Tricks of the Eyes

I didn’t look back at Jongin while I took what felt like the longest walk back to the building. When the door shut behind me, a wave of relief rocked my body. I noticed now how my hands were fists at my sides, but I couldn’t unclench them. I was honestly scared of Jongin. He was a powerful man. He had the money for anything. Most importantly, he knew my weaknesses. I let him know me too well. How he was holding up a job promotion like bait… I knew he wouldn’t just stop there. Jongin would be back for more.

The elevator opened before I could press the button and the person that came from the inside ran out, almost bumping into me before they held on to my shoulder. “Sora!”

Luhan’s voice alerted me at once. There was a mixture of being apologetic, worry and surprise written all over his expression. “I had a bad feeling, so I had to come and see what was happening. I’m sorry,” he said almost breathlessly.

“You don’t have to be sorry.” He might have been a minute too late, but it would have been better if he didn’t get mixed up with Jongin in a bigger fight outside at the parking lot if he actually came on time.

Luhan hadn’t failed to notice that Jongin wasn’t lingering around me anymore though didn’t bother to ask where he went. “You look pretty shaken up though. What happened? Are you okay?”

I shook my head. Luhan’s presence there had at least made me calmer. Jongin thought he could throw me out and then reel me back in so easily. He was wrong. “Jongin just made me angry. I’m okay.” My smile was feeble.

“What did he do?” Luhan asked hesitantly. He took notice of the receptionist in the lobby that could have been within our hearing range and the man who just stepped into the elevator. Luhan pulled me aside away from anything else, wanting for us to speak privately.

“He gave me a job offer to work for Lifestyle magazine on Jeju so I can write about Ocean Front Villas.” I answered while staring at the ficus plant in a pot that was standing beside us. “And he wanted me to agree so badly that he offered to get me a promotion.”

“Promotion? Isn’t that what you want?” Luhan repeated, his voice sounding strained as well.

“But he’s using it like a bribe.”

“He said he could give you a better position?” he asked, to himself or to me, I wasn’t sure. “What did you tell him?”

Like the whole thing was the ficus’ fault, I flicked at the leaf that was touching my shoulder. “Why would I even agree?”

Luhan had been so quiet suddenly that I thought he didn’t hear my answer. Lifting my head to see him, his brows were furrowed while he thought through some questions on his own silently. Luhan’s hand had ended up around my wrist.

He spoke quietly. “You should take the job.”

“What?” I felt my own breath catch in my throat at his words. Did he just say what I heard he said? Out of all reactions I was expecting from Luhan, this definitely wasn’t one of them.

“Sora, if anything, you deserve that position he’s offering. That layout you were working on last night was great. No, it wasn’t just great. It was outstanding. If this company doesn’t recognize that, then that’s their loss.”

Every syllable dripped with honesty and a part of me was scared, yet his eyes were so luring that I couldn’t look away or interrupt him. My voice was hoarse. “You’re telling me to take the job? In Jeju?”

“Of course.” Luhan forced a smile though I saw the hurt in his eyes. He tucked away a strand of hair away from my face and behind my ear ever so carefully, his touch light like feathers.

My chest clenched. “The job is across the sea! Don’t you get it? Jongin just wants to see us separated.”

“I’m not worried about that,” he insisted. “I promise we’ll stay in contact. I’ll fly out to see you from time to time. Sora, it’s the job you want. I know that what we have is stronger than something like you working elsewhere.”

I couldn’t deny the truth he was speaking of. We were stronger than whatever anyone wanted to hurl at us. I could have proved Luhan right and took the job and called Jongin back with a dozen ways to apologize, but the promotion didn’t seem so important to me now. I had other things above it on my list of priorities. And I hugged the person who had somehow climbed his way to the top of the list a long time ago.  

Luhan pulled me in even tighter, planting a kiss on top of my hair.

I smiled, confident now, against the fabric of his dress shirt. I knew what I wanted and how to get it. “I think I’d rather finish what I started in this company and get that promotion without any unnecessary help though.”

Luhan leaned against my desk. His presence that alerted me forced me to peel my eyes off the email I was reading. I looked up at him questioningly.

“Three minutes,” he said.

I paused to ponder. Last time I heard, I wasn’t scheduled for anything else in the day. In fact, I was finished for now.

He answered my unspoken question. “Three minutes until we get off work.”

Looking at the time from the computer screen, it was 4:57PM. “Three minutes until we leave for Lotte World,” I corrected him, beaming. I couldn’t deny that I was excited to see the last of the other boys before Luhan would officially call the imaginary wedding off.

“Wait.” Luhan straightened himself, frowning at a thought. “How are you going to meet them there dressed like you came from some kind of job?”

Right. They thought I was a housewife. Wheeling my chair around and standing, I walked over to where the cabinets beside the windows were. “I think I have extra jeans somewhere here.” The peach colored blouse I was wearing might have been too formal for an amusement park-planned afternoon but at least it didn’t scream that I was some kind of Editor. Pulling out blue jeans and shutting the cabinet with my hip, I grabbed my bag to head out the door.

“Where are you going?” Luhan asked with his eyes curiously wide. “We have two minutes still.”

I pressed a finger to my lips, shushing him. “We might as well leave now.”   

Escaping two minutes before anyone else, the two of us gathered all our belongings and rode the elevator down to the main floor. Eyeing the guest washroom, I figured it was more convenient to change at that moment than to find an available washroom in the rowdiness of Lotte World.

“I’ll change in there. Wait here,” I told Luhan who agreed with a nod. Draping the jeans over my forearm, I slipped inside and locked the door with a click.

The washroom was fortunately unoccupied and did not smell funky. Kicking my shoes off, I yanked my bottoms off.

From out the door, I heard the sound of a female voice coming close to the washroom. “Luhan why are you standing there?” I recognized the voice to be from one of the girls named Gayoon.

“That’s the girl’s washroom. I didn’t think you were that type of guy.” Someone else, I didn’t know who, added in.

I could have laughed at Luhan’s flustered expression as he tried to scramble for an explanation that would convince them he’s not some sort of girl’s washroom peeper. “Sora’s in there. She’s just changing. I’m not... doing what you were thinking.” He chuckled dryly.

“Ohhh Sora’s in there,” Gayoon said in realization as if she just took grasp of the situation. “We should have guessed.”

I pulled the jeans over my legs, hopping between my feet.

“Are the rumors about the two of you true then?” the other girl questioned.

Rolling my eyes, I concluded that Heesun must have been talking to others. Silence followed and I would have imagined Luhan had no idea what they were talking about and stared at them cluelessly. Gayoon and her friend keyed in with laughter, their voices gradually fading as they walked away from the scene.

I stuffed the skirt that I was wearing earlier in the day in my bag while Luhan walked beside me