AN: Since I have twelve finished chapters sitting in my computer I decided to post the prologue for y'all.

Prologue

 
Seohyun woke up an hour before her alarm clock that was set for 6am. She was too anxious to start her first day of work. She had heard that her new boss was really nice and that the other member of the team was a sweetheart. She heard this from the girl she talked to in the elevator on the way to her interview.

She got up from bed, almost dizzy from the speed she got up with. She rushed off to the kitchen to make breakfast for her family, pancakes and eggs. After she ate and made sure that she left instructions for them to reheat the meal.

With only an hour to spare she ran into the shower and got ready for her first day. She was told that there was going to be an office party on her first day. The attire for said event was semi-formal. Seohyun rifled through her closet to try and find something semi-formal that would leave an impression on her boss. She finally settled on a one strap red dress that went to her mid thigh. It was her mothers, before she died.  She had her hair up in a loose, yet tight bun with a few strands of hair left out. She grabbed a trench coat and ran out the door into the cool morning.

Seohyun had 20 minutes to get to the large office. When she got to the curb, there was a man in a suit standing in front of a car.

“Ms. Seo, your boss requested that you and Ms. Hwang are to be taken to the office in the company cars.” The man opened the passenger door and ushered her in.

**

Hyoyeon groaned as she awakened to the deafening sound of white noise, the only thing that managed to wake her up. She rolled from her bed onto the ground trying to find the source of the noise.

From hearing the loud thud, Taeyeon went into her sister’s room and turned off the alarm clock.

Hyoyeon thanked her but was muffled by the carpet. She slowly began to get up from the ground. She looked around her room to find where her alarm clock had went only to find out it was in the same place it always had been; on her nightstand. She looked at the alarm clock trying to figure out what was wrong with it. When it clicked the whole household suffered.

“TAEYEON!! WHY DID MY ALARM CLOCK GO OFF AT FOUR IN THE MORNING??!!”

Taeyeon had already vacated the room and had run to hide in the kitchen. Kim DaeHo and his wife MinJee awoke instantly from the startling yell of their youngest daughter. Even though they were all adults they still acted like children, except for JeA, their pride and joy.

“HYOYEON! STOP YELLING AT TAEYEON! TAEYEON, STOP WAKING US ALL UP FOUR HOURS EARLY!” Well, most of the time JeA wasn’t a child.

When Hyoyeon had made it down the hallway and stairs into the kitchen, Taeyeon was already sitting on the counter with a bowl of cereal and orange juice. Grinning like a child up at Hyoyeon who was still fuming.

“I was gonna make us all pancakes and eggs!” Hyoyeon huffed and grabbed a bowl and the box of cereal from Taeyeon.

JeA soon followed behind Hyoyeon. When she got into the kitchen she rolled her eyes at the sight of her two younger sisters fighting over the box of cereal. She reached out and grabbed it out of both their hands and smiled victoriously at their pouting faces.

Their parents soon joined them, each having the cereal that JeA handed them, still smiling at the pouts on the younger Kims.

After they finished their meal, the young business owners got ready for work and left in the same car.

“I think it’s time we give Dr. Park a call, I’m starting to get worried about JeA’s workload being too much for her to take on alone.” DaeHo said to his wife, concerned.

“I’ll give her and Hyuna a call to set up the meeting for today.”

**

When the three sisters exited the car, they were already on their phones practically yelling at the people on the other line.

“What do you mean our sales have dropped?!”
“How did our profit margins plummet?!”
“Why are my people so mean?!”

They all looked at each other and then went back to their calls as they tried to open the elevator. Apparently they were too early for anyone to make sure that the elevator was on. They all took the stairs even though their offices were on the 9th, 12th and 15th floor.

The trip passed by quickly since they were occupied by their phone calls.

When they all got to their respective offices it was only 7am. They had an hour before any of their employees were to arrive. If they had waited for five minutes, someone would have arrived to turn on the elevator.

**

Seohyun was nervous to say the least. It was her first day and she had no idea what to expect. She stepped into her new workplace only to be met with yelling coming from one young woman, a woman with dark hair casually sitting at her desk was receiving this intense yelling by a blonde woman. There was another woman sitting in a sofa chair pretending that the yelling wasn’t happening while blatantly staring at the dark haired woman.

“Why didn’t you tell me that our sales have dropped?!” The blonde yelled at the seated brunette.

The brunette sighed. “For the same reason you didn’t want me to tell you that Im’s sales have doubled in response to our loss. Because Hyo, you wanted me to keep the information from the last two idiots you hired for marketing and you were always attached to their hips.”

Hyoyeon huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. Call Yuri and have her drop by my office for a little chat.”

By this time Seohyun had sat down next to the staring woman. “Hi, I’m Seohyun.” She greeted the other woman.

It took a few seconds but the other woman turned to face Seohyun and flashed her a dazzling eye smile. “Hi Seohyun, I’m Tiffany.”

They shook hands and began chatting amongst themselves while the other two occupants were having their conversation.

“So do you know who’s who?” Seohyun asked Tiffany.

Tiffany bit her lip as she looked back over to the other two. “The blonde one is our boss, Kim Hyoyeon and from what I heard of this conversation the other woman is Jessica, Hyoyeon’s assistant.”

Before Seohyun could say anything else, Hyoyeon clapped her hands together to gather the room’s attention.

Hyoyeon was about to speak but no words could come out as she looked at Seohyun, she tried to talk for several moments but nothing ever came out. Jessica decided to take over with a slight smirk. “What she means to say is that you two are replacing our two idiots that we had for this position. They couldn’t use photoshop or indesign at all so they were pretty much useless. Welcome aboard the SS No Lives and have a safe trip.”

Hyoyeon came back to her senses, she pointed at Seohyun, “You, in my office.”

Seohyun gulped, if she wasn’t nervous before she was now. Her family was dependent on this job, she had slaved through two jobs and college to support them.

Hyoyeon sat down in her chair blatantly staring at Seohyun. She honestly had no idea what to say.

Damnit, why did I have her come in here?

Hyoyeon cleared several times trying to find words. “...Goddess,” is all that came out which caused Seohyun to look at Hyoyeon confusedly. “Um...have a seat?”

Seohyun nervously sat down in the chair across from Hyoyeon, their eyes never breaking contact. Seohyun because she didn’t want to lose her job and Hyoyeon because she couldn’t look away.

Just as Hyoyeon was about to speak but then her intercom started beeping. “What is it Sica?!”

“Two things, 1: Min called to say she’s breaking up with you and 2: no more dating employees, Seohyun you should probably leave now before Hyo tries to charm her way into your pants.” Hyoyeon turned beet red while Seohyun’s face contorted into one of extreme confusion, she wasn’t dumb she was just shocked that someone could say something like that without even a hint of emotion.

Hyoyeon turned off the intercom, she was going to have a little chat with Jessica later. Seohyun swallowed the huge lump in , she understood what she was in this room for and part of her wanted to be there. She quickly shoved that feeling far away.

“Will I be fired if I say no?” Seohyun croaked out and it was the most beautiful sound Hyoyeon had ever heard even though it wasn’t meant to be.

Hyoyeon sighed and sunk back into her chair. “No, I would never force you to do anything you didn’t want to.” She said this with so much emotion Seohyun never knew a person could possess.  

“Then I’m going to say no.” She stood up and walked to the door, stopping before she opened it.

“Why?” Hyoyeon asked sadly.

Seohyun turned back and looked at Hyoyeon with slight resentment. “Because I don’t date people who have everything handed to them because they’re rich and powerful.” She then left the room leaving the door open.

“So it’s not because I’m a girl?!” Hyoyeon shouted after her. Seohyun shook her head and went to her desk.

Jessica peeked her head around the corner, “Should I have been taking notes on that exchange?”

Hyoyeon let out a frustrated groan and slammed her body so hard into her chair that it completely toppled over. Jessica begins to laugh hysterically as a tall brunette walks through the door and pushes Jessica back into her chair in the process causing Jessica to stop laughing and a soft whine could be heard from the two workstations across the room.

“Hyo, what did you do this time?” Kwon Yuri asked as she helped her best friend get up from the floor. She noticed her friend wince but decided it was for another time when they were in a more private location.

“Why is it always my fault? Why can’t I ever be the victim?” Hyoyeon looked down for a moment with a clouded gaze. The next thing Hyoyeon said was practically shouted at Seohyun. “Why am I always stereotyped for my monetary status?!”

Seohyun looked over at Hyoyeon’s office, she did regret her words but she would never say so. Yuri walked over to the door and glared at Seohyun while she closed the door.

Yuri turned back to face Hyoyeon. “Jessica, Hyo and I need to talk business so don’t let anyone disturb us.” Yuri spoke in a serious tone. “So bro, what was so urgent?”

Hyoyeon sighed and sat in one of the chairs in the room that wasn’t on a swivel. “We’re down in sales and Im’s sales is up double. How did that happen? You know I wouldn’t ask unless it was necessary.”

Yuri sat down next to Hyoyeon. “You know I would do anything to help you and your family.”

Hyoyeon smiled, “You mean our family.”

Yuri returned the smile and then dropped it, “Of course, Yoona finally fired her other employees so it’s just the two of us now, that’s about the only difference I noticed. But more importantly, you’ve been pushing yourself too hard haven’t you?”

Hyoyeon shrugged. “I added another set to all of my workouts if that’s what you mean.”

Yuri let out a worried sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know that’s not good for you, you should just stick with three sets of thirty like we always did back in high school.”

“I know Yul, but other than the cages it’s the only thing that relieves all of my stress. And now it’s starting to lose its effect.” She sunk down further into her chair then turned back to Yuri. “Don’t you have a Nazi to go kiss?”

Yuri stood up and looked at her watch, she was ten minutes late already. “Ha very funny, and you have no idea how much I want to kiss that .”

As Yuri left she gave a slight salute to Jessica and the door was left open. From where Hyoyeon was angled, she had the perfect view of Seohyun getting accustomed to her desk. She bit her lip as she said, “I think I do.”

**

The office party was in full motion, everyone was hanging around in their team cliques: the three sibling execs, the finance department, the customer service department, the three assistants, and even the two marketing girls were together.

No one ever dared to leave their cliques, until this party.

“Jessica, that girl keeps staring at you. Is she one of the new girls from marketing? She is totally giving you eyes.” Krystal turned to look at her sister then smirked. “You two are totally having eye right now.”

By this time, Jessica looked away from the smoldering gaze to chastise her sister. “No! We were doing no such thing! Besides…she smiles too much.”

Krystal let out an exasperated groan. “When was the last time you got any?” She tilted her head to the side and rested it on her finger, mock thinking. “Oh yes, I remember. Since you got dumped by whatever her name was. You should totally go for it, she wants you and she wants you bad.”

Jessica gave her sister a bone chilling glare. “I hate you.”

Krystal was the first to break the cycle, she left Jessica and a silent Hyuna to go to the marketing team, throwing a suggestive look at Jessica over her shoulder. Hyuna followed shortly after, knowing that the younger Jung was going to go and visit the softball team, she wanted to surprise her girlfriend anyways.

“Hi, I’m Krystal Jung nice to meet you.” Krystal offered her hand for both girls to take.

“I’m Seohyun.” Seohyun smiled in response and looked over to see her boss glaring daggers into Krystal.

“I’m Tiffany Hwang” Tiffany flashed her a dazzling eye smile and Krystal almost forgot what she came over here for.

“So Tiffany, I think you’ve met my sister over there. Can you do me a favor and keep her company while I go attend to my boss’s fangirling needs?” Krystal pleaded with Tiffany.

“Of course!” Tiffany said with a little too much pep and sauntered off towards Jessica.

Seohyun was now a lone wolf, her only safety net had left her. “Seohyun, I have a favor to ask you too.”

Seohyun was suddenly hopeful that she wouldn’t be alone anymore. “Sure what it is?”

“Great, can you go babysit Hyoyeon and JeA while Taeyeon, Hyuna and I slip away? Oh thank you so much!” Krystal thanked her without even seeing if she would agree to it. The next thing she knew was that she was being dragged towards her boss and her two sisters, one slightly dorky looking and the other very intimidating.

Krystal dropped her off right in the middle of them and pulled Taeyeon away saying something about seeing Sunny, Sulli and Hyuna(she said the last over her shoulder at the dazed Hyuna). The three squealed excitedly as they left.

Seohyun stood awkwardly in the middle of the two sisters, she looked to her left to see Hyoyeon beet red and trying not to look at her. To her right was a bemused older woman who clearly had too much on her mind.

Hyoyeon cleared and finally looked at Seohyun. “You look beautiful, I forgot to say that earlier.”

Before Seohyun could thank her, JeA turned to face the two. “Hyo, do you ever think with anything other than your libido?”

“JeA, do you ever feel anything inside that empty heart of yours?” Hyoyeon shot back, now Seohyun understood why she was here.

“Hyo, do you even care about what you’re doing to this company, to dad?” JeA dealt a low blow.

Hyoyeon retaliated in the only way she knew, she lunged at JeA fully intent on tackling her to the ground. She was stopped by Seohyun wrapping her arms around her waist before she could reach JeA. “HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT I GAVE UP FOR DAD, I LOST EVERYTHING FOR THIS COMPANY!” Hyoyeon screamed interrupting every conversation in the room.

JeA chose that time to leave the room and head to her therapy appointment. She didn’t think she needed it before, but now she knows she does.

Seohyun pulled Hyoyeon into the restroom and kicked everyone in there out, locking the door after the last person.

“What was that?!” Seohyun practically yelled in Hyoyeon’s face.

Hyoyeon looked away from Seohyun, too ashamed.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have placed you in the rich people stereotype. But what happened to make you yell so furiously at your sister and almost beat the crap out of her?” Seohyun asked, trying to understand what her boss is feeling.

“It was nothing, I didn’t lose anything. And after I land the first blow she always manages to overpower me and then I get the crap beaten out of me until Taeyeon pulls her off of me. Are we done here?” Hyoyeon unlocks the door and retreats to her office, leaving Seohyun to try and fit the puzzle pieces together in her head.

Seohyun left the room and walked into a man who stopped her from trying to apologize and get around him.

“Hi, I’m Yonghwa. I saw you go in there with a pissed off Hyoyeon and I wanted to make sure you’re okay. Not a lot of people come back as the same person they were before they tried consoling her. She didn’t hurt you did she?” He looked really concerned as he checked her out under the guise of looking for bruises.

“No, she didn’t hurt me. I don’t think she ever would.” Seohyun stared longingly at Hyoyeon’s retreating form.

Sensing that the younger girl was attracted to her boss, he doubled his efforts. “I know you must get this a lot, but you have beautifully expressive eyes.” Hyoyeon had finally reached beyond Seohyun’s sight and so she turned her attention towards him, she needed a distraction from the strange feeling in her chest. “Would you like to go on a date with me sometime? This weekend maybe?”

The perfect distraction. “Sure, I’m Seohyun by the way and here’s my number.” She handed him her business card. She mumbled something about needing to get some air alone and headed in the same direction as Hyoyeon. She could have a distraction and still have the strange feeling couldn’t she?

Yonghwa smiled mischievously, “Perfect candidate.”

Jessica gave Tiffany a cold stare as she walked up to her with a smile plastered on her face. She was going to kill Krystal later and hide the body in a river.

Jessica put on her apathetic veil and spoke in a cold tone. “You have five words to give me a reason to keep talking to you.”

Jessica was so sure that she was able to push Tiffany away with her harsh tone, but she was shocked when Tiffany’s lips upturned into a small smile and the quick reply sent her slightly reeling back. “Five isn’t enough for you.”

Jessica felt something inside her warm up, a feeling she had never felt before. “G-good answer.” She had never stuttered before, not like it meant anything. “Here’s my phone, put your number in and I will call you if I feel like it.”

Tiffany took the phone a little too excited and put her number in and quickly sent herself a message while Jessica wasn’t looking. She handed the other girl back her phone.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have an angry boss to go calm down.”

 Jessica left Tiffany and the younger girl pulled out her phone and saved the number under  Jessi <3.

**

Yuri was an hour late to her job in the Im marketing team, her best friend’s rival company.

“Where have you been?” Her devil of a boss asked.

Yuri pretended to ponder the question before she looked at her boss and gave her a seductive smirk. “In bed, where you could have joined me.”

Yoona rolled her eyes. “Why did I ever agree to hire you?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Yuri still had an answer. She moved closer to her boss, her boss stepped back until she hit a wall and was trapped by Yuri’s body. “Because deep down you know you want this,” Yoona shivered from the contact, “And you never denied wanting to join me.”  

It took all of Yoona’s willpower not to moan at Yuri’s warm breath against her ear and neck. She was thankful for the clipboard she was holding with a death grip in front of her chest, she didn’t know if she could handle the full extent of Yuri’s body against her. She felt a shift in pressure and then realized Yuri was trying to take away her safety net.

She yelped and let go of the clipboard when she felt Yuri nibble lightly on her earlobe. Now there was nothing in-between the two and Yoona almost melted at the feeling of Yuri’s body fully pressed into hers. She trailed kisses from her ear to her cheek, stopping on the corner of . She pulled away and smirked at the sight. Yoona had her eyes closed, fighting so hard to move away but she couldn’t, she was waiting for Yuri to cross the bridge. Yuri leaned in tantalizingly slow, when their lips were a hair away she pulled up and kissed Yoona on the nose and walked away.

Yoona finally opened her eyes only to see Yuri walking over to her desk with a seductive sway to her hips.

“I hate you so much Kwon Yuri.”

“No you don’t!” Was Yuri’s sing-song reply.

**

JeA hesitantly walked into the waiting room of Dr. Park’s office. She had no idea why she came, something inside her just tugged at her to come. She was expecting an older man in his early 50’s, when the doctor came out of her office JeA was awestruck and at a lack of words. A trait that all three children inherited: when in the presence of utter beauty lose your voice and form unintelligible syllables.

“Ms. Kim right?” The voice of an angel spoke to her, she could only nod.

She followed the angel into the office and laid down on the chair-bed hybrid found in almost every fictional psychiatrist’s office. She found that she could form words when she looked away from Dr. Park and at the ceiling above her.

Narsha chuckled to herself. “You know you don’t have to lay on that thing. I’ve been told it’s not as comfortable as it seems.”

JeA felt heat rush throughout her body at hearing Narsha laugh. She turned away so that her flush face was hidden from the doctor’s view. She needed to keep a straight face and look at the ceiling, she would not let her genetics get in the way of something that is supposed to help her. “I need to. Ever since I stopped my pitching regimen, the muscles in my back have deteriorated and my spine has never been the same since. I have a chair-bed exactly like this in my office.”

Narsha watched her client speak and try to avoid eye contact. “So you used to play softball?”

JeA sighed and continued to look up at the ceiling. “We all did, my two sisters and I, we were really good. I was getting ready to go play for the national team but then dad got sick five years ago and we all had to give up everything we were doing to help keep the family company alive. Taeyeon had to leave college after her first year leaving behind a full ride scholarship. Hyoyeon had to drop out of…high school after her junior year. She got her GED and we all took up the jobs that were going to be ours once our softball careers were over.”

JeA took a pause before continuing, she looked at her clenched fists that she didn’t even know were clenched and released them. “I’m a terrible sister. Hyoyeon and I fight all of the time about the company and the family. I always forget that she’s the one who suffered the most. She never got the chance to do something other than this company. She could have gone far in her athletic career, she is the best short stop I have ever seen. She still practices with her best friend and I…sometimes I watch her. I watch her push herself beyond even the extreme limits. I miss playing sometimes, that’s why once a year dad makes us play an office game.

“I still pitch too, even though it hurts like hell. Every time I pitch in that game it gives me a nostalgic feeling, it’s like everything disappears, there’s no office to go back to, no pressure to keep the company afloat, nothing. Just Taeyeon staring back at me with the same look on her face. Then Hyo, comes up to bat. She’s angry with me, she doesn’t feel the same way. To her, softball was always a way to vent her anger and frustration. And she is really frustrated nowadays. She may only be a slapper, but that girl hits hard. One of the newer members of the office didn’t know this and ended up in surgery with a severely dislocated shoulder.

“Today we had an office party and Hyo, like always, was shamelessly flirting with her subordinate right in front of me. And I just snapped, I said things I shouldn’t have and we almost got into a fist fight in front of the entire office. Her employee was able to stop her before she landed her blow. I left and now I’m here, hating myself for being a crappy sister but the cycle always continues because when dad got sick, we all suffered.”

When JeA finished her ramble, tears were streaming down her cheeks. It was the worst, yet most beautiful sight Narsha had ever seen. JeA turned to look at her finally with cloudy vision. “What am I supposed to do?”

The hopelessness in JeA’s eyes made Narsha want to cry, but she was a professional and she couldn’t allow herself to show such feelings.

She did the best thing she knew how to do to avoid the feelings. “When was the last time you went on a date?”

JeA was completely thrown off by the question. “A year or so, why is this relevant?”

Narsha masked her surprise very well; it is her job to look unfazed by anything. “Because I believe that a lack of ual contact can make a person feel more on edge and in need of conflict with others. I feel that it might dampen the tension between your sister and yourself.”

JeA looked over skeptically at the doctor. “So basically you’re saying you want me to have a one-night stand with someone?”

Narsha gave her a sheepish look. “In more or less words.”

JeA stood up and headed for the door deciding that the session was over. “I think I can do that.” And then she returned to the office party, searching for a possible candidate.

**

Hyoyeon was sitting on the floor behind her desk looking out of the glass windows at the city below, with the bottle of whiskey in her hand taking gulps every once in a while. Seohyun was standing in the doorway, hesitating on walking until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“You should go, she won’t want to talk to you. She’s been like this before so don’t worry I can handle her.” Jessica spoke with conviction that Seohyun would never have guessed resided in the icy brunette. She watched Jessica go over to Hyoyeon and sit next to her taking a swig from the bottle herself.

Jessica had assumed that Seohyun had left and so she started talking. “You know you aren’t supposed to mention what you gave up.”

Hyoyeon sighed and took the bottle back. “I know.” A pause and a drink. “What was your senior year like?”

Jessica stared out into the skyline. “To be honest, it . Krystal was still in junior high and I only had you, Tae and Yul as friends. All of my classmates were ’s and the teachers all hated me even though I was at the top of my class.”

Hyoyeon laughed. “Sounds like fun. What did it feel like to graduate?”

Jessica sighed. “It was liberating. I was finally done with dealing with all of the stupid idiots. You’ve asked me these questions before.”

Hyoyeon looks out to the skyline as well. “I always make myself forget the answers. Having a GED Sica. Do you wanna trade?”

Hyoyeon was about to take another drink but saw that the bottle was empty. She got up and noticed that there was still a figure in the doorway. “Crap.”

Jessica heard the tone that Hyoyeon used. She should have made sure Seohyun left. Jessica was the first to respond to the situation.

“If you tell a soul about what you just overheard. I will personally take you into police custody.”