| Chapter Sixteen |

“Hello there, Miss Jung!”

Jessica’s head shot up from her desk to see a cheery Yoona half-skipping towards her, two boxes of mixed fruits in her hands.

She almost wanted to scold the girl for barging into her office like that but brushed the thought aside, reminding herself promptly that she should appreciate being bought lunch instead.

Sinking into the chair before the woman without asking, Yoona grinned widely, pushing one of the boxes towards her, “Bon appetit.”

Watching the girl open up the other box, Jessica asked, “You’re having your food here?”

“I’m sorry, am I not wanted here?” The girl looked almost ready to pack up and leave.

“No. It’s just that I’m rather busy with a report now so there won’t be any conversation and it might be a little boring for--”

“Please go ahead. Don’t worry about having to entertain me. I’ll just… watch you.” Placing both elbows onto the table, Yoona propped her head up with her hands, lips tugging into a cheesy smile.

But before Jessica could come up with a response, the girl quickly added, “Joking. I’m hungry so I’m just gonna…” Gesturing her fork towards a chunk of apple, she picked it up and pushed it into , doing her best to chew as softly as possible so she would not distract the CEO.

“You seem really energized today,” the woman commented before flipping through the dreadfully boring papers in front of her.​

“Really? I guess Hyomin’s enthusiasm is rubbing off on me well.” Yoona shrugged, sniggering inwardly when she noticed a slight change in Jessica’s expression at the mentioning of the girl’s name.

“That’s… nice.” Eyes not leaving the documents, the woman acted like it was none of her concern although she felt her heart sink a little. It was funny how she was incognizant of the fact that her facial expression was not matching the words streaming out of . Taking that as further confirmation of what she heard from Tiffany, Yoona chuckled out loud.

“What is it?” Jessica was still not looking at her.

“Oh, nothing.” The girl pursed her lips together at once.

“So you randomly laugh to yourself? Creepy.”

“I’m just happy, is all. You wanna know why?”

“Actually, I’d rather not.” Jessica fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. The paragraphs of text were no longer making any sense to her because she was too busy thinking about why the heck she placed Park Hyomin in Yoona’s department in the first place.

Man, she had no idea why she was so jealous over something so trivial.

“Because although you keep pretending like you don’t give a damn, I know you’re starting to care about me, Miss Jung.” Yoona stuffed a couple of strawberries into , chomping away with her cheeks puffed out while managing a slight grin.

“I’m trying to finish vetting this report here so if you don’t mind, I’d like a little peace and quiet. Thank you.” The woman cleared and refocused her attention back on the text. Sure, she remembered Tiffany’s advice on reciprocity and baby steps but she refused to bring herself into a banter that involved some other girl.

Seconds of silence dragged by, with Yoona happily munching on her food and Jessica finally finding enough self-discipline to continue ploughing through the seemingly endless stack of papers.

All of a sudden, Yoona stiffened in her seat, hands banging on the table frantically. The CEO lifted her head at once, “Y-Yoona?” The girl now had her hands around and was looking rather desperate. It seemed like she was having difficulty breathing. It took a few seconds more for the woman to realize she might be choking.

Getting up at once, Jessica hurried over, “Are you alright? Stand up! Quickly!”

The girl did as she was told. As soon as she was on her feet, slender arms circled around her abdomen, squeezing it forcefully several times.

It was only when Jessica heard the girl giggling that she stopped, pulling away with a grimace, “What was that about, Im Yoona?!”

“Aww, you were worried for me, weren’t you, Miss Jung? Point proven.”

Of course. She was faking it. Only a joker like her would be capable of pulling something like that.

“Unbelievable. Don’t you ever do something like that again.” Looking at her with fretful eyes, Jessica exhaled heavily before stomping back to her seat. She could not believe she fell for it. Now she was really angry.

When Yoona realized she might have gone overboard with her joke this time, the smile on her face disappeared, “Okay, that was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.” In her attempt to get the woman’s attention, she had plain forgotten about the promise she made before. Nice going.

Her apology was conveniently ignored, however, as the CEO kept her head down. Scratching her head helplessly, she tried to salvage the situation in the best way she knew – by pretending to be cute. The only person she ever tried it on was Taeyeon, and it always got things done. Speaking in her best aegyo voice, she started, “Is Miss Jung angry?” She could feel her own hair stand the moment she said it.

Seeing no reaction, she went on, “Is there anything Yoona can do to be forgiven?”

This time the woman responded, shaking her head a little.

“Well, Yoona’s not leaving until Miss Jung stops ignoring her.”

As the girl was busy babbling away in that sickeningly adorable voice, the door swung open abruptly.

 “Jessie, I was wondering… oops.” Tiffany stopped short at the sight of the two, “I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?”

Sighing, the CEO muttered, “No.” It seemed people were having a little trouble knocking before entering today. Yoona only cleared and straightened her blouse, hoping Tiffany had not heard anything.

“Oh. Okay. Anyway, I was on the phone with Mr. Kang a couple of minutes ago and he really wants to meet us again to discuss that partnership. I was wondering if you could give him another call later to finalize things.” The redhead stood at the door the whole time, not wanting to disrupt anything.

“I’ve been waiting for the longest time. I’ll call him right now. Thanks, Fany.”

Taking that as a sign to leave, Yoona stood up, “I guess I’ll go.”

“Later,” Jessica replied, causing the girl’s face to brighten up.​

“Does that ‘later’ mean ‘see you later’ as in ‘after office hours’ later? Does that also mean you’re not mad anymore?”

“I thought you said you were leaving.”

“I will as soon as you answer me,” Yoona countered adamantly, still refusing to budge. From the door, Tiffany stifled a giggle.​

“You’re pushing it.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll be waiting for you tonight so try not to work so late. Later, Miss Jung.” The girl grinned widely before meeting Tiffany at the door and leaving.

---

It had been well over a minute and Jessica was still standing where she was, a little too absorbed in the sight before her. Yoona had fallen asleep at her desk again. She was snoring this time. There was also a little bit of drool forming at the side of her lips.

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