“Wait, so who are you again?”

She was still hyper-conscious over the job offer (a job offer yet to be revealed) especially since according to him, they were closer than she had thought to be. Of course not. He couldn’t just be a stranger who was momentarily under the wrath of Min last weekend, because Suji’s simple life just had to be perturbed.

“It's Myungsoo, I study developmental business.”

Anothing thing that seemed impossible for her—was this guy even real? An attractive (extremely attractive, her pride hated to acute to) young man studying business in a SKY university seemed like the perfect package, but nobody was perfect. He was asking for her help, after all. Even creepier, he managed to find her, pulling her out of an interview before she was even considered for the job. According to Suji, outwardly perfect men were either nasty at home, psychopaths, or gay.

“And what part of the company am I working for?”

“A very high up part.”

She scoffed visibly, wanting to annoy the hell of out this equally annoying creature. Very high indeed. Suji felt incredibly self-conscious out in the GrandLens lobby, it was even worse than the white room. Myungsoo was trying to ignore it, however for Suji it was hard to pretend that fifty different people weren’t bowing in their direction every ten minutes.

She edgily crossed her arms. “And how old are you?”

He blinked like a little kid, momentarily dazed. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking the questions?”

“I just wanted to know more about my employer.” she shrugged.

“Oh.” he looked up. “I’m twenty-two.”

“Twenty.” she said.

“And I wouldn’t say employer, more like a business partner, with a paycheck.”

Her teeth gritted together from the inside, out of both impatience and agitation, feigning innocence. “Can we step outside for a second?” Suji asked lightly, and got up as if he couldn’t refuse.

“Uh, sure.”

Instead of going through the front doors where more people could gawk and bow at them, Suji immediately stomped away,  searching  for an emergency exit. There was a small clearing with a patch of grass uninhibited by the sun, leading out to the parking lot. They stopped in the middle, and Suji didn’t even give Myungsoo time to catch his breath.

“Honestly, they way you’re talking to me is sketchy as .” She deadpanned. “Just tell me what you want and let’s be done with it.”

Myungsoo pointed a finger, spluttering, “Hey, I’m older than you!”

She shook her head, blowing a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “That’s your comeback? Who do you think you are?”

“I think I’m trying to be reasonable to offer you a job,” he replied evenly, trying to gain control of the conversation. When it came to competition, Kim Myungsoo was not used to losing battles. “And at this point, I’m more than sure that you need this job more than anything, so stop trying to think you’re so high and mighty.”

“I don’t need this job!” she snapped, their simple talk quickly escalating by the millisecond. She didn’t know why she felt compelled to act out, maybe it was the stress of life.

“You’re lying.” he stepped forward like a leader, challenging her. “Remember what I said, very high up? I know lots of things. So you really can’t afford to act out like this.”

Such a cheap move, Suji gaped. “Are you threatening me?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, pursing his lips. “Is it working?”

She didn’t bother hiding herself anymore, and stressfully exhaled, her cool palm extending to her forehead. This boy was damn right difficult, he had no idea what he was speaking half the time, and the other half he pranced around as if he ran this company. Suji eyed Myungsoo one more time, who retorted with a glare of his own.

He sighed dramatically, and looked up at the cloudless sky. “This is more difficult than I thought it would be. Tell me, are you in or not?”

“I don’t even know what I’m being dragged into.” Suji huffed.

Myungsoo looked at her, his eyes serious. “Honestly, I’m not out to hurt you or anything. But you have to understand, I can’t tell you until you say yes.”

“Are you kidding me? Over my dead body—”

“Please.” It looked like it pained Myungsoo to use his manners, as his eyes were glued shut looking down, her words which appeared to strike a chord. A flicker of guilt appeared in Suji’s eyes, as the wrinkles between her eyes lessened at his genuine ability. He said please, was that even possible? He looked like a lost, kicked puppy on the sidewalk. Was that his charm to get the ladies, because unfortunately for her, it was starting to work. Either that, or she was extremely soft.

“Fine.” she bit out shortly, unable to take it. “What’s my pay?”

Myungsoo looked up in surprise, his mouth opening and closing like a clam. He started patting his pockets, both chest and front, muttering under his breath. Suji winced, trying to convince herself that she wasn’t making a mistake.

He pulled out a small, receipt-sized paper from his inner blazer pocket, and pressed it into Suji’s palm.

The crinkles in his perfectly square-shaped folds seemed louder than usual with the uncomfortable silence, as Suji slowly opened the paper.

That’s a lot of zeros.

“Did you write this wrong?” she immediately accused, waving the paper around in disbelief.

Myungsoo’s eyebrows furrowed together, grabbing hold of the little sheet, their fingers brushing ever the slightest. “No, that’s right.”

“Oh.”

“So,” he shifted on his heels like a little kid. “ready to get started?”

“On what?”

“C’mon, we’re going to  the school.” he said, reaching for her arm. He wanted to start as early as possible.

“Wait!” she jolted back, and Myungsoo’s face reddened at her withdrawal.

“What, do you have problems with touching?”

“No,” she replied defensively, biting her lip. “I just, need to take care of some things.”

“What kind of things?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“I’m your employer.” Myungsoo crossed his arms all professional-like, a complacent expression on his face. “You’re my business.”

Suji did not like the way that sounded on his tongue. She groaned internally, wondering how she got this far in the day. “I need to go home,” she admitted. “I gotta tell my landlord that I finally have a job, and hopefully he’ll extend my rent date an extra day or so.”

“You have rent to pay?” Myungsoo asked. “Since when?”

She nodded, nonchalant. “A few weeks.”

“Weeks?” he said, exasperated. “You know interest builds up, right?”

“That’s obviously why I have to get a job!” she snapped, immediately getting angry all over again.  Kim Myungsoo seriously was full of something, something so daft that he needs to state the obvious every five minutes. She checked her wristwatch, Sungjong was probably waiting to pick her up. “I need to go.” she said, sparing a small wave. “I’ll work hard, just not today.”

“Hey! You better answer my call tomorrow!” he barked after her, but she was already going back inside through the emergency. Myungsoo ruffled his hair in response, appalled by her nerve.

Suji and Sunggyu entered and exited the emergency at the same time, barely an inch of space between them. Suji was far too narrow-focused to notice Sunggyu, whose eyes got bigger in confusion as she roughly slid past him. The older man scratched his head, turning to his friend.

“She was much more hospitable before she had to try getting a job.” he snorted. “Didn’t go as well as you had hoped?”

“No,” he shrugged, not agreeable nor completely pleased. “She accepted my job offer, and starts tomorrow.”

“Wait, wait.” Sunggyu held his hands up in a sign of backtrack. “You offered her the job?”

“Isn’t that what you were implying before?” Myungsoo asked.

“No, I wanted you to ask for some suggestions on other journalism majors on our campus.” he shook his head, wishing that Myungsoo wasn’t so naive to get the hint. “Anybody would be better but her.”

“Why is that?”

“She’s a .” Sunggyu clarified as nonchalant as possible. “Beautiful, nice girls are hard to come by. She’s definitely not one of them. She has one friend—that guy whose eyes never leave his phone, and he doesn’t even bother with her half the time.”

“The rumor mill runs cold.” Myungsoo muttered in her defense. “You don’t even know her, besides I can’t just drop her now. She needs this job.” No matter how much of an attitude she may possess.

“I’m just saying,” Sunggyu said pointedly, being the proud hyung he was. “I heard she’s a handful.”

Myungsoo couldn’t even argue with that, because he knew that much was true.