SOUR - BAEKHYUN

001

A promotion and a bothersome rival wouldn't be waiting for her to get better. Thus, she had to grit her teeth and move on physically, even if she was still hurting in her mind and heart.

With a deep sigh, the woman prayed for the day to go smoothly. Little did she know that on the other side of those glass doors was a person who couldn't wait to ruin her day. That person was none other than Byun Baekhyun. The fact that they were in the same department and team, in the ad and designing company, did her absolutely no favor- hence it felt as if life had been throwing every little imaginable obstacle at her, just to make sure she wouldn't have it easy.

With a huff, Soon-Ok ignored the echoing noise of her heels in the quiet office where her team members were diligently clicking and typing into their keyboards, faces immersed into the massive screens of their computers. The display of editing programs would reflect in each of their gazes. Byun Baekhyun had seemed particularly taken by his work as well, which gave the woman the tiniest hint of hope that perhaps he wouldn't bother enough to talk to her. Going a day without having interacted with the man would be equal to winning the lottery. When he wouldn't even gaze at her...those were truly special occasions, where she would jump with happiness once at home, knowing that his tormenting voice wouldn't be replaying in her head like a nightmare and her day would be able to proceed sweetly.

Well, to be honest, those days had yet to come. Since day one, she and Baekhyun had never gotten along and there hadn't ever been a moment at work where the two wouldn't fight with each other at least once. It was unavoidable after all since they were forced to share their workspace as well. To Soon-Ok's utter luck, Baekhyun had been the first to take notice of the sadness aligning on her exhausted features.

"Did someone get dumped?" Baekhyun jeered without really meaning what he had said. However, when dead silence was all that met him, he noticed soon that he had unintentionally hit the jackpot. He could tell that his statement held a certain weight the moment that Soon-Ok sent him a chilling glare. The male's obnoxious and insensible words caused a good amount of heads in the office to turn, making the girl's body covered with cold sweat at the unwanted attention.

"You're so full of shit." Soon-Ok found herself snapping at the man, as usual, except for this time, even though she had gritted the words through her teeth to try maintaining her calm, it had been fruitless. Her veins were bulging with a rage that she usually wouldn't even spare the annoying individual. Deep down she knew why it was happening and that it simply wasn't rational to tear the silky hair of his precious scalp, as for a few seconds, she had imagined doing. With a deep sigh, the woman reminded herself to take it easy and that further stress and negative emotions would do anything but good for her body in her current situation. Baekhyun did not look the least fazed by her threatening and warning undertone, instead, he curled his lips onto an infuriating smirk while once again taking in her features mockingly.

"It wasn't me who got dumped." On a regular day, this kind of retort was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that would've hurt her. But because of today, it had hit so close to home, reminding her of the sleepless night, of the tears spent just physically hurting. Those words had hurt her. Soon-Ok found a lump forming in her throat that she quickly swallowed down before it could bring unnecessary tears to her eyes.

This day was already atrocious, the last thing she needed was one of her daily bickers with that horrible male to spoil her mood any further. Many wondered why they were always at each other's throats, and sometimes even Soon-Ok would forget when it had become like that, but it was because they crashed from the very first time they met. Their ill-tempered relationship had sparked to life the moment Soon-Ok and Baekhyun had simultaneously achieved the same high positions and titles as best employees in their department. Without a doubt, the matter had initiated rivalry between the two, prompting them to endlessly compete for that next promotion that couldn't be shared. Soon-Ok couldn't stand Baekhyun, the way he always seemed to do everything ever so effortlessly, like it meant nothing to him...While she would find herself painfully working until the late hours of the night, even in the comfort of her own home, to diligently do her work.