Yanmei woke up the next day thinking if her decision was right to help Anton. She imagined he had told his parents about their so-called relationship as Yeong Soon called her immediately, nearly crying for joy.
She instantly felt guilty. It was while they were having their conversation when she realized how difficult it would be for her. She wondered how long they would keep pretending and how in the world can they prove their so-called relationship, considering Anton was far from being a relationship person.
Still laying in her bed, she turned to her alarm clock and saw it was already six in the morning. Usually, she was already done at this time, ready to leave for the office.
She noticed her phone ringing and Yanmei lazily got out of bed to answer it. She gulped seeing Anton's name and sneered before picking it up. "Hello, Yeong?"
"I'm down at your apartment. It's time to go to the office," said Anton on the other line.
Her mouth hung open, and she frantically went to the bathroom while telling him, "I - I just woke up! I did not get any rest last night!"
"Yanmei - "
"You can just go ahead of me, really. There is no reason for you to pick me up!"
The call dropped, and Yanmei immediately assumed that he had left. She went straight to taking a bath, but in the middle of her shower, she heard her doorbell ring. "Oh - my - god. Please don't tell me that's him?"
The doorbell rang again and soon it rang non-stop that Yanmei knew it was her new boyfriend that was at the door. She asked herself, 'Who else would be so impatient? it can only be Yeong!'
Yanmei felt she had no choice. Still dripping wet, she rolled her eyes before stepping outside the bathroom wrapped in a small towel to take a peek.
Sure enough, her instinct was correct.
Yanmei shook her head and when she opened the door, she said, "I told you not to wait for me!"
Anton was stunned to see Yanmei in a small towel, merely holding it with one hand. Her hair was drenched, and her skin formed droplets of water.
Just yesterday, he saw her in sleeping wear and now; he saw her in a towel.
Suddenly, he heard Yanmei's next-door neighbor, also about to leave. Anton's face turned into a frown, seeing it was a gentleman that came out of the apartment. He immediately went inside her flat and pushed Yanmei a few steps back. He yelled at her, "Woman! Are you crazy?!"
While still in the hallway, Anton slammed his hands against the wall and in front of him was Yanmei, startled by his hasty anger.
His nose flared and his eyes were the narrowest Yanmei had ever since. He said, "Why are you showing yourself wearing only a towel to a man!"
Yanmei became puzzled. She was pretty sure the voice she had earlier heard was from the next door, which was about meters away. Her brows drew together and asked, "Ahh… which man? The neighbor? He was too far away and besides, I would not have opened the door if you had stopped ringing the doorbell! You were being a nuisance!"
Anton was about to answer, but she beat him to it, saying, "If you insist on waiting for me, then so be it! Take a seat. I'm going to finish my shower!"
He watched her turn her back on him and head back to her room while his blood was still boiling. He took a seat, also contemplating his actions.
The truth was, he was not sure why he was upset. He just instantly felt his head heating up with rage. He went to Yanmei's kitchen and fixed himself a cup of coffee, cooling his temper with the scent of caffeine.
When he finished his drink, he asked himself, "Yeah, why did I get angry?"
He merely shook his head, realizing that it was, in fact, his fault. In the first place, he had not informed her that he was coming to pick her up.
After Yanmei was already dressed, she was still upset that she kept silent all throughout. She just signaled him to the door, suggesting she was ready to leave.
They walked down the apartment building not saying any word to each other.
Yanmei only looked at the streets while Anton focused on driving. Deep inside, however, he cursed himself in silence, 'F**k! Now I have to make another apology letter.'
Arriving at the office, Yanmei only said, "I'll use the regular lift. Thank you for the ride, Yeong."
Yanmei did not give him a chance to answer and walked out of the car without looking back.
When Anton started with his day, he had very little progress. Again, he was affected because of Yanmei.
He then recalled that his mother suggested giving her some roses or flowers. It might as well be his apology.
He immediately called Junsu with a specific directive, "order bouquets of flowers for Yanmei."
"Ah - Excuse me, Mr. Yeon," Junsu clarified.
Anton had to repeat himself several times before Junsu finally accepted that the request was real, but before he could carry out his task, he asked, "Mr. Yeong, do you know Yanmei's favorite flower? Or color?"
"Hmmm," Anton said. He realized, he and Yanmei were still about to go on their get to know date. "Let me get back to you on that."
After putting the phone, Anton called the HR department and ordered all employees to update their company profile.
Almost immediately, talks within the office spread and even Yeona hurriedly informed Yanmei. "Ms. Yanmei, we better hurry. The big boss ordered us to update our profile on the internal site. I heard that whoever does not update their profile will not get the year-end bonus. Huhu."
Just as she was about to clarify with the HR team, Yanmei received a call to give the same message to her team. Thus she unfolded it to her staff.
Yeona went back to her desk and immediately opened the company's internal site. A pop-up appeared and several questions were asked.
The basics were required like any updated phone number, address and one other question appeared on the screen, asking, "Are you in a romantic relationship with your direct superior?"
Yeona giggled. She looked at Yanmei and clicked NO.
Another pop-up appeared saying, "If your answer is no, then there is a no need to answer the rest of the questions."
Yeona then saw that her profile page was marked completed. She was puzzled but happy it was over and done with.
On the other hand, Yanmei also opened her company profile and several pop-ups appeared with questions.
"What's your favorite follower?"
"Which country do you like your flowers from?
"What is your favorite color?"
"What specific hue and intensity is your favorite color? Please choose from the color wheel below for precision."