"Oh God, I should've listened to Feng!", Alice groaned. This was the third time she was making coffee for Junho.
"Couldn't he be more specific? Too strong, too sweet, too creamy doesn't f*cking help. The break room is also on the 15th floor of the building, which means going back and forth from the top floor. I swear if he rejects it this time, I will smack the cup on his head. Generosity doesn't exist in his world I guess. It wouldn't take a blind to tell that I need off today", rolling her eyes in exhaustion, she reached the door.
"Here's your coffee, Mr Geon", this time, she didn't bother knocking at the door, just welcomed herself directly into the room. Junho also did not pay attention as he was busy rummaging through the documents. When Alice walked over to his side to put the coffee in front of him, the cup slipped from her hands.
"Damn, what the hell!", he grunted in pain, his shirt drenched in sticky, hot coffee.
"Ahh, I'm sorry, Mr Geon. Are you alright?", his face twisted in pain at the blazing sensation. He looked up at Alice, his eyes widened not at the fact that she just spilt a hot coffee over him, but something else.
"Alright? I'm feeling so great for taking a coffee shower, Miss Alice. F*ck it! Get me another shirt from the closet", after loosening the tie around his neck, he tossed it on the table, his other hand unbuttoning the white shirt. The girl scurried to the said room. She had not seen him this mad before. Yes, he had been acting like a maniac but always propped his cool composure. She wished she had just listened to Feng today.
As Alice disappeared into the closet room, Junho quickly opened all the buttons of the shirt. Since Xiu had left him, nothing seemed right. Feeling the profound need of breathing the fresh air, he walked over to the large glass door of the balcony and slid them open. Just a few weeks back, he was so happy. He would admit that he ever felt whole throughout his time Xiu. Something always kept bugging him but he was indeed happy.
Everything worked against his will lately. He would not be tolerating this non-serious, unprofessional assistant if it were not for Tao. Washing his face with his bare hands, he looked ahead at the bustling city when Alice stepped into the balcony area. Not finding him in the room, she spotted the doors opened and came to check him out here.
"Your shirt, Mr Geon", when she stopped behind him, Junho took his shirt off and propelled it on the floor. She felt as if somebody had put her body in flames, Mr Geon if she were to be exact. Those defined abs, his erected nipples, wait, did he have six-packs? She wondered if they were as hard as a rock and was that his V-line. Holy f*ck, she probably was not in the right senses for gawking at his mythological Greek body of Geon Junho.
"Put it on", turning around, he ordered his assistant with cold eyes. Alice had a fever but she was not hearing words. Was she?
"I'm sorry, but I think I didn't hear it right. Can you please repeat what you said, Mr Geon?", nothing like changing the clothes of the CEO was mentioned in the contract she had signed.
"You heard it right, Miss Alice. After spilling the hot coffee all over me, I highly recommend you not make me repeat my words", the dominance in his voice had Alice walk near to him, standing face to face. She held the shirt wide open in his arms as Junho slipped into it, keeping the same stern look at his face. The girl stepped closer to her boss, too close for the hot breath of Junho invading her private space. And it was the first time when Junho noticed the angelic face of his private assistant. Did she always have those plump, rosy lips? Her cheeks also were not painted in a red hue every day. Hold up, she was not a blushing mess for buttoning up his shirt? She had not even done a single button yet.
"You can't even button up your shirt. How do you look after this company?", trying her hardest to get the small button into the hole with her sweaty hands, Alice mumbled. Junho's ear perked up at how the sentence sounded familiar to something the girl he cared about the most once said.
Flashback Starts
"You can't even button up your shirt right. How will you look after me, Jun?", opening all the buttons of the nine years old, a little girl rolled her eyes while making her way up to the shirt of the boy whose lips were pursed, pink colour dusting his cheeks for not buttoning up his shirt right. Well, it was not his fault that he had only got a break of twenty minutes to buy himself an ice cream and he wanted to spend every second of it with the girl.
"I don't have to be good at it when you'll be doing it for me every day, dummy", the boy flickered on the forehead of the girl, earning a scowl from her.
"If you promise to buy me my favourite ice cream every day then I'll do your buttons every day", adjusting the collar, the girl stepped back.
"I promise I'll buy you all your favourite ice cream when I grow tall like dad. But what if we forget each other when we grow old?", the boy asked with pouty lips. The little girl chuckled before taking his hand in hers. Putting it over her heart, she placed hers right over the boy's chest and said, "If we forget each other, our hearts will always remember it and will find their way back to each other."
Flashback Ends
Memories filled eyes gazed deeply at the girl who was nibbling on her lower lip in nervousness. The way she was biting onto her flesh also felt familiar, but unlike the other memory, this part was foggy, uncleared.
"You're doing it because I held you up late last night?", the tight grip of Junho's hand around her wrist forced Alice to let go of the button.
"Wha---I almost had it inside!", Alice whined, her forehead creased as she eyed the button she was about to have into the loop. Exhaling in disbelief, Junho picked the girl up in the blink of an eye and put her on the top of the boundary wall.
"Mr Geon, what are you doing?", glancing down at the height she was sitting on, Alice gulped before turning her face.
"You spilt the coffee on my shirt on purpose. Didn't you? Do you have an idea that I can file a case against you for attempting to burn me?", Junho put his arms on either side of Alice, his shirt swaying in the direction of the wind blowing, sending shivers up to his bare chest. Pushing her fever to the side, Alice was having a hard time making words out of Junho's lips. Had she gone deaf? And why she was seeing two Geons?
Junho continued spatting charges on Alice, not noticing the way her stare was unfocused. His eyes went to the size of a saucer when the girl swayed back as if her soul was sucked out. Before it would get too late, he grabbed onto her arm and pulled her forward, the impact making him lose his balance, sending both of them on the floor, Alice lying on the top of his naked chest. But it was not just that. Their lips rested finely against the other like two lost pieces completing the puzzle, falling in perfect harmony with each other.
And oh, so familiar taste of those lips. He had tasted them before. Not just tasted, he had it savoured in his mind for years but it felt as if it was a thousand years old. How could it be possible? He was not drunk to imagine things.
Moreover, Alice was the one having the fever, but why was his body temperature rising? His eyes were staring back into Alice's shocked ones; one hesitating to move and the other afraid of letting go without finding answers to the questions rising in his mind. He looked far past them, drowning into the mesmerizing gaze of the girl and exploring her soul. Only if it was possible. But he could at least explore what he had accessed to, her lips. Just as he was about to move his lips against Alice's, she abruptly pushed herself back on her feet before running into the room.
Junho subconsciously touched his lips after getting up. Then his hand laid over his heart that was beating frantically.
"Our hearts will find their way to each other."
Standing in a daze, his gaze stayed locked at the opened door of the balcony the girl disappeared behind.
Could she be...his Alice?