4 January

"I've got such a terrible hangover..." Jiyeon complained as she leaned her head against the pantry cabinet.

Mixing her tea, Mina laughed at her friend and handed her the two aspirins she was asking for. "What time did you even reach home this morning?"

"I don't know... All I know now is that I should just have called in sick...Sleep sounds so good right now."

"Well, if its of any comfort, the load this week isn't that bad. You just have today and tomorrow before the weekend." Mina then patted Jiyeon on the shoulder and left the pantry.

As she walked towards her table, she saw her sister writing something on her desk, her back turned to her. Mina inched forward and took a peep over her sister's shoulder.

"What's up?"

Tina looked up and her eyes widened in shock as she saw her younger sister's face in such close proximity.

"Why did you have to do that?" She whined as she took a step back.

Grinning to herself, Mina took her seat and looked up at her sister. "What warrants my sister to the accounts table?"

Her sister pointed to a piece of paper on the table and Mina picked it up.

"Department Heads first meeting with Director Cho....Tomo- Tomorrow?" Mina looked at her sister and the paper in her hands. "Are you for real?"

Tina nodded simply.

"Director Cho now wants quarterly reports with the department heads. He thinks it will improve communication and efficiency between staff and fellow employees."

Quarterly meetings?

"I know what your over-imaginative mind must be thinking. Please behave yourself."

Mina stuck her tongue out at her sister and returned her eyes to the paper in front of her, scanning for the list of materials she would have to prepare before the meeting.

"I think Director Cho will be sending emails to the heads for the documents he wants to see."

After checking her clipboard for any final instructions she missed, Tina ruffled her sister's hair and left for the lift lobby.

Mina felt herself tingle with excitement as she thought of the next day's meeting. True, she would be together with the other department heads but a chance to see Kyuhyun was better than none at all.

Mina looked into her inbox and true to her sister's word, an email from the new Director was waiting to be read.

Dear Department Heads,

As told to you by Tina, there would be a meeting tomorrow at the Conference Room Level 18...

Mina skipped the first few paragraphs till she found the documents under the heading, Accounts.

Draft a report on the company's financial activities and position for the previous year. I'm aware not all figures are in yet but just give a rough estimate. Please also include a draft budget for this financial year.

Mina scanned the rest of the email till the end.

Report and budget... That's not so hard.

Just as Mina was about to close the window and access the other online files, a notification popped up from her sidebar, signaling she had a new email.

Weird, another email from Director Cho?

Mina double-clicked on the email and began reading.

I hope you don't hate me for asking you to come up with the budget... I don't want you to attempt banging into walls again. ;)

Cho Kyuhyun (Director)

Mina froze, her breathing hitched as she reread the email again. She read it twice more, shaking her head till she was dizzy just to convince herself that this wasn't one of her daydreams.

Nope. I'm dizzy from the shaking. This is real.

Taking a deep breath, Mina stared at the email again and felt herself flushing despite the cool temperature of the office.

Did he actually remember that incident? It was so insignificant... And that winking smiley?!

Mina berated herself internally at the rate her thoughts were going.

You're behaving like a hormonal teen, scrutinizing every single sentence, word and punctuation. He was just probably being friendly...

Mina's heart was screaming that no boss would send his employee a winking smiley without trying to be flirtatious but her head was saying otherwise; that he was just being a nice boss who cared for the physical and mental well-being of his staff.

But the winking smiley though...No, enough of this.

Taking a deep breath, Mina returned her eyes to the email and wondered if she should reply.

It's only polite to do so, right?

Biting her lip, Mina sat still as she contemplated her next move. Moments passed and Mina got more tense, small beads of perspiration began forming on her forehead which she promptly wiped away.

"Oh just do it." She muttered as she clicked on the "Reply" button.

Now the question was what was she going to say?

Mina spent half an hour experimenting with various sentence structures and synonyms to come up with two lines worth of reply. She wanted her reply to sound friendly, but not overly enthusiastic but at the same time, professional.

Dear Sir,

No, I don't hate you for assigning me the task of drawing up the budget- its my job after all. At the same time, rest assured that the walls are safe.

Hwa Mina (Accounts)

Mina contemplated on adding a smiley in the message but decided against it. She didn't want to look as if she spent three-quarters of an hour to perfect a two sentence email, even though she actually did.

Biting her lip and wishing that it was the right move, she shut her eyes and clicked sent.

That was hard...

Mina then decided to get started on her report and opened the folder that contained the totals regarding the previous year's profits.

As she began reading, her mind kept wandering to Kyuhyun, whether he already read her reply. Her eyes fell onto the door of the Director's room, where she read the name inside the nameplate and felt the tingle of excitement again.

Suddenly, the door opened and Kyuhyun came out. Mina gave a small squeal and averted her gaze to the the file in front of her. But it was too late, Kyuhyun had laid his eyes on her the moment he came out and no amount of turning away could erase the fact that Kyuhyun knew it too.

Mina bit her lip as she felt her cheeks warm up and began reading the first line she saw.

Profit and Loss Accounts for 2013...Profit and Loss Accounts for... Profit and Loss...

"Hello Ms Hwa."

If there was a moment that Mina would have wished that she could disappear, it was that. But she couldn't and resorted to looking up and smiled sheepishly at Kyuhyun.

Giving Mina a small smile, he placed his arm on the ledge of her cubicle and lazily placed his face on it.

"Y-yeah?"

"I'm glad the walls will be safe. But I'm curious, do you always sign off your emails like that? I felt as if I was reading an email from the lawyer's office."

Mina was at a loss for words and settled for a shrug.

Do not make eye contact. Do not look at the utterly gorgeous human being in front of you even though he's so attractively cute with his head on his arm. Do not make eye contact...

Mina felt her resolve weaken as he continued looking at her from his angle,  a smile still dancing on his lips.

Just as Mina turned to look at Kyuhyun, Jiyeon turned up behind him.

"Mina, I need your signature for this report to be published. You've already checked this."

Jiyeon greeted the young Director, who nodded in acknowledgement and to Mina's discomfort, remained in his position and continued watching her.

"Yes, I've just gone through this report earlier. Everything's in order." Mina gave the documents a final glance and signed on the various pages before returning it to Jiyeon.

When Mina returned her the file, Jiyeon was smiling mischievously, and began humming  a tune which Mina immediately recognized as the chorus of La La by The Cab, one of Mina's favorite songs.

So much for that hangover...

Realizing that Kyuhyun was still watching her, Mina decided that ignoring him wouldn't get her anywhere and she needed to start on her work.

"Is there anything I can do for you, sir?" She asked as clearly as she could, hoping  that the loud drumming of here heart wouldn't be heard.

Kyuhyun smirked as he straightened himself, "Yes, actually. there is something... You never used to call me 'Sir'. I wonder what brought that about?"

He's teasing you...

Mina felt a surge of adrenaline engulf her and returned his smirk with a nonchalant smile. "It's only right since you're my boss after all. If you don't mind, you did give me a few tasks and I have to complete them before tomorrow's meeting."

Amused, Kyuhyun nodded and loosened his tie. Mina felt her stomach do somersaults as she watched him.

"Happy working, Ms Hwa."

With that, he returned to his office and Mina let out a breath she had been holding in.

How can loosening one's tie be so sensual... Not in the office, Hwa Mina, not in the office. Accounts, accounts, accounts!

The scene of the previous few minutes played back in her mind and instead of feeling flustered, Mina was amused, but for some reason pleased, with the turn of events.

"What was that all about?"

Hyuna came by her table, along with the rest of the accounts team. Each member wore a grin that Mina could recognize. The kind of grin where high school students realized that there was a potential couple to start teasing and were keen to start on the target in front of them.

"You guys saw what was going on. I'm as confused as all of you."

The four females and three males rolled their eyes as they began teasing their Accounts Head.

After ten minutes of teasing and idle chatter, Mina sent the band of gossipers away and passed the budgeting task to Hyuna to do up a first draft.

"Please include ALL transactions this time." Mina reminded Hyuna as the latter nodded and smiled.

5 January

It was half an hour before the department meeting and Mina was in the washroom, checking that her lilac blouse and work pants were in check as she wondered if she should have worn the mint green one instead.

Oh well, this would have to do.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone but after yesterday's interaction with Kyuhyun, she was excited for the meeting and couldn't wait to enter the meeting room and discreetly ogle at him again.

Tina then came out of a cubicle and squinted at her sister.

"You look fine. The blouse is fine, the pants are fine."

"I just hope I don't make a fool of myself and by getting all nervous when he starts asking me about the budget..." muttered Mina.

"Times like these when I wish our accounts ahead wasn't a love-struck teen. What is it about him that you like so much?"

Mina placed both hands on the marble sink and stared at her reflection.

"He's just so ideal... He took Business Psychology, I don't know what that means but it sounds so intellectual...Plus the fact that before he came and took over from his dad, he was doing some voluntary work in Africa for a year, helping the people with skills that could help them make a living. Plus, he's just so handsome, everyone says so even Hanjae and Yongha, and they're practically the straightest guys I know."

Tina grinned at her sister, shaking her head at the extent of her sister's infatuation, when she realized something.

"How did you know what he was up to before he came here?"

Mina froze. Kyuhyun told her that bit when they had lunch a few weeks ago. Tina was not around and without her sister, Mina wasn't one to go out for lunch alone. Though she shares pretty much everything with her sister, Mina conveniently forgot to mention the lunch with Kyuhyun to her sister.

"Um.. Remember when you had a high fever and couldn't come to work last month? Kyuhyun saw me alone in the office and asked if I wanted to join him. I didn't want to but he was pretty insistent..."

Tina burst out laughing. "I can't believe you're blushing over this."

Mina fanned herself with her hand as she pouted at her sister.

"Next time, I'll invite him to join us for lunch, ok?" Tina pulled the door open and let her sister out first.

"Whatever, sis."

Mina then walked to her table and switched on her screen.

An email notification was on her screen and thinking it was one of those reminders that the company sent about healthy living, she clicked on it.

Dear Ms Hwa,

I look forward to getting your sister's lunch invite soon.

See you later.

Cho Kyuhyun (Director)

Mina felt her blood turn into ice as she read the email. A smile escaped from her lips but she also felt quite embarrassed despite being alone in her cubicle.

Grabbing her phone, Mina sent a quick text to her sister, punctuated with several exclamation marks. Within seconds, she saw her sister making her way towards her, her eyes laden with surprise.

"This is your fault." Mina whispered as she pointed at her screen.

Her sister read the screen and a grin started to form on her face.

"Oooh, he heard us."

Mina began muttering about soundproofing toilet walls and private conversations as her sister read the email again.

"You seem awfully pleased."

"Of course I am, I'll ask him for lunch next week then."

Mina looked at her sister, horrified. "I have to see him in..." Mina glanced at her watch, "fifteen minutes. I'm not supposed to get an email like this from the Director before the start of a department meeting!"

Still smiling, Tina patted her sister's shoulder.

"Oh come on. You're only behaving like this because you're infatuated with him. Treat him like how you'd treat Hanjae or Yongha..." She said as she nudged her sister.

"I find it odd that he emailed you instead of me..." Tina's mouth formed an O as she made a sudden realization.

"I think your dream of being the next Mrs Cho may just materialize soon."

The sisters bantered some more about the email, Mina only being able to chase her away after Nori from Welfare turned up and said hi to the sisters before proceeding to the conference room

"This would continue at home." Tina teased as she waved at her sister.

She's right. The only reason why you're reacting like this is because you're madly in love with him. Treat him like an ordinary friend, like how you treat Yongha...How would you react if Yongha asked if he could join you and your sister for lunch?

Mina shook her head, gathered her documents and walked towards the conference room.

Upon entering, Mina spotted a chair next to Nori and sat beside her.

The remaining five department heads soon filtered in and exchanged greetings with the two.

Amongst the seven, Mina and Nori were the youngest department representatives. Mina initially felt  uncomfortable amongst the elders, particularly since a couple of them had been with the company since it was founded by Mr Cho Senior.

Kyuhyun soon walked in, with Tina close behind. She caught her sister's eye and winked at her as she took her seat behind Kyuhyun's.

"Good afternoon everyone, thank you for coming for today's meeting. We'll follow the order I set in the emails for presentation; Operations first and finally with Accounts." Mina twiddled her thumbs nervously as Kyuhyun nodded at her.

Everyone murmured in agreement and looked up.

"Joohyun, sir, if you're ready, we're all ears."

As Joohyun started on his update, Mina thought of how respectful Kyuhyun's tone was in speaking to Joohyun.

Kim Joohyun was one of the pioneers working in Chojun Ginseng and was one of Mr Cho Senior's good friends. With his age, his experience in the operations field was no doubt valuable. His only flaw however was that in meetings, he tended to beat around the bush.

It was definitely a good idea to put him first.

As Joohyun rambled on about working hours, work protocols and factory outputs, Mina found her mind wandering to other topics, especially with regard to her favorite person.

After fifteen minutes, Kyuhyun tactfully ended Joohyun's turn and the attention was shifted to Sangcho, who was in Human Resource. As the heads of Publicity, Quality Control, Facilities Management, Exports and Legalities and Welfare presented their items, Mina found herself watching her sister diligently type the various ideas. She also observed how Kyuhyun,despite his elevated position as the Director, still accredited respect to all department heads, particularly to the older ones.

A guy who knows how to treat his elders and does not lord it over them... Such a rare trait nowadays...

Mina stopped herself from smiling before anyone could see her.

"... Will take note of that... So, last but not the least, can we have our accounts update?"

Mina straightened herself and cleared .

"I've already placed two sheets in front of each of you. If you would all please look at the first one, that's our financial report on last year. As you can see, the profits of last year was a 8% increase from the previous year..."

Mina fully concentrated on what she was saying and with encouraging nods from her sister, she continued confidently in her presentation.

"As for the budget," Mina took the chance to smile at Kyuhyun before continuing, "for items like support staff, temporary facilities and the miscellaneous expenses, I've used the figures from 2013 since the updated figures aren't available yet. If the department heads could send in their proposed amounts, together with the relevant substantiations by say... End of this month?"

Mina looked at Kyuhyun for approval, who nodded at her suggestion.

"Yep, proposed amounts and substantiations by end of this month please." Mina reaffirmed as she wrote her own reminder in her planner. "That's all from the Accounts team then."

"Sir, can I clarify something from the Accounts team?" Tina piped up.

"Yeah?"

Mina sat straight and looked at her sister.

"You mentioned 'relevant substantiations'... Could you explain what such substantiations would be?"

Tina did look genuinely unsure and Mina did a mental face palm.

Meetings aren't the time to show off your extensive vocabulary, you idiot.

"I'm sorry for the word usage. Basically, they're any receipts or transactions to support why that proposed amount is appropriate... Does that make it any clearer?" Mina asked tentatively as she bit her lip.

"Yeah, that clarifies a lot." Kyuhyun spoke up and Mina turned to look at him. He grinned at her, causing her to be thankful she was seated because that grin would have caused her knees to buckle would she have been standing.

"Does anyone have any additional points then?" Kyuhyun then asked the room and after everyone shook their heads, the meeting was adjourned.

The various heads began leaving the room as Mina stood up last to give way to them. She gathered her things and turned to leave the room, only to realize the only other person left in the room was Kyuhyun.

Just my luck... Really...

He was still seated, looking at the papers in front of him. She had to walk past him to get out of the room and her confidence from earlier had faded.

She took a deep breath and walked towards the door, hoping that he wouldn't look up.

"I didn't know I wasn't the only one who likes to use big words."

She looked back at Kyuhyun and cocked her head to one side, "Words and numbers aren't just the only things I like big."

Immediately after saying those words, Mina realized the possible innuendo she could have hinted at and was about to regret her action till she saw his shocked yet amused features.

"I see numbers aren't just your talent, you have your way with words too. What other talents are you hiding?"

Mina felt herself flush almost immediately as her mind conjured up a rather graphic image. Erasing the image from her head, she urged herself to remain calm and settled for shrugging at Kyuhyun, smiling at him as she hugged her file to her chest.

They remained like that- looking at each other with smiles on their faces- for a few more moments when suddenly, Tina walked into the room.

"Sir, wh...Oh!"

Tina looked from Kyuhyun and Mina, the latter began blushing again and thus excused herself. Mina avoided her sister's eyes as she made her way out of the room.

Tina smiled to herself as her sister shuffled past her and left the room.

"Yeah, as you were asking?" Kyuhyun stood up and looked at Tina, his business tone back to use like nothing happened just moments ago.

Tina grinned at him as she handed him the document he needed to sign.

Maybe its time you two just need a little prodding in the right direction.