Mr. Jung Pov
Arthur couldn't help but grin as he drove the two back to the hotel. Noèmie's face furrowed in agitation as she stared out the window with internal fury, not even attempting to answer any questions from her boss, Mr. Jung. He can only see a scowl on your face with your lips pursed.
How could this idiot embarrass you so blatantly in her own home? Who does he think he is, barging in and touching you without shame or respect?
Jung Hoseok cast a sidelong glance and a small smile on his lips as he gazed at this open, determined girl. She had turned his routine entirely on its head. He was reading his morning newspaper in a very relaxed way.
He grins and says quietly, his brow arched, "Did you think I'd let you go that easily? You're making a fool of yourself by failing to report for duty at 4 a.m. Mph!" He scoffed.
You merely gave him a stinky look and remained silent because you knew what would happen if you opened your mouth. The most heinous profanities will escape. Your mother always advised you to place a watch before your mouth, but you don't have any watchmen left when people annoy you.
This Mr. Jung knows how to bring out your worst character flaw. Why can't he relax and let you off the hook? Why bother upsetting you by forcing you to work as a maid in a hotel? You will die a thousand times over from disgrace.
"With all due respect, Mr. Jung, just leave me alone, your bloody imbecile," you say inaudibly. You're sick of this guy. Hoseok's eyes widened, and to the amazement of Arthur, Mr. Jung quickly pulled your chin and jerked it in his direction, his face practically in yours as you saw his jaws clenched.
He locked his gaze with yours, a flash of fury in his eyes. As your faces were centimetres apart, his breath was fanning in yours. You can feel your body stiffen at the intensity of his stare. As he scanned your face, an undefined feeling flashed in his eyes for a few unsettling moments.
It was as though the atmosphere in the car had been electrified. Your chest heaved up and down into the unexpected fear that entered your erratic heartbeat.
Mr Jung's gaze was drawn to your sharp features as he briefly glimpsed your partially open lips.
As he abruptly let go of your chin, he blinked and exchanged a cold face with a heated gaze, sat back, the look replaced by annoyance.
You winced at the sudden soreness on your chin, softly caressing the spot while staring like a dagger aimed at him.
He wags his finger in your direction and says, "You watch your mouth before I shut it for you because you arrived late for work. You will be required to work until 7 p.m."
"Wait a minute," you look surprised." I'm not on your payroll... You can't make me--"
Mr. Jung scoffs and smugly looks at your angry face, "--It's part of your community service...your attitude makes it incredibly difficult for me not to send you in to spend a few nights in a prison cell. I can change my mind...in a second," he says. You were flinching as he clicked his finger in front of your face.
You take a long breath as you consider his smug expression. You only nod with pursed lips and arms folded over your torso.
As he witnesses the entire scene from the mirror, Arthur's mouth lifts in a smirk. Mr. Jung picks up his newspaper again with a blank expression, while Ms. Seo seems displeased.
Arthur believes he could feel the physical desire between his boss and the outspoken Noèmie. The atmosphere was intense.
When they arrived at the hotel's entrance, Mr. Jung looked up from his newspaper, catching Arthur's amused gaze.
"Arthur, please stop the car..." he implored.
"Err, right here, sir?"Arthur's face was bewildered. You, too, are puzzled.
Mr. Jung looks at you and merely makes an eye gesture for you to the door.
You tilt your head and stare at him, puzzled, "What!?"
"Get out!..of... my ...car," he says, pointing to the door. Your eyes widen, and you forcefully open the car door with puckered lips.
"With pleasure! secousse sanglante (bloody jerk)."With one stinking eye, you grab your tote bag and jump out of the car, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. Mr. Jung and Arthur both winced, their eyes wide.
Mr. Jung yelled angrily out the window, "Hey, you little enfer (hellraiser). You'll work another hour today." He shouts after you.
You just shrugged and stuck out your tongue before turning around again and giving him the middle finger. You walk past the hotel's beautiful gardens for a few minutes until you reach the gleaming courtyard.
The black vehicle flew by you. You scrunch your nose and move a few steps to the back of the hotel staff entrances.
You grin and greet some of the stuff you come across before forcing yourself to go to your locker to pack away your tote bag. You sighed deeply as you sat on the bench and wore your white work sneakers.
You examine yourself in the mirror after dressing in the tight-fitting maid uniform. If your colleagues or, worse, your mother needs to visit you right now, there will be several heart attacks. It's all imbeciles' fault. Your heart sped up when you reminisced on that moment when he cupped your chin. Your stomach erupted into a thousand butterflies when his face was so close. You observed an emotion that you couldn't place in a split second. His eyes were filled with longing.
"Don't be foolish, Noèmie," you reprimand yourself. You shook your head as if thinking of his intense stare and soft lips. "Oh my goodness! Stop right now.'
You're not going to fall for Mr. Jung Hoseok. It will be catastrophic, especially since he's already been taken. And "arrogant" is not your type. You could feel nervousness gripping your thoughts and body. Mr. Jung is nothing more than your obnoxious boss. That's what you told yourself and how you'll see him now. But the man is sexy.
But why do you become excited only by his touch? You can't set yourself up for heartbreak. He is way out of your league. Ha-Ni informed you about the legendary Bangtan Club—the heirs of billionaires and Seoul's elite.
You purse your lips and decide to get fired as soon as possible. It would be best to get out of this hotel and away from Mr. Imbecile.
Just as you were going to walk to Ms Kim's office to be a humble employee and apologize for being late, you wondered if Mr. Jung had already notified her of what had occurred this morning. Oh, You hope not. That was the most humiliating experience, and you wonder if you'll ever forget it.
On your way to the office, you noticed Heyrin walking towards you with a playful smirk.
"Wow, you're tardier than the professional Queen of tardiness...good morning, Noèmie," she smiles as the light emanates in her amusing eyes.
You scoff slightly, yet a smile forms at the corners of your mouth.
"Good morning, my dear. My body is protesting all of the hard work I put in yesterday. So, what's the deal?" You raise one of your brows.
"Ms. Kim instructed me to get you. We will likely wash dishes in the kitchen for at least three hours, considering that there is no hotel room work today. Thank you, God, for small miracles." She links arms with you, and you smirk as she leads you to the back, where the kitchen is. You inhaled deeply, wishing you could crawl into a hole and hide.
The kitchen staff is flushed due to the resident chef's screaming and yelling. He seems to be on the verge of an aneurysm of all the energy he uses. You and Heyrin were both reprimanded for not being swift and efficient enough. He was muttering to himself about how he had been assigned the worst staff in the kitchen. Hyerin was filled with delight and almost laughed when she saw you giving the chef a nasty face. You wish you had cockroaches to toss in his soup. But because you're here, Mr. Jung will recognize you as the perpetrator and imprison you.
The three hours flew fast, and you and Heyrin could breathe a sigh of relief as you wiped the last few supper dishes. You walk out to your locker room.
You both sat down on the rough benches in the changing room.
Because of the humidity in the kitchen, your skin feels sticky. You hope that is not a constant thing. You'd rather clean filthy bedrooms than wash dishes for three hours straight.
Hyerin took out two energy bars, which you both munched on. She was telling you about her student life and her family. You told her why you were in this dilemma. Heyrin broke out laughing.
"It's not funny, Hyerin. My colleagues will arrive in two weeks, and I must focus on my real job. This is unnecessary, but Mr. Jung is such a jerk." In disgust, you scrunched up your nose.
"I'm sorry, Noèmie. But it's a hilarious situation. You appear to be adding some excitement to his life and this hotel. And while he's a jerk, he's a hot jerk. When his Bangtan club meets in the presidential suite, the entire hotel staff goes out of their way to serve the young bachelors," she smugly remarked.
You have a long sigh. " Hyerin, I can't afford to slack down. The items will be delivered next week, and I will need to be there to sign for them. And Mr. Jung isn't going to let me off the hook. I'm going to get down on my knees and beg him. But he's too evil to let me have my way. This is no longer funny. This will jeopardise my career."
Heyrin nodded and shrugged. You took a sip of the water she handed you.
"Do you like gum?" she asks casually. You nod and furrow your brows. She offered you a piece out of a packet. It's flavoured with blueberries and strawberries. You hear footsteps outside the lockers, and you hastily shove the piece inside your top. You both got up and bowed.
It was Ms. Kim, who had a broad, amused smile. "Hey, girls, excellent work in the kitchen. You, Hyerin, will work till four o'clock, assisting the pool staff with towels, cleaning the cocktail bars' floors, and "She looks at you with a little smirk, and you wonder what that was all about. "You will clean the boardroom's exterior windows. Please be prompt because a meeting will begin at 2 p.m."
You took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, Ms. Kim. Could Hyerin please show me where it is so I don't waste time?" She smiled and gestured for Heyrin to take you to the floors with most of the meeting rooms.
Ms. Kim bowed and walked away from you and Hyerin. You could feel your mood deflate once more. You despise washing windows. It is a time-consuming job.
"Come on, Noèmie...I have a task that has to be completed. Today, I have a meeting with the university." You quietly followed her out to get the cleaning equipment, as she was the only one babbling about weird things.
Hyerin was incredibly lucky. You must stay until 8 p.m. It would be best if you asked Ha-Ni to come and pick you up. You don't have faith in these late-night ubers. There could be a lot of perverts here, but you can handle yourself if you find yourself in unfortunate situations.
You get your cleaning materials, say bye to your friend, and enter the conference room grudgingly. Wow, you browsed around with a lot of curiosity. His team had already prepared the venue for the meeting. You quickly peek around and dash to a seat to see what is in the folder for discussion.
You were always really curious. It seemed to be a meeting on their newest construction project in Indonesia. A luxurious hotel with 30 stories. You heard some muttering outside the double doors, so you took your cart and dashed outside the glass door leading to the balcony. You sighed deeply as you listened to some voices inside the meeting room.
The windows were mirror-tinted from the outside, and you couldn't see who was inside the room. You could hear a sweet voice doing some introductions and Mr. Jung's soft, velvety voice. Oh no, Noèmie...not again! You reprimand yourself.
You groan and begin cleaning the far side of the window. You're wondering why they're so early. Isn't the meeting supposed to start at 2 p.m.? It was 30 minutes earlier. When will you be able to leave if the session lasts for hours? Oh well, you'll take your time.
The meeting was in full swing, and you knew you had to finish the other side, but you would be in full view if you did. Then, with a smirk, you turn around and exit the corner balcony, bringing you right up to the conference windows. You're sure they'll see you, but you won't be able to see their face. Mr Jung spoke as a smirk formed on your lips as you began to insert your earphones and move to where the curtain would be open.
You cleaned the windows while dancing to a fantastic song by the new rising boyband, BTS. While wiping and polishing the windows, you pouted and moved your body suggestively to the beat of the music. Unaware of the guests within who are staring at you with open jaws. Most of the businesspeople inside were older men in their forties and fifties, including Mr. Jung.
You act as if looking around and in front of the startled eyes from the inside, you undo the buttons of your uniform and, with a brief glimpse of your black Victoria's secret bra, you pull out the gum you stashed inside your bra. Without trying to cover your exposed cleavage, you slowly unwrap the gum, pop it in your mouth, and begin chewing while singing with the boys.
The men inside can still see the sneaky material. Mr. Jung's jaws were almost on the ground, exactly like the men's. His assistant was standing there, her lips pressed together, trying not to snort. Arthur told her about Mr Jung's interactions with the French girl. She thinks it's hilarious.
"What the hell? Is she even thinking? "He murmurs angrily, looking apologetically at all the men fascinated by Noèmie. Is she aware of what she is doing? He shook his head and hastily excused himself as he opened the corner sliding door and looked down to the end of the balcony where you were cleaning.
"Ms Seo...!!!!" he shouts, "Noèmie..darn it!! What a condescending girl. "He took long strides to get to where you were. Mr. Jung pursed his lips and abruptly removed the earphones from your ears.
You jump at the sudden intrusion and gaze into his irritated, narrowed eyes with mock innocence.
"Oh, Mr. Jung, I didn't notice you." Your eyes widened.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?" As the weariness crept in, he wiped his eyes. This girl will be his demise.
You flash a big smile and flutter your eyelids before saying huskily, "I'm busy with my job, Mr. Jung. Isn't that the reason I'm here?" You bite your lower lip and scoff at him with mocking eyes.
Mr. Jung inhaled deeply at your subtle seduction and narrowed his eyes, saying, "Whatever you try will not work. So quit wasting your time trying to change my mind. Cover yourself up!!!" You noticed him amused as he gestured to your open buttons, but his stern look lingered for a few seconds before reverting to you.
You inhaled deeply as he turned on his heels and retreated to his meeting. You spun around and swiftly fixed your buttons to cover up. That didn't go as planned.
"Seriously!" you gasp to yourself, "but! (damn it)" you just signed in defeat.
1- Mr. Imbecile and 0- Noèmie...let the quest begin...
A/n: This a Valentine's Day treat for all my Mr. Jung fans. Kindly show your support for this book by voting, commenting, or adding it to your reading list. Your support is greatly appreciated.
A shout-out to all the new readers and all the shadow readers. Please drop a vote or comment, so I get to know my lovely readers.
Question 1: Do you believe Mr. Jung is unjust to you, or do you think you deserve it?
Question 2: How will you persuade Mr. Jung to let you off the hook?
Question 3: Do you think you and Hyerin will become best friends?