love, maybe? | 성훈 √

23 | confrontational speech

23 | "Why did you do that?"

"Did you hear?"

"Yeah, I did. I can't believe she did that. Thank god Department Head Choi solved things."

"Right?" Yerin keeps her eyes on the sudoku puzzle, taking a short five-minute break to let her mind rest. Although the impossible puzzle was making her brain short-circuit, she continues without being a busybody and listening to others' conversations without consent. That is until someone comes barging in, and it's Choi Yeojin herself.

"Yerin! Yerin! Yer-" She pauses when Jongseong's solemn head flies up, awkwardly making eye contact before swiftly looking back down. With the awkwardness still going on between the second leads, Yeojin tiptoes toward her best friend, grabbing her shoulder harshly. "Did you hear the news? Did you check our office forum?"

"No. You know I don't check that as often as anybody else here," Yerin crosses her arms soon after she places down her half-dull pencil. "What's the matter? Everyone's mentioning your name—and I wasn't listening on purpose, it just so happened to have caught my ear—and I start to think you're getting fired."

Yeojin knew how much her friend hated being disrespectful over the most minor things, even to her. "You're fine, and no, it's not that. I turned Woong in, and now the company has released a statement of her wrongdoing. At the meeting-" Yeojin stops to lean down by her ear, clearing her throat for a moment of silence. "-The secretary, vice, and CEO? They reprimanded her. Right in front of me! They told her they're going to talk about whether or not they should fire her."

"Fire?" Yerin was intrigued. "Now that it's in the public, that's a pretty big deal. Woong won't get any job opportunities, and she might be unable to enter any... profitable work source..." Her tone by the end of the sentence was no longer curious, but instead upset.

"I know. It's crazy!" Instead, Yeojin was happy. Yerin gives her a raised eyebrow, pursing her lips.

"Why are you happy?" Yerin was too nice for her good. Although Woong did her wrong, she was upset to hear that Woong would never have a good opportunity. "I get that she was wrong, but she may be unable to make a living if she's put on the internet and fired like that. Can't we cut her some slack?"

Yeojin was slightly displeased, but she has some decorum left in her. "You shouldn't tell me that. Tell the CEO."

That sentence sent shivers down her spine. Visiting the CEO? On the top floor? When you're in accounting? No way. However, Yerin learned once before how to be brave, and if that meant Woong could safely still have work, it would give her peace of mind.

But before Yerin could plan her speech in the chair, someone slams through the doors of the accounting department, loud stomps shaking the room. Everyone's eyes watch the person who walks in, and somehow, it's Woong. She holds papers in the white knuckles of her fists, and once Yerin stands up (while Yeojin hides behind Yerin in fear), Woong walks over and throws the papers all over Yerin's body.

"Was it you?" Woong says, trying to be calm. However, the fountain spouts too easily, and soon, Woong yells. "I said, WAS IT YOU?"

"You're only validating the points, Woong," Yerin wasn't afraid. Only then, if Woong slapped her, it would save the trip to the CEO. Yerin wants to help, but who knows what Woong may do. "Before I answer your question, did you mess up the presentation over Sunghoon?"

"Yes! Yes, I did!" Her confession causes the accounting department to gasp. Jongseong gets up, walking over. Yeojin and Jongseong bump into each other, an unintentional hand holding Yeojin by her shoulder to make sure she wouldn't fall. Awkwardly, the two separate, making sure Woong doesn't do anything hasty. "I like him. I felt that I gained justice seeing you fall in front of him. Having him be upset with you would give me the chance to get close to him, but... all he wanted was you. So, my efforts were in vain. It's always because of you, Yerin, that I can never get what I want!"

"You did that to yourself. You let a man get in the way of work, and that's why you're like this," Yerin narrows her eyes. "Why must you blame it on me? Sure, I did go through your computer and find the virus, but I didn't turn you in. I wanted you to have a second chance, but if that's not what you want, then you don't have to talk to me about it. You're not a concern in my life anymore."

It's that kind of statement that either makes your eye twitch or makes you cry. Well, for a psycho like Woong, it was the statement that made her want to punch Yerin straight in the face. So, with her right fist swinging across, causing Yeojin to scream, Jongseong to pull her back from the circle, and Yerin to clench her fists at her sides, Woong tries to make her first move.

However, as always, a superhero comes to save the day, and it's... Jaeyun.

Just in time, he arrives, but Sunghoon follows after. While Jaeyun gets hit by Woong's punch in the chest, Sunghoon grabs her arm that stretches out to him. Sunghoon was the last to hear the news, but he wasn't the most lenient about it. "Do you have to stoop that low?"

"W-What?" Woong looks up, almost trembling at the thought he heard everything she said. "Well, I-"

"Why did you do that?" Sunghoon almost roars, pointing to a concealed Yerin. "Do you not care about other people? Just romance? In what type of world are you in that all you care about is bringing someone down so that you can be brought up? Are you a bully in a school system? What the hell are you that you think it's okay to walk over people like that?"

"Because I like you. Can't you think about my feelings-"

"Are we in some kind of fictional story or show? Think realistically, Woong. I don't like you. I still have a girlfriend! How much further should I go to show my disinterest? I was nice to you because I thought of you as a co-worker and reliable friend. Not as anything more, and if I led you on, that's my fault. Please, enough."

His confrontation got Woong to cry. Her walls crumbled, and after, she stomps out of the accounting department. Sunghoon's eyes flicker at her leaving figure, slowly moving back to Yerin hiding behind Jaeyun. Her fists were clenched, her eyes shut tight, and even more, tears were soon to pour down her eyes. Jaeyun looks at Sunghoon, seeing him staring at Yerin. Although Jaeyun would like to take the credit, he turns around, consoling her for a second.

"You okay?"

Yerin exhales. "Yeah."

And Jaeyun nods in response, letting her go, and moving out of the way. Sunghoon is the one to move close to her, soon patting her shoulders before a hand brushes down her hair. Again, one asks, "Are you okay?" Yerin nods, looking down to avoid accidentally crying in his face. He already knows Yerin's hiding her tears, so he chuckles. "Sorry. You know you don't have to hide your tears from me."

Before Yerin could say anything in return, Sunghoon holds her closer, face in his shirt. "And I'm sorry... for ever letting you go."