The rest of the day I spent trying to finish a bunch of new pages that my boss spilt down on me at the last minute. I had to try and set up an bunch of new appointments and come up with whole new stories. By the end of the day I was completely exhasted, and I just wanted to fall down on my bed and pass out.
I said my goodbyes to anyone who was left in the office by that time, on my way out. It was nearly ten o' clock, and I was still at work. That was pretty normal for me though. I caught a bus, and rode it back to my apartment rather than walking. Even if my apartment was only nine blocks away, I never took any risks when it came to things like that. I slowly dragged myself up the stairs and pulled my room key tiredly out of my purse to open the door. I dropped my purse down next to the door, then threw the keys on top of it. I began taking a few bobby pins out of my hair as I made my way to the bathroom to get myself ready for bed. Once I was done getting ready, I flung myself on the bed, and once I had slipped my sheets over me, I was out.
The next morning the first thing I heard was the annoying sound of my alarm clock at six-thirty. I had to be at the headquarters by eight, and I wasn't looking forward to all of the extra work my boss was going to set on me this time. I usually had my clothes all set out for me, but I was so tired last night, I hadn't had the time. So I dragged myself over to the closet, and decided upon a loose fitted, blue half-sleeve office dress. I got dressed quickly, putting my make-up on, and putting my straightened hair up in a messy bun. I was done by seven, and out of the apartment by seven fifteen, and then I was off to the café, as usual.
I sat down at my normal spot, looking out the window. But I wasn't thinking about all of the people, and the signs, and posters. I found myself searching the crowd of people walking by, looking for Seung Hyun. He couldn't have been there any other day, otherwise there would've been at least someone who would have noticed before now. So what was he doing? I tried to snap myself out of thinking about him, but I was just too curious. It was a sort of side effect of working with a magazine.
I went to work, did the same old thing, and my mind slowly made its way back to my normal schedule. But everytime I would walk down that street, I would hope to bump into Seung Hyun again. It was wierd at first, then it, too became a part of my everyday schedule, although I never did see him.
So I continued to walk to the headquarters, and take the bus back after a long day of all too much work, always looking for him. I never thought about him during work though. People would begin to notice a difference in my work for sure, and my mom wouldn't be any happier to hear that I was thinking about some korean boy band member in the middle of my work day.
I was typing away at my computer, trying to answer a bunch of email complaints from other magazines, and celebrities that weren't happy about what had been put down about them in the last season's edition when my office phone beeped.
"Hello, Miss Khamphouy, your mother is on line one."
"I can't talk to her right now, Soo Min."
"I'll tell her."
"Thanks," I finished, then continued answering more emails.
I heard another beep not too long after the first one, then Soo Min's voice again, "Sorry to bother you, Miss Khamphouy, but there's a man out here to see you."
"I don't have any appointments today, do I?" I stopped typing.
"No, you don't."
"Then who is it?" I asked, a little bit confused.
"He says that his name is Choi Seung Hyun." Soo Min finished.
I didn't know what to say. Was it really him? Why was he here? Then I realized that I still hadn't answered.
"Let him in, thanks," I said, still a little bit shocked.
Just then, the door to my office opened, and sure enough Seung Hyun walked right in, closing the door behind him. I didn't even stop to think before blurting out exactly what I was thinking,
"Are you stalking me or something?"
"No, I don't think so." He laughed. "I'm here for another photo shoot, and I recognized your surname, when your assistant was talking to you."
"Aha." I said, smiling briefly up at him, before looking back down to my laptop. "You just remembered my name then? That's all."
"Yes, I did, and apparently, you remembered mine too, or you wouldn't have freely let me into your office." He spoke with the same, cool, calm voice as when we had first met. He made his way over to the other side of the room, making himself comfortable on the couch that sat right next to a window that looked down at all of the city of Seoul.
"You're a celebrity. I knew who you were before I ran into you." I rolled my eyes at him.
"So you must have been paying attention to me even before you had met me to have known me."
"It's kind of my job." I said, while continuing to work on my laptop.
"Ah, of course." He paused, watching me. "You sure are staring down that computer awfully hard." He joked.
I hadn't even noticed that I was glaring at my computer as I typed rapidly. I lifted my hands up off of the keys, and leaned back in my chair, resting arms on the arm rests and my head on one of my palms.
"Are you still behind on all of that work you said you had?" Seung Hyun asked, mimicking my position from where he was sitting on the couch.
"Of course," I repled, truthfully. I really didn't know why I kept telling him about how I was behind on all of my work. It's not something that I would normally tell people.
"Sounds to me like you need a break."
I looked up at him. "No, I need to get my work done."
"No, everyone needs a break once in a while. So you should let me take you out to lunch." He paused, and when I didn't answer he continued. "To make up for me spilling your coffee all over you."
"I just told you that I'm behind on work." I said, a little bit aggrivated with his persistance, but also flattered by it. Then I was aggrivated at myself for being flattered.
"You told me a week and a half ago that you were behind on work. And besides, sometimes I'm behind on work, but I still work around it to come to photo shoots for certain magazines."
I quickly jerked my head in his direction. "Are you saying that you won't do the photo shoot unless I go out to lunch with you?"
He gave me a small half smile, but didn't say anything. I was shocked. This wasn't just between the two of us now. He has made spilt coffee a big deal for all of High-cut. I rolled my eyes at him.
"When?" I practically demanded.
His smile grew. "After I'm all done with this shoot sound alright with you?"
"I don't know when that will be." I answered.
"Just wait for me to come back to your office. I'll pick you up."
I just stared at him for a little bit, thinking everything through once more. "Alright."
