Ji-eun tapped her foot nervously as she stared at her computer screen. Her thoughts were far from the report she was supposed to be working on. Instead, they were focused on Joon-ho and how he had promised to stay home today. She prayed he'd keep that promise, considering what had happened the last time he'd followed her to work.
She'd barely lived down the embarrassment after Joon-ho had, for some inexplicable reason, decided to "help" by possessing her and making her talk to her office crush, Min-jae. Unfortunately, the words coming out of her mouth were anything but smooth. Instead of casual conversation, she'd rambled about ghost trivia and whether he believed in life after death.
The whole ordeal had left her avoiding Min-jae ever since.
"Ji-eun?"
She nearly jumped out of her seat as her supervisor's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Her boss stood in front of her desk, raising an eyebrow.
"Are you okay? I've called your name twice," her supervisor said.
"Y-Yes, sorry," Ji-eun stammered. She glanced around nervously, half-expecting Joon-ho to pop up from behind her. Thankfully, there were no floating objects or ghostly presences in sight.
Her boss gave her a skeptical look but nodded. "Alright. I need those reports by the end of the day. Try to stay focused."
Ji-eun smiled awkwardly and nodded as her boss walked away. The moment she was gone, Ji-eun let out a deep breath. She checked around her cubicle one more time, making sure there were no signs of Joon-ho. Maybe he had actually listened to her for once.
Just as she allowed herself to relax, a familiar voice whispered in her ear.
"Miss me?"
Ji-eun froze, her heart racing. Slowly, she turned her head and saw Joon-ho sitting casually on the edge of her desk, grinning as if he hadn't just broken his promise.
"Why are you here?" Ji-eun hissed under her breath, trying to keep her voice low so her coworkers wouldn't notice.
Joon-ho shrugged, his ghostly figure swaying slightly as he leaned back. "I was bored at home. You weren't there to entertain me, so I figured I'd come check in on you."
"I told you not to follow me to work!" Ji-eun whispered furiously, her eyes darting around to make sure no one saw her talking to thin air.
Joon-ho chuckled. "Relax, no one can see me but you. I won't cause any trouble… unless you want me to."
"Absolutely not," Ji-eun muttered. "The last time you 'helped,' I almost died of embarrassment."
"Aw, come on, that was funny," Joon-ho said with a mischievous grin. "Min-jae didn't seem too freaked out."
"I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm insane," Ji-eun retorted, shooting a glare at Joon-ho. "Please, just… stay out of sight. I don't need any more disasters today."
"Alright, alright," Joon-ho said, raising his hands in mock surrender. "I'll be good. For now."
Ji-eun sighed in relief and turned her attention back to her work. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go wrong. After all, with Joon-ho around, trouble seemed to follow her like a shadow.
As the day dragged on, Ji-eun managed to make some progress on her report, despite Joon-ho's occasional comments that only she could hear. She was starting to think she might actually get through the day without any major incidents when her phone buzzed on her desk.
It was a message from Min-jae.
Her heart skipped a beat as she read the text: 'Hey, do you want to grab coffee after work?'
Ji-eun blinked in disbelief. Was this really happening? Was Min-jae actually asking her out? She felt a rush of excitement, but it was quickly followed by a wave of panic. What if Joon-ho found out? What if he decided to tag along and ruin everything?
She quickly typed out a response: "Sure, that sounds great!"
She hit send before she could second-guess herself and then glanced over at Joon-ho, who was now floating lazily near the ceiling, pretending to be disinterested in her life.
"You're not coming with me," Ji-eun said firmly.
Joon-ho grinned down at her. "Oh, really? And what if I just… tag along for fun?"
"Don't you dare," Ji-eun said, her voice low and threatening. "If you ruin this for me, I swear—"
Before she could finish her sentence, one of her coworkers walked by and gave her a strange look. Ji-eun clamped her mouth shut and smiled awkwardly, hoping they hadn't overheard her talking to her invisible roommate.
Joon-ho floated back down to her level, chuckling softly. "Alright, alright. I'll let you have your little date. But if it goes badly, don't say I didn't warn you."
Ji-eun sighed, feeling both relieved and anxious. She had no idea how this coffee date would go, but she knew one thing for sure: dealing with Joon-ho and her crush at the same time was going to be a challenge.