•   

"i am sorry, these were the only things left." hyungwon said bringing seol a small plate with a packaged bread and a cup of tea, avoiding her eyes. 

they've woken un that morning maybe too much closer than expected and they both had been surprised by each other's presence. seol quickly stood from the ground and laugh nervously excusing herself to the bathroom. 

during the night, she fell asleep and forgot how she ended up between hyungwon's arms. she tried to remember what happened, but her mind was clouded, she only remembered she had a great night sleep. 

but even if it was awkward in the morning, when they just woke up, once she left the room and met hyungwon's worried gaze, it was more than obvious he cared about what would happen then, between them. 

"let's just no make it awkward." seol said with a reassuring smile that made hyungwon sigh in relief, she remembered. 

now she stared at the small breakfast with endeared eyes. "it's fine by me." she said smiling, bowing in gratitude as she took a sip of the cherry tea. 

the atmosphere wasn't awkward anymore, or maybe not as much as it was in the morning. it was only but natural. they've never talked about each other. seol didn't even know how she felt towards hyungwon or vice versa, she just knew he served as a great support when she needed a friend the most. 

she didn't want to mess up things and confuse generosity with liking. the moment she realized this, she preffered to think hyungwon was just being nice, maybe because he pitied her or whatever, but not because he liked her since he never really manisfested it. 

"i think we're going to be late - he said scratching the back of his head. seol nodded and quickly collected her stuff, shoving the piece of bread and gulping down the remaining tea. 

"thanks for the food - she said handing back the empty plates, but just when hyungwon was leaving for the kitchen, she cleared her throat making him stop on his tracks - and... for everything." she sweetly added, his cheeks feeling warmer. 

hyungwon fought a smile back, he just nodded and returned to the kitchen at the speed of light. 

seol didn't know how to thank him. she thought maybe just saying it out loud wasn't exactly enough. he had done these things for her, even if they were trivial things, that was what she needed right now. 

on their way back to the city, the air was lighter. she felt less pressured. that morning she had it free to visit graphic nation to her check up routines.

she knew she'd have to talk with her supervisor and tell him her internships would be done in less than two weeks. it was hard for her to come up with a good excuse, she knew she just couldn't reveal the truth otherwise she'd be fired in the act and all her dreams about having a permanent position there, would be gone. 

"uh- where to?" hyungwon's soft voice awakened from spacing out. she turned around and stared at him in confussion. 

her current apartment situation was stressful. she knew she'd been contacted by jeonghan any minute to inform her about how they'd proceed. 

"i guess... to my old apartment?" jooheon has told her that would always be her home, no matter what. she knew if she went there, he'd always receive her with his arms opened. hyungwon just nodded and drove towards seol's district.

he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable so he didn't ask anything. she'd been quiet the whole time but he knew it was not because she was feeling awkward, but because her mind was filled with thoughts. and it was perfectly understandable, her life changed in less than 24h and he still didn't know the whole story of why. 

"we're here." she jumped on her seat and glanced at the building in front of them. "ah yes... - she said grabbing her things and staring at him. 

he looked at her expentanly and for a moment the atmosphere turned awkward again. she didn't know what to do or say, neither did hyungwon. 

it just ocurred to her that the only thing she could give to hyungwon in order to thank him once more for everything was to lean towards him and to press a soft peck on his cheeks. hyungwon's eyes widened at the unexpected action and soon felt his cheeks and whole face getting warmer.

"yah... you're going to be late." he quickly scolded her as he looked away. seol couldn't help but laugh as she hopped off the seat. she closed the door and smiled sweetly at him. 

her eyes were big and somehow transmitted the gratitude she felt. "thank you hyungwon-ssi... i won't forget what you did for me." she bowed softly and walked towards her building not really giving him time to say anything back. hyungwon felt both, first relieved and secondlu flustered over seol's endearing self. 

when she got inside her apartment, she noticed it was deserted. there was no sign of jooheon around and she wondered the reason since he usually worked from home. 

but not wasting more time, she quickly went into the bathroom and showered at the speed of light, washed herself and put on some clothes, tied her hair in a high pony tail and quickly made her way out since she was running late already, still with no sign of jooheon there. 

•    

her supervisor stared at her with distrust. "we received a call from our client." he tilted his head to a side as his eyes narrowed slowly. 

seol feared for her life for a moment, wondering why he was staring at her like that. the thought of kihyun somehow ruining her reputation popped in her mind. 

by now it was more than obvious the ceo was a person unscrupulous and he probably put her in a bad spot with her supervisor. 

"they were really satisfied with your job but they said they're not offering you a permanent position because they're quite full right now, but they would have because you fulfilled all your assignments perfectly." he said entwining his hands on top of his desk. 

seol's eyes widened at the sudden and unexpected revelation. "u-uh... really?"

he just nodded. "honestly, i am surprised. i didn't expect you'd deliver such nice work given you're still a student but apparently, they were left with a great impression." he frankly spoke. 

she just swallowed hard. "so... in that case, after your internships are done, you still have to stick with us for a few more weeks to get your assignments here done as well and after that... we'll decide what's next, is that okay?" 

seol didn't want to ask too much about it, just the small hope of still getting a permanent position offer just made her heart race. "kamsahamnida sunbaenim." 

the man just nodded as he send her back. she hated the fact that her supervisor was kind of cold, he reminded him at the ceo, but she was still glad he was considering her for the position.

it was still shocking why kihyun wouldn't try to destroy her reputation in graphic nation since he apparently wanted to destroy her in every other aspect. 

either way she rushed back to yoo enterprises to return to work as soon as possible. she wanted to deliver a great performance in the last few remaining days she had in the company. 

"seol-ssi, annyeong." minhyuk said cheerfully as he walked towards seol when he spotted her coming inside the building. 

"annyeonghaseyo." she simply answered with a head bow. they both walked towards the elevator, minhyuk quickly followed her. there were a few people inside and minhyuk remained silent. seol could feel her temples throbbing because of minhyuk's presence close to her.

she knew he was probably there because he wanted to get some information. and just as if she could read minds, when the other two workers got off the elevator on the 7th floor. minhyuk quickly turned around and looked at her with widened eyes.

"what happened between you and the ceo?" he quickly asked, hands entwined under his chin. 

seol cursed herself mentally as she wondered how he could possibly know a thing about anything. "what are you talking about?"

"i may or may not have eavesdropped a conversation, a heated one between yoo sajangnim and his lackey this morning, it was about you."

seol felt her heart racing at minhyuk's words. she stared at him both in surprise and confusion. she was eager to know more. "what are you talking about?" she emphasized it.

"i swear to god i am not making this up... you know i live here right? so this morning, the ceo arrived kind of late, apparently he was trying to reach that mantis that works for him last night and he couldn't... so they were like fighting in the parking lot, i heard everything."

"what did you hear?"

minhyuk looked at her as if he knew something she didn't. "your name was mentioned. i mean i am pretty sure you're the only seol here in this building and after i saw you in engaged behavior with the ceo... i assumed it was you."

"okay but what did they say?"

"so it's true? is it you?" his eyes widened as a creepy yet funny smile flashed from his lips. seol rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"aniyo. it's not me, i am just curious-

"come on - he said now with a poker face - you can't lie to me, it's obvious it's you-

"what did they say?" 

minhyuk seemed to hesitate the fact if he should tell her or not but he couldn't keep his mouth shut. "the ceo asked his footman about your whereabouts."

seol listened carefully with eager ears. "and he said you had spent the night with him and the ceo grabbed him by the collar, he seemed furious." 

her heart raced at the many thoughts running through her mind. why would the ceo ask hyungwon such thing? he wasn't interested in her anymore, or at least that's what he made her believe the day before.

"what else happened?" 

minhyuk shrugged. "he said to the ceo that he should keep away from you from now on since he... ended the contract- he said looking up as if he was thinking hard something - now... this contract, what kind of contract was that? because the ceo seemed furious when hyungwon brought it up- he stopped talking when the elevator's door opened in seol's floor, revealling a motionless-looking hyungwon.

seol glanced at minhyuk and then at him. his expression was unreadable and changed when he saw seol. "annyeonghaseyo." he bowed, clearly greeting the people inside the elevator. 

the awkward silence was almost palpable. minhyuk quickly bowed and greeted back, almost pushing seol to do the same. "a-annyeonghaseyo- hyungwon-ssi." she said stepping out of the elevator hesitantely, still taken aback by the whole situation.

"well... i have to get back to work, it was nice seeing you seol-ssi." minhyuk said, cursing himself mentally since he wanted to stay and see what happened between the two, but judging by the way hyungwon stared at her, he knew it was better to abort the mission. 

once the elevator doors closed, she turned to look at hyungwon. his towering figure remained motionless next to her, his hands locked behind his back. "good morning, how are you?" he asked now his tone different from the one he used a few seconds ago when minhyuk was still around, somehow this felt softer. 

"good morning, i am fine and you?" she said as they both started walking towards seol's cubicle. she was kind of surprised he was still following her through the sea of small cubicles. 

people would glance now and then and quickly return to their jobs when hyungwon would shot daggers to each one of them.

"fine. how was your visit at graphic nation?"

"it was... okay yet weird?" she said once she arrived her cubicle. hyungwon stepped inside and closed the glass door behind him. 

seol removed her coat and hung it behind her chair and finally stared at him. "why?" he asked, crossing his arms on his chest, staring at her. 

she noticed he had probably taken a bath that morning after he dropped her at her house. he smelled fresh and has different clothes. this time he was wearing a striped tshirt with a black long coat and tight black pants. his dirty long blonde hair was styled roughly, parted in the middle. 

he looked beautiful, as usual. 

"uh... my supervisor just acted strange that's all... but he's kind of like this all the time-

hyungwon chuckled and shook his head. "maybe he was having a bad day."

"i don't think so." seol shrugged as she hesitated to take a seat. hyungwon glanced at her worried. "is there anything wrong?"

she looked at him with big eyes. she wasn't sure if she should bring up what she heard fro minhyuk a few moments ago but she was really curious about what kihyun told him or about what they talked about her that morning? 

seol opened her mouth to ask hyungwon about it, the look on his face was definitely trustworthy. it was almost as if he was begging her to trust him and tell him or ask him anything she wanted. 

but just right then wonho stormed inside the room making them both break the eye contact, and finally leaving seol with the regret and doubt of asking hyungwon what she really wanted to know. 

    •