"Careful, young miss." The crash resonated through the room as the toy hit the floor and shattered into multiple pieces. Her nanny and another maid were beside her in seconds, all three looking at the mess she'd made. Jinsol felt the sting of tears as realization hit her. Mrs Nam crouched to her level as the other maid hurried to pick up the pieces. "It's alright, young miss, it was an accident. I'm sure he won't be mad."
Despite her nanny's assurance that everything was alright, the little one couldn't help but sniffle at the ruined toy. Her sniffle only got louder as the three of them were joined by the room's owner. "What's going on?" The soft voice of Hyunho was what finally brought her over the edge as Jinsol burst out in tears.
Her nanny stood up to face the worried older brother. "I'm sorry, young master, your sister wanted to surprise you, but she accidentally knocked over your figurine ." Hyunho looked at the carpet, peppered with small Gundam parts, and sighed before crunching down to be at eye level with his wailing sister.
"I-I'm...s-sorry op-ppa..." She hiccuped. Hand on her eyes as tears streamed down her face.
"Sol-ah," Hyunho called in an attempt to gain her attention. Jinsol kept on crying, not wanting to face her brother. She was convinced her brother was angry at her. But then she suddenly felt a hand on her head and finally gathered the courage to look up. Instead of an angry Hyunho, Jinsol was met with her brother's soft eyes. "It's okay, Sol-ah. I'm not mad."
Despite his reassurance, Jinsol's cries persisted. The young girl was afraid her brother would hate her now. Realizing that his words did not have the desired effect, Hyunho started sounding more worried. "Are you perhaps hurt? Did one of the pieces hurt you?" Jinsol shook her head. "Then what is it?"
Through her tears, Jinsol managed to meekly get out. "I don't want you to hate me. I d-don't want oppa to to hate me too." As soon as the words left her mouth, Jinsol was pulled into a tight embrace.
"Jinsol-ah, I oppa could never hate you no matter what." He loosened his hold and made sure she was looking at him. "Never. Do you understand?" Jinsol hesitantly nodded. "Oppa, love you so so much. So don't cry. It hurt me to see you sad." Hearing that her tears hurt her brother made the height-year-old quickly wipe her tears and mustered a small smile. Receiving one in kind from her older brother. "I like this better. You're so cute when you smile." That comment only brightened her toothy smile.
Hyunho stood up, never releasing her hand. He turned to the two women still in the room. "You can leave. I'll take it from here." The two maids bowed and walked to the door. Once they were out of the door, her brother turned back toward her. "Now, Sol-ah. Do you want to help me rebuild my Gundam?"
Jinsol tilted her head to the side. "Gundam?"
Hyunho hummed. "Yeah, that's how it's called. We could rebuild this one together and maybe do a brand new one after." Jinsol's face instantly lightened up, and she excitedly agreed. The both of them gather all the pieces before settling on the floor, the components between them. "Okay, look closely, Sol-ah. This is what you need to do."
She closely followed his lead as they worked on the Gundam together. Jinsol had been working on her part when she looked up to find her brother's lips moving, only she couldn't hear what he was saying.
"Miss. Han."
She furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Miss. Han"
The image of her brother became more and more blurry, and Jinsol started panicking.
"Miss. Han"
Jinsol's eyes shot open, falling straight onto surprised dark ones. Her face was only inches apart from that of the one hovering over her. It took her brain a few seconds to catch on to what was happening, but once it did, she instantly sprung away, putting much-needed distance between her and her secretary.
"Wha-What were you doing?" She asked frantically. Jinsol felt disoriented, having no idea what it was or even why the woman was in her office. "Why are you still here." Her tone was less frantic but still on the defensive.
Miss. Kim looked apologetic. "Sorry for waking you up. I brought you food." She raised the plastic bag, Jinsol hadn't even noticed it, to show the food.
"You went out to get me food?" Jinsol asked, unsure.
Miss. Kim moved towards the couches and the coffee table, pulling out the food containers. "Not really. I was home when I remembered you barely ate today so I took some takeout. I live near to this restaurant, and they have the best jjajangmyeon-"
She kept on talking while Jinsol was trying to make sense of the situation. A quick look out of the window told her it was already late at night, and judging by the empty, dark bullpen, everyone must have already left. "What time is it?" She asked, interrupting her secretary's rambling.
Miss. Kim shrugged. "I don't know it. I left the restaurant at around nine-thirty. So I guess it must be like 10."
Jinsol's eyes almost doubled in size. "10 pm? Miss. Kim, what are you doing at the office now? How did you get here? You don't have a driver's license. All of that for some food." Without realizing it, she'd started to scold her assistant. Something she only realized when she caught Miss. Kim's offended expression.
The younger woman pouted. "I don't have a license, so what? The public transport is pretty reliable. Not that someone like you would know." She'd mumbled that last part, but Jinsol still heard it.
"Huh?"
"You a prick." Jinsol took a step back at the sudden outburst. "I went out of my way to make sure you ate something, but you still find a way to complain. Sorry for caring." Her secretary sounded positively mad. She was standing next to the now filled-up table. There was more food on it than Jinsol thought she could humanly consume.
However, by the look of it, it'd been important for the redhead. So, the brunette did something that surprised the redhead. "Sorry, you're right. Thank you for the food." Miss Kim seemed shocked at the apology-thanks combo.
"Oh, well..." She blushed, seemingly feeling flustered. "You should eat." And then as if she remembered their dynamic. "-boss. You should enjoy your meal sajangnim." Before Jinsol could even think of proposing to give her a ride home, Miss Kim was already exiting the office. She turned around once, waved goodbye, turned back around, and left.
Jinsol looked back at the table. She guessed she'd have enough leftovers for the whole week. At the same time, she caught the shelves in the corner of her eyes. Shelf on which her gifted Gundame sat pristinely. Something, deep deep inside of her, warmed up at the sight. She couldn't remember the last time someone went out of their way to make sure she ate. Unbeknown to her, a smile had crept onto her face.