SLOW RIDE | jumin han

| CHAPTER FOUR |

—

"Um... you can sit up front, you know? If... you want."

He stared at her for a moment, as if the thought hadn't even occurred to him. For his entire life, Jumin Han had been driven by chauffeurs, which means he usually sat in the backseat of the company's car. Unless it was to drive—which was very rare due to how badly it always seemed to go—he stayed away from the front (but now as he thinks back, it seemed rather silly to have never sat in the passenger's seat). With a quick glance over the young woman's simple car, he decided that perhaps sitting in the front could be an interesting experience.

The majority of the car ride was silent—or, at least, on her part. For nearly an hour, she focused on driving rather than socializing; her orders were to drive him to a business meeting, anyway, not to hold conversations. On the other hand, Jumin Han talked nearly the entire time, arguing rather passionately with someone over the phone. He never really acknowledged [Y/N]'s existence, since he was obviously preoccupied, but she didn't particularly mind.

It bothered her that she couldn't listen to music like she normally would—she was with a corporate heir, and she doubted he would enjoy her music taste. He seemed like the classical type-but with his constant talking, the lack of music was bearable. His voice was oddly calming; although, she didn't want to admit it.

"Yes, I understand, but I personally don't think that is what's best for the company."

She noted how patiently he handled the conversation with the loud person on the phone. The caller's identity, she had no idea, but from her place at the driver's seat, she could hear the frustrated tone blaring through the phone, despite it not being on speaker. She suddenly felt bad for the young man's ears.

"I don't see how your proposition is beneficial at all.... Yes..." His conversation lasted for nearly an hour, and [Y/N], without meaning to, tuned in to his call. It was easy enough for her to hear, after all, and she couldn't help but be intrigued by the life of a businessman. "Miss Kim, would you please turn down the air conditioning?"

His low voice speaking her name suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts, and she blinked a few times to bring herself back to reality. "Sorry?"

"The air condition, please," he repeated, more sternly that time, and she turned her head to stare at him with disbelief. He was perfectly capable, wasn't he? Then, she remembered who the man sitting in her passenger's seat was, and how he either A) didn't know how to turn it on, or B) thought it was her job to do everything he asked. Though, with the amount of money she was receiving, kissing a bit of ass wouldn't be the worst thing.

"Yes, sir," she mumbled and did as he had asked. He had hung up the call he was having and watched out the window, appreciating for the first time the view being in the passenger seat had. He sighed.

"You can stop calling me 'sir.' 'Mr. Han' is just fine."

"Y—yes, Mr. Han," she responded, almost hesitantly. If she were being honest, she found his request to be rather odd, since she technically didn't work for him and she was only doing a small favor for her father. But, Jumin was rich and professional, so he probably didn't see anything weird about her addressing him like an employee would to an employer.

She will be paid though, so Jumin was her employer... in a way. Which meant she had to try to act professional, despite being only a college student. Sure, she had had jobs before, but not one where she had to interact with someone so important. But for someone without much experience, she was doing pretty well.

That is, until he told a joke.

It wasn't very good, but it somewhat made sense. She forced out a laugh, obviously not wanting to get on his bad side since this was her father's boss (and also her boss for a day). She was surprised for a moment that this man, who was a serious and proper businessman, could even come up with a joke. Especially one so bad.

"Your humor is like your father's."

She raised an eyebrow curiously at his observation. "Actually, my father's jokes are awful, but I just laugh to make him feel better." Her father's reaction was usually more funny than the joke. He was always so proud of them, and seeing him snicker at himself is amusing. She wouldn't admit this aloud, but Jumin's humor reminded her of Driver Kim's.

"Ah, so you were pretending to laugh just now," he concluded, and her jaw dropped. Her eyes flickered from the road to the passenger beside her with disbelief written all over her face. Was she easy to read?

"I—I was not, sir—"

"Mr. Han," he corrected her. "And also, I can see right through you, Miss [Y/N]. Your father was the one to tell me that joke."

She opened and closed her mouth, not knowing what to say. How had she not realized? Her father had probably told her that joke before too.

"Th—that was one of his good ones," she said as an excuse. "I—I'm not kissing your ass, sir—Mr. Han—wait—" Her eyes widen once what she accidentally blurted had finally registered in her brain. Oh, my goodness did she really just say that? To someone of such high status? "Can we forget this conversation?"

"No."

Oh, fuck me.

"Kissing my ass, having sex with you, is this an appropriate topic for an employer and employee to be discussing?"

"B—both of those weren't in the literal sense!" she exclaimed in an attempt to defend herself, but she was only digging her grave even further.

"I would hope so—"

"What is that suppose to mean?"