Jieun’s POV

            I was waiting at the airport on the day of my flight, holding my ticket and passport tight in my hands. It’d been a while since I’ve flown anywhere on my own, and a long time since I came to this airport. They renovated the children’s play area and added more seats to the waiting area. I sat near the large windows watching different planes take flight. There was something remotely magical about the way they lifted into the air. I’d never been more fascinated at how humans found a way to defy gravity. I turned my cell phone off along with my alarm in the morning so that no one, such as my father or Daehyun, could ruin this peaceful day. My eyes wandered to the glowing boards with the flight lists. A plane was now leaving Vancouver for Paris. That was where Hyosung was now, having her long awaited vacation. She deserved every moment of it, so I hoped she was having fun. My eyes scanned down the board to the flight from Vancouver to Melbourne. The plane would be departing in less than an hour.

(\__/) 
(='.'=) 
(")_(")

When I arrived in Australia after long hours in high altitude, I felt eager to just rest. Despite having slept through almost the entire flight, my headache was driving my off the edge. I looked down the corridor to see well-dressed men holding up a sign that spelled Song Jieun. It was a tacky way of identifying passengers coming off an airplane nowadays. Wasn’t this one purpose of having a cell phone? I saw other families holding up tablets with names printed in approx size 250 font. Technology sure was advancing fast.

“Jieun-sshi?” The shorter man holding the left side of the sign bowed when I approached them. I nodded and they guided me to a black business vehicle, the same model as the company cars my father had in Korea. I wanted nothing more than to sleep the rest of the day away, but it seemed like they already had a tight schedule planned for me. In the backseat of the car I groaned to myself.

Yongguk’s POV

It’s been a few days since Jieun left for Australia, and the hotel has never been more vacant since I started working here. It was the winter months in Canada, and though Vancouver wasn’t known for getting very cold in the winter months, the international stigma of harsh Canadian winters kept most travelers at bay. It was good news for me in that I had very little paper work to deal with, but it also left me with much more free time than I needed. It became almost a routine for me to wander down hallways counting the number of ceiling tiles that separated each room door. I noticed that there was a trend in how the interior design was set up. There were three ceiling tiles between each door. None of the observations I made were useful to any degree, but it kept me occupied. I even spent so much time idling in Jieun’s office fiddling with her globe that my finger probably landed on every country possible, including every sector of each ocean.

Along with having nothing to do, there were also not many people left to talk to. Managers generally didn’t converse with the housekeeping maids, and they too were often too busy tending to their duties for any small talk. Many of the greeters left on their vacation leave for the Christmas holidays, and even Junior took two weeks off to visit his family. To say in the least, since Jieun left the hotel’s been nothing but lonely.

(\__/) 
(='.'=) 
(")_(")

More days passed, and I was surprised no one has even bothered to check up on me. I’ve been doing so little that it wouldn’t make much of a difference if I didn’t even show up. Skipping may have been a specialty of mine in grade school, but for some reason it didn’t apply the same for work. As boring as it was, I still found myself here every single day.

I was in Jieun’s office as I normally was if I wasn’t aimlessly wandering, debating on whether I should crack open one of her historical books in her collection when I heard the office door open. My immediate thought was that Jieun had returned early, but when I looked up I was disappointed to see that it was not the case. Coughing, I sat up straighter and waited for the man to take a seat across from me. I had never seen him before, but something about his presence seemed like he wasn’t a customer. Perhaps he was a new recruit? Was Jieun even capable of hiring people from all the way across the world?

“Annyeonghaseyo Yongguk-sshi, my name is Himchan. Jieun assigned me as your new assistant.” He spoke humbly and then bowed with a greeting. I stood up from my chair to accept his greetings and then shook his hands. It didn’t seem unlikely that someone was finally sent to check up on me, but I’d never heard of him before.

“Are you newly hired?” I asked curiously. I was still wondering whether I even needed an assistant. The workload here was ridiculously minuscule. Himchan shook his head and explained,

“Actually I worked at the branch in Toronto until I was transferred here under Jieun’s wishes.” I nodded, understanding his story and deeming it quite plausible.

“I see…” Yongguk sighed regretfully, “Well to be honest there’s not much work here I have for you to do.” Himchan was paying attention but also spinning the globe on the desk just as I would do.

“I figured it was so. It’s wintertime anyway. You must be bored as hell.” Himchan remarked, dropping honorifics immediately after the initial greetings. I didn’t know how old he was, but I assumed he just had a laid back personality that allowed him to make friends easily. At least he wasn’t a stuck up chaebol like Daehyun. The way he dressed was professional but did not scream wealth from head to toe.

“You’re not going to cut my hours because of lack of work and send me home, are you?” Himchan asked boldly. I laughed and shook my head. I could probably use the company anyway.

“Were you close with Jieun?” I wondered. What were the standards she had for selecting an assistant for me? Usually if I was given a project I couldn’t handle on my own, she’d tell me to round up my own team. Yet, the two of them probably weren’t more than coworkers since I’d never heard of him.

“Nah,” He answered immediately and then stopped fiddling with the globe, “We barely even worked at the same branch before anyway.” For some reason, hearing that relieved me a little. I glanced at the digital clock on the desk and noted that it was lunch time.

“You hungry?” I asked, ready to head to the kitchen for some food.

“Already ate before I came, I’m just going to head outside for some fresh air.” He was already off his chair and standing near the door, waiting for my approval. Once I nodded, he was gone. When I entered the lobby, I watched Himchan exit through the front doors and then dawdle back and forth outside. It was windy today, yet he didn’t even wear a sweater. I knew Vancouver didn’t get very cold, but even a light suit jacket wasn’t supposed to be enough. This kid was probably crazy. That, or too excited for a smoke break to care. I didn’t stick around long enough to know whether he really did pull out a cigarette or not. 

A/N: This is a really short chapter I'm so sorry! Just that.. if I write more it'll seem like I'm rushing the story plot too fast. Actually this is the part of my plot that is probably the most dull... because I need to stretch out the time they spend apart before I pull them back together again or else it'll be too rushed. Honestly though, when they're apart there's barely anything to write about LOL. you know what I mean, right?? Himchan's an exciting new character, but I can only write so much "BangHim" before the OTP focus shifts -winkwink- LOL anyway, hope you're all enjoying this fic still ^^ Stick with me okay?