Falling From Grace

Chapter 5: Uncharted Territory

Ri Jeong Hyeok has just had a really bad week, and that is putting it mildly.

He's been distracted and irritable all week, snapping at his employees and actually losing his temper at one point, although he tried his level best to hide it and not raise his voice. These are his colleagues after all, and it's not a good look for a CEO to berate his subordinates verbally for any reason whatsoever-even if he is in a bad mood.

He's tried running, lifting weights, and boxing in order to get himself back into his groove, but so far, nothing has worked.

Even sex didn't work. He doesn't even remember what happened last night with that woman that he'd picked up from the coffee shop, much less her name.

This morning, all he has done is stare blankly at a contract for almost a full hour, reading the text but not absorbing anything at all. He sighs deeply and runs his hand through his hair, frustrated at himself.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Just then, Seo Dan walks into his office without so much as a knock, holding several folders in her arms.

"Who pissed in your cereal this morning, Jeong Hyeok? I haven't seen you pout like that since we were children." Dan looks amused at his misery, which sours his mood even further.

Dan laughs when her gibe makes his pout deepen, making him look more like a little boy whose toy got taken away than the CEO of a multi-trillion won company. "Anyway, I just came by to drop these contracts off. Looks all good to me-all they need is your signature," she says, handing him the folders.

"Thank you, Dan." Jeong Hyeok stands and takes the folders from her. "You didn't have to drop them off yourself though."

"Yes, but I actually wanted to speak to you in private."

Jeong Hyeok turns back to Dan, waiting for her to continue.

"Are you alright? Kidding aside, I'm honestly concerned," says Dan, who in spite of her teasing seemed genuinely worried about him. "You seem... distracted, to say the least. I've never seen you like this in all the years I've known you."

"I'm fine," says Jeong Hyeok with a deep sigh.

"Are you being stalked again? Is she actually crazy this time?" Dan crosses her arms, the worry and disapproval in her face clear as day.

When Jeong Hyeok doesn't answer her, she continues her lecture. "I told you Jeong Hyeok, karma is real, and one of these days your playboy ways is going to bite you in the ass," says Dan, a hint of mocking in her reproachful tone.

Jeong Hyeok can't help the smile that comes to his face. Dan has always been direct, if a little irreverent.

It's one of the reasons why he trusts her with his company, and why she's been with him from the very beginning. He knows she will always give him the truth no matter what, which is vital for her role as vice president of Vast.

Her brutal honesty, however, is rather unwelcome today.

"I said I'm fine, Dan. But thank you for your concern."

"If you say so," says Dan with a deep sigh as she rolls her eyes at him and turns on her heel. She knows better than to pester him if he doesn't want to talk-she'll have better luck talking to a wall, and they both know it.

As soon as the door shuts behind her, Jeong Hyeok rests his elbows on his desk and steeples his fingers in front of him. He then puts his thumbs just below the inner corners of his brows before leaning in, hoping that the pressure would relieve the headache he can feel coming on.