“After the groundbreaking news earlier this year that Kris, Wu Yi Fan, has left Korea’s most beloved group, Exo, to pursue a career of his own as an actor back in China, it seems a certain blonde Canadian Chinese has landed himself yet again within our radars… As if juggling his first debut film and a major lawsuit against SM entertainment wasn’t enough, is a GIRL actually in the mix...?!” 

-Dispatch

The sharp clacking of the keyboard keys and the soft humming of the air conditioners were the only sounds in the darkened office, which was lit only by the light from a lone monitor. A dark haired girl was hunched over the keys, muttering softly to herself as she rubbed her tired eyes, resisting the urge to fall asleep right there on her desk. Beside her, a flight ticket sat atop a passport, bold black letters spelling the words ‘Kuri, Ms, China’. She glanced at the clock in the corner of the screen and sighed.

Less than twenty-four hours until she could see him, he who had haunted her dreams for the past month.

Kris...

She sighed and straightened up, gazing wearily at the screen as she saved the document.

Now just send that stupid article and you can sleep.

She sighed inwardly, resting her chin on her left hand as she clicked through her email, reading the messages she missed before sending her work to her editor. As soon as she finished, she got up, high heels clacking across the tiled floor as she left her office for home.

Morning came a little too quickly for her liking, the winter sunlight almost blinding her as she cracked one eye open in annoyance before slamming her hand down on her alarm clock.

As Kuri went back to dreaming of blonde hair and piercing, dark eyes, a sudden ring made her jolt upright almost instantly.

The interview.

Picking up her phone as she headed to her bathroom to wash up, she saw that it was flooded with missed calls and angry messages demanding that she be present at the weekly team meeting. She squinted her eyes at the blinding light.

“0900 or you can forget about flying tonight.”

She glanced at the clock, groaning inwardly when she saw that it was already 8:30. As she rushed out of her apartment fully dressed ten minutes later, she looked around desperately for a cab, but as luck would have it, there were none in sight. She huffed in frustration, intending to call for one when a silver car pulled up beside her, which, despite the conditions, she wasn’t exactly happy to see.

Him again.

She mentally rolled her eyes, but plastering a cheerful smile on her face nevertheless.

“You look like you could use a lift.” the man in the driver’s seat smiled, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners as he did so. “Hop in.” He reached over and opened her door for her. “Thanks, Jong Un, but I really shouldn’t trouble you…” she forced a smile, reaching to close the door slowly.

Just get the hint and leave already. She growled in her head, maintaining her smile with a little more effort than necessary.

“Nonsense, we’re going the same way anyway, it’s no trouble at all.” his smile stretched into a full-on grin, and he gestured for her to get on. “You have a meeting at nine, right?”

            How does he even know that…

She sighed softly to herself in defeat, cringing slightly as she stepped into his car, which smelt of alcohol and cigarettes. That was never a very pleasant scent to experience, especially in the morning. She choked slightly and turned to face out the window, ignoring her companion’s attempts to make small talk. If there was any upside to all this, at least she wouldn’t be late now.

            As soon as the vehicle pulled up outside the main entrance of the pretty glass building she worked in, she leapt out almost too quickly, calling out a hurried “Thanks Jong Un!” as she tried to walk as fast as possible without looking too conspicuous.

            As she stepped into the cool interior of her office, she noted, with extreme relief, that it was exactly nine o’clock. She gathered her notes and thumbdrive, walking briskly to the meeting room where everyone was already seated. Flushing lightly in embarrassment as seven pairs of eyes turned towards her, she shuffled quickly to her seat, sitting down with a soft huff.

“How nice of you to join us this morning, Kuri.” her team leader, Seo-Yeon, said dryly, causing soft laughter to erupt around the table. Kuri bit back an insult, settling for flipping through her notes instead as the discussion started.

“So as all of you are aware, I presume, that we will all be flying off to different countries today for our articles…” Seo-Yeon droned on and on, and Kuri found herself doodling mindlessly on the papers laid out in front of her, her eyes slipping shut slowly until…

“Kuri, if you’re that tired, I suggest you sleep at home, not here. There’s no point in you being here if all you do is doodle and sleep.” Seo-Yeon snapped, her voice cold. “I’m sorry, ma'am. I’ll listen.” Kuri muttered, twitching slightly in irritation. “Good. I better see you keep to that, or I’ll personally cancel your ticket to China and submit an evaluation of your performance to the boss.” Seo-Yeon smiled patronizingly, and Kuri fought the urge to just leave as anger bubbled up in her.

Calm down. Just ten more hours.

She tried her best to pay attention after that, and sighed in relief once the meeting was dismissed. Not even bothering to hide her eagerness, she grabbed her things and was just about to leave when that of a leader spoke again.

“Sorry, Kuri, but I need you to stay back, I have to speak to you about the report you sent last night.” this time, she had a smirk on her face, and the rest of the team gave Kuri strange looks as they passed, filing past her out of the door.

She’ll probably want me to rewrite it. She sighed mentally as she faced the older woman.

“Yes, unnie?” she muttered, willing herself not to flinch as she looked up into the other’s cold gaze, which was not made any softer by the other’s blue contacts, rather, they seemed to make her eyes shine with an icy light, making her appear colder and scarier than ever.

Her senior threw a stack of papers across the table at her. “I want you to give me one good reason why I should accept this joke of a report.” she said, and Kuri picked it up, scanning through its contents. This was actually the first report she was proud of, the article on Girls’ Generation that she had agonized for a week over. “I know you’re new in this industry, but that doesn’t give you a reason to slack off.” Seo-Yeon continued, looking back at her newest intern. “I’m sorry, unnie, but I worked my off on this, and I honestly do not see how it’s ‘a joke of a report’, as you said, so pray tell, where did I go wrong, or are you just that biased against me?” the blond team leader raised an elegantly arched brow as the younger girl challenged her, before a small smile spread across her face. “And that’s where you went wrong before, Kuri. You just accepted criticism, even if it was not constructive, without ever standing up for yourself. Remember that as a journalist, you must always have faith in your own work.” she stood up from her seat. “And with that, I wish you the best of luck for your interview with Mr Wu in three days’ time. Do not disappoint me.” So saying, Seo-Yeon swept from the room, leaving a very stunned Kuri in her wake.

Wait. What?

After a moment, she gathered her thoughts, but only one thing was on her mind.

Maybe she’s not such a after all.

[A/N] Hey! This is my first fic, as mentioned above, so reviews are always appreciated ^^ and Happy Chinese New Year to those who are celebrating!