Rita Shin couldn't believe her eyes. Yunhua was the same as she remembered, all those years ago. When she looked at Yunhua, those same piercing black eyes stared back at her, those same lips, the same delicate yet mature face, the same raven-black hair, and she even kept the same black cross earring-
"Ms. Shin?" Rita snapped back to reality. A rather perplexed looking Yunhua stood before her. "Are you feeling alright?" She waved her hand in front of Rita's face.
"Oh! Yes, I'm fine, thank you, ma'am," Rita replied. In response, Yunhua tilted her head to the side with a slight smile.
"Are you sure? You seem rather distracted." Yunhua studied Rita Shin. Rita stood slightly taller than Yunhua, with flowing brown hair and was dressed rather sensually in a loose-fitting brown cardigan over a white dress, her lanyard with her company card delicately framing her neck.
"Yes, ma'am," Rita nodded.
"Alright, then." Yunhua reached for her phone on the desk and slipped it into her pocket. "I presume Mr. Youngsoo already gave you a brief overview of the building? I'll give you a proper tour after lunch. We can talk about what you'll be doing then." Yunhua strode to the doorway and held the door open for Rita. "Come on," she said with a smile.
- - -
"You've already met Mr. Youngsoo. As you know, he's our department chief." Yunhua ladled miso soup into her bowl. "In addition to me - and now you - we have 5 other members in our section. You'll probably run into them later. For today, I'll mostly be helping you to get caught up and showing you what we do, and tomorrow we'll start working for real." Yunhua led them through the crowded cafeteria and the duo sat down at an empty table. "Do you have any questions?" Rita shook her head. "Okay, well," Yunhua continued, "we manage personnel within the company. In our specific section, we are assigned to manage specific projects. At the moment, we're working with team two of PR and their recent advertisement campaign. I'll get you up to speed later." Tucking her hair behind her ear with one hand, Yunhua leaned down to blow on a spoonful of soup. At the same moment, Rita's thoughts were flying around in a jumble.
Does she not recognize me? Rita thought. Or is she just acting? I know I've changed a bit, but I don't think I've changed that much. Rita looked up at Yunhua and studied her. While the girl she knew still remained, much of her appearance seemed tired. She sighed.
"Is something the matter?" Yunhua looked up. Rita could see it more clearly now. Yunhua looked as if she hadn't put much thought into her appearance. Her hair was slightly mussed and her dress shirt was creased. Her skin looked dry, and the black bags under Yunhua's eyes were rather noticeable.
"Ms. Seo, why did Mr. Youngsoo tell me to take care of your health?" At this, Yunhua smiled.
"I tend to take things rather seriously. If something isn't done properly, it keeps me up all night, and that often keeps me at the office late. I'm managing just fine." Rita looked unconvinced, and that must have shown. "Really, I'm fine." Rita nodded silently and dug into her soup. The two finished up eventually and headed to the washbasin. "Here." Yunhua gestured to the soap dispenser and handed a sponge to Rita, before rolling up her sleeves and starting to clean her dishes herself. All the while they washed their bowls, Rita's mind nagged at her question. Coming to a decision, she gulped.
"Ms. Seo?"
Yunhua looked over her shoulder at Rita. "Mhm?" Suddenly Rita's throat felt dry. "Uhm, do you…"
Yunhua blinked. "Yes?"
Rita stopped washing to stare at Yunhua. She looked positively elegant, even in her state. "I-" Rita bit down on her lip. Why can't I ask? It's not surprising, is it? She probably doesn't recognize me. It's been a couple years since we last talked. It's a perfectly reasonable situation. So why am I so sad?
"Ms. Shin?"
"I-It's nothing." Damn, this is hard.
- - -
Nearing the end of the day, Yunhua completed the tour and led Rita back to their section of the office. "...And that's all of our office area, although it looks like the other members are out on break right now." Yunhua motioned towards an office desk labeled HR TEAM 2 DESK 7. "You'll be working here, starting tomorrow." The door creaked open and a curious looking Airi entered.
"Yunhua? What're you doing?"
"Speak of the Devil. I don't believe you've met each other yet? Airi, this is Ms. Shin. She'll be working with us starting tomorrow. Ms. Shin, this is Ms. Haneul. She's my assistant section chief."
"Nice to meet you Ms. Shin," Airi said with a smile. Rita reciprocated with a bow. "Yunhua, it's five. Ms. Shin, will you be coming as well?" Yunhua looked perplexed.
"Why would Ms. Shin come along? Unless she lives the same way we do-" Airi cut off Yunhua with a laugh.
"Yunhua, it's the company dinner tonight. Did you forget? To welcome all the new hires." At this, Yunhua blanked. Airi sighed. "Oh, dear. You really should keep up with the calendar."
Yunhua glanced at Rita who blushed sheepishly under her gaze. "Yes, ma'am. There is a company dinner tonight." For what seemed to be the fortieth time that day, Yunhua sighed again.
"Right. Yunhua, you're not coming to the dinner looking like that," Airi said with a rather devilish smile. "Sorry, just a moment, Ms. Shin. I need to take our dear Ms. Seo over to the washroom for a makeover quickly." With that, Airi whisked a too-tired-to-protest Yunhua out of the room, leaving a rather perplexed Rita standing at her desk, waiting for the two to return, which they did 5 minutes later. Airi proudly held an embarrassed Yunhua out to Rita like a proud sculptor of a finished masterpiece. "Ms. Shin, what do you think?" Airi asked confidently. Rita was astounded by what had occurred within those five minutes.
Ms. Haneul must be a magician, Rita thought. The previous Yunhua had been pretty much transformed. Her previously messy and fraying hair had been given a proper combing and now lay flat and cascaded down Yunhua's back like a shiny, jet-black river. Her weary eyes and dry skin were now once again looking youthful, and her makeup had been redone, hiding her black circles underneath. She now draped a cream-coloured blazer over her dress shirt to hide the creases.
"Airi, stop that. Don't act that way in front of the new hire… You're not leaving a great impression."
"You look amazing." Yunhua turned back to Rita, who was now grinning ear to ear, and slightly red. "Genuinely. You look beautiful." Burning up with the realization of what she had just said, Rita quickly covered her mouth and bowed. "I'm sorry ma'am, I'm not sure what I was thinking. I'll excuse myself now. Ms. Haneul, thank you for the offer, but I'll drive myself." Stealing one last look at Yunhua, Rita hurried out the door and to the elevator.
As Yunhua watched Rita's silhouette recede, she thought, Ms. Shin doesn't look half bad herself… Airi, who just witnessed the whole scene, was immediately on Yunhua's back about it.
"Looks like our precious junior found someone she admires~ How are you going to respond, Yunhua?"
"Shush, you."
"Are you blushing? Don't tell me our Ms. Shin was the only one who thought something at that moment-"
"SHUSH." Yunhua looked away from Airi with a burning face. "Let's go," Yunhua said, and swept out of the room with a hysterically giggling Airi behind her.