His phone buzzed, signaling that a new message came in just as he stopped the car. He parked his car just below her apartment and it was very convenient for him instead of parking it at the basement parking lot. He looked over at his phone and the screen showed his father’s number as the sender. He decided to ignore the message and called her instead.

The first call went unanswered and he was getting infuriated. He dialed again and this time, she answered the call on the first ring. Her voice was breathless, as if she was out of breath. His eyebrows furrowed deeply as he spoke.

“Who are you with right now?”

“Hello Woohyun. Yes, I’m with somebody. Do you need anything?”
 

She answered, and her voice had steadied by now. It was either the guy was really bad in bed or she’s just good.

“I’m always in need of something whenever I called you, remember?”
 

He retorted, reminding her of their agreement. Then he heard unrecognizable noises on the other line and it seemed like she had cover the phone speaker to speak. He took the time to read the message from his father.
 

I want the tenders from Chen Co. by tomorrow. I expect to see the files on my desk by the early morning.
 

Woohyun blinked rapidly, trying to remember any tenders from the said company he had to complete by tomorrow and getting frustrated when he couldn’t remember anything.
 

“Woohyun? Do you hear me? Come up now, I’ll..”

“Nevermind, I have to go.”
 

He cut her short and tossed his phone aside as he started the engine and drove off.

Woohyun POV

The first thing I noticed when I walked into my office was a bunch of files on the desk and there was a small piece of paper on top of them all. It was crinkled and almost torn in half. Curiously I picked it up and there was a big, bold writing on it like it was written with the dashboard marker and the person who wrote this definitely wanted me to noticeit. Reading the message on it, I could feel my mouth dropped a little before I laughed, so hard I swore the people outside my office could hear my voice. It was no mistake this was from my secretary. I couldn’t help but to smile. Who knew she got a humor in her.The knocks on the door snapped me back to reality and I slipped the note inside my pocket.

The voice was familiar and I looked up to see Sungyeol, my best friend strolling in and his eyebrow rose and he was looking at me weirdly.
 

“What?” I said while adjusting my tie.He just shook his head but I knew he heard my laughter from the outside.

Sungyeol and I were friends since we were young. Including our other friend, Sunggyu, but he didn’t work here since his father had his own company. Sungyeol on the other hand, refused to work for his father and his father accepted it, but we both knew it’s just a matter of time before he had to take over his father’s company.
 

“Where’s your secretary?”

“She is on a medical leave. Why?”

“Oh,” he said, his eyebrows furrowed as he took out his phone, “she was supposed to deliver a presentation tomorrow and she didn’t tell me she is on a medical leave.”

“A presentation? The one we are going for tomorrow?”
 

Sungyeol nodded his head without looking up from his phone. I didn’t know she was going to be one of the presenters in such a big event. And then I remembered how mess she looked when she came into my office. She was so pale and sick was written all over her face despite her effort to hide it with makeup.

I checked the files on my table again and there I saw the files my father mentioned. There was no way I’m going to finish it by…

What?
 

They were already completed. Done.

And I knew without doubt that Yoonji did this all on behalf. 
 

“What are you going to say to her? Is she coming tomorrow?”

I said, without looking up to Sungyeol. Reading the notes she left for me, I checked each files and folders to make sure no mistakes and so far, I’m impressed. Pleased even, but I knew from the beginning that she was a perfect candidate to be my secretary, although that was just one of the reasons why I chose her.
 

“I just told her she doesn’t have to come tomorrow. I can handle it by myself.”

I snorted over his reply. “What are you? Her father?”

I said as I looked up at him. Sungyeol just smiled, like always when I made a joke at him.

“Don’t be too harsh on her alright. She has gone through a lot and she still has a lot to learn.”
 

Hmm, interesting. Picking up the pen, I signed on the papers before I spoke again. “You sound like you knew her personally.”

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Sungyeol checked on his phone again before he answered me. “Yes, I do know Jia personally but she doesn’t know that.”
 

Jia? “Who?”

I looked up at Sungyeol and he just smiled while scratching the back of his head but I doubted it’s because it’s itchy.

“I’ve heard my wife called her by that name a lot of times and I’ve adapted by calling her like that although she doesn’t like it when people call her Jia. I guess it’s a nickname from those who are close with her.”

“And your wife knows her? Personally? But Yoonji doesn’t know that?” Interesting indeed.
 

Sungyeol just nodded before he got up from the chair and excused himself. Me on the other hand, was still trying to understand what he’d just told me.

End of POV

Yoonji POV

The call went unanswered for the fifth times and it was getting frustrating. I’m sick and I’m missing my best friend so much. But I refused to give up. Picking up my phone, I punched in her number again and hoping this time she would answer.
 

First ring.

Second.

Third.
 

And she picked up at the fourth rings. There were muffled of voices and I couldn’t hear what they were talking about. After maybe a minute, I heard someone’s voice in the other end.
 

“Hi Yoonji, it’s me, Mama Kim. How are you dear?”

I mentally sighed in despair. It seemed like Seo still didn’t want to talk to me. “Oh, Mrs. Kim. I’m fine, thank you. Can I speak to Seohyun, please?”

There was a hesitation in her voice but she gave up at the end and I heard more muffles voices. After a good few seconds, then I heard her voice.
 

“Hi.”

“Seo! I’ve been trying to call you since yesterday. Where have you been? Are you okay?”

I heard her sigh. “What do you want Jia?”
 

My heart squeezed at her lack of interest to talk to me. My hand tightened around the phone as I spoke again.

“Look, I’m really sorry for what happened between us. I miss you so much. Forgive me, please?”

I was at the edge to cry again and there was nothing that could describe my feeling right now after hearing her voice. I truly missed my best friend. She was always there for me since the beginning and it felt weird without her here. My voice must have sounded weird because the next thing I heard was her asking whether I was sick or not. My smile turned into a grin. She still cared for me after all.

“I’m okay. Just another stomach ache.”

“Wait, don’t tell me you’ve messed up with your meals again?”

She went into full bloom panicked over me and it made me even happier despite the horrible state I am in right now. I felt better after taking the medicine but now I felt so much better after talking to her again. We talked for another thirty minutes and hearing her making jokes and laughing with me, I was pretty sure I am already forgiven and I am relieved.

“I miss you too Jia. You have no idea how boring it is here. I want to be there with you.”

There was a disappointment in her voice and I sighed, fully knowing it was my fault she was forced to go back to her parent’s house again.
 

“I’m so sorry Seo. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just cared for you too much, I think. You are my best friend. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m still mad at you, you know,” she said, chuckling a little at the end and I knew that she was just joking. “Listen Jia, I know you mean well and I know why you are like this.”

I was momentarily stunned for a while. I didn’t expect for her to say that but I couldn’t help but to agree with her.
 

“And I appreciate it a lot. You were right. It was a little foolish of me to hang around with him. I just want to feel how it feels like being with someone famous. Well, I certainly don’t want to go through that again. I just want to tell you that there was nothing serious between us. He’s just someone I met at a club the other day and we talked for a while. He asked me out and I agreed but that’s all. The tabloid lied. Oh well, that’s what they always do anyway.I know why you think I like him. Yeah, he’s hot and all but he’s not my type.”

She giggled, and then I heard her mother’s voice again telling her that the dinner was ready and then I realized I haven’t eaten my dinner yet. Rising from my bed, I headed to the kitchen as I listened to Seo.

“Look, I’m sorry for cursing at you the other day. I’m just a little pissed off when I knew you told my parents about it and I just had a bad day. And Jia, actually I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“The real reason I went out with Woohyun was because of his best friend.”

“Wait, what?” My mouth sagged and it took a moment to recover my voice. I stopped what I was doing and focused on what she was saying.

Her voice lowered this time, as if she was whispering and I knew she didn’t want her mother to hear our conversation.
 

“I met him when I went out with Woohyun and oh my god, he is so gorgeous,” she sighed again, and I was pretty sure she was smiling from ear to ear right now, “well, I kind of asked Woohyun to set up a date between us and we have just met once before but I swear I felt like we have known each other since birth. He is such a gentleman!”

“Hang on. So you went out with Woohyun but ditched him for his best friend?”

Seohyun laughed and I could imagine her nodding her head when she spoke again. “Yeah, kinda. Well, Woohyun said it was okay and he helped me so that’s why I owe him that.”

“And you’re still talking with this guy whose name is..?” I took a bite on the apple and grimaced at how sweet it tasted, like it had been dipped into a pool of sugar.

“Yes, we are still talking but please don’t tell my parents about this,” she pleaded me, “we are still learning to know each other and when the right time has finally arrived, I will tell my parents about him.”
 

I wonder how serious was their relationship but from what she told me, they’re still in the phase of knowing each other. We talked about him for another half of hour and suddenly, I’m feeling really happy for my friend. It was like she had finally met her soul mate and from what she described him to me, I could tell this guy was a real piece of work.

“But you do know that he still has to go through me right?”

She laughed wholeheartedly and that made me laughed too. “Yes mother, I know that. Look, I have to go now. I promise I will introduce him to you real soon alright? Talk to you later and I love you.”

“I love you too Seo. Bye.”

I hang up and I hadn’t realized I’ve eaten three apples while we were talking. Yeah, that’s what talking to your best friend could do to you. Taking my seat near the window, I watched as the snowflakes coming down from the dark sky to the ground, covering the cars and the roads within. I sip my hot chocolate slowly, savoring the taste and made a mental note on wearing thicker clothes the next morning to keep me warm. And then my mind was occupied with my new boss.
 

How wrong had I judged him? He didn’t sound too bad from what Seohyun told me. Regretting my reckless judgment towards him, I also made a mental note on to treat him better from now on. And how long it’ll last, that would depend on how he’d treat me too.

Picking up a book, I couldn’t help but smile widely when I remembered how hard it was to find it. I’ve been to several book shops and looking for it online and a week after that, I have finally found it. It’s crazy how determined I became once I’ve set my eyes on any books and it slowly killed me inside when I couldn’t find the book that I wanted on the stores. It was such a joy to read them I know it’s highly unusual for people to get this excited over books. But if you’re a reader like me, you’ll understand me. Ididn’t need movies. Books were always better. And I didn’t even need the TV, but books were something I can’t live without.

End of POV

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Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays everyone!