“ You said you would come home”

“ You have a meeting at 9.”

“ Please be on time. The line of text his phone buzzed with was what woke Jae up from the deep sleep he was lost in. The blanket pushed away from his body felt heavier than ever. As always, his morning started his day with a long cold shower. With his usual suit on, he was out of the building and headed to the office with his usual bagel and coffee. As he got in the car, it wasn’t the steering wheel but his phone that vibrated that got his attention.

Hyeon - Good morning. I left my phone in your bathroom, can you please bring it to the restaurant from yesterday. From the text, his eyes darted to the phone in his passenger seat. He was expecting her to call asking about her phone.

Jae - on my way. I should be there in 20.

His mind, which he had shut down with a single pill, was forced to not even spend a second thinking about last night as he drove into the parking lot. The moment she saw the car she could recognize anywhere, hyeon stepped out of the driver's side of her car. Choosing to at least have a physical object separating them, jae decided to stay in his car, Locking his driver-side door, which he was using as his defense from the women walking his way.

“ Good morning” Her bubbly energy was the first thing that caught him off-guard before he leaned back to get a full view of hyeon dressed in a white shirt covered with daisy flowers and one of her jeans.

“ oh, it's causal Friday a the office,” she explained her look. With her wide smile and the comforting look in her eyes, she doesn't seem like she remotely remembers what happened last night, let alone be impacted by it.

“ Thank you so much for dinner last night; by the way,” she corrected his assumption.

“ You need to tell me where to get that wine; it was so good” Her broad smiles were enough to remind him how this woman had, time after time, claimed that she had moved on and was over him. So it would make sense why she would not be bothered by anything,

“ Are you okay?”

“ You don’t look fine”

“I am fine,” changing his focus to her phone, his right hand was sent to grab it and bring it to his window.

“ you’re still attending the dinner tomorrow, right” it was only Jae that noticed where their hands touched as she slowly pulled her phone from his hand.

“ yeah” his response was short as he sent his hands to his cold steering wheel.

“ is Joon going to be there?” her eyes focus on the texts she missed, she asked.

“ yes, he is excited to see you there” he took advantage of her eyes that were focused on her phone to get a good look at her messy hair that was pushed behind her ear giving him a good view of her face.

“ oh really?”

“ I wonder why?”

“ maybe he misses you,”

“ He knows where I work, where I live” Her fingers typing were too quick.

“ I am wearing this fancy dress, so it should be fun” she finally brought her attention back to the conversation, and Jae immediately sent his eyes back to the steering wheel in front of him.

“I am more excited to see you there” she knew she would get a reaction out of him, and she did as she was finally able to see his dark eyes.

“ You always look good in a tuxedo,” she caught the tiny gasp that escaped his lips,

“ and you always look uncomfortable around rich people”

“ it will be fun to watch you act like you know any of them, let alone care about them” her little laughter was too adorable for Jae to say anything to burst her bubble.

“ I have a conference, so I have to go” her hands were placed behind her back as he started her small retirement away from his car but not before her right hand tapped at his opened window.

“ it was nice seeing you early in the morning,” her smiling eyes,thanks to the beautiful sun glowing from the east, were playing their usual tricks as she kept her warm smiles aimed at him.

“ I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow.” she gave him one more smile before she turned the corner a,t the car parked next to his.

“ huh,” his deep sigh and hands that were sent to squeeze his unscrewed head to remind him to get a grip. He might need to start his medication back again.

------------- -------------

“ Not hiding away tonight; it's Saturday night,” Joon leaning closer to jae, whispered. Sungi leading the way down the stairs was too focused on the dark sky, and the clouds hint at a rainy night more than the conversation behind him.

“ No’ was Jae’s response as he took a minute to realize how much of his habit Joon kept track of and how quickly he had recognized his new habit of disappearing some evenings. Lost in a different world whenever he was with her, Jae hadn’t even thought about how Joon could easily have him followed and figure out where he was disappearing to. He just chooses to give him the privacy he asks for. That was the type of friend he was. The drive to the hotel was filled with business-related conversations, and so were the first few minutes they spent walking to the dinner hallway. Considering how rare Jae’s presence was; there were lines of people coming to their table for Joon to even have a chance to say a word. Busying himself with the dinner, Sungi had stayed quiet, looking at all the art displayed that is being auctioned for the sucide prevention cause the mayor seemed to care about so much to throw such an event.

“If only they knew he was here for the art,” sungi leaning toward joon, enjoying his wine, whispered.

“ They wouldn’t bother him with all this talk,” he added as both kept their eyes on jae standing by the mayor's table and talking to the city commission and mayor.

“ then again, he never rejects politicians' invitations” Sungi was the only one fully enjoying the amazing dinner, as everybody else seems to be here to show face and network.

“ Have you noticed anything different about him?” joon asked as he zoomed on Jae’s smile and his hand that was extended to shake the new person the mayor was introducing him to?

“ he looks healthier and way better than ever,” was sungi’s response. Unlike Joon, he wasn’t that bothered by whatever was going on with jae because whatever it was, it was doing him good as the man looked more alive than he ever did.

“ His therapists are putting in the work” the theory the secreety had laid out was now a whispered statement that many had believed to be accurate and the main reason for the sudden shift in jae and where he disappeared to.

“Maybe he started working on himself for the kid's sake, you know” munching on the amazing fish, he was prepared to get a second serving; sungi added another reason which didn’t convince Joon, who hadn’t lifted his eyes from his boss for even a second. Something is happening. He has been feeling it for weeks and now is becoming suspicious.

“Ohhh, who is that” as they made out the girl the mayor was introducing Jae to sungi asked while smiling.They both knew their boss too well to know that non of the fathers aiming for him to be a potential husband to their daughters had a chance.

“ I don’t know why they even bother,” sungi took another bite

“ They might never stop until he officially signs a marriage contract,” he responded to his own words.

“ they might not even stop once he's married,” Joon brought his wine to his lips

“ if he was married to hyeon they would. Nobody would dare try him if she was next to him” sungi was nonchalant with the words he spoke as his attention was sent to his meal. The truth he was speaking of he wasn’t scared of sharing.

“ they would think he had lost his mind to dare marry such a person” he started laughing at even the hypothetical scenario of how these people would have reacted if jae had indeed married the penny less girl that would never quietly attend these events with out giving every body a headache.

“ They would have thought he had finally lost his mind”

“ they would have been a powerful duo that people would stand for when they walk into a room” Joon whispered, placing himself in the impossible scenario sungi had painted. He was right, even for the short amount of time they worked to gether, most people were startled and acted a certain way when the two walked in but it was mostly because of Jae. His last name carried a heavier weight for people not to act a certain way when he was present.

“ If they were together, she would not have let him casually chat with this idiot of a mayor, to begin with” Joon added, forcing both to smiled as they were reminded how hyeon would indeed be questioning the mayor whoss approval rating had dropped to single digits. Jae would have gotten an earful for smiling and playing cozy with this man.

“ exactly” sungi covering his mouth with the napkin and started laughing.

“ she wouldn't have been okay with him smiling like that to the girl either” he added

“ She was way protective of him” Sungi’s words finally forced joon to change his gaze from jae to the man who had said something that struck a nerve. Although he knew it, it wasn’t something joon had ever said out loud. How protective she was of their favriout boss. She really was something else.

“ She was,” sungi startled by why Joon was shaken by what he said added,

“ Do you remember how she slapped his mom”

“ or how she used to stand in front of him or by his side where ever he was with his dad” Sungi went on, pointing out the most obvious observation he had made thought their short time.

“ it was like nobody was allowed to hurt him, but her” his smile wasn't reciprocated as the serious look on joon stayed while he started connecting the dots sungi’s words were forcing him to.

“ now don’t get me wrong, hyeon did hurt him herself” sungi pointing with the knife he was using to cut his fish changed the direction of his complaint.

“ She used to hit him, curse him out, say things that would emotionally drain him”

“ he even attempted suicide because of her”

“ I like her like all of us do, but sometimesIi just want to shak”

cough cough he started coughing as the meal he put in his mouth got stuck.

Cough cough

“ are you okay” Joon immediate reaction was to place his glass and start tapping Sungi’s back.

Cough “am”

Cugh “am fine”

Cough “she here” Sungi in between his coughs whispered

“ here drink some water”Joon busily worried about his friend wasn’t paying attention to his words .

Cough cough

“ she is here” sungi shouted sending his finger to the entrance stars.

Cough cough

“ She really is here” Sungi now incontrol of his breathing repeated as both startled men kept their eyes on hyeon walking down the stairs after handing her coat to the waiter who gave her the card number.

“ this is not good” Sungi’s fully shaken brian still had some power to process words as Joon’s totally shook one was speechless as it followed every step hyeon took down the stairs.

“ I guess she would be here representing the foundation. Seung is on her way too” Sungi explained her presence with one sentence before both lost their words as hyeon started coming into full view. The wine-red dress she had on, was the perfect choice for the evening as it was classy enough but highlighted the beautiful figure she always keeps hidden. The slik-looking fabric that was flowing to every movement of her body was more seductive than it should be thanks to the soft fabric. No slit to be found on both sides, the highlight of the dress was missing right sleev and her right shoulder it left exposed. Her left arm covered from neck to her wrist was complet opposit to her right sholder, collar bone, and arm that was left unclothed. Her hair pulled into a low bun, there wasn't much that accompanying her dress apart from the wine-red lipstick and small sparkling earrings.

“ this girl look so good when ever she cleans up, ” even sungi coudln’t help but curse as nomatter no matter how many times he sees her in a dress he can’t help but admir her transformation. It wasn’t surpsing how she had caught some peoples attention as she started giving people small bows and started walking to the tabel she was assigned to on her invitation.

“ this is not good,” sungi was the only one talking as he followed hyeon along, while Joon finally processing what was happening turned his gaze to jae at the another side of the room.

“ Oh, this is going to be a bad night for him,” Sungi noticed where joon’s gaze ed and noted how jae still was busy talking to the mayor and wasn't aware the person who could ruin any space he was in had finally walked in.

“ He is going to regret being here and definitely disappearing after this” Sungi had thought as he turned back to notice hyeon plaicng her bag down and sitting at table 12. The waiter assigned to the table was quick as he placed the champagne filled glass at her right side before he directed her attention to the dinner menu and the dessert buffet.

“ oh thank you” her soft smile was reciprocated by the waiter. She needed some minutes to be okay with just being in this hotel, dressed as she was and alone. Seung who had promised would be here was no where to be seen. The girl she angrily texted wouldn't even show up in the next few minutes as hyeon just sat there waiting. But as quickly as she was introduced to the people at her tabel , she started her job. They were here to network and build connection and heyon was on top of her game as she relied on the amazing dress she had on to get some names and numbers to her list of people she will need to work with to build the foundation.

8:00

8:15

8:29 . .it was almost after 30 minutes after her arrival that she was greeted by the two men she had expected to run into sooner.

“ look at you” Sungi was the one that brought her attention from the man she gave a ful bow to to turn around the two men who were walking to her, past the tall 3d installation she had used as an excuse to chat with the child protective services director she just met.

“ You look so beautiful” sungi added , shocking even himself that he was starting the conversation this way. He hasn’t seen her in months and this was an odd thing to be the first thing to say but her look was what had his attention any way.

“ the asymmetry and all” he pointed at dress, the reaction he got from Joon had been what shut him up from going any further.

“Thank you” hyeon smiled accpeting the compliment.

“ It’s nice to see you too” she added turning to joon. She knew their presence meant that jae who hadn’t repodned to her text she sent in the afternoon was here.

“ what are you doing here?”Joon was questioning her smile and nonchalant behavior to their presence which he knew indicated that she was aware of how the man she hates but is pretending to be okay with was here.

“it's a charity event and we're building a charity foundation”

“I am here to network” she gave him a soft smile

“ Seung was supposed to be here as well”

“ she is delayed because of traffic’ Sungi explained the girl's situation as he was updated about it from her driver.

“ huh” Sungi took a deep breath and stepped back as he started noticing the weird air between hyeon and Joon who didn’t say anything else but were exchanging so many words with their dead focused eyes. It was starting to get weird and that was his cue to leave these two.

“ I am going to try the dessert” he left in peace but not before giving hyeon a smile while scanning her up and down. She smiled back at his silent compliments.

“ how is work going?” Joon chose to start light

“ work is work” hyeon picked one of the glasses the waiter passing by brought to her. Her eyes from joon returned to the 3D art as she started walking around it and enjoying her campaign. Joon following behind, got a drink of his own as he started asking more to now about how the foundation was going before he started digging into the most important topics.

“ How are the kids?” hyeon asked, cutting the silence after all the work talk

“ They are doing great”

“ and Jae?” she asked, trying to see if Joon knows that she has been meeting with his boss regularly and probably knew more about what was going with him more than his right-hand man. She had said she didn’t care if Joon knew about it, but standing here next to the man who would interrogate her until he gets to her deep intention, she was beyond curious if he knows. His boss she had a dinner with every other night,she was curious if he knows she has been knewg some of him time and attention.

“ He has been doing well,” Joon responded waiting for a reaction which he didn’t get as hyeon kept her eyes on the art.

“ really good, actually” he added missing the smile that escaped her lips that were quickly covered by the glass she brought to her lips.

“ which is why am worried this might disrupt ” he didn’t finish his sentence when her black lined eyes glanced up at him.

“ He can’t handle being with you and then go back to regular life,” he tried explaining himself

“especially when you look like this,” he added as hecouldn’tt even hide how he wsa wowed by how good she looked as she stood below the golden light installed to highlight the art she was analyzing.

“ he has a full-on girlfriend and flirting with ever billiones daughter here joon” she titled her glass to point at the table jae was standing by and the two women standing by his side he was being introduced to. Just like joon, she had kept observing jae now and then since she got here to notice what he was up to.

“ Let’s drop this act that he is bothered by me” she took a sip of the fantastic cahmpagin and returned her eyes to the art.

“ even if he was bothered, it has nothing to do with me,” she looked up, her daring eyes challenging joon to question her.

“ why doesn’t anybody worry about me, and if I am bothered by having him do all this in front of me,” she asked with a smirk before she took some steps walking behind joon and heading to the expensive painting that was up for the auction as well. Joon, now reaching his limit knew she was the wrong person to lash out on but he has about had it this week and she was pushing his last button.

“ because you are not still in love with him, that's why” Joon whispered, taking big steps and pulling on her arm to get her full attention. The tight grip on her arm would have been enough but the anger boiling in his eyes was what she focused on.

“ You seem to think moving on first is winning and are doing a celebratory run around him,” he added, his eyes threatening her not even surprised eyes.

“ huh,” the smile that escaped her lips was accompanied by her left hand that opened the grip on her right arm.

“ He has a girlfriend, but I am the one who moved on first”

“ You, above anybody else, should be happy I am so forgiving to be his friend and not scratching his eyes out with my fingers” the look in her eyes, the calm but terrifying way she whispered the words, for the first time in his life Joon was sacred of the women who stepped closer to him. She was scarier when she was calm.

“ Do you know what it takes to be okay with talking to you”

“ How much I had to go through to be okay with being here”

“and to see him publicly flirting” as her eyes darted to the girl that started laughing and landed a tab against Jae's shoulder, joon followed her gaze and caught the interaction as well

“ I did all the work and moved on

“ All I ask is to just get along”

“ can we do that?”

“ Is that really what you want?” his genuine question left her quiet; she focused her attention on the painting and the drink in her hand.

“ are you okay with just being his friend? knowing he has her in the perfect position, Joon pushed without a break.

“Are you really okay with his girlfriend?”

“ Are yo