Hiding

My eyes ran through an article that was typed and presented through my computer screen. Editing the draft for the umpteenth time made me feel like my head had doubled in size. The article was on a model who grew up in a country where her looks didn’t quite fit in, and I had practically knew the story by heart and soul after reading it through so many times. The only thing keeping me alive was my coffee. Reaching for it across my desk, I touched empty space instead of the cup.

Looking up, I noticed that Luhan had dared to put his lips on the thing. He took a long sip and afterwards stared at the cup like it was a foreign object with a small nod of satisfaction. It was like he just filmed a CF for coffee in his own little world that was not from this galaxy.

“Why did you just drink some of my coffee?” I questioned.

“I was curious because you like this so much.” A cup of coffee from 9 Extracts was the only kind I drank after all. Starbucks didn’t impress me like some people. “It’s okay. I’ve had better though.” Shrugging, Luhan handed the cup to me.

“Then don’t drink anymore!” I snatched it back and placed the cup on the opposite side of the desk from him. “I printed copies of this story to pass to the chief and other editors, by the way. Would you be so kind as to get them?” Folding my hands underneath my chin, I batted my eyelashes at him.

Luhan snorted. “Right away, ma’am.”

I leered at his back as he left, thinking about how if he wasn’t busy on his own desk answering calls or fixing my schedule, his hobby was to annoy me in my workspace. There was a knock on my door a minute later and I wondered who it was because Luhan never knocked.

“I hope I don’t need an appointment again to enter.” To my dismay, Jessica walked through the door, this time wearing loud and clunky knee high boots that made me cringe. I wondered how she got past security, but then again she looked like she stepped out of one of our magazines anyway. Nope, I didn’t mean that in a compliment-y way.

I stood to meet her halfway and we hugged like girls on the first day of school again. “Not at all! You’re welcomed here.”

Jessica glanced around the room. “Where’s your fiancé?”

Luhan walked in at that moment with a muddled expression as he sorted through the papers in his hands. “Sora, the article printed weirdly. Could you press repri—?”

Taking his wrist, I pulled him beside me. “He’s right here!” I gave him a meaningful look. “My fiancé.”

“Okay, then you’ll both hear my news.” She clapped her hands once together in excitement. “Sora and Luhan...” Jessica paused for dramatic affect. “You’re both going to Jeju!”

We stared wordlessly.

Her artificially whitened teeth beamed at us. “What do you say, huh?”

Luhan refolded his collar. “We, uh...”

“I feel silly for asking because I already booked the flights and the villa. Just think of it like a present from me,” Jessica proudly shrugged nonchalantly.

“You what?” Luhan and I said in unison, looking at each other.

“But I can’t leave all my work behind. There’s a lot to do,” I reasoned, pointing to my desk. What was Jessica thinking going around and doing whatever she wanted again? It was completely random and out of the blue.

She waved an expensively manicured hand. “Don’t worry about that. I talked to your boss and she said it’ll be okay to take a few weeks off.”

I blinked. “Really? The Chief said that?”

“Yeah, she mentioned you’ve already completed a bunch of stuff... and something about parts of your Christmas break being taken away if you leave, but that doesn’t matter!” Jessica would have made it rain confetti in the room if she had the power. I almost forgot that Jessica has ties to certain businesses in and out of the country, meaning she could pull some strings to her content.

“Jessica, I—”

“The flight is at 10AM tomorrow.” She whipped out envelopes from her ginormous purse that probably needed to be checked for security whenever she crossed through toll booths and handed us both one. “Be at the airport in time. I’ll meet you two there and give you a tour of the villa I picked out and everything. Plus, I gotta run. So bye!”

The office room suddenly became quieter as soon as Jessica left and closed the door behind her. Luhan didn’t move beside me, either confused or appalled at what had happened so quickly in the span of three minutes—maybe both. I slowly turned myself to face Luhan, realizing I was still holding his wrist. When he met my gaze, something told me he already knew what I was going to beg for.

“Could you please be my fiancé for a few more weeks?”

I spent the early evening shoveling ice cream in my mouth in front of the TV. It was as a form of stress reliever even though I knew I wasn’t going to be at work for weeks and busy being on vacation instead, though that vacation meant another few weeks of having to put up a lie. Luhan had automatically agreed to going to Jeju because he’s been wanting to see the island paradise again. I didn’t even think he considered the consequences properly. I had to drop everything I was working on in order to trade it for some sun, though as good as that sounded, it was terrifying.

But anyway, who would say no to a free trip?

My phone vibrated next to my leg because of an incoming call. The caller ID flashed a name that I haven’t read of