A few days later, Taeyeon, who was dressed up in her black laced dress, stood in the banks of the Hamsang River. Today, she’ll be bidding her last goodbye to her father. Traditionally, she’ll let a small portion of her father’s ashes be blown away by the wind to the river.

“Appa,” she spoke as she slowly let her father’s ashes fall, “Have you & Eomma been helping me from heaven?” Taeyeon was referring to the possibility of receiving the 20% of PGC’s* stocks.

Her friends and Kangin stood a few feet behind her as they watched Taeyeon from her back. They’re the only ones who accompanied Taeyeon since she has no more family left.

Just then, the sound of a car’s engine broke the serenity of the moment.

Everyone, including Taeyeon turned around to look where the sound was coming from.

Three luxurious cars parked several meters away.

Taeyeon walked up to her friends as they all waited who will step out of the cars.

“Isn’t that--” Kangin pointed to the black car behind the other two.

“Mr. Park Jungsoo’s car,” Taeyeon finished her boyfriend’s sentence.

“Or does it only look like it?” Sooyoung asked.

“Probably,” Yoona said.

Then the first car’s passenger and back doors opened and one old woman stepped out with a bodyguard right behind her. The lady was holding an urn.

“Mrs. Park?”Taeyeon thought as she recalled the face of the woman she once saved from unconsciousness.

Another woman followed her from the same car and she looked like she was at least 5 years older than Taeyeon—looks like a younger version of Mrs. Park.

Then, Leeteuk came to view.

“It is his car,” Kangin confirmed.

“Who’s that girl?” Hyoyeon thought aloud as she pointed to a tall woman who clung to Leeteuk’s arms. It was Kahee.

The Park family walked to the river banks and Leeteuk was equally surprised to see Taeyeon in the same place. By the looks of it—black suit and dresses—Taeyeon was here for the same purpose.

He stopped dead in his tracks and whispered something inaudible to Kahee. The tall woman nodded and proceeded beside Mrs. Park and the other lady, probably Leeteuk’s sibling.

Taeyeon turned to Kangin and handed him the urn of his father’s ashes. She told him, “I’ll be back in a short while.”

Leeteuk and Taeyeon walked up to meet each other halfway as all the other people’s eyes followed them.

“Any news?” Taeyeon asked him with traces of crying in her eyes. She was talking about acquiring what Mr. Park Yongwoon left for her father.

“No, none yet,” Leeteuk stared at the ground.

Taeyeon took a step back and bowed in 90^o. She begged while bowing, “Please help me, Mr. Park Jungsoo.”

Leeteuk bent down trying to get her straighten up. “Ms. Kim, this is unnecessary. Please stand up.”

Taeyeon stood up and shocked Jungsoo what with all the tears in her face.

Leeteuk cringed at the sight of the helpless Taeyeon but did nothing.

“He’s cute,” Yuri commented as she looked at Leeteuk from a distance.

“We told youuuuu~,” Yoona giddily bounced on her toes.

“Aigoo! Girls!” Kangin shushed them as he saw Taeyeon walking back to them.

“Let’s go,” Taeyeon gestured as she reached out for her father’s urn.

“Who was that?” Kahee asked Leeteuk as soon as he reached her side.

“It’s complicated,” Leeteuk shook his head in dismay as he put his hands in his pocket. He can’t believe he offered to help that girl. If only she hadn’t cried, he wouldn’t have offered to do something about it.

“If you say so,” Kahee shrugged and fixed her eyes back at Mrs. Park who was doing the ceremonies.

Just then, Inyoung, the elder sister of Leeteuk, invaded a space on the other side of him.

“Cute girl,” she nudged teasingly at Leeteuk’s shoulder.

“Aish!” Leeteuk messed up his hair furiously. “That was so inappropriate, noona!” he hissed.

Inyoung cleared in embarrassment for there was some truth in her brother’s words. Like Kahee, she let herself be absorbed by the serenity of the ceremonies being prompted by their mother.

For a few days now, Taeyeon had been living with Yuri and she can’t stand leeching off of her friend with her jobless like this—she was still waiting for Leeteuk’s solution but she’s itching to head out and look for a job. Taeyeon had been constantly bugging Leeteuk about their verbal deal and their conversation would always be like their first ones—demanding, rude, sarcastic where yelling is always involved. Whatever happened to their mutual, sympathetic & calm dialogues?

Taeyeon dialed the now CEO-slash-President of PGC*, Leeteuk’s number. He answered in the second ring, “Yeoboseyo?”

“Hello, this is Kim Taeyeon,” the girl introduced herself, bowing to an imaginary figure in front of her.

“Aish! You again?!” Leeteuk can’t believe that such a small girl would have so much persistence.

Hearing Leeteuk’s not-so-friendly response, Taeyeon challenged, “Neh, who else?!”

“YAH! I told you I was going to contact you.”

“But you’re not contacting me!”

“Because I have not found a solution for your problem yet!”Leeteuk answered on the other end of the line.

“YAH! You did not have to shout at me, you know!”

“But you’ve been calling me every single day! Wait. You know what? Maybe we should call this deal off!”he threatened her.

“MWOH?! NO! PLEASE, NO!”

“Then stop bugging me! I’ll call when I’ll call! Bye!”With that, Leeteuk hung up, giving Taeyeon no chance to counter his remark.

“Aigoo~” Taeyeon looked at her phone and pretended to hit it with her fist as she imagined it to be Leeteuk. “Would it hurt to be a little more polite?”

Leeteuk ended the call with an irritated expression in his face. “That girl!” he yelled, but his rant was interrupted by a knock on his door.

“Come in,” he called.

The door opened and Ms. Jang entered the room with a white envelope in his hands.

“Good afternoon, President Park,” she greeted politely as she closed the door behind her.

Leeteuk pushed his glasses up his nose and gestured for the girl to take a seat. “So, what brings you here, Ms. Jang?” he asked.

A woman who was as old as Leeteuk’s noona gently placed the envelope on top of Leeteuk’s table.

Leeteuk looked at it and it read: Resignation Letter. He held it up with his index and middle finger and icily asked, “What is this about?”

The tone of the man’s voice sent chills down her spine, but Ms. Jang managed to choke out, “Sir, please. I’m hoping for your favorable response.”

“What. Is. This. About?” Leeteuk asked once more, now emphasizing each word.

The woman trembled in her seat and by this point, her courage was down to zero.

Leeteuk took in a deep breath as he rested his chin at the back of his hand. He sat back and decided to break the silence. “Is there a competitor company involved? Did they offer you a larger salary?”

“Definitely not, sir,” the woman shook his head.

“Ms. Jang, you’ve been working for this company longer than I have! I just don’t see your point in doing this,” Leeteuk removed his glasses and massaged the space between his eyes, right where his glasses rested. “Is it because I yelled at you the last time?”

-FLASHBACK-

“Vice president Park Jungsoo..”

“Neh,” he put down the papers in his hands and looked up at the woman who entered.

“Someone’s here to see you,” she said.

“I’m obviously doing something important, Ms. Jang,” Leeteuk sternly said.

“But Mr. Par--”

“Ms. Jang,” Leeteuk sighed and was practically yelling, “I don’t have the time to meet anyone! My father died yesterday and I should be in his funeral wake right now but no! I’m he--”

“Jungsoo-ah?” a tall slender woman with long brown hair and prominent facial bones peeked through the door.

“Kahee noona!” Leeteuk stood up from his swivel chair with a surprised expression in his face.

“You can leave now, Ms. Jang,” Leeteuk ordered his employee with an unusually cold voice.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

“No, sir.”

“Then why? Can’t you see you’re giving up not just any position?”

“Mr. Park, it’s about Mr. Park Yongwoon, your father. I worked as his secretary as a fresh graduate. This was my first job, sir. And for years, he had been like father to me but now that my boss for several years is gone..” the lady lowered her head and hesitated to continue.

“Your reasons are not convincing and I’m starting to think that you just don’t wanna work under me,” Leeteuk admitted.

“That’s not the case, sir. Please understand,” Ms. Jang begged.

For a short while, Leeteuk contemplated whether to give in to this woman’s request which would cost him a great deal of effort.

“Very well, then,” Leeteuk stood up and reached out for a handshake, “It was nice working with you, Ms. Jang.”

The lady, surprised, looked up and stood up as well. She shook hands with Leeteuk for the last time and bowed respectfully before heading out to pack her things.

Now he has to find a secretary for replacement as soon as possible. He helplessly watched as his now ex-secretary walk out the door.

“Aish!” he yelled, but once again interrupted by his cellphone ringing. “It better not be Kim Taeyeon or I’ll definitely break off the deal,” he muttered before answering.

“Yeoboseyo?”

“Jungsoo-ah,”it was his Inyoung noona’s voice.

“Oh, noona..”

“I’m here at your new flat,” she informed her brother. “You have a good taste for choosing this rooftop condominium type. Very bachelor-like,” Inyoung giggled.

“So, why are you calling, noona?” he sarcastically asked with an overly happy tone. Leeteuk rolled his eyes at her sister’s childishness.

“The housekeeper I told you about? She told me that a middle-aged couple offered her with a higher pay.”

“And so?”

“So, she backed out. And as of now, you have no housekeeper.”

“MWORAGO?!” Leeteuk can’t believe what he was hearing.

Now, he was left with..

No secretary.

No housekeeper.

*PGC: The Park Group Of Companies

Heeeeyyy~ This is where it all starts. Of course, since Leeteuk is stuck in this position, who would be the only obvious pick, right? Hmm. Besides Taeyeon? No one!  >:D I wanna hear all your inisghts, okay? *bows* :)

COMMENT REPLIES

@shanaa12. Leeteuk's kind acting like he's not himself in the previous chapter, neh? LOL :D