to say i was shocked would be an understatement as soon as my eyes landed on jeongguk. as for jeongguk; well, he looked like a pop-eyed toy from one of those claw machines at the fun fair when he saw me. perfectly funny. words left me, i stared into the brunette's eyes and fell silent. the atmosphere was obviously tense, not for mr. kwon though, who had no idea what was going on. i was aware of the fact that mr. jeon, jeongguk's father owned a well-known, successful company but i didn't know it was located in busan. suddenly all his unexpected visits made sense. from meeting him at the coffee shop, to him appearing out of nowhere at my office, it all made perfect sense now.
he wasn't here for me, he was here to take over his father's company. after all, mr. jeon had passed away a few years ago and considering the fact that junghyun, jeongguk's older brother had no interest in his father's business, it would be passed onto the last heir. jeongguk.
what a liar. i should have known, this man can never for once be truthful with me, can he? sometimes i can't even bring myself to hate him for being in love with another woman. it hurts me more than it hurts him and it just keeps going round and round. everyone says it passes with time, that i'll move on when i find someone new. after him i'm not the same girl anymore, there's a purity, a naivety that died. i envy those that marry their childhood sweethearts, spend their lives with their significant other till they're 70. perhaps i will die a miserable, lonely life in search of the right one. what if there just isn't one?
"is your staring fest over yet or i can continue?" mr. kwon's voice snapped us out from our trance. but i still couldn't move my lips to speak, as if i was stuck underwater. jeongguk cleared his throat and crossed his arms, completely ignoring mr. kwon's question.
"who is she?" he asked, still not taking his eyes off me. the audacity.
"park eunji, my personal assistant." mr. kwon answered jeongguk, his eyes stuck on the document in front of him. if looks could kill, i would be dead by now. jeongguk was glaring at me with sharp eyes, jealousy evident in them. i almost melted right in front of him like a puddle out on the streets of busan.
"hello. it's nice to meet you, mr. jeon." i bravely stepped forward with a hand extended for him to shake, faltering a little as a smug smile spreads across his face and i desperately feel the need to slap it off. he stood up from his chair, responding to me by shaking my hand back.
"it's nice to meet you too, ms. park." he replied, with a stupid smirk.
"now that you have met each other, i want you two to go over some topics regarding this deal at lunch or now. yes, now would be a great time." mr. kwon paused, crouching down to pick up a file that had slipped from his desk and held it out for me. i walked towards him and took it from him, holding it with my planner.
"if you have any plans, discuss it after work, for all i care. i want my work to be done by tomorrow so we can move forward, is that clear?" mr. kwon asked us with a stern look on his face. oh, how lovely.
"yes, sir." jeongguk and i responded in sync and head out the door.
jeongguk leads me to the spare room next to mr. kwon's and i think i might like this one compared to his dusty old grey office. jeongguk and i sit in silence going through paperwork and i can tell he's somewhat angry or perhaps, there are millions of thoughts running through his mind. i hesitantly open my mouth to say something but he beats me to it.
"personal assistant, huh?" he asks, putting an emphasis on 'personal' as he rests his elbow on the desk. i furrow my eyebrows, slightly confused of what he's on about.
"what do you mean?"
"he's a nasty man, eunji. there are rumors regarding so many matters he's involved in." jeongguk leans closer to me and tries to keep his voice low. "stay away from him." i scoffed at his poor choice of words and frown.
"well, i can't really help it, jeongguk. i work for him," i replied, playing with ends of my hair.
"yes, you can. work for me." he insists and i can almost feel my blood pressure getting high as i took a deep breath.
"don't start." i curtly respond to him, focusing on the given task yet i know he's upset or at least hung up over my choice of words and lack of co-ordination.
a few minutes pass and we haven't spoken further as we start getting the work done and i feel like it's going to remain that way. jeongguk was never the type to start a conversation or even admit he's wrong. the silence is suffocating, i've been sitting at this desk, paper work piling higher and higher. save the trees, huh? i don't think the managers here have ever heard of that. the clock ticks on the wall and i swear it's slowing down.
"hey, jeongguk, would you like to go over about the budget for next year?" i asked him, not taking my eyes off the notes in front of me.
"i've gone over this." he responds curtly, almost getting on my nerves until i calm myself down, reminding myself that this is a work place and i can't possibly murder him right at the spot.
"okay, how about the new products we are supposed to be selling?" i ask him, hoping he'd answer me like a normal, civilized person.
"i'm afraid the customers will think our product is too cheap and won't buy it." he replies and i furrow my eyebrows in confusion, till he speaks again. "i want it to be magnificent. you see, it's the first project i'm working on, after my dad." i reckon his answer, anger fading away as i nodded.
"alright. this line is the sales of our products. and this line is the sales of our competitors' products." i lean closer to him, showing him a few messy graphs i made, hoping he'd understand.
"so if that line goes up, are we doing a good job?" he glances at me, realizing the proximity between us and i did the same. i manage to nod at him, eyes drifting to his lips and back to his eyes. his lips brush mine as he leans in, almost innocently. i want to pull away before i lose myself and so i do, before we do something we regret.
"i think we're done here." i manage to speak, biting my lower lip nervously. jeongguk seemed to have lost his mind too a little as he didn't say anything in response and looked like he had too much on his mind. i glance at him, slightly scared if i should say anything further or apologize till he opens his mouth.
"let-let's go over the sales thing some more. care to join me for lunch?" he stutters slightly, running his hand through his hair as he looks up at me with doe eyes. yet again, i couldn't say no to him.
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(a/n - she's so beautiful. okay anyway, thank you so much for 300+ reads i'm really grateful for that !!) -m 🍯
