Monday morning. 8:05 Am. And I have averted the first crisis of the day.

A meeting on progress reports regarding a couple of our top clients is due to start at Kim Corporations and one of the files in my bag had gone missing. The last place I left my bag unattended was at Tiffany’s apartment. I called but she had already left for work. Fortunately Leo was awake and spotted the file on the dining table. It struck me as strange because I could have sworn I didn’t remove it from my bag. Anyway, Leo offered to drive over with the documents.

“There was the odd stray sheet but I managed to get them all in there!” He says as he hands them over.

“Thank you, Leo.” I say gratefully.

Mr Lim and I enter the boardroom and everyone rises from their seats and bows. I place the papers in front of me on the table. I flick open the file to make sure everything is there. My eyes run down the first few pages. So far, so good.

“Kwang-seok!” One of the new interns bumbles through the door. He’s gasping as though he ran the whole way here. His eyes widen as he spots me. He bows a little too enthusiastically, almost doing a cartwheel in the process. “Please accept my apologies, Ms Kim. I missed the bus and – ”

The department head who is meant to be his supervisor is glaring furiously at him. “Kwang-seok!” He repeats again. “Don’t bother with your excuses and sit down!”

Kwang-seok smiles at the rest of the room. After getting no response, he dejectedly sits down. His supervisor bows, “I’m so sorry for this, Ms Kim.”

“Don’t let it happen again.” I’m still checking the file. I’m near the last two pages when the intercom on the table crackles.

“Ms Kim, there is an important call for you.”

“The meeting is about to start, Janet. Tell them I’m busy.”

“It’s William Barron.”

My hands stop abruptly. I set the file back down. The last couple of pages are only the minutes of the prior meetings, so I set them aside without a second glance. I have to take this call.

“I’m sorry everyone, it’s important.”

As I leave the room I vaguely hear the supervisor order the intern to hand him something.

Mr Barron is a businessman from America and is someone I’m very keen to meet. The call goes well and I feel exhilarated. This is a big, big deal.

I re-enter the boardroom and take my seat. Mr Lim whispers in my ear, “Mr Barron? It went well I take it?”

Kwang-seok is standing with a couple sheets of papers held in his hand. He is so nervous, the papers are flapping wildly in the air. I’m not even sure he can read what’s written.

“What’s going on there?” I ask.

“Oh, his supervisor is making him read the previous minutes.” Mr Lim brushes it aside. “Tell me about the Barron.”

I shift my focus onto Mr Lim. A smile slowly forms on my lips.

Mr Lim grins and shoots me a thumbs up. Suddenly, the atmosphere of the room changes. Everyone is now gaping at the intern who is trembling through his words. I tune in to what he’s saying.

“I like the way you talk in your sleep.”

Wait…what?

“Kwang-seok!” His supervisor rattles. “Just read what’s on the paper!”

“I-I a-am.” He stutters and continues, “I like the dimples in your smile.”

One of the men turns his head towards me and stares in astonishment – at my face. His eyes travel to my chin. I realize my smile has frozen in place.

“I like how y I find your jaw.”

I spot a lady in a blue blazer staring fixatedly at my jaw. She begins to nod her head subconsciously in agreement.

Oh God…is that what I think it is? How the heck…

I whip the sheet out of Kwang-seok’s hands. Familiar loopy handwriting shows the words ‘The things I like about Tae’. A chill goes down my spine.

Halmeonim.

She was in the apartment the whole time and had the perfect opportunity to do this. I walk back to my seat and say icily, “Shall we get back to work?”

There is an instant rustling of pages being turned and files being flipped open. No one dares to meet my eye.

A rubbish bin is conveniently tucked in the corner of the room. I look at it for a brief second before pocketing the sheet of paper safely.

 

 

Did you hear?

So romantic!

Do you think my boyfriend will ever do that?

 

So apparently, Tiffany and I have unwittingly started a new craze. People have dubbed it ‘The List of Love.’ It’s when a person writes down a list of all the things they like about someone they fancy and hides the list for them to accidently find. I hear it’s gotten everybody hyped up.

And it’s just been forty-five minutes since the meeting ended.

 

“No!” Tiffany’s shocked voice pours out the phone. “Jinjja? What happened next?”

“He started going through the list, one by one. Probably so terrified, he just blindly kept reading.”

“Oh my God.”

“So what else did I write?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Well, I was kind of drunk when I wrote it you know.”

Oh this is good.

I clear my throat. “You said you liked how I was always right.”

“Really…”

“Yes. And you also mentioned that you liked how you listen to me, take my advice – because I’m always right.”

“Did I say anything about how difficult it was to sleep with you?”

“Huh?” That threw me slight off track.

“In Japan you sleep talked, snored and fidgeted in your sleep! The only good thing was…that you liked to cuddle – a lot.”

“I do not snore!” I say indignant. “And I certainly do not cuddle!”

“Yah! Kim Taeyeon just accept your fate! You’re a cuddler…”

I study the list in my hand.

“I never knew I talked in my sleep. What did I say?”

Tiffany gives a little laugh. “Let me tell you, that night I learnt so much about market evaluation. I actually stayed up to take notes.”

“I talked about work?”  

“It was adorable.”

I smile.

“So, I didn’t scribble anything too scandalous then?” Tiffany asks with a tinge of apprehension.

I laugh. “No, don’t worry.”

She relaxes and starts telling me about her morning. I lean back in my chair, with the list still in my hands.

My eyes fall on the last sentence she wrote. I’ve been rereading it over and over again since I acquired it.

I like how I’m falling in love with you.

 

 

I walk out of my office to head to a lunch meeting at a fine dining restaurant nearby. I pass the desk of one of my lower level employees and something catches my eye. There is a peppering of cards arranged around her cubicle. I see words like ‘Congratulations!’, ‘You’re having a baby!’ printed on them. Normally, I would just ignore it and continue on my way but some unknown force possesses me to stop.

Great. Now I can’t remember her name. Was it Anna or Annette? I’ll just call her Ann. That can be a short form for both. Perfect!

It’s quite comical the way ‘Ann’ slowly, dreadingly looks up from her desk to meet my gaze. Her eyes are like saucers and she swallows audibly before asking, “C-c-can I help y-you, Ms Kim?”

I indicate towards her cards. “Are you having a baby, Ann?”

She remains frozen in place. opens and closes a few times but no words come out.

I smile to put her at ease. But as soon as I do, all the colour drains from her face. This is odd.

“Well congratulations.” I say and turn to leave.

“Iwon’ttaketimeoff!” She suddenly blurts out.

I look back at her confused.

“D-don’t worry Ms Kim! I won’t take any time off!” She says in a panic. A few people around us have started listening in. They are still pretending to work because I’m there but I see one guy typing away with gusto on his computer – which is switched off.

“That’s not what I meant.” I try to elaborate but she doesn’t hear me.

“I know I’m pregnant and usually we get maternity leave but I won’t take a single day! Well, maybe one day…to give birth. Or maybe I can take a couple of hours. I hear contractions aren’t that bad sometimes, so I would only be gone an hour…or two max, just to squeeze it out.” She gives me a beseeching look.

“Ann, I fully expect you to take your maternity leave.” I stress. She blinks a few times at me. “Once again, congratulations on your pregnancy. That is what I wanted to tell you.”

She bows. “T-thank you, Ms Kim.” Her face is all red and blotchy. And she’s harbouring a muddled expression.

I continue towards the lift. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot another employee tentively approach 'Ann' and whisper, "Are you okay, Lisa?"

Aish!

Maybe I should hold off trying to engage casually with my staff – both for my benefit and theirs.

 

 

The lunch meeting I have is in a restaurant right next to my building. The man I’m meeting with is William Barron. He owns a chain of highly successful luxury hotels throughout America. Now he’s interested in opening up a few hotels in Asia. If he agrees to let me supply him with state of the art electronics for his hotels, it would mean a multimillion dollar profit. As this is an important decision, Mr Barron has asked to meet me in person.

The man who greets me at the restaurant is exactly how I pictured him to be. In his late fifties, with grey hair and sporting a crisp charcoal suit.

“Thank you for meeting me, Ms Kim.”

“It’s a pleasure and an honour, Mr Barron.”  

Mr Barron scrutinizes my appearance. “I admit when I heard how young you were, I had my doubts. But Kim Corporation has a reputation like no other in Asia.”

“That is very kind of you to say. We take pride in our work.”

“Excellent.” He gives a little smile. “Now I attribute my success in business to one thing.” He points his finger at me. “Knowing the person I do business with.”

I nod. There is a game here. The trick is to never rush into things. It’s best to let it play itself out.

“Well, I’m a Pisces and my favourite colour is blue.”

He gives a hearty laugh. “I like that.” He reaches for the menu and asks nonchalantly, “So I heard you took down your rival company, Hwang Industries.”

“That’s a common misconception. They decided it was beneficial to sell and I was their first choice.” I word it plainly.

“But surely it was a challenge to overthrow that family run company? Henry Hwang has always been possessive of his business.” I can tell he’s overflowing with curiosity.

“I didn’t overtake the company, I joined it.”

“How so?”

“I married his daughter.” I flip open a menu.

 

 

The hour was spent on discussing business plans. Mr Barron seems keen on signing the deal. At the end of lunch, he happily shakes my hand.

“Ms Kim, things are looking very promising at the moment.”

“I’m glad to hear it, Mr Barron.”

“There is just one last thing I need to clear before I apply pen to paper.” He fixes the buttons on his coat. “You have to let my wife and I take you out for dinner. And bring the missus. No exceptions! My secretary will send the details through.”

“That would be lovely, Mr Barron.”

We almost reach the exit when –

“I like the way you sneeze. I like the way you’re allergic to gluten. I like the way you have like twenty handbags.” A teenage girl is excitedly reading off a piece of florally paper. There is an opened box of chocolates in front of her. The paper must have been hidden in a foil wrapper.

“Oh Hyun-joon!” She cloaks her arms around a thin, gawky looking boy. She pauses as though something is bothering her. “They’re not just handbags…it’s like a Diamonte collection but whatever!” She happily resumes hugging him.

Mr Barron holds the door open for me and catches the expression on my face.

“Oh you don’t know?” He asks. “It’s called The List of Love. It’s all over twitter.”

I do not believe this.