The later part made the other three members shocked from the core… Friend? This Grim Reaper? Is she alright?
Mr. Secretary froze and remembered their old times. He gave a gentle smile when he came back to his senses, "Since I don't have time right now, how about I give you an ice-cream treat later. You were my first ever friend after all."
Thud!
The wallet of a person who was standing behind them fell down.
Everyone got startled and looked behind. Manager Lui was staring at Mr. Secretary with big round eyes. Mr. Secretary realized his mistake. Embarrassingly he cleared his throat. Su Yeon looked back at him and replied, "Ohh sure! But how would I know when and where to come?"
Mr. Secretary answered casually, "I'll text you once I am done with my work."
Suddenly, a pin drop silence formed around two of them…
Assistant Lim, Manager Lui and the two members of the IT department didn't know how to react.
Su Yeon realized the situation. To save Mr. Secretary, she quickly nodded and gave a meaningful look. Mr. Secretary caught that and left the place after giving a nod.
No one could talk till they reach the table with their plates. When everyone was giving her weird looks, Su Yeon asked with a weak smile, "What happened? Did I do anything wrong?" Everyone nodded.
Manager Lui, who was sitting beside her asked, "Intern Yoon, did you… did you really used your connections to come here?" "Of course not!" Su Yeon answered quickly. Assistant Lim joined, "It's just that you seem a bit close to Mr. Assistant, which is completely unusual for us."
Su Yeon realized why everyone thinks about her like that, so she explained, "Actually Professor Song, I mean Vice President came at our university as a judge for a presentation assignment. There I met Mr. Secretary for the first time. He is quite friendly, unlike what all of you think about him." Everyone believed with a heavy heart.
…
At the other branch,
The young man returned to his desk after finishing his task. He saw a pop up from the inbox. "Oh right, I forgot about it." Earlier, he discovered that the person YSY was... a girl! The young intern whose approach he liked and wanted to guide further… was a girl! He opened that message,
Good Morning Senior,
Thank you so much for guiding me till now. Learning from you was really a very nice experience. Although I wanted to learn more, I couldn't since today will be my last day here and I don't know if I ever get chance to work in Song Empire.
Thank you once again, stay healthy and wish you a best luck for your future projects.
See you soon! (I don't wanna say bye to such a great knowledge source :) )
The young man whispered, "I would have ruffled your hair if you said this in front of me," and chuckled at that Intern's childish message. He started typing the reply.
"Send!... Wait…" he remembered the Assistant Lim's words. This intern was not a guy as he thought, but a girl! He regretted sending the reply and started chewing his nails. When he got a strange glare from his colleagues, he realized his unusual behavior.
For the first time in his life, he regretted over such a small matter of a simple reply. "Strange! Why am I bothered about that girl's reaction to my reply? I am wasting my time," he convinced himself and continued working.
…
The second half of the day went quickly than expected. Su Yeon rechecked everything for incomplete work, hopefully, there wasn't anything. She handover her research file to Manager Lui as she asked for it. While checking her inbox for the last time, expecting a reply from senior LKJ, she saw the reply.
Good Evening,
Congratulations, I hope you have learned many things and it will help you in your future career. Save your sugar-coated words for your girlfriend, they won't work on me. You are saying this because you haven't worked under me in real. Anyway, you stay healthy too, and all the best for your career. Believe in yourself, you have that potential.
See you soon.
"Huh? Girlfriend? Why would I have a girl…wait," Su Yeon got confused, but then chuckled when she realized that this senior must have assumed her as a male intern. "So that is why he was talking freely with me," and laughed. She signed out from her mail ID and cleared her desk.
In the end, Manager Kang decided to give a dinner party to all the interns. Everyone cheered and went for dinner after bidding farewell to all the senior employees with happy faces.
The dinner party was celebrated at a nice restaurant.
Drinking talent show, singing, laughter, funny experiences coupled with a delicious meal.
Later, some of them planned to go for karaoke but Su Yeon and few others rejected that idea. Su Yeon bid farewell to everyone.
"You can go alone, right? Should I call a taxi?" Manager Kang asked. Su Yeon politely rejected, "Don't worry Manager, I can manage. Bye then, good night!" Manager Kang smiled, "Yes, Good night. Let's stay in touch, don't forget this small Manager." Su Yeon laughed and left the place after giving a ninety-degree bow as gratitude.
Honk!
Su Yeon got startled when she came out. She looked at the car but couldn't see the person because of the tinted windows.
The car drove beside her and the window was rolled down. "Miss Yoon, it's me. Can you come with me now?"
Su Yeon looked at the person and got shocked, "Mr. Secretary!" Seeing her happy face, Mr. Secretary said, "Miss, get in the car first, it's cold outside."
Su Yeon nodded, opened the door and sat inside. As soon as she sat beside him, at the passenger seat, she realized something. Just then, she saw the windows getting rolled up. Su Yeon sighed in relief and looked at the smile on Mr. Secretary's face.
"I know, if someone saw us, it would be the breaking news of the Song Empire," Mr. Secretary commented. He looked aside when he didn't get any reply, Su Yeon was staring him with surprised face.
"I… I thought you would laugh, it was a joke," Mr. Secretary got embarrassed. Su Yeon replied, "Mr. Secretary, I didn't know you could joke so easily…" and chuckled.
'How come miss manages to make me speechless every time… even when she doesn't remember anything,' he wondered.
Soon they reached a small ice-cream parlor. Mr. Secretary pondered about this idea and asked, "Miss Yoon, do you think it is better to eat ice cream in this weather?" Su Yeon nodded her head, "Of course, ice-creams are meant to be eaten in winter… we get a different kind of satisfaction!" Mr. Secretary smiled; he has already anticipated an 'out of the box' answer from her.
They went inside. Mr. Secretary showed her, "Miss, here is what you would like." Su Yeon went through the list and got confused, "Woah, they offer so many types of chocolate flavor! What should I choose… Dark choco, chocochip, café-walnut, choco brownie…Umm, ok I will have one Dark choco, what about you?"
Mr. Secretary gave the order, "One dark choco and one vanil… chocochip please," and offered his card.
"Please Mr. Secretary, let me pay, it's me who asked you."
"Sorry Miss Yoon, but I can't. I… I am giving a treat to my… first ever friend."
Mr. Secretary smiled and guided her to a table. Su Yeon observed his eyes whenever he looked at her… lost and abandoned… constantly searching for someone…
She asked, "Mr. Secretary, since we have become friends, can I ask you something?" She continued when he nodded, "Why did you say first ever friend? You don't like mixing up with others, but you seem comfortable with me and Prof. Song."
Mr. Secretary asked, "Miss… since we are friends, can I share something?" "Of course!"
He took a deep breath and decided to tell her, "I… I got comfortable around you because, when I was a child, I once had a little friend. She used to live with her family near our orphanage."
Su Yeon widened her eyes, "Orphanage? You mean…" "Yes, I am an orphan."
He resumed, "She used to live with her parents and a sibling. She and her older brother befriended an orphan like me. Even their parents used to treat me nicely. They all almost made me a part of their family."
Just then, their ice-cream was served. Su Yeon asked, "That's great, they seem so nice, but then, what happened? Does anything bad happened after that?"
Mr. Secretary shivered by her words, "Yes, she… she met with an unfortunate accident and they… they had to go somewhere far…" and once again remembered the lifeless body covered in the blood.
Su Yeon's heart tightened. For some reason, she felt it surreal.
He cleared his throat and gave a weak smile, "The thing is, you resemble a lot to our little one, Dr. Wang Lufan and Master Song look so much like her elder brother and father."
Su Yeon got surprised, "You know Brother Lufan?"
"Yes, he is the friend of young master Hao."
"But then, didn't you tried to find them later?"
Mr. Secretary got startled, indeed! He missed this possibility while making the story. He said, "Well I tried to find them, but I failed, and I was so small so I don't remember their name. Both the siblings used to come for playing in the garden, so I assumed that they must be living nearby. Miss Yoon, we should eat our ice-cream before it melts."
Su Yeon clearly caught the deep emotions in his eyes, "You must be missing them badly whenever you meet me or brother Lufan," and started eating her ice-cream.
When she saw him nodding sadly, she straightened up and offered her hand, "Ok then, from today onwards, I will be your friend! Let's become friends, this ice-cream is our witness! Mr. Secretary…"
"Gon… my name is Gon," he said and accepted the handshake.