Chapter 2

“The Monthly Monday Meeting will begin in the large conference room right now,” blasted from the intercom.

Min Su glanced at her watch and smiled at Tae Gyu. “Looks like we should head in there,” she said, leading the way.

He returned a smile that revealed nothing of his true feelings. How dare she forget him? It was bad enough that she couldn’t remember his face but not even his name? All those weeks, months and even years that he’d spent thinking about her hadn’t even left the lightest footprint on her heart? He frowned as he watched her walk in. What annoyed him even more was his childish reaction to the entire thing. Considering that his feelings for her had faded years earlier, did his reaction even make sense?

“Mr. Ahn, don’t feel shy. Come into the room,” Mr. Oh, the COO cajoled, forcing him out of his mental pity party. “Everyone is eager to meet you.”

He smiled and followed him in. Then he quickly shook thoughts of Min Su away and got mentally ready for his speech. He knew everyone already thought of him as the bad guy since he was a stranger from their new parent company who not only demoted their former head of sales but as far as they were concerned, was now going to try to foist his ideas on them. It was normal with acquisitions like his mainly because of the uncertainty.  So his job was to let them know that even though we was going to put them to work, he wasn’t the enemy. And he needed to prove to everyone just how capable he was.



***



After the meeting, Min Su walked into her office feeling pretty good. Ahn Tae Gyu turned out to be a lot more pleasant than she’d expected. Everyone else she’d met from the Tan San group had turned out to be stuffy and snobbish but this one was different.  The merger had left her with conflicting feelings. On one hand, she hated that their owner had sold them to another company and left them entirely at their mercy. During mergers and acquisitions, a lot of negotiations were usually made to protect the acquired company; issues ranging from maintaining their benefits or their company culture but for them, all Mr. Chu had cared about was making money and leaving. So with the new company, it had just been one problem after the other. First, they forced them all to sign non-compete clauses agreeing to not work in a similar company for up to a year after leaving Seo. And when they’d tried to fight it, were told to either sign it or find a new job. Then they had to learn that the cost of their medical insurance was going up, their 401K match had reduced from 100% to 50% and worst of all, their dress code had abruptly changed from casual to business. As a result, almost all her colleagues had their resumes out and were looking for new jobs. But she’d spent so many years working her way up the ladder that she wasn’t quite ready to jump ship. So meeting Mr. Ahn, a man she’d have to work closely with was like a breath of fresh air. She chuckled as she remembered their meeting. To be honest, he’d been a little too friendly but at least he wasn’t creepy.

When Min Su reached for her mug and saw that it was empty, she decided to go to the kitchen for a refill. On her way there, she met the guy she was going to make her new best friend. Making nice with the folks from Tan San could make her life a lot less stressful.

“Hello,” she said, sending him her signature smile.  “I really liked your speech at the meeting.”

“It wasn’t a speech – just an outline of what I plan to do here.”

She chuckled. “Of course. I think everyone is excited to have you on board. So how’s your day been going so far?”

He glanced at his watch. “Well, it’s only a little past 11 so not that much different since we last spoke.”

Mmkay? She laughed with slight embarrassment. “I know… it was a long meeting. But we only have them once a month so it’s not too bad.” She waited for a response from him but when she got none, said, “It sounds like you have a lot of advice concerning our rebranding.  I suppose it just won’t be as simple as replacing our logo with yours, huh?”  she joked.

“We would certainly need to do more than that to take your products national, don’t you think?” he replied coldly.



**



“Sunbae, what do you think of Mr. Ahn?” A younger employee asked as soon as she stepped into her office. She shut the door behind her and moved closer to Min Su’s desk.

Not looking up from her computer screen, she replied, “What do you mean?”

“Isn’t he a lot cooler than all the other people from Tan San? At least he’s not ancient like the rest of them.”

Kim Hye Won was an employee that had joined her team about three years earlier. She’d been very nervous and insecure about her abilities back then so Min Su had taken her under her wing and become her unofficial mentor.

“And he’s kind of cute, don’t you think?”

Min Su shot her a disapproving look. “Do you come to work to date?”

“Sunbae, how can you say that to a newly engaged woman?” she asked, showing off her diamond ring for the umpteenth time. “I just want to know what you think of him since we’re going to be spending a lot of time with him.”

“What do I think of him?” Weird? Bipolar? Her prior feelings of optimism had been drained by his sudden cold attitude. Now she was a little worried that he’d be a bit of a nightmare. “I’ll tell you in a few months.”


**
 
“So how was your dream girl?” Seung Ri asked from the other end of the line.

“What dream girl?”

“Or did she turn out to be a nightmare?” He laughed at his own joke. “Was that just an old photo of her and she's now fat and ugly?”

Fat and ugly might have softened the blow. “Is this what you called me for?” Tae Gyu asked in irritation.

“Since your office isn’t too far from mine, I figured I could show you the best place for lunch in these parts – a fabulous salad bar.”

“I’m surprised you actually want to hang out with me. This morning, you were acting like you wished I was dead.”

“Omo, are you getting sensitive on me?”

Tae Gyu ignored his question. “The team is taking me out for lunch today so maybe tomorrow.”

“Alright then. But you still haven’t told me about your dream girl. Still as pretty as you remembered?”

 “Seung Ri, I’m too busy for this.”

“You can at least tell me if she remembered you or not. Did she remember you?”

“I’m hanging up.”

His friend burst out laughing. “So that is why you’re so mad! I—"

Tae Gyu cut him short by hanging up on him.



***



“Thank you,” Min Su said as she walked through the door a fellow customer her opened for her. She joined the long line of fellow lunch goers.

“So he told you he loves you?”

Min Su frowned as she held the phone close to her ear.  She could hear the smirk in her closest friend’s voice “Yep.”

“And now you’re going to dump him?” Joo Hee asked, making sure her tone reflected her disapproval.

She didn’t reply as she looked over the menu. What was she in the mood for? A sandwich or a really yummy salad with all the trimmings?

“You’re stubbornly going to be single for life, aren’t you?”

“And what’s wrong with that? You know I don’t do love.” A male customer moved aside and gestured at Min Su to cut in front of him but she shook her head and thanked him with a smile. Standing in front of him would mean having to listen to him hit on her and she was not in the mood for that.

“Grr. You’re so frustrating. What’s so bad about love?”

“Should someone who’s lost weight, gained weight, lost a job, had her bank account emptied, gotten—” She stopped herself before adding the word ‘hit.’ “You’ve been through so much bulls.hit because of this crap and you still think you can convince me that love is grand?”

“Yes, all that has happened to me but am I dead? I went through a lot of bullsh.it but it was all worth it now that I’ve found true love.”

Min Su pretended to throw up. “Give me a break.”

“You really don’t want to be happy like me?”

Min Su thought about all the times she’d watched her friend bend over backwards to please a man who as far as she was concerned, wasn’t fit enough to wipe her smelly shoes. “Mmm... no.”

 “I can’t wait till you stop lying to yourself. If you hate relationships so much, why do you date?”

Min Su sighed. How many freaking times were they going to have this conversation? “I love spending time with men and all that comes with it. But as I’ve told you many times, I like to have a very uncomplicated life.”

“Which is why you’ve left a string of broken hearts in your wake, right?”

She looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping and whispered into the phone. “As you’re well aware, I tell each and every man I date that I’m not looking for anything serious and each and every time, they are delighted.”

“Till they get their hearts broken.”

“How’s that my fault?”  Really, how was it? To be fair, she sometimes felt bad but not bad enough to actually consider getting serious with them. Never that.

“Whatever. Just be gentle with Sung Joo. He’s such a funny and sweet guy. Do you really have to do this? I feel so bad for him.”

“Instead of worrying about him, why don’t you ask yourself if you’re sure you want to surprise your boyfriend at home?”

She chuckled. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a little midafternoon nookie.“  He always worked from home on Mondays and she’d heard no complaints the one time she'd shown up unexpectedly. In fact, he loved it so much that he’d asked her to do it every week.

“Mmkay, Hun. I’m about to place my order so I’ll talk to you later.



***



Joo Hee took one last look at her reflection in her compact mirror and when she was satisfied with her refreshed make-up, picked up the container of lunch she’d bought on the way and stepped out of her car. They’d been together for a little over a year and as she was hoping for a proposal in a few months, was doing everything in her power to be extra nice and wonderful to him, which was kind of hard since he was so messy. They’d moved in together about five months earlier and they had been five of the hardest months in her life. But no man was perfect and she was just going to have to get used to picking up after him. Picking up after him, not talking back to him, giving him space, never gaining a pound and the list seemed to get longer every day. But he was the kind of guy who surprised her with roses at work or a helicopter ride for lunch so as far as she was concerned, it balanced out.

She shut the car door and walked towards their apartment. She didn’t even have to pull out her keycard because a neighbor walked right out as she approached the door. She didn’t have to press the elevator button before one arrived in front of her and opened up. When she stepped in, it didn’t stop once before arriving at the 14^th floor. Something was wrong.

With a suddenly weary heart, she slowly walked towards their apartment. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing, right? She gritted her teeth when she realized that she was letting Min Su’s warning and overall negativity cloud her judgment. Not having to wait for an elevator was a good sign, for crying out loud!

Once she was in front of her apartment, she stood in front of the black door and said the number aloud. But maybe there was something to what Min Su said after all, that girl had never been dumped in her entire life. Maybe she should take her advice and not disturb a man who was very hard at work. Her nerves had to be all over the place for a reason. Besides, if she didn’t walk in, she wouldn’t get any unwelcome surprises and before long, she’d be engaged or married. She’d already begun to look through bridal magazines for the style of dress she wanted. One great thing about constantly being on a diet was that she looked good in everything – even mermaid gowns.

At the age of 19, she’d been proposed to by her first love but instead of following her heart, had listened to everyone – her family, her friends, even his family– and turned him down. A few years later, when it became clear that she couldn’t find a better man, she’d begun to regret that stupid decision.

And now because of that mistake, she was standing like a pathetic woman in front of her home instead of going in confidently like the woman her parents had raised her to be. She took a deep breath in, punched in the code and walked in.

She braced herself for an unpleasant scene and walked into the living room. The television was on but he was nowhere in sight.  Curious about where he was while wasting electricity, she put the food in the kitchen and called out to him. “Oppa! Oppa!”  But there was no reply. She’d seen his car parked outside so she knew he had to be around. She smiled and felt at ease. Was he really working hard and not goofing off? Even at lunchtime?

With a smile on her face, she walked towards the study room and when she turned the knob, began to make a joke about his dedication to his job when she stopped midsentence. She shook her head and rolled her eyes at the sight. “Why so cliché?” she whispered more to herself than the two people who were looking up at her with stricken faces.