Yanmei was relieved that she made it through the day having no conflict with her new and second boss, Anton Yeong. 'Wow!' She thought, 'such a stiff guy for a gay person.'
She could not help but compare Anton to Garry, who was almost always a jolly person. She figured it was because he has yet to reveal himself.
Following Junsu to her new office, she met some staff along the way; those who were expected to work under her care. They were transferred from different departments and lines of businesses to accommodate anew.
Yanmei was introduced as the Operations Manager from Lu-Wei Enterprises, China who will manage the new joint venture.
Yanmei immediately noticed that strange look from some of the staff. She asked Junsu curiously, "Is there something wrong with my face? Why do I get this feeling that they don't like me?"
Junsu laughed before saying, "It's not that at all, Ms. Xia - "
"Pfft! Please, call me Yanmei," she said while brushing off the idea with her hand.
Junsu was stunned to see such a relaxed person. He had longed hope for someone to give life to this chilling office.
"Well then, Ms. Yanmei. It's primarily because they rarely see a manager who is young and…. a woman. The more you stay here you will find out that many managers and supervisors working for JKW Investments are men. There are a few women, but they are usually in their late fifties and already married," explained Junsu. "It really is a long story but our boss - "
"Oh, I know - I know about it. Andrea already gave me a heads up," said Yanmei before patting Junsu in the back. "Thank you for taking me here."
She saw Lu Fang and Andrea waiting for her in her office. She could tell they were curious about her conversation with her new boss. She gave them a thumbs up, suggesting she passed with flying colors.
The moment she entered her space, she excitedly opened her mouth, ready to report how it all went when Andrea silenced her saying, "Shhh…. Let's talk about it outside." Yanmei saw Andrea pointing her fingers to the surveillance before whispering, "My brother has eyes and ears everywhere… Let's talk more over dinner."
"Junsu, can you please arrange an assistant for Yanmei?" Lu Fang asked before Junsu could take a leave.
"Oh - I really prefer working with a girl. I hope there is one in this building?" Yanmei pleaded after giving a sneer.
They all laughed at her request but Junsu soon answered, "There are a few. Don't worry. For entry-level positions and non-managerial, we have quite a few women working for the company." Glancing at Yanmei, he said, "I'll check with the other departments and see who can immediately transfer to your care, Ms. Yanmei."
During dinner, Andrea and Lu Fang took Yanmei to a five-star restaurant, and it was there that she revealed how she convinced Anton Yeong to give her a chance.
"I persuaded him that I was gay too. This way, he would not worry about me stealing all the men around him!"
Yanmei saw Lu Fang spat out his drink back to his glass, nearly choking. She wondered if she said anything wrong. "Everything okay?"
"Haha! He is fine, don't worry about it, Yanmei. He just choked on her drink," explained Andrea. She saw him seemingly convincing her husband. "Right, babe?"
"Right! Sorry, Yanmei," acknowledged Lu Fang.
Yanmei noticed both of them were acting strangely like they were hiding things from her but she dismissed her suspicions and went on explaining her assumptions towards Yeong's predicament.
"You see, I think the reason he doesn't like women around is that he hates them taking men's attention. He is still in search of Mr. right after all." She paused for a moment before expounding, "You see, my gay friends always hated bringing me along on dates as I would end up attracting their partner."
Yanmei noticed Andrea paled. She was about to express her concern when she heard her spoke, "But, you are not a lesbian, are you?"
The question made Yanmei laugh hysterically that she asked back, "Well, what do you think, Andy?" She then turned to the also puzzled man beside Andrea and asked, "What about you, Mr. Lu? Do you also think I am a lesbian?"
The couple gave stares at each other and later Andrea answered, "Well… we hope that you are not…"
Yanmei laughed again but eventually answered earnestly, "No! I am not! I only said that so he can be comfortable with me." She winked at them and added, "You see, now he does not see me as a threat!"
"So relax, will you. I am not going to steal any of your brother's collection of handsome men! Did you noticed how many young and good-looking men are working for JKW Investments," disclosed Yanmei before taking a sip of her drink.
"Makes me wonder if he has had a relationship with any of them - "
"No! definitely not… I would know," said Andrea, cutting off her thoughts.
That night, Yanmei stayed in a hotel while an apartment was being arranged for her. She took the time to learn more about her new boss, Anton Yeong, searching through the internet, using her laptop.
Sitting on a couch, she googled and googled but found very little information about him. She realized he was such a private person.
She only found one article which was dated a few years back. She breezed through it and read out loud her findings, "The new CEO of JKW Investments and Yeong Guns and Ammos Corporation. Single… Took over the company at a young age of twenty-seven..."
Yanmei paused for a second reading the next line, "rumored to have been in a relationship with a model and actress, Baek Hei-ran?!"
A picture of the actress was included in the blog article and she could not help but exclaim, "Oh, my gosh! She is so beautiful!"
"Oh, my poor beauty… I hope she is just a paid actress… Wait… what if she is a cover-up? Tsk, tsk, tsk…"