A Little Longer

A bunch of scenarios had gone through his mind several times, but nothing prepared him for this. He is staring right at the woman that started all these shenanigans, although he was expecting better conditions compared to the one he's experiencing. Teary-eyed and staring right back at him is not the best condition he wanted. The moment of truth is finally at hand, but now he is utterly oblivious of what to do.

Days upon days, he practiced for this moment, but what came out, in the end, is a disappointing, "Uhhh..." as she stares directly through his fake glasses.

"What are you doing here?" JiU asks as she attempts to wipe her tears with the end of her Blazer's sleeve.

Her once, vulnerable state changes in an instant after the tears are wiped away. Now staring back at Soohyun is the same lady he met in his meeting room almost three weeks ago. A chilling breeze blows on his spine as he looks back at her.

'Crap! This girl is no joke; she is intimidating,' Soohyun thought to himself as he stays frozen, looking at his employer.

"Uhh... I was just," stumbling at his own words while looking at the woman in front of him, "The door was open, so I followed."

JiU observes his face and how flustered he is in front of her. Finding it cute, she decides to smile. After the incident today, this is by far the least intimidating moment of the day.

This very moment, alone with JiU, was all he needed from the beginning. Now here she is right in front of him, and he can finally end this whole charade with being Byung Joon. His target accomplished; all he needs now is to talk to her, then all will end. Assuming she agrees to his proposal, he can come back to all the glamour of being the man in power over everyone. However, something is stopping him from doing that. The team he led for the past two weeks is on the verge of success. Those two weeks spent, he had grown close with each of them up to the point that leaving them this very moment will only betray the hard work they invested in their project.

"I'll just be going ma'am," Soohyun bowed and quickly turn his heels around. Trying to walk as fast as he can away from her, hoping she didn't notice anything after they exchanged eye contact. He chooses to stay a little longer to see that the upcoming project is achieving the success they intended.

"Wait," JiU's call made both Soohyun's heart and steps to stop.

"Y...Yes, Sajangnim?" Soohyun had to turn around, although reluctantly since he is still playing the part as a hired employee.

"You're the Busan man, aren't you?" JiU shows a spectacular curve of a smile as she crosses her arms over her chest as she leans her right shoulder on the wall, "Byung Joon, right?"

"N...neh," Soohyun bows his head.

"I'm JiU," JiU confidently struts towards Soohyun and stretching her hand towards the man, "I believe we haven't met in person."

'I doubt that,' Soohyun hums in his mind since his real counter had already met her and cause quite the scene.

"B... Byung Joon, ma'am," Soohyun had to keep up the act as a new employee meeting face to face with the boss, "It is nice to meet you, ma'am."

"I think it is quite rude staring at the floor when introducing yourself to a lady," JiU bends her body forward and tilting her head to see Soohyun's face, "Don't you think so?"

"Ah... Ye, Mianhe-yo," Soohyun almost immediately stands upright, much to JiU's surprise, to look at her, "Na, Byung Joon imnida."

"Now that's better," her smile caused Soohyun to smile the moment their eyes met, "Pleasure's all mine, Byung Joon-ssi."

'Beautiful,' the only word that runs in his mind the moment he sees JiU's smile up close. Ever since meeting her, this is by far the best encounter he had with her. Now, he's able to study her facial features up close without any tension in the air. At this moment, he realizes that she is genuinely breathtaking in person when it comes to her looks.

"Is there something on my face, Byung Joon-ssi?" JiU's words snapped Soohyun from his trance upon seeing her in this new light.

"Ah... aniyo opsoyo," Soohyun was surprised by his loss for words seconds ago since he's never behaved that way in front of a girl before, "I'm so sorry for staring ma'am, you're beautiful."

JiU is stunned at the forwardness coming from the male. She can't remember the last time a man ever sees her the way he did and genuinely compliments her looks with no hidden agenda. JiU knows a man who is sincere with his words when she sees one. It's not the first time when a man just comes up to her, then complimenting her on her looks and how attractive she is just to get in her pants. Yet that's not the same case with the man right in front of her. She finds herself smiling once more at the honesty in his words.

Soohyun, on the other hand, widens his eyes as soon as the words left his lips. His attempt to trying to stay calm and composed somehow had changed drastically just the moment her smile amazed him. "OH! Mianhe-yo Sajangnim," Soohyun bows his head repeatedly in apology, thinking he had unconsciously blown his whole plan due to carelessness, "I didn't mean to be so blunt, Sajangnim."

"Gumawo-yo," JiU giggled after seeing the flustered man before her, "You're the very first employee to have the guts and talk to me that way, I like it."

"S...sorry?" Soohyun looks at her with confusion after she responded the way she did.

"Walk with me, Byung Joon-ssi," JiU walks on without waiting for Soohyun's response.

Soohyun, once again, though filled with confusion, quickly steps up to join her. Other than admiring her beauty from up close, he can't deny the palpable situation that being by her side is intimidating. Appearance aside, the woman before him is one of the most successful women in the world at such a young age. As they walk, he can't stop looking at her from the side as they take a stroll around her garden. And for now, he can take in the scenery of the secret garden that he never thought existed. A variety of exotic-looking flowers complement each other in a way that words describe. Another nod of admiration goes JiU's way as Soohyun finds yet another matter he can admire from her.

"What do you think about this company?" JiU finally speaks as she stops right next to a bush of roses, "Be honest, I prefer it that way."

"Oh... Umm," Soohyun is taken by surprise since as CEO, he never finds himself asking such a question towards one of his employees, "This company is living up to its reputation as the number one leading company in the world. So far, I haven't found any flaw within the company."

JiU smiled and stared into the distance at the moving cars down below. "This company is like my family, and I will do anything to keep everyone in it away from harm's way," She then turns to Soohyun, "I'm sure you've been up to speed about how picky I am with my partnership."

"Neh," Soohyun nodded, but can't help with the feeling that she might be talking about his company, indirectly.

"If I made the wrong decision," she returns to her previous state, staring to the distance, "I will not hurt only me, but everyone within the company and I don't want anyone's lives disturbed on my doing... I don't know if I can live with that."

Soohyun looked at her as he takes in her words. He had no idea that she cares this much about her employees. He also realizes how much difference they have, like a vast rift cracking between them. Everything about them is different about them, from the way they lead their respective companies to the way they treat their employees.

"What is love to you?" an unexpected question from JiU that once again caught Soohyun unaware, "Byung Joon-ssi?"

The very question caused Soohyun to stay silent as he takes his time to think. He looks at the lady right next to him with a look of surprise. Yet again, she asked him a surprising question. A question he doesn't know an answer to, at least until the last five years, where he felt what it's like to love and be loved.

"I wouldn't know precisely, what love is," Soohyun is attempting answer through the experience he had five years ago, "But one thing I know is that it sometimes leads to people doing pretty crazy things for love and it can turn very harmful too. One thing for sure, I also know that love can be the most beautiful thing when you have the right person to share it with."

"Hmm..." JiU turns to look at him with a smile that Soohyun can't seem to understand, but a hint of pain appears to pour from that smile, "We can only wish for such fairytale."

Her response to his answer is quite surprising, but relatable to what he believes. To Soohyun, love is just another word for an impossibility. Five years ago, he had probably considered in such matters, but ever since then, love is something he doesn't believe.

"It is nice meeting you, Byung Joon-ssi," JiU extends her hand once more towards Soohyun, "I'll be seeing you around."

"Neh, Sajangnim," Soohyun takes her hand and shakes it gently.

"I suppose you can see your way out?" JiU gestured to the door he came through earlier.

"Yes, ma'am," he bows once again.

"Alright," she smiles again at him before retracting her hand from his then turning around to walk away.

Soohyun watches her leave, and something sparks his interest after spending that short moment alone with her. There is something more about her than meets the eye, according to his mind. For a split second, he feels a different kind of attraction for her but decided to brush this off since that is not something he wants. He brushed off that thought as he stares down to the busy Seoul streets. Pondering on the fact that he might have blown the best chance he had in talking to JiU face to face. He chuckled while clicking his tongue the next.

"I hope this isn't a mistake," Soohyun says to himself as he taps the concrete railing of the rooftop before turning away and taking his leave from the beautiful garden.

"You know?" Gray's voice came on from the earpiece, "For a moment, I thought you're talking about her."

"You heard wrong," Soohyun answers almost immediately and takes off his earpiece as he joins his team back in the office.

"Alright," Gray resigns from his question but asks something else, "Why didn't you take that chance dude? She is right there."

"I have my reasons for that, I'll explain later," Soohyun says as he stops in front of his office.

"Well, whatever it is, I hope it is worth it," Gray replies, "You okay, though?"

"That I don't know," Soohyun says as he looks at his team laughing and joking around as they prepare themselves to part ways.

Soohyun takes off his earpiece and shoves it down his pocket. As he enters the office, his team stopped all their actions to bow to him. "Ready for tomorrow?" Soohyun asks while he also prepares his things before leaving.

"Neh!" they answered in unison with bright smiles on their faces.

Soohyun can't help but chuckle at their response. He nods in acknowledgment

as he puts everything on his table back into his bag.

One by one, his team members left until it was only him back in the office. He takes out his earpiece again and taps in to contact Kwangsoo, "Hyung?"

"Yes, boss?" Kwangsoo replies almost immediately

"Everything ready for tomorrow?" Soohyun turns off the light in the office as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Oh, yup, it is,": Kwangsoo replied in a rather joyous tone, "And things are going the way you predicted including that anomaly you mentioned, they are in for a surprise."

"Glad to know that," Soohyun smirked as he pressed the elevator button to go down, "Thank you, Hyung." He didn't wait for any response and turned off the call.