You Are The Only Exception

"-Direct Quotations

'-Thought

Sorry for the grammar mistakes. I didn't have the time to edit this

All Pictures and Gifs used in the story belong to their respective owners.

I loosely based this One-Shot on the Movie "Devil Wears Prada" starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. I love that movie. No Copyright Infringement intended. Happy Reading <3.

Word Count: 3096. Whoa... This is my longest one-shot evarrr~ :D. Sorry bout that, continue on. 

Dara's POV

"It's a beautiful night, and we're looking for something dumb to do. Hey Baby I think I want to Marry You." 

The song kept on playing, rousing me from my sleep. I needed to remind myself to change my alarm tune. Although I enjoyed the song very much, it was too loud. I sat up in bed, and immediately reached for the newspaper laid down on my dresser. Every single morning, I told the maid to put the newest newpaper on my dresser so that when I wake up, I can check the stock market and any important worldy news. You couldn't blame me, I wanted to stay informed. I was elated to find out that my company's stocks were steadily growing up. That meant that there would be possibly a lot of new investors. I hastily went to the bathroom and unrobed. I took a quick shower and ran downstairs for breakfast. I wanted to set an example to my employees that's why I want to be in the office before 7 am. 

"aigoo, relax. You're the CEO of your own company, you don't need to be there before 7." my sister, Bom said as I met her at the dining table.

"I know, but you know me. I would probably just waste my time here and watch those korean dramas when I can be in the office early and take care of files before the morning even starts." I interjected. I'd rather be productive than lazy. Lately, our company was continuing to increase in sales and the growth was shown through our new different lines of clothes and bags, sold in big stores. That meant that we had to have a better knowledge of the market, so I called Human Resources a couple of weeks ago and told them to send me a very competent Marketing Executive. It was his first day today and I would like to test him out during our company meeting. 

I got into my car and I then went to the office. I the radio and "Somebody that I Used To Know" by Gotye was playing. I sighed. This song was terribly catchy and I would always find myself singing the lyrics at the most inconvenient times. It was the same with Korean Dramas. Although I find some of them annoying, there are those shows that would make me feel loved, passionate, and cause-worthy. I get addicted to them so easily that lines from such dramas transcend into my daily life. There was this one instance when we were having an office meeting and someone was presenting their proposal. I was beyond bored. So bored that I almost shouted "BASSYA" which meant "you will be blessed" when someone sneezed (I got that from the Korean Drama - My Girl). Thankfully, I had the restraint not too. I parked my car and I entered the building. I was greeted by the earliest employees there --- the guards. What they did was honorable that I looked up to them. I only gave them a nod and walked my way. I took the elevator to the top floor, where my office was. 

"Good morning Maam. I have your schedule for today." I was greeted by my assistant, CL. 

"Good." I merely stated and walked to my office. I set my coat and bag on my other assistant's desk, for her to take care of it and I sat down on my chair. I looked at CL menacingly and she started speaking.

"At 9 am, our magazine editor is going to come in to show you our latest issue and to see if you have any more corrections. At 12, you have a lunch date with Irv, our top investor. He wants you to tell him why you cut off our funding for research on the current market for older people. And finally at 3 o clock you will have a mandatory meeting with all the heads of different departments." she said all in one breath.

"I want you to move the 9 am meeting with the editor to 8 and where is my coffee? Hmm, Who shall I fire today?" I said  in my usually monotone voice. The new assistant shivered in place. 

"I'll get to it right away. I'm sorry Ms. Dara." she said as she hurriedly left the room. I felt bad for the girl, I really did. Since she became the first assistant months ago, she tried her best to please me in the best way possible but I needed to push her more. 

"CL.. CL..." And with that, the second assistant came in. She was still very nervous to see me. I eyed her and turned around. 

"CL, I want you to call each of the heads and tell them that the meeting has been moved to 1 o'clock. Tell Maurice that  I hated that white after labor day collection that he presented and that I need him to send me a new draft ASAP. I also want you to go down to Calvin Klein's and get me several pairs of skirts and sleeveless shirts. We don't have any more viable skirts from them. Also, my sister's birthday is coming up and I want you to get 5-10 possible gifts for her. She's the same age as me and she likes girly things." I quickly said, putting on my glasses and turning on my computer. She remained standing in front of me as if she wanted to say something.

"Out with it, I'm not paying you to play the mute girl at work." I retorted.

"Ummmm.. Can you please repeat all of that? I started writing it but then you spoke way too fast." She stuttered.

"Do you want me to type that up for you? Slowly detail them out and tell you what to do exactly? If that's the case, I'd rather just do them myself." I sarcastically said back. The first rule she needed to learn was that I didn't really care about morality and ethics in the workplace. The one most important virtue for me was effectiveness. And clearly she was ineffective for now. But time will train her. "That's all." She scurried off with a grief-stricken expression on her face.

After a couple of hours of doing my work, CL came in and told me that the meeting was about to start. I didn't realize the time and left my office for the conference room. 

I opened the door and everyone stared at me. I didn't even flinch and eyed them back. They immediately went back to what they were doing before. I walked to my seat and I motioned for one of the members to start speaking. I immediately noticed that the new member of the company rose and started introducing himself.

"Hi everyone, my name is Chen Kim and I'm your new marketing executive. I hope that you all will receive me warmly." he spoke with such confidence and valor that I rose one my eyebrows. 

"Settle down everyone. This is not a party but a meeting." I quickly said and everyone stopped clapping. "As Marketing Executive, you have to be fast and a quick thinker. So I want you to answer this question. One of our top investors asked me why I chose to cut the funding on research for clothing choices for the elderly. What would you say would be my top reason?" I slyly asked. If he did do his research he would know the answer.

"Actually that's pretty simple." I was shocked with that. He had guts and I had to hand it to him, I liked gutsy people. "After doing some initial research I found that the company's main profits heavily relied on the sale of shoes, bags and clothes for the younger generation. You have built this company on such grounds and I think what you're trying to imply is that you would rather stick on to something that actually works rather than wasting money on something that you are unsure of." I was impressed. He actually did his research. But I wasn't done with him yet.

"If I did say that, what do you think his response would have been?" I asked. 

"Well he probably said that venturing in unknown territories is a good thing and that we may come out a winner if we develop a certain trend that older people will follow all over the world." he did have a point. It would spell millions for the company if the investment did take off. And Irv did mention something about more profit for the company.

"Do you think he's right then? If that's what he told me." 

"Yes." he said after thinking about it for a quite a while. I smugly smiled in response. 

"At least someone came to work today."  I returned to my glaring face. "Moving on. I met with our magazine editor today and I have some issues. This is called the Spring edition of "Park Poised" and the models look ancient and not stern. What do you suggest we do?" 

"Well we could always take pictures of the models in the famous botanical garden in Seoul. I heard that they have these awesome flowers for ----"  the design head suggested.

"Florals? For Spring? Groundbreaking.." I said and scrapped that idea off. CL was at my side and I saw that she really wanted to speak. She was fidgeting and she had a nervous expression. "Maybe CL can give us good ideas. Go on." I encouraged her. I saw that she had something other people didn't. She had charisma and she had commitment.

"Well... I was thinking since Spring is when you usually wear warmer and more neutral tones, we should expand on that and use clothing that are in the shades of pastel or brown and etc. In fact I think we should also specialize on clothing for the workplace. Fashionable suits and dresses that working women can actually wear to the office." I gave everyone a nod and they all started chatting down notes. I saw that CL was very happy so I gave her the only compliment I could.

"Good."

After a couple of more hours discussing about other things, we were finally done. However, I saw that Chen stayed behind because he was on his phone. I walked to him and I caught a snippet of his conversation.

"Yeah I'm excited to go clubbing tonight. I really had a rough first day. My boss is such a b--" he saw me and then he quickly said bye to his friend. He started stuffing his notes into his bag and I stopped him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm packing my stuff. It's time to go home."

"Oh.. Not for you." I stared. "Since you suggested that Irv was right into investing, I want you to write a draft proposal on the pros and cons of such investment, including the profit gains and losses if we actually pursue it. I want it by my desk tonight." I started walking and went to my office. I still needed to work on the magazine so I decided to work on it the whole night. I sat on my desk and started making corrections on any mistakes and unnecessary things that I saw. It was already 9 pm and I was getting a little sleepy. Next thing I knew, I knocked out.

"You don't seem so fierce in this angle. Actually you are kinda cute." I heard a muffled voice in my head. Groaning, I opened my eyes and saw that Chen was there with the proposal and he was staring at me. I also noted that he brought some dinner for the two of us. "Here's the proposal you wanted. Looks like you fell asleep there. Take a break and come eat dinner with me." he said and I complied. We removed some of the belongings found on my second assistant's desk and started eating there.

I was still busily eating when I saw that he was still staring at me.

"Do I have something in my face? You keep on staring." I naively asked.

"No, its nothing. The monster actually eats." he muttered under his breath. That was funny. So I smiled. He saw me smiling and proceeded to smile as well. "Wow, you look so beautiful when you smile." I blushed at his compliment. We finished eating and then I helped him clean up. I was still picking up our plastic plates to throw out when the lights suddenly turned off. I was terrified.

"Chen?!" I shouted.

"You don't have to act anymore. It's only the two of us here." He hugged me and instead of retaliating I softened into the hug. "I know that you're not a harsh person and that you actually have a heart. You just act this way because you are protecting your baby. This company means so much to you and I know why. This is the only living legacy your father left you when he died. I understand." I was sobbing now. I wasn't scared that he knew so much about me. I thought it was because he was a very observant person. 

"I wasn't always like this." I told him. "I was never the "Dragon Lady of Park Enterprises". I was a simple minded girl, living a comfortable life when her whole world shattered. Her father died, leaving in her wake a huge company to run. Everyone around her thought that she was a joke and that she couldn't handle it, so she told herself to be strong and she did. At first those claims of me being a heartless person hurt: rumors after rumors piled against me and then one day, I decided to not care. That's why I'm this closed off person." I honestly said. Under the moonlight, I couldn't make out his face and only his figure. He closed the space between us and slowly our lips met. His' were really soft and soon enough we both surrendered into it. It was getting more passionate by the second, our sweet kiss turned into a violent tongue match, each of us trying to win over the other. It got so intense that I held his chest. His muscles were bulging in heat. He was also holding my neck, beckoning us to continue. However, I knew that it was wrong. I needed to keep up with my charade or else people were going to think lowly of me. I shoved him to stop the kiss.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"This can't happen. I'm sorry." I opened the lights and hurriedly went to the office and got my bag and coat. I put them on and I ran off, leaving him there by himself.

When I reached home, I was met by my sister who was reading some book in the leaving room.

"Ohh. I didn't realize you came in. Why did you come home late? Another busy day at work?" I nodded and went to my room with no further explanation. That night, I cried again. There was this guy that understood me finally and I just had to let him go. It wasn't his fault or mine. It was a fault of circumstance.

The next morning I was grumpier than usual. I spoke badly at my maids and scolded them for being so incompetent. Needless to say, I felt guilty later on the day. When I got to the office I didn't even nod to the security guards, something that I always did every single day. I was greeted by CL and she then detailed to me my schedule for the day but I was clearly out of it.

"Are you okay Ms. Dara?" she asked, her voice was laced with concern. I gave her a curt smile and told her I was fine. I busied myself by going over the final draft for both the magazine and the investment proposal. When they were as perfect as I could possibly make them, I sent them to their respective departments. It was noon now and I was just idly fiddling with the pen I had in my hand. CL came in and told me that we had an emergency meeting. Apparently, there were complaints on some of the products that we were selling. Being the careful boss that I was, I immediately walked to the conference room. I was surprised however when the only person I saw was Chen. I entered and sat on my chair.

"What is the meaning of this?" I asked him. I have been avoiding him all day. I actually secretly wished that he wouldn't show up.

"Well I have a business proposal that I think you won't deny." he clicked the remote and the projector descended. He did something with his computer and suddenly this title in Huge Red Letters came up: "Reasons why I will make a good boyfriend."

"What is this? i thought that there were some complaints about some products. I stood up from my seat but CL immediately motioned me to sit down. She had a smiling expression on her face.

"Number 1: I am young so I am very potent. If ever you want to have babies in the future, I'm your guy." I laughed at that. Potent? I didn't care about that. 

"Number 2: You don't have to act around me because I know the true you. No more charades and no more lies." He did have a great point. I want to have a relationship that was built with honesty. 

"Number 3: I don't know if you know this already. But I think I'm falling in love with you. I know that we've only met for one day but ever since I laid my eyes on you, you have been constantly in my mind." I searched his eyes and they were clothed with sincerity. I was tearing at that point.

"And Finally.." he walked to me and held my hand. He made me stand up and be face to face with him. "I won't make promises because they are always broken but I will try my hardest not to hurt you. I will protect you and I will always be by your side." With that, I kissed himand everyone started cheering. Confetti was thrown in the air and a big congratulations was posted near the door. "I'm guessing that's a yes."

I hit him once and then started deepening the kiss. "Yes."

There you go guys, I hope that you guys liked it. Please comment, vote, and subscribe. I would really appreciate it. Love you all.

Please excuse any mistakes as I didn't have time to edit this.