grasp. Catching the signal that Seungwan wants to be left alone. She let out a heavy sigh as she took a seat on the couch again, rubbing her eyes to erase some of the exhaustion in her bone before placing the phone just right beside her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, kid."

Her eyes widened again, this time because of surprise from hearing a familiar voice coming from the other line. She can feel her jaw starting to tighten, Seungwan can't bring herself to say something more. At least other than, "Dad?"

"How are you?"

"I-," the simple question caught her off guard. went slack, she didn't know what to answer him. Should she lie? Should she say that she's okay to not make him worried? But he is the Chairman, and of course he knows what she currently handles in the U.S. Normal people wouldn't believe it if she says she is alright. Seungwan let out a deep sigh, answering his question with the sentence that has been swarming in her head. "I don't know, Dad."

He answered with a hum. There was a small pause as she heard the sound of a chair being pushed back. "Have you lived well? Have you eaten?"

"If surviving solely from drinking black coffee everyday can be considered as living well, then yes, I have," responded Seungwan while she was rubbing her eyes tiredly, to prevent herself from breaking apart. "And no, I haven't. I don't have any appetite to eat some."

His answer is another hum, yet it wasn't awkward. Her father rarely called her and asked about her condition. It's always her mother who called and nagged her once she found out that Seungwan did not have a healthy lifestyle thanks to her for being such a workaholic. So for him to call and ask about her wellbeing, feels like a breath of fresh air in the middle of a polluted city. A bit weird, but not unwelcome. "Try to take a rest for a little while, have a glass of water."

"How can I take a rest in a situation like this, Dad?" chuckled Seungwan hollowly, frustratingly running her fingers through her hair. "You must be informed about what happened here, what I'm currently taking care of. It's pure chaos, Dad—I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I—I don't know."

She heard a soft chuckle. "Must be hard to be a CEO in a situation like that. To be a leader people need to rely on and come for help in difficult circumstances."

"Yeah, it's super hard," admitted Seungwan, her voice is too small. She feels ashamed, she feels tiny in the middle of a big world. Seungwan has never hit such a low moment in her life before, until this week. She doesn't know how to crawl out and escape—she doesn't know how to save herself from such a slump and downfall. "I'm sorry for not being able to stop the chance of us making a huge loss this year, Dad. I'm sorry for disappointing you."

"Huh?" Seungwan frowned from the pure confusion in his voice. "Who said you disappointed me?"

This time, it was Seungwan who became confused. "What?"

"Seungwan, you are the CEO of our family business. If anything, this is a platform for you to learn and become a better leader in the future. And from the way I see it, from how you handled things there, I don't think I will ever be disappointed," he explained in such a calming tone, Seungwan can feel her exhaustion get stripped off from her bones. But that doesn't mean she still wasn't confused with what her father just said. "This is normal in the business world, daughter. Sometimes we make a profit, sometimes we make a loss. There will always be a problem ahead of us that needs to be fixed. The road is not always smooth."

"I know, Dad, but," Seungwan sighed heavily before she continued, "I don't even know what the problem is. I don't even know what's wrong. I don't even know what to do."

"Sometimes, it takes a long time for us to find an answer. The same can be applied for this too, Seungwan. You probably don't know anything right now but that doesn't mean you didn't try to know the answer. You tried, it just hasn't arrived yet," explained her father further, still in his calm voice. "The board, the stakeholders and I have been talking about this. This year's result will not affect your position in the company because we are still considering your positive results from the previous years. We will let you use this year's possible loss for you to learn, and to fix it better next year."

"Dad, I don't even care about any of that right now. I don't care if the board and the stakeholders still consider me to be eligible for this position after this year's possible failure," replied Seungwan as she almost let herself blow up in emotion, in the call she had with her father. "I just hate that I don't know anything. I hate that it seems like I can't do things right."

"Ah," Seungwan knew her father was nodding even though she couldn't see him. It was a moment of silence, she anxiously waited for his response. "Close your eyes, Seungwan."

Her eyes blinked instead. "Huh?"

"Close your eyes," repeated her father with such patience, "and take a deep breath. Over and over again."

She doesn't understand why her father told her to do that, but she followed his instruction without any protest. She followed his guide to control her breathing, to take a deep breath, and release it. Like what he said, they keep doing that over and over again, until she feels lighter. Until the fog in her mind starts to dissipate.

"How do you feel?"

"Better," admitted Seungwan without even skipping a beat.

"Can you believe that it was your mother who taught me to do that?" asked her father with a loving chuckle, bringing a smile on Seungwan's face to find out that her parents are pretty much still in love with each other. "She told me to do that when I was in the same state as you years ago. It was a mess back then—problems keep coming to me from left and right. I wasn't allowed to breathe, I wasn't allowed to fix my stance. I was worried that I would bring the company down. But your mother held my hand, and told me to relax. Told me to calm down, and clear the mess in my head."

Seungwan stayed silent, she didn't know what to reply to him with. She doesn't know why he suddenly talked about his past, and why he said he had encountered this kind of problem once.

"You don't know what to do? Cool your head. That is the only way for you if you want to know what you are going to do. If you want to understand the problem and solve it in no time," her father sternly replied, Seungwan can't help but to straighten her back. "You are all heated up, your brain is burning. You can't function with a hot head, Seungwan. You need to be rational, you need to be logical. You need to calm down and start having a broader view. That way, all of this would disappear in a click of a finger."

She still remains silent, because she knows her father is not finished yet. And her hunch was right when he continued, further making her stunned with his words.

"And the last thing is to always ask for help, Seungwan. Don't be afraid to ask everyone around you," her father said calmly, the stern in his voice is gone. "You have thousands of people supporting you, all around the world. Ask for their help. You won't be going anywhere without someone helping you. No one in this world can do things alone, Seungwan. Keep that in mind."

Her breath hitched in . She feels like she just got slapped hard in the face, to finally wake up and go back to reality. It was a good slap, and Seungwan will not ask for anything better. "Of course, I understand. Thanks, Dad."

"I merely did what I needed to do, kid. Both as the Chairman and as your father," giggled her father, who successfully brought a chuckle out from Seungwan. "You need to say thank you more to Joohyun. She was the one who asked for my help, to reach out to you. I was afraid to contact you previously because I thought you were busy, but she suddenly called me. She sounded so worried, that's why I immediately called you afterwards."

Seungwan chuckled as she tried to cover a tinge of pain in her heart. This behavior had affected too much of someone she loved the most, she feels bad for making Joohyun worried. "I will. Thank you again, Dad. It means a lot."

He is the one who chuckled this time before ending their call with a bid of goodbye. Seungwan sighed loudly afterwards, glancing at the door that leads to their bedroom, where Joohyun stayed while she was talking with her father. She took a deep breath as she let her legs lead her to the door and carefully opened them.

"Hey," she immediately greeted with the soft voice of Joohyun, who looked at her rather expectantly. "Are you done?"

"Yeah," nodded Seungwan, showing off the phone Joohyun gave to her to talk with her father. She put it on the nightstand right beside the bed, while her eyes stayed to look at Joohyun. "It's all good now."

Joohyun nodded her head, before being the one who broke their eye contact. "I'm glad, because I was-"

She didn't continue her sentence, because Seungwan pressed her lips right above hers and forced Joohyun to stop talking. She pushes the woman to the bed, hovering over her body as their kiss remains connected. Seungwan can feel her arms looping around her neck, pulling her head closer. They kissed until their lungs burned over the lack of oxygen, Seungwan buried her face inside her collarbone and breathed in her floral scent.

"Goodness, you must have such a hard time," groaned Seungwan before she dropped her body to the empty side of the body, still having her face inside Joohyun's warm neck. "I'm sorry."

Seungwan knew Joohyun was frowning because the next thing she did, she pulled away from her embrace and made her look straight into her eyes. "Why are you sorry?"

Her shoulders shrug, Seungwan's way of telling her that she just feels like it. Joohyun sighed as she cupped her face, gently her cheek using her thumb before she ran her fingers through her soft hair, doing all of the things that Seungwan loved when her fiancee did that to her. She leaned into her touch, begging for more of her affection.

"You've worked too hard, Ms Son," muttered Joohyun, almost close to a whisper but Seungwan caught everything. "But you did well."

She can't help but to smile from her praise. Seungwan took her palm inside her grasp, brushing gently over her knuckles before she brought it closer to her lips and kissed the engagement ring adorning her finger. They stayed like that for a moment, only staring into each other's eyes with Seungwan holding her hand. Acting like teenagers who just fall in love for the first time, and hoping for an everlasting relationship with their partner.

"Shall we go back to Korea on Sunday?" Seungwan suddenly proposed, while Joohyun simply raised her eyebrow over the question. "We haven't walked around the city yet, and my mom will slap me in the if she finds out that I haven't brought you to the places she recommended for us to visit."

"Sure," nodded Joohyun while she adjusted her position because Seungwan leaned closer. "I thought you wanted to go back tomorrow."

"And being broody throughout the flight when we can just have and have fun on our journey back?" scoffed Seungwan, igniting Joohyun to roll her eyes because apparently, she has turned back into her ert self. "No, thank you. We deserve to have our own holiday after such a tiring week."

"If that's what you want," sighed Joohyun without much fight to oppose her idea. "Chairman Son also said that nothing significant happened in the main branch while we were not there, so we can just take our time."

Seungwan chuckled as she closed her eyes, silently thanking her father once again. She knows her father has been the one who takes care of the affair of the business on her stead while she has been away. Talking with possible new clients, listening to the new ideas given by their current clients, renewing contracts of affiliation and searching for new joint ventures with other businesses. All of the things that Seungwan often does on her daily workload in the main branch.

Wait a second. The main branch?

Her eyes abruptly opened as she suddenly sat up on the bed, surprising Joohyun with her sudden change of posture. If Seungwan wasn't mistaken, all of the data about the business from every branch they have in the world will be compiled in the main archive back in Korea. And all of them will be stored just as how it was being reported originally, without any prior change even if there is an edit on the next report.

"Ms Son?" Joohyun calls out softly, reaching for her hand. She can feel her worry and confusion just from a simple touch alone. "Is there something wrong?"

"The main archive will store any business report without editing them even though there is a slight change on the next report," Seungwan muttering out what she has been thinking before she turned around to look at Joohyun, who has the same wide eyes on her face. "Right?"

It doesn't take long for Joohyun to reach for the phone that Seungwan placed on the nightstand earlier. She typed something, probably to call someone that Seungwan knew Joohyun would contact for something like this. "Hello, Ms Shin? Are you busy cu-"

Joohyun got her sentence cut because Seungwan suddenly stole the phone out of her grasp. "Ryujin, where are you right now?"

"At the office," answered Ryujin lightly from the other line, like she does not have any fear of suddenly talking with the CEO of the company she worked at. Seungwan immediately scrambled out from the comfortable bed and left the bedroom to reach for her laptop that was still outside, with the screen flashing her the same graphs and data she has been reading these few days. "Why?"

"Ask the main archive if they have the business report from the U.S. branch," explained Seungwan swiftly as she watched Joohyun taking over her laptop to show her the table of business reports they have that is from the U.S. branch, "preferably from last year's fourth quarter and current year's third quarter."

"Why don't you ask them yourself?" grumbled Ryujin, followed by a munching sound. "It's daytime here, unnie. I'm busy."

"Let's not kid both of us right now, Ryujin. I know you are currently in the archive department, and it's lunchtime," deadpanned Seungwan as she heard Ryujin cursed on the other line for being caught. Sometimes, there will come the day for her to slap the out of her younger cousin. "This is me making your busy."

She can feel Ryujin rolling her eyes in such exaggerated fashion before she asked the archive worker whom she is currently having lunch with. "Yeah, they have. But that is a lot, though?"

"I want you to check on it and compare each report. Try to see if there is something odd between those reports," instructed Seungwan. "Send it to me after you are done."

"Give us an hour max," answered Ryujin before she ended the call abruptly, stunning Seungwan.

"That kid," grumbled Seungwan under her breath as she looked at the black screen of the phone in utter annoyance. "If she wasn't my cousin and how she always helped you with your secretary task, I would already fire her from her director position."

Joohyun simply chuckled from her side, always enjoying the bickering moment between Seungwan and her cousin. "Should I order room service to kill time?"

"That will be nice, I feel so hungry suddenly," expressed Seungwan as she patted her abs in a childish manner, with a pout on her face. She glanced towards Joohyun who has her condescending gaze in her eyes, looking at her while raising one of her eyebrows. Seungwan grimaces from the judging expression. "I will go take a shower too."

It only took Seungwan thirty minutes to freshen up and change her outfit. Once she leaves the bathroom, the room service that Joohyun ordered while she was showering arrived. She got her a bowl of salmon and quinoa salad, something light and fulfilling for dinner—just like how Seungwan preferred. Joohyun ordered a plate of tomato-based pasta for herself. She was just having the first bite of her dinner when Ryujin called back.

"What did you get?" asked Seungwan as soon as she answered the call, changing it to loudspeaker so Joohyun could listen and compare it with the data they have.

"We already checked through the reports from last year's fourth quarter to this year's third quarter," started Ryujin before she suddenly stopped for a brief moment. Seungwan frowned, and was about to ask her when she continued. "There is something odd between these reports."

They turned their heads at the same time to look at each other. Seungwan set her eyes in a straight line as Joohyun immediately scrolled through the data. "Talk to me."

"There are some significant changes between the first quarter and the second quarter's business report that we get from the U.S. branch," explained Ryujin clearly from the other line. Joohyun swiftly showed her the data they have about the first quarter and the second quarter's business report. "In the first quarter, they wrote that there has been a payment made by LMU Technologies with such a significant amount. In the second quarter, there is nothing further about LMU Technologies, but there has been no changes regarding the amount written in the book."

"There is nothing about LMU Technologies in the first quarter report they gave us," whispered Joohyun after she checked through the data, following the words Ryujin just said.

Her jaw tightened in frustration as her blood boiled in anger. She knows who is responsible for this matter, and the fact that she has been fooled this whole time right in front of her eyes, does not settle well with her. "Send all the reports and conclusions to Joohyun."

"Done," Ryujin said, followed by a ding sound coming from the laptop. A notice that the email has arrived. "So, I guess there will be a change?"

"Yeah," Seungwan took a deep breath, realizing that her workload just got added up as she watched Joohyun compile everything before sending it to the IT department for them to see if it was the main cause or not, and telling them to work together about this with the finance department. "Inform the HR about this, and tell them I wish to be involved for the last interview."

“Wow, that was first,” commented Ryujin, Seungwan just rolled her eyes. “Anything else I need to do?”

"That's all. Thank you for the help, Ryujin," sighed Seungwan as the only thing she will do tonight is wait for confirmation if they have finally found the main cause of this problem. "Please tell Jisu regarding my gratitude for her help too."

"Yeah, she heard you," replied Ryujin before she ended the call one sided, for the second time in an hour. Seungwan deathly glaring at the out phone screen once again, hoping it would send straight to Ryujin. Joohyun simply chuckles again from her stupid doing before giving her a bowl of salad, her silent telling to tell Seungwan to continue to eat her dinner.

"Thank God I will be busy searching for a new director once we are back," grumbled Seungwan as she stuffed with salad. "Or she's over."

"May I remind you that you always give Ms Shin my task whenever you want to have with me and end up with us wasting our working time?" quip Joohyun, suddenly joined the conversation. "If I was her, I would do the same."

"And now my fiancee is on her side," Seungwan continued her grumble while she ate her salad with a pout. But a quick kiss on the cheek is enough for Seungwan to rip the pout off her lips as she asked for another kiss. Joohyun only rolled her eyes before she gave her a peck on the lips, growing a smile on Seungwan's face.

They enjoyed their dinner in silence, something they deserve after such a tiring day. Both of them were just done finishing their dinner when the phone rang. Seungwan didn't waste her time to pick it up.

"Yes?"

"Ms Son," there's a slight pause from the other line, "we did it."

Seungwan sighs in relief. She can feel all of the stress compiling inside her nerves suddenly disappear in a matter of three words. Her legs had turned into jelly, but she forced herself to stand on her own feet. "Thank you. Compile everything for the meeting next morning. Please take a rest after this. You guys have worked hard."

"Yes, Ms Son," replied them from the other line before Seungwan ended the call. She took another deep breath, feeling the steam of emotion inside her head starting to disappear. Everything feels lighter, the world has become colorful once again.

"Seungwan?"

She turned around, finding Joohyun standing behind her with a slight distance between the two of them. Her expression is mixed, something between worry, curiosity, and hope. Seungwan chuckled as her legs trudged towards her secretary who stayed rooted on her spot, before she dropped her body into her embrace and buried her face inside her collarbone.

"We did it, Hyun," Seungwan breathed as she reached for her side, desperately clutching on Joohyun. "It's over."

The woman in her arms threw her hands around her slumped body, hugging her tightly. She doesn't hear if Joohyun ever says anything, but she kisses her temple for a long time. Probably for a few minutes, Seungwan doesn't count. But they stayed like that, all standing and embracing each other, without giving a damn over the ticks of time. 

"Let's go to sleep," whispered Joohyun softly as her fingers played with the soft hair on the back of her head. 

Her head nods on her shoulder and Joohyun guides her back to their bedroom. Seungwan tightly embraced her lithe body once they lay down on the soft mattress, breathing on her nape. The last thing Seungwan remembered before she fell asleep is Joohyun placing her palm on top of hers, along with a whisper that brought a smile to her face.

"You did well."

---

Their last day of working inside this office has finally come to an end. The meeting started with the announcement that the main cause has been found. There will be a team assigned to fix the problem until everything turns back to normal once again. Seungwan gave the control of assembling the team to the CEO of the branch and the rest of the directors.

The firing of the director whom Seungwan knew caused this problem after such a thorough research became the of the last meeting. They were begging on their knees, saying sorry over and over again for being selfish just for their sole happiness.

When Seungwan kneeled in front of them with a cold expression on her face, everyone became silent.

"At least be grateful that I only fire you, and still give you compensation and a chance to work somewhere else," deadpanned Seungwan, leaning her face closer as she watched them leaning back in fear. "I can do worse if you are not leaving this building at this second."

Tons of eyes watching them scrambling out of their way to leave the meeting room, afraid of Seungwan doing something far worse to them. She simply let out a snort from the sight of them running as fast as they could, saving themselves after almost causing the branch to have such a huge loss this year. The meeting continues as they talk about some of the important things to handle and be looked after. As the conclusion approaches, all of them give gratitude for her help while she leaves the meeting room together with Joohyun.

"Better use that energy to work better," commented Seungwan. She really doesn't like it when her employees treat her like she holds all of their fates in her hands. "I shall not have to hear that I need to come here again in the upcoming years to handle another problem."

"Yes, Ms Son!" said all of them in unison, sounding like they were yelling. Seungwan snorted from the response before leaving them to go to her office and gather her stuff.

To be honest, Seungwan can't help but to be excited today over the thought that tomorrow she will have an ultimate date with Joohyun. Something that she can't do for days because of her job. She has planned and listed the places that they need to visit, from the first one to the last one at night. And of course, she did that while asking Joohyun if she wanted to visit, only for her to give the whole control to Seungwan.

She let Joohyun enter their hotel first, as Seungwan followed right behind her heels. Her eyes carefully watched how Joohyun sauntered across the suite and let her beautiful raven long hair fall as the tie went loose, swaying her hips like she wanted Seungwan to watch her move. 

Joohyun takes off her thick coat and blazer, leaving her in a white see-through shirt Seungwan swears she could see her black bra thanks to the bright light above. Pressing over the side of that body and the killer waist she loves to circle her arms around. The curves of her body perfectly showed thanks to the tight pencil skirt she wore, with her full being the main attraction of her back. Her slender legs that fit so well around her hips glows, like they were trying to entice her. Like they want Seungwan to touch them. 

Seungwan gulped hard from such an alluring sight. Suddenly and throat feels dry.

"Stop undressing me with your eyes, ."

Her eyes blinked before flashing Joohyun a guiltless smile, which she only replied by rolling her eyes like usual and about to leave her alone. "Where are you going?"

"Taking a shower," answered Joohyun with a short sentence, and Seungwan only nodded.

"I'm going to order room service for us," Seungwan continued as she reached over the telephone that connects to the lobby and every facility in the hotel. "What do you want for dinner?"

"Just order any pasta," replied Joohyun before she entered the bathroom and left her alone, surprising Seungwan with how cold her reply was.

It doesn't take a long time for Seungwan to place the order and tell them to just put their food inside the hotel room if no one doesn't answer the bell. After the call, Seungwan couldn't help but to look at the pile of Joohyun's coat and blazer on the couch, with her mind recalling the scene when she was undressing her fiancee with her eyes.

Seungwan shifted her gaze to the closed bathroom door, where Joohyun is behind the frame. She can feel the member in her crotch start to stir awake, as Seungwan let her legs bring her to the bathroom. There is a smirk on her face, knowing why Joohyun was answering her with such a cold tone earlier.

When was the last time they had again?

---

i'm sorry if this feels like it was done in a rush... its actually not but i just cant wait to write for the next chapter so...

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