When I woke up the next morning, the anger I had towards Yongguk had already dissipated. But even if the anger wasn’t there, I didn’t have any interest in facing him either. After having his words running through my mind endlessly before falling asleep, I couldn’t find anything to pick at and there wasn’t any other excuse I could offer. 

For once, Yongguk had a point. But, did the contract really have to be the thing on the line?

And I also knew I couldn’t sit by and watch Mr. Bang’s hard work go to waste so I did everything that a good secretary would do…I called up Mr. Yoo and said I needed to speak to him. I don’t know how I did it, but I somehow talked myself into going through with my plan.

I left the room and went down to the lobby where Mr. Yoo could be seen sitting on the side. The closer I got to him, the clearer it was to see the bruise that had formed on his cheek.

As soon as I took a seat across from him, he didn’t hesitate on questioning his presence. “What did you want to talk to me about?” He didn’t bother to give me the slightest glance…his change in behavior was nothing short of drastic. At the same time, it didn’t bother me one bit.

“It’s about the contract.”

He stops going through his phone and looks up at me. “I’ve already made it clear that the contract is cancelled.”

“I’m here to change your mind.”

He laughed at me. “What are you going to do?”

Even if I didn’t like it, Yongguk’s words ran through my mind. It was also one of the reasons why I was even sitting here across from this very man. I realized that I couldn’t just sit here and take everything he says. I sighed. “Mr. Yoo, you’re a businessman.”

“So?”

“Then, you should know that a binding contract cannot be so easily broken.” If Mr. Yoo thinks he can get away with this, he’s terribly wrong. And if I let him off, then that would make me terribly incompetent. After all, I am not one of Mr. Bang’s most trusted and valuable workers for no good reason.

“So, what are you saying?”

“In the future, you may decline working with us but you can’t bail on this current contract.” I gave him a small smile. “I feel slightly insulted that you think I am powerless to stop this.”

I saw the muscles in his face twitch – seems like I caught him off guard.

“There are repercussions in ending the contract with the Bang Company and I intend to carry it out.” I watched as he fumbled with his words. I’m sure he can see the satisfied look on my face. “And Mr. Yoo, do you really want the pool to go to waste? After all, you invested a lot into it.” I gave him a victory smile.

I saw him slowly give up and he forced a smile. “You’re right, I will be losing money if I end the contract.” At least he knew when he had lost.

“I’m glad we’re on the same page.” I gracefully smiled. “And Mr. Yoo?”

He got up on his feet and froze in his spot at the calling of his name.

“Next time you try to put your hands on me like that again, you won’t be getting away with only a punch.” I stood up and gave him a bow before leaving. When I got further away from him and turned the corner. I touched my hammering heart and leaned against the wall to compose myself. 

I chuckled softly to myself at how much I loved the feeling – the relief of finally speaking my mind and not holding back. Maybe Yongguk was right in what he was saying after all.

I don’t always have to hide my feelings or keep my words to myself. Well, it can’t happen all the time but there will be exceptions.

***

“I’m not doing that.” Yongguk denied his father’s orders. “You want me to go apologize?” His words were coated in disbelief. “Did you not hear me? He was touching –“ Before he could give his father the reason why he landed a punch on Mr. Yoo’s face, his father had already hung up on him.

He was sure his father couldn’t hear him anyways with all that coughing. The old man should really take care of himself.

He tosses the phone aside and ruffled his hair in frustration. This morning when he woke up, Wonnie was already gone. She didn’t look at him or speak to him from when they got back from the restaurant to when he went to sleep on the couch…which bothered him immensely since she was only ever that mad once before.

“She can’t be still mad at me, right?” He mumbled to himself. But, why was he even worrying? He didn’t do anything wrong!

But he couldn’t help but feel weird about the whole situation. He wasn’t one to punch someone so easily, like Himchan had mentioned before, Yongguk wasn’t one to get into fights and he punched someone in Wonnie’s defense – well, then she seemed to have become an exception.

He scoffed out loud. Even after he did that, she wasn’t even thankful. Remembering her attitude from last night caused his frustrated feelings to turn into annoyance. “Whatever, if she doesn’t want my help, then I won’t do anything next time.” But, he knew even if he said that, the next time Wonnie is in trouble, he wouldn’t hesitate to help her.

He gets up and gets ready to call Mr. Yoo but stops when the door to the hotel room opens.

Wonnie walks in and he stares at her in silence.

***

I walked in t