This was the first meeting where Solbin kept company with her boss. It was all extremely exciting for her. She still couldn't believe that she was the CEO's secretary, that this was her first day on the job. She thought she was dreaming, and by now she was even used to the fact that her boss was the man she had slept with while on vacation in Thailand.
Sitting next to him in the car, she smiled under her breath at the thought that her female colleagues would envy her. Each of them would surely want to take her place at "Jeobag." Being employed by such a company is like a dream come true.
While driving, Jungkook glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and his mouth twisted in an arrogant smile, which she didn't notice.
- You look relaxed. I guess the worst is behind you, huh? - he turned to her, looking at the road ahead.
- I think if I get through this day, tomorrow will be better," she replied, still not feeling confident in his company. He intimidated her. - Doesn't every company president have his chauffeur?
He had told her earlier that when they were alone, she could address him freely, since they had met privately.
- I don't trust drivers. When I was a child, one of them kidnapped me, demanding ransom from my family, so I prefer to drive myself.
The girl nodded, intrigued by his story, since it sounded like the plot of a drama script about chaebol. Well... he came from a fabulously wealthy family. He became CEO of a company at such a young age, holding a giant burden on his shoulders. People trusted him, his family trusted him, apparently he trusted himself.
- Sounds scary.
He nodded in response.
- It was, since I have been traumatized for fifteen years.
The lives of the poor and the rich were different in many ways. It seemed to her as if they came from different worlds, and yet Solbin had the opportunity to have a private acquaintance with the millionaire who was her boss.
Can it be said that the night with the stranger turned out to be the best point in her life after all? If she hadn't met him in Thailand, she certainly wouldn't have gotten a secretarial position at one of Korea's top companies.
- Should we eat something? - She looked at him surprised, since he had set his rules beforehand and informed her that he eats meals at a set time. - Today we'll make an exception," he said, seeing the look on her face. - We will eat at a different restaurant than I eat every day, and you will accompany me.
- Let's do that," she replied, not intending to defy her boss on the first day.
He pulled into the parking lot. She was surprised that he didn't take her to a luxury restaurant, but to a roadside food court. Apparently, there were exceptions to rich people who did not just enjoy luxury.
She was happy because she found herself better off in such places.
They ordered homemade food from Ahjumma, which Jungkook's eyes lit up at when it was served to the table.
- There is nothing better than typical Korean cuisine," he announced.
She watched him with wide-open eyes as he greedily devoured the food, at that moment not resembling the son of a chef at all. Apparently, he felt comfortable enough with her that he didn't pretend to be someone he wasn't.
The girl started with the soup, which was delicious. She wasn't at all surprised that her boss couldn't eat because this homemade food was a paradise in the mouth. It had been a long time since she had eaten such delicacies.
- I will definitely come back here more than once," she announced after finishing her meal.
- And certainly with me," Jungkook added, smiling radiantly. He surprised her with his directness.
- It tastes better in company," she said shyly, wanting to respond to his words somehow.
He looked into her eyes, which intimidated her. She did not know how long it would take her to get used to the presence of a man with whom she had spent the night without knowing well. Apparently, she had to stop thinking about it to start feeling comfortable around him.
Jeon glanced at his watch.
- It's late. We should go back to the company already.
Solbin nodded her head. She got up from the table and intended to pay for herself, but seeing her boss's offended look, she let it go. The young man took out a black no-limit card from his wallet, which she saw for the first time with her eyes.
It would offend his pride if she paid for herself. Men were already like that, especially the rich ones.
Ara, who was staying in her newly met neighbor's apartment, watched the hallway through the peephole, seeing that Seokjin had left the apartment and was looking for her. A smile appeared on her face as she realized that to some extent he was concerned about her fate after all.
She wasn't about to let him go and opened the door, smiling mockingly.
- And yet you took an interest in my fate, you bastard! - she shouted, and he measured her from the bottom up, looking at her face with disbelief in his eyes.
- What are you doing there!
- The man in that apartment was my only salvation, since you threw me out of the house in just my panties, anesthetized!
Yoongi stood next to the girl, intending to lecture the neighbor on irresponsible behavior.
- Are you crazy! You threw out a stripped woman from your house, not caring about her fate! How could I not help her in such a situation?
Seokjin nervously rubbed his forehead.
- This crazy woman brought this on herself! She's a hypocrite who pulls the wool over everyone's eyes around her! - he defended himself, which agitated Yoongi even worse.
- She's just an innocent woman! - Ara was delighted by her handsome neighbor's words. - As a man, you should take care of her rather than treat her in such a shameful way! What kind of husband are you if you expose your wife to ridicule?
Kim ignored his neighbor's harsh statement and opened the door to his apartment, addressing Ara directly:
- Get inside and stop putting on a show!
She lifted her face and with the face of a beaten puppy, looked at Yoongi.
- Thank you for your help. You are an angel to whom I will be grateful for this for the rest of my life. Ask me anything you want, and I will be of service to you.
Jin snorted under his breath, thinking her plays were pathetic.
The blonde winked at the girl, at which she smiled sweetly. Her face changed dramatically as she looked at Seokjin and moved toward him.
- Do something like that again, and I'll destroy your reputation," she spoke to him in a whisper as she stood next to him.
- Get inside, devil," he chased her.
Before closing the door, he measured his neighbor with an unfriendly gaze. It did not look like they would be able to borrow sugar from each other in the future.
He walked into the living room and crossed his arms over his chest, watching as the redhead spread out shamelessly on the couch.
- Are you happy with yourself? You're acting like a child.
She turned on her stomach and looked at him with amusement in her eyes.
- Let's come to an understanding, and I promise you that I will be polite and stop making a scene. - Saying this, she made crossed fingers, not intending to keep her word. - Let me take full advantage of your apartment, and nothing like this will happen again.
The upset man rubbed his forehead and sighed loudly. For what sins did he have to meet this devil woman and, by a strange miracle, marry her? Could something much worse have happened to him? Probably not.
- Bottom line. Let's say you can use the apartment, but stay away from my bedroom.
- Your bedroom doesn't interest me," she replied hastily. - Let's just live like an old married couple during separation.
- You really have something wrong with your head. - Seokjin tapped his finger on his forehead, letting her know that she should get psychiatric treatment.
- You also have something wrong with your head, that's why we don't get along," she bit back. She got off the couch and, walking past him, showed him her tongue. He, however, smiled under his breath when he noticed that she directed her steps into the room. He waited for the moment when she would be the one to go berserk this time. Revenge was sometimes sweet. - Seokjin, you jerk! - she shouted unexpectedly, returning to him with a face as red as a tomato. - What did you do with my things!
- I showed you what pain it is when you lose something precious....
The redhead grabbed her head, almost fainting at the thought that all her things were dyed with dark blue ink.
- You are twenty-six years old, and you act like a child!
- After all, you yourself stated that we both have something wrong with our heads, so it seems to me that mentally we are on the same level. - He smiled maliciously, for which she felt like tearing him apart. - It seems to me that the neighbor's sweatpants will be your only clothing until you get paid. - He smirked at her and, proud of himself, turned on his heel to return to his room.
- These were brand-name clothes! Do you know how much they cost!
- Let's say that living at my place is payment for your destroyed things. Everything costs money, redhead. - He slammed the door behind him, and she, pale as a wall, returned to her room and looked at the destroyed things with tears in her eyes.
- I am in a black ass. Solbin wears a size "XS" that I won't fit into, so what am I supposed to do?
Crouching on the floor, she felt like crying. What was she supposed to go to work in tomorrow? After all, she had to wash her neighbor's things and return them to him as soon as possible.
- If that's the way you want to play, I'll show you what I can do...
*
Solbin sat at her desk, fiddling with a pen. Everything she had to do had long since been finished. She glanced at her watch, realizing that she had a few minutes left to finish her work.
Her first day flew by rapidly. It was a nice job, and she would have regretted giving it up because of her intimate contact with the CEO. They were the only ones who knew about what had happened in Thailand, so somehow she could swallow it.
The other secretaries had already finished their work, but she was the CEO's man, so she had to sit with him until the end. The company was already practically empty, and there was no one on their floor but them.
She raised her head when she noticed that Jungkook had left his office.
- That's the end for today. Let's go home and get some rest. - She smiled at his words and got up from her chair to join him. - You did very well on the first day.
- Thank you.
They got into the elevator. There was an awkward silence between them. Solbin rubbed her hand and bit her lip, feeling that at times he glanced at her.
- It's late, so I'll drive you home.
She looked at him, abashed and shook her head.
- No need, really. I should have a bus in a while," she replied, forcing a smile. - The bus stop is practically under the company.
- I won't insist. - He looked ahead and scratched his chin, at that moment looking furious. That was the impression she got, but maybe it was just what she had anticipated?
When they got off the elevator, she bowed slightly to him.
- In that case... I'll be running to the bus stop.
- I'll see you tomorrow," he replied, somehow more harshly than he had previously addressed her all day.
Was he furious about her refusing him? Or was he just tired and not in the mood?
She hurriedly left the company and, almost running, headed toward the bus stop. She thought she was going to be hit when the bus escaped her centrally from under her nose.
- Damn you, you bastard! - she cursed at the bus stop, where she was alone. - How can you arrive ahead of schedule?
Resigned, she sat down on a bench, forced to wait half an hour for the next bus.
- I'm so hungry, I'd eat an elephant. - She rested her chin on her hands, looking ahead with tired eyes.
- Should I share with you? - She lifted her gaze, only now noticing that a woman sat down next to her. She slipped a high-calorie doughnut under her nose. Solbin looked at her closely because it seemed to her that she had seen this woman before.
Maybe she had just passed her on the street once?
When she was a child, her parents told her not to take anything from strangers, but now she was an adult, and the food was offered to her by a woman, so what could be wrong with her? Especially since it was her favorite doughnut, so how could she refuse?
- Should she?
She digested food too quickly, so she was forever going hungry. She could eat and eat and not get fat at all. There were pros to this, as well as cons.
Old and stupid, she thought to herself as she took a doughnut in her hand, thanking the stranger.
- Has the bus number 312 left yet?
Solbin swallowed the doughnut she was grinding in her mouth, then answered:
- It arrived ahead of schedule. It literally ran away from my nose. The next one is in twenty-five minutes.
- These days, it's good to have a driver's license and a car. At least you don't have to worry about whether you'll make it to the bus stop before the bus arrives," the woman said.
- It's true. I hope that in time I can do something about it.
Her mouth was smeared with icing as the luxury car came to a stop. Jungkook opened the passenger-side window and looked at Solbin.
- Didn't you make it? - He asked.
She laughed nervously.
- It escaped from under my nose.
- In that case, now you won't refuse me anymore. - Abashed, she glanced at the unfamiliar woman.
- A handsome man is also a suitable option for going home," she whispered.
The gray-haired woman rose from the bench and, once again thanking the woman for the treat, walked to her boss's car. She got into the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt.
The shamrock woman watching them laughed under her breath.
- I really love this story," she said, tossing the empty doughnut bag into the trash. - Don't worry, Sol. He will take good care of you.