"Pilot"

“Hi, this is Go Haeun speaking. I am currently away; please leave me a message once you hear the beep. Bye.”

“Sis, you’re coming home for Grandma’s birthday, right? She’s missing you so much she said she just want you for her birthday gift. Let me know about your attendance... I miss you!”

“Miss Go, I will be a little late to pick you up this morning. I am so sorry to suddenly cancel in a very last minute; I need to go out of town to visit my family. I will see you next week.”

“Go Haeun, could you please turn your phone on? This is very very urgent! Why I can’t find any of the legal contracts we’re supposed to have for the photo shoot of our latest campaign? I really couldn’t find it on my desk. Could you please call me to confirm whether you have it already with you? The legal team said they sent someone to give it to you. Really wonder what they’ve been doing to their oh-so-legal way to do everything. How could they have no idea who sent you the agreement? Darn it! Call me; I know you’re still at home around this time.”

“Haeun, I’ll arrive at seven tonight. Meet me for dinner at our favorite restaurant?”

Haeun just turned her phone on once she heard the message left by her senior manager, Kim Heechul. But upon receiving the last message from her father, she pending the message from her boss and texting her father, confirming her attendance for the dinner. After making a quick reservation for two at Milano Grill, their long time favorite Italian restaurant, she turned herself to the phone again, informing her boss that everything’s okay.

Washing the bowl after her cereal breakfast, Haeun stood in front of the mirror once again, making sure that she looked fine already for a new day in the office. She rechecked her long brown lock that made a perfect loose curl at the end of it along with her makeup. Her top, the baby blue satin blouse, tucked inside her white tulip skirt, covered with loose white cardigan; giving her the not-so-serious-Monday-but-ready-for-working- look. Haeun took her navy bag before she wore her crème wedges, looking pretty to face the morning.

Arriving at the lobby of the apartment, the usual morning shift security guard greeted her politely, ready to assist Haeun to her taxi. When her driver, Uncle Nam, took day off Haeun usually just ordered taxi rather than asked for a replacement for the driver. She got used to him, so she rather bears a day without a driver compared to experience an uncomfortable way of driving like the previous replacement did. It was enough to make her father asked Uncle Nam to be their family permanent employee.     

“Orchid Tower.” she told the driver before got busy juggling with her phone and the appointment all over again. Haeun made some mental note as well as writing on her turquoise agenda, preparing everything she remembered to face the work.

To be able to be in her position right now, Haeun sometimes felt like she’s so blessed with so many opportunities that came for her. Starting in a scratch from being an intern, contracted employee, and finally joined Marketing Team, Haeun could say that she’s having quite a big leap in the past 4 years of working. So when she moved to the new company as Junior Marketing Manager for Charmed, one of the leading beauty brands in the market, Haeun felt challenged and wished to be the best in the field through all the projects she’s having.

She joined Charmed for the past eight months and she could say that it’s actually way more challenging than her previous company where she worked with no goals, just following the demand from the management, on which really different with what she believed as definition of work and contribute. And for that reason, she quit the job. She’s glad though; had she never left the job, she probably still complaining and still on the same position. But here in Charmed, she’s pretty much happy with whatever she’s doing. The job was hell busy and packed with activities, but scratch it, Haeun just love being busy and all. And that’s why her boss loves her so much. She’s pretty much could be count by him, in a good and bad way.

Once the taxi stopped to drop her at the lobby of the office, Haeun looked at the tall, modern building of Orchid Tower. A trivia said that the tower was build to honor the owner late mother’s love for orchid, that’s why the building name and decorations mostly having orchid in total of 40 floors. Haeun loves this kind of thing, she just couldn’t help it. Melancholic stuff drove her crazy, a side that people would never think about her if they just saw her from a glance.

Haeun arrived at her floor, the 15th floor of Charmed office that’s filled with Marketing, Sales, and Operation Department. Just like the usual morning, the security and office boys greeted her followed by fellow officemates. It was one of the things that Haeun like, the positive energy she received just by coming to the office. It’s a small thing, but for her, saying and receiving a good morning greeting was a way to charge her battery.

When she arrived on her desk, Sohee, her desk mate, already sat there with her healthy breakfast, an overnight oat. For Haeun, Ahn Sohee is everything women want to be. Having a healthy lifestyle, Sohee has the body that made women envy and men crave for it. Haeun realized she has the same healthy body as Sohee, but the way Sohee presented herself made Haeun a bit out of league compared to her.

“Morning, Haeun.” Sohee greeted with a bright smile.

“Hey, morning. Oats, I see...” Haeun responded as she placed her bags: her hand bag and a laptop bag.

“Having a wedding to attend, there’s no way I could fit the dress I bought yesterday if I’m not having this body...” Sohee replied, rolling her eyes playfully. Haeun just smiled to her, back on focusing for her agenda this morning. So many things to do... But right before she started to type her password to unlock the email account, her phone rang.

“Haeun.” the familiar sound was heard and Haeun knew very well who’s on the line. “Morning, Dear.”

“Oh hi, Sunbae.” she gladly greeted her superior.

“Have you arrived at the office? On your desk?” he asked in such a calm way.

“Just arrived. About the agreement-“

“Yes, about that agreement,” Kim Heechul cut her words. “Please make sure I get it on my desk by today, I need to give a sign there. But I want you to recheck it once again before I sign it, ok?”

“Sure, I’ll get it ready by the time you arrived at the office.”

“Great. Let’s close it by today, shall we?”

Haeun hummed in agreement. She wrote quickly on her note, making sure that everything’s right for today. The agreement really should be done by today, unless they wanted to cancel the promotion date, which was impossible in any way possible. Marketing promotion date was always decided last minute, but with huge impact that once a part of the project being pending in one department remained untouched, it could lead a miserable way to get the promotion still be on the time despite of everything. And Haeun surely did not want to do it that way.

“And Haeun,”

“Yes?”

“A cappuccino would work for me to face the day... so could you-“

“Please get a cup for you at the coffee shop?” she cut her superior, already knew what he likes and dislikes, what’s nice to have and what’s the simple way to do stuff.

“That’d be lovely. Thanks. See you very soon at the office.” Manager Kim ended the call.

Haeun couldn’t hide the knowing glance once she put her phone back; Sohee smiled and patted the back of her shoulder.

“The morning errand, isn’t it?” Sohee said with a playful voice. Haeun just nodded with a small smile, examining her notes before she took her wallet along with her phone.

“I’ll go to Starbucks across the building, so please let anyone who looks for me left a note on my desk. Thanks, Sohee!” she waved her hands before leaving the floor once again.   

Going inside the elevator, Haeun flashed a smile towards the people she knew in the floor. Not everyone seemed to be excited about Monday morning, but that’s okay for her. She felt blessed she could use the energy for something positive. As she stepped across the building, she saw the queue at the coffee shop would take her a while before she could get back to her desk, doing the things she’s actually being paid for instead of buying her boss a cup of cappuccino, just the way he likes it.  

Haeun was eyeing for the blueberry muffin when the person in front of her turned around and cleared his throat before he greeted her with a deep “Hi”, making her turned away from the lovely cakes.

“Um. Hi.” she replied, a little unsure whether the guy just greeted her or...

“Are you working around here?” he asked with a warm comfortable tone.

Haeun nodded. “Yep, around here.”

“Me as well,” he responded, rolling her eyes before he looked at her again, smiling.

And after that, awkward. Haeun couldn’t tell if she knew or ever met this guy. She examined him: tall, short brown hair, standing a little awkward. She has no memory of this kind of guy in her head.

“Mmm. Sorry?”

“Yes?”

“I think I’ve seen you somewhere before...”

Haeun raised one of her eyebrows. Oh no, no. He’s not going to do this, she thought. She had no time to play this kind of games.

“Really? I don’t think so.” she politely replied, making the guy a bit baffled. She glanced at him and since he just left silent, she just nodded at him, signing him that she’s not interested to do the talk again.

“Sir, what do you want to order?” the barista’s questions broke the silence between these two. Haeun had to tell the guy that it’s his turn to order, making him turned around and quickly placed the order. Not too long after that, it’s her turn.

Haeun placed three orders for her team. She waited for awhile as the barista packed her a sandwich and blueberry muffin. When she looked around, the guy from earlier was already gone. She’s more than glad to know that he’s away from her. He’s just like any other guy, trying to get to know her, but in the end just playing around. Or worse, wanting her to be a trophy girlfriend. It’s too bad; he looked like a nice guy. But she trusted her instinct more than anything. Even the good one could go bad...

Haeun shook her head as she smiled to herself.  

It’s not a time for guy. Not the right time.

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Two taps on Haeun desk made her looked up and found Byun Baekhyun, her peers from the Connections team, smiled charmingly at her. Lean, handsome, and warm; that is things that made Byun Baekhyun adored and loved by the entire floor. As for Haeun, it’s nice to have a nice peer that’s easy to work with. Haeun turned away from her laptop and greeted Baekhyun with a wide smile.

“So pretty.” he commented. “Is that smile really for me? I could die from the sweetness of your smile,” he added annoyingly. Haeun just shrugged and rolled her eyes.

If there’s anyone in this floor with confidence and cheesy level just as half as Byun Baekhyun, Haeun would be glad to befriend him. Baekhyun sometimes went a little too much. He’s handsome, yes. He’s nice, absolutely. It’s just that his womanizer aura couldn’t be toned down, on which automatically made him the most should be avoid guy in terms of a long time relationship. Haeun heard that he’s engaged already, and she’s glad to know that Baekhyun was indeed wore his engagement ring. He’s sweet like that.

Taking her pen and her notes, Haeun looked at Baekhyun, who’s standing in front of her, getting ready about the item for the project.

“What’s up?”

“Oh well,” Baekhyun cleared his throat as he walked and took a chair, placed it next to Haeun. “We’re going to do a project together. Soon.”

“What is it about?”

“As usual, creating apps and website.”

“Again?” Haeun raised one of her eyebrows.

“Well, that’s the trend and according to the survey done by our research team, it’s a good thing to have a cool and simple app for women.”

“Should we propose the agency name to help us doing it?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “No need. The procurement team already did their part, so we got the final agency to do it for us. But of course we need alignment and discussion with the agency.”

“Could you please share me the brief?” Haeun made a note for the project.

Baekhyun gave her a knowing smile.

“What is it, Byun?”

“No need to get you the brief. We’re so going to meet the agency now.”

Haeun could only sigh as she got the answer. It seemed like it’s a habit in marketing department to drive their members crazy. Date kept changing and everything’s so last minute. It drove her crazy.

“Please tell me at least we have a decent amount of time to get it done perfectly?” Haeun looked at Baekhyun who could give her a faint smile.

“That’s why we’re going to talk to the agency about it right now.” Baekhyun said as he winked before making Haeun following him to see the agency.

The Monday curse. That’s the term Haeun and Sohee used to express any annoying update or a rush project that happened in Monday, just like this one.

“Are they here for the meeting already?” Haeun asked Baekhyun who reached the elevator button, pressing the above bottom for their company meeting and conference room.

“Their office is in this building as well on the 25th, we’re going there. My boss already with them, I guess we should just listen to the whole brief and ask them to follow up towards our feedback.” he explained before they got to the elevator.

“Is there any agency in this building?”

Baekhyun gave Haeun the look. “You know, if you care enough to look at the sign in front of the building, you’ll find one of the most appealing creative agencies here in the building. Blue Light.” 

In seconds, they arrived at the agency office and headed to one of the rooms assigned for the meeting. Inside, Haeun was greeted by Kim Junmyeon, Baekhyun’s boss, who already sat there and talked with the team member of the agency. She’s introduced to them, three men and two women. But since there’s still some technical problem with the lighting of the room, the building technician came to help and it gave Haeun a time to go to the bathroom.

It was Haeun first time to visit the agency office. She noticed that the office gave a very different vibe compare to her office. If hers mostly dominated by the color of red, the brand signature, in the agency office it was more to colorful. The design is minimalist, simple, but it’s build with so many colors and cool stuff in the room. Even the clock and the garbage bin were so unique and edgy. She smiled at the thought of the owner of the office; the person must have been so creative. And it created another sound in Haeun’s head. Duh, it’s a creative agency; of course the person who works here should be creative.

When she’s done, Haeun walked back to the office but then she realized. She has no ID for the office access. She forgot to bring the ID that Baekhyun has. And to complete her lost experience, she didn’t bring her phone and the security seemed to be off somewhere. Haeun was all alone in the lobby of the office. Knowing she could do nothing, she patiently waiting in front of the glass door that’s covered with Blue Light company name and motto. It’s so colorful and filled the whole large door, so people couldn’t see from both sides. Patient is indeed a virtue.

“Are you going in?” a sound asked from behind addressed to Haeun.  

“Well, yes. I am-“Haeun stopped for a while. The smile she had on her face fell to a surprise look. The person who asked her was the guy she met earlier in the coffee shop, the one who asked whether she’s work around the area or not. She found herself went speechless when she realized it was him. Unlike her surprise expression, the guy just smiled and tapped his ID, opening the door.

“After you,” he motioned his hand to let Haeun walked first.

It was an awkward ten seconds, but the guy seemed didn’t mind about what happened earlier at the coffee shop. He also didn’t make the look of hey-we-met-couple-hours-ago. And Haeun thought that maybe this guy understood that she meant her words of not being interested with him. Haeun didn’t dare to say anything or even ask him, she just kept walking to the meeting room that she clearly remembered.

When she got in, the screen already showed the opening brief of their project but the meeting had not yet started. Haeun was just sat on her seat next to Baekhyun and about to take out her notes when the guy from the coffee shop went inside the meeting room as well, making her looking at him once again.

“I think we can start the meeting now,” said one of the team members as she turned her attention to the coffee shop guy. “Please let me introduce the project manager for this upcoming project, Park Chanyeol.”

The coffee shop guy politely nodded to everyone that seemed excited to have him in the meeting. And when he ended his introduction with a warm “Nice to meet you”, Haeun could feel the tingling feeling over his smile and glance that seemed directed to her and her only.   

Uh, oh. Jackpot.

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Piles of documents and work were waiting for Haeun the whole day after she finished a meeting with the Sales department regarding a new promotion event for the upcoming summer. She made some additional notes and called several other agencies for the promotion design as well as talked to the tour and travel agent regarding the trip to Paris that her brand wanted to do for ten exclusive winners from the magazine competition. And it was so hectic Haeun didn’t realize it’s almost seven already. What a day.

She looked around only to find that her boss was about to leave the office, saying goodbye to her. Haeun stretched her hands before she covered her face with her palms, feeling all tired suddenly. It’s just Wednesday but she felt like she’s having a hard week already. Haeun decided to end her work and headed to the bathroom for refreshment.

She had just arrived in the lobby when she met Kim Junmyeon. Seemed like she’s not the only one who stayed a little late in the office.

“Hi, Sunbae,” she politely greeted the Marketing manager. He’s just one step away from the position of Marketing Director, which she believed would be soon achieved. She learned a lot from Kim Junmyeon, from his way treating people to the point how he handled problem or crisis during their time together working on the project.

“What are you doing this late?” he responded as he shook his head. “Girls should be having fun around this hour, Haeun, not working in the office. Oh wait. Are you waiting for your boyfriend to pick you up?”

Haeun shook her head as she smiled. “No boyfriend yet, Sunbae.”

“And why is that so?”

“Are you sure you’re more interested in my dating life rather than the progress of our project?” she replied with a teasing sound.

“Project can always be talked tomorrow, but maybe I wouldn’t have a chance to hear about your love life if Baekhyun never talked about it.”

“What? He said something about me?”

Kim Junmyeon shrugged lightly. “You know Baekhyun. I think he fits the definition of Connection department very well. To be able to connect, internally and externally, through gossip.”

Both of them laughed and Haeun had to agree with what Junmyeon said. Baekhyun was the one in the office who always filled with the updated news, about the office or about the people in the office. From some juniors got scolded by senior from other departments or who dating who.

Haeun had to say goodbye to Kim Junmyeon when he received a call and headed to the parking lot. As for Haeun, she walked outside the office and thinking to take a taxi rather than the train because she felt so exhausted. And it was like the two days ago when she found the coffee shop guy right in front of her. He’s on his bicycle, parked outside the building, It was an awkward moment but the time they looked at each other, Haeun couldn’t help but smiling as he smiled at her.

“Hi, Miss Go,” he greeted her from his bike. Haeun noticed it was a nice comfortable bike brand her father used to have few years ago when he’s still active doing sport.

“You bike to work?” she asked him as she slowly approached him.

Park Chanyeol nodded and flashed another wide smile. “Well, yes. Is it cool?”

“Huh?”

“Do you find it cool for a guy who bike to work?” he asked her again. Haeun was surprised by his question she went a little speechless but then let out an awkward laugh together with him.

Haeun noticed how he looked so comfortable with himself. His working attired could be said a little underdressed for office work with only jeans and shirt and a checkered shirt covering his shirt plus a parka to help him fight the slightly cold night. But again, he’s working in creative industry. The entire worker in his agency wore light and unique stylish clothes. Haeun didn’t miss several branded stuff that he wore, like his Neiman Marcus messenger bag or his Timberland boots, He mixed it with style and Haeun having a second thought about this guy when they met for the second time.

Unlike what she thought about him in the coffee shop, that he’s trying to hit on her, it seemed like he’s indeed saw her before they met that morning. And knowing they’re working in the same building, she realized that Park Chanyeol was indeed felt familiar about her. She might as well be in the same elevator with him but since she didn’t pay attention, she thought she never saw him before. It was a mistake and already talked about it to him. Haeun admired how Chanyeol let it off easily.

“Are you waiting for your car?” he asked her, checking around any car that might be hers.

Haeun shook her head. “Nope. I’m going to take a taxi, a little tired here” she answered, shrugging her shoulder.

Park Chanyeol smiled again. She noticed that he seemed to smile a lot, but she enjoyed the warm gesture he gave through that smile.

“Okay, I guess you should start waiting for your taxi if you don’t want those men snatches it away...” Chanyeol nodded to the taxi queue. Haeun nodded and thanked him for that.

“Okay then...”

“See you again, Miss Go.”

“See you, Mr. Park.” she replied in a polite way, making Chanyeol once again smiling. He left with his bike while Haeun walked to queue for the taxi. She still looked at his back when she stood waiting for the taxi. It’s been a series of awkward yet silly encounter with him. Haeun couldn’t help but smiling.  

Park Chanyeol.

Why does the name seem to ring something to her?

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He first noticed her through the reflection at the coffee shop. She’s there and he realized that it’s her. He thought he’s dreaming because it’s been a while for him to see her so when he turned around and really found her standing on his back with a very fascinating stare towards the cakes on the fridge. It was like the first time he saw her all over again.

“I think I’ve seen you somewhere before...”

Yeah, that’s the best pick up line he could ask her. And Park Chanyeol really wished he could hammer his head when she just raised one of her eyebrows, totally not buying his words. And her cold reply woke him up.

“Really? I don’t think so.”

She didn’t remember him. Of course, why would she? Why would Go Haeun remember Park Chanyeol? Why would a girl like her remember someone that maybe not exists in her memory? He should know that better than anyone else. He should not feel a little pinch in his heart when she didn’t recognize him. Still he couldn’t help it.

Because maybe some part of him wanted her to. Because he remembered her for more than ten years. She left him memories that he would never erased, not until his last breath in this world. And he didn’t want it to be forgotten either.

It’s her.

Go Haeun, his long time sweet heart.

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Chapter 2 is following oh so very soon. 

This story has been lingering in my mind for a while and I think this the right time to post it.

Hope you enjoy it :) 

xoxo,

yuriyaa