“Babe, I’m coming down to visit you, and there’s a surprise as well.”

            “Unnie?” Jinli stared at the phone. What was the surprise that had Lili absolutely giddy? Ever since she had told the older woman about Daehyun’s cheating ways, Jinli hasn’t heard her this excited before.

            “Don’t worry darling. You’ll like it.”

            “I swear if you bring something dumb like a male stripper, I promise you Daehyun would only laugh at me and think I’m pathetic.”

            Lili tutted. “Hey, I have more class than that. Rest assured, it will be good.”

            The surprise turned out to be one of her unnies, a girl Jinli had met in college but haven’t seen in years. “Kira Unnie!” she greeted her. She hugged the younger woman and then whacked her on the head.

            “How can you be so dumb?” she grumbled. “Do you know how upset I was to hear the things that jerk have done to you?”

            Jinli was quiet. Kira was right. The stupidest thing she had done was actually signing the contract. It was both masochistic and the marriage was going to end anyway. She had signed it thinking it was for his family’s sake, but she knew that deep down, it was for her own irrational wish that Daehyun could see the light.

            “Why are you here? Aren’t you busy in the States?”

            “Nope. There was a veterinary conference in Shanghai and I took off for two weeks. I’m thinking of going into Daehyun’s office, taking a look around. Want to take me there?”

            Jinli stared at the older woman suspiciously. “You’re not going to do anything dumb, are you?”

            “Dumb?” Kira blinked her eyes innocently. “Since when have I ever done anything remotely near that d word?”

            “Right. Sure. But I never go into the office. It would seem weird.”

            “Not at all. I’m going to be interning there for a day,” Kira responded brightly.

            “Interning? What does entertainment marketing has anything to do with being a vet?”

            “Nothing whatsoever but we’re doing it. Lili already got me a position. Not bad I would say. I think that guy Jongup or whoever got it for me. Sweet little boy. I’m going to be working with him to ‘test out the waters’ before I decide my profession.”

            “Are you serious?”

            Kira gave her a deadpan look. “Since when have I ever said anything and not meant it?”

***

            Jinli felt almost self-conscious as she walked into the office. She just wanted to melt into a puddle. All the stares from the employees only made her more aware that everyone knew who she was. Kira, on the other hand, walked confidently, her heels clacking across the tile floor with authority.

            Jinli had never entered the company and was almost intimidated. Jongup had given them specific instructions to wait in his office, as he had a meeting at the time so they rode the elevators.

            “Girl, chin up. You are the Madam of this company’s heir. You basically are their employer. Stop wanting to shrink into yourself.”

            “I’m worried I might run into Hyosung.”

            Kira shushed her. “In my presence, we call her the ‘man stealing .’ And if you do, she better hope I’m not next to you. You need to face her head on. She’ll think she’s won because you’re letting Daehyun cheat, but you do it with dignity, and you let her know that you’re still the boss. I don’t care if you scratch her eyes out or deflate her silicone s. You do it.”

            Jinli laughed but her anxiety rose when the elevator stopped, indicating that they were on the tenth floor. She knew Daehyun’s was on the eleventh. Jongup was waiting.

            “Noona!” he smiled at her. “I came out of the meeting early. Kira Noona,” he greeted the newcomer. “It’s a pleasure to show you around.”

            Kira cut straight to the chase. “You do know why I’m here, right?”

            Jongup shifted a little uncomfortably. “I know you’re not exactly an intern…”

            “Precisely. I’d like to be taken to see your manager. I think it’s only right that I report to him, correct?” Jinli gently poked her in the ribs.

            “Ya,” she warned her.

            Kira didn’t respond, instead only smiled more gently at Jongup. “Don’t worry. There would be no consequences you would have to face.”

            It was with an air of reluctance that Jongup took them up the stairs. “Noona, will you be okay?” Jongup looked at Jinli. “You’ve never been here, have you?”

            “I’ll be fine.” She smiled at him reassuringly.

            But she wasn’t. Her feet wobbled slightly in her heels despite her experience and her heart jumped to .

            “Okay, I gotta head back to Seoul now. Choi CEO is waiting. See you,” the door opened and a man walked out of it backwards. Youngjae collided with Kira and his arm shot out to catch her as she tripped.

            “Oh, my apologies,” he said before getting a close look at her. “You’re new,” he said bluntly.

            “Yeah. I’m an intern here. The name’s Kira, and you are?” Jinli watched the two with interest. The sparks were obvious.

            “Youngjae, Yoo Youngjae. I’m a head manager at Seoul headquarters. Welcome to the company. I’d love to stay and chat but I have to-”

            “See Choi CEO, it’s fine. I hope to see you around.”

            Youngjae flashed Kira another winsome smile and looked back when she wasn’t looking. Jinli gave him a look and pointed at her eyes. “I saw that,” she mouthed and Youngjae winked sheepishly.

            By now, her unnie had already walked into Daehyun’s office. Daehyun was sitting at his desk and Jinli lingered by the door before Jongup pushed her in. “Noona, take control,” he whispered encouragingly.

            “Hello, I’m Kira. I’m a new intern.”

            Daehyun looked up bewilderedly. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jung Daehyun.”

            “I know. I was quite surprised to find that you were married to my dongsaeng over there,” she motioned for Jinli to come closer.

            The look in Daehyun’s face hardened her resolve. He looked like he wanted to be sick. They never allowed each other to enter one another’s work places and this, she knew, was a major violation. “Ah,” he murmured softly, his eyes never leaving her. “Why are you here? Don’t you have work?”

            “Actually, Kira Unnie insisted we went out to lunch. She wanted to get to know you better.”

            “Interrogate would be the better word,” Kira interrupted. “Because, you know, she got married without my approval first. I hope you wouldn’t mind. Jongup can come along if he likes. I am your intern after all.”

            Daehyun swallowed and looked up. Jinli could read the anger in his eyes and she wanted to laugh out loud. Pressure from home, and now pressure here. “Isn’t it a bit late to get your approval?” He said it in a light tone but she could hear his voice tightening.

            “Of course not. What if I find out that you were someone with a horrible temper, or worse a cheating scum?” Kira said this with no edge in her voice but Jinli felt her world still.

            “Excuse me?”

            “I’m only kidding. I’m sure you’re a wonderful person and I would just like to get to know my brother-in-law. That’s not a crime, is it?”

            But the damage was done. It was obvious that Daehyun was shaken. His eyes flashed from Kira to Jinli and then to Jongup, who was determinedly looking everywhere but at him. “Alright. I have one more memo to write. We can arrange for lunch.”

            “Great. Jongup, can you please show me some of the things I’ll be working when I’m here? Jinli, stay here and encourage your hubby to pick up the pace please. My stomach is rumbling.”

            Jinli sat down awkwardly in the sofa at the side and fiddled with her purse. The harsh sounds of the keyboard clicking and the angry staccato of each key going down was nothing compared to Daehyun’s true anger, she knew. But it made her feel a sense of satisfaction. They said nothing for twenty minutes until his door opened once again.

            “Dae baby!” Jinli glanced up and saw Hyosung walk in. The older woman stopped, however, when she saw Jinli.

            There was an awkward silence and then Hyosung smiled. It was meant to be sweet, but it turned out twisted and smug. “Jinli, I didn’t expect you to be here.”

            “Hyosung,” she didn’t even bother smiling. There were two ways she could go about this. One, she could pretend nothing happened, or two, she can just let reality be. “I’m afraid your date with Daehyun would have to be postponed for later. We’re going out for lunch.”

            Hyosung seemed taken aback by the straightforwardness of her greeting. “Right, yes, of course.” She turned to go but then faced Jinli again. “Mind if we talked a bit outside?”

            “Of course not.”

            Once outside Hyosung glared at her. “What do you want him to do?”

            “I beg your pardon?”

            “You wanted that divorce. You wanted to leave him and now you’re going out with him for lunch? You can’t possibly think that signing the contract would keep him chaste and away from me, right?”

            Jinli’s lips curled into a smile. “Of course not. It’s written in clause 14b that he could any he wanted, and you were definitely included in that definition.”

            The older woman’s face turned white before going a shocking red. “Y-you-”

            “Jinli! Is Daehyun done?”

            Both turned to see Kira walking back with Jongup. Jongup had a panicked expression on his face but Kira took another sip from the cup she was holding and when she neared, her ankle twisted. She lurched forward, splashing all the contents in the cup on Hyosung and grabbed onto Jinli for support.

            “Oh, I’m so sorry. I really apologize. I’m a new intern here and I was nervous seeing a sunbae and I wanted to hurry to greet you, and I’m bad with walking in heels. Would you like me to go get tissues to help you clean that up?” Kira was blabbering at ten miles a minute. She could win the best actress award at this rate. 

            Hyosung’s face burned and she her heels. “Never mind,” she responded curtly. “Just be more careful next time. You could have soaked a manager for all you knew.”

            “Right, or I could climb into bed with him too but that’s your specialty,” Kira muttered as she watched Hyosung walk away in satisfaction. She looked at Jinli. “Are you okay?”

            “Yeah. It’ll be fine. Should we get Daehyun?”

            Lunch was particularly painful, with Kira’s pointed questions and comments that always seemed to make a jab but not enough for Daehyun to outright get offended. Jinli excused herself afterwards to go back to work while Kira kept up the façade.

            Daehyun glanced up and saw Kira diligently organizing his files. Even though she was Jongup’s intern, Jongup had asked Daehyun to take care of her while he went to his meetings. The atmosphere between the two was tense and it was Kira who broke it.

            “I hope you do know why I’m actually here, right?”

            He looked at her. “You’re Jongup’s intern,” he answered slowly, almost as if knowing that wasn’t the right answer.

            “No, you cheating dickhead. I came here to warn you to treat Jinli better. You might think you can walk all over her because she signed that stupid contract of yours, but know she did it for your parents. And I swear, if I ever catch wind that you hurt her more than you are, I have no qualms shattering your parents’ illusions about their son.”

            Kira indicated the pile of papers she now had completely in chronological order. “I believe we should go give this to my boss? Would you like to come with? He did ask you to help me around.”

            When Daehyun got away from his table and towards her, Kira dropped the papers onto the ground and bent to pick them up. Her right leg came up, and she mentally took a careful aim at his crotch. Hearing his yelp of pain and her heels sink into someplace soft, she knew she had hit her target.

            She got up. “Oh I’m so sorry!” She turned and held onto him as Daehyun gasped soundlessly in pain, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of the water. He was doubled over and she hit him again, this time with the fist that had her ring. “I didn’t hit you hard enough the first time.”

            Kira let him go and he glared as his eyes swum with tears. “ing ,” he let out in a strangled tone.

            “Takes one to know one,” she shot back before calmly taking the files and walking back down to the tenth floor.

***

            “You did what?!”

            “Kicked him in the balls with my heels and punched him there again with my ring.”

            Jinli and Lili were doubled over with laughter as they tried not to spill their drinks. The other customers in the café were looking at them curiously and it was Lili who came up for air first. “Did he cry?”

            “He did. He was whimpering like a baby too.”

            The image made Lili double over into another round of laughter and Jinli shook her head. “Unnie, that takes guts.”

            “No it doesn’t. It just takes common sense, something you’re clearly lacking. Girl, I won’t say anything of your decision, but if you’re going to stay, you’re staying to fight, do you understand?” Jinli nodded. “I won’t be here forever, and goodness knows he’s forbidden me from ever entering the company again. You need to be strong, okay?”

            Jinli straightened and saluted her. “Yes, Unnie. I’ll continue what you started.”

            “Good,” Kira said, leaning back to sip her frappe with a happy smile. “Gosh, I should have also kneed him while I had the chance.”

This is sort of meant to be comedic relief as well as an outlet for all of you who have been severely frustrated with Daehyun in this story (glares at unnie)

I also noticed that my first chapter and the previous chapter has the same name... so I made Chapter 30 Part II. Wow I'm creative af.

From here, I'm going to take a little break to reorganize, to truly get down what I want to happen, and how it's going to happen. Have a good holiday with I don't update before. 

Much love ♥