39

Kang Haerin to headquarters. Over.

Current position: Pantry, Level 6.Mission status: In progress.Target: Kim Seokjin, elder brother—not sure if he's the elder one because I haven't asked—of Kim Taehyung.Subject: Kim Taehyung.Suspicion level: Mild but rising.Enemy activity: None.Resources: requesting mental health backup.

Requesting permission to proceed. Over.

Standing by for orders. Over.

"You look like you're about to ask for money."

Target acquired! I repeat, the target has officially found me first!

"How'd you know?" I spun, leaning back on the counter as he ran the coffee machine for an espresso. "And now that you mention it..."

Seokjin stopped the buzzing machine, grabbing the sachet of sugar.

"So, hypothetically." I stepped next to him, picking up a stirrer and putting it in his coffee mug. He bowed and thanked me. "If someone knew where I lived without me ever telling them, what would you say about that?"

Seokjin froze. Then, he blinked at me. "What? Someone knows where you live?"

Target is fucking stupid. I just said hypothetically. Requesting back up on patience!

"Matter of fact, your brother." I tilted my head. "I never told him where I lived but that man knew where to drop me the day before when he dropped me home. Do you share your manager's details for Danish cookies?"

"What—?" Seokjin lifted his cup, his flabber already gasted.  "What—no! Why would I share your personal details with that jackass? And, by the way, I don't even know where you live."

New information received. Copy.

"Really? Are you sure?" I scowled. "Because with the way you've been forgetting things at home and he's dropping them off for you—high chance you forgot that you shared my details too."

He looked taken aback. "I don't keep my colleagues' private details. And, he hasn't dropped anything at the office for me, Miss Kang." He sternly admitted. "Except for the Danish cookies that one time."

Wait...how did he end up here at the exact time then? How was this logically possible?

He casually rolled his eyes and started walking with his balanced espresso while my world started collapsing tile by tile. "That piece of shi—mmering mess doesn't get tasks from me."

"But—I've seen him around so much." I defended, clenching the fabric of my skirt so hard that I pinched my bum. "And he's always saying he's here for you."

"That wacko?" Seokjin sneered. "Yeah, right." He scoffed. "Remember how I told you that he can't be left alone for a second? Suddenly he's the responsible one? Make it make sense, Miss Kang."

MAKE IT MAKE FUCKING SENSE TO ME!

Because how? How the hell?

This man's pants were on fucking fire. He was lying to me? Why?

"I'll tell him to back off, Miss Kang. He's crazy like that." Seokjin placed his cup on the marble table and pulled a chair for himself. "Don't mind him. He's just lonely here with no friends and all."

"No friends?" I lowered myself into the chair in front of him, my voice cracking like a bleating goat. "Doesn't he have—like a friend who was pregnant? I saw him...at a maternity shop buying stuff..."

Seokjin's eyes locked on me, the confusion finally leaking into him. "No..? He doesn't have friends. He stays home all day. Is he making friends and not letting me know? That sick rat..."

Oh my god. Oh my fucking goodness. Oh my cactus in the ass because what the hell was this?

Was this man about to skin me alive and wear it as his face or something?

Mission status: abort. We've been bamboozled. Hard.

Requesting backup.

One minute I was sitting in the pantry, judging Seokjin's espresso and the other my entire reality was questioned. Had this fucking man been lying to me from the start?

Don't panic. Don't panic, Haerin. Everything's already going downhill as it is.

I gulped and stretched my lips, getting up and walking the hell out of the pantry, leaving Seokjin with his drink like it was some kind of date I had interrupted. My legs were turning cold and the skirt wasn't helping much. I turned to the corridor, finding myself in the face of Mr Han.

Well, fuck me.

He froze, unable to align his vision for a moment, before finally flashing an awkward smile at me.

"Good morning, Mr Han." I greeted first because hail all the hierarchical respect that my country gave no matter the insult I've had to bear.

"Oh—Miss Kang, good morning." His voice creaked a few times and I knew that this man was no longer a threat. At least, in the current situation of things. "Aren't you a part of the management meeting too?"

"Yes—yes! Is it happening...right now?"

"Yes, meeting room 6T!" He pointed in the direction of that room, his feet continuing to move. He didn't wait.

Good for him.

I turned on my heel, lethargically walking down the corridor to whatever meeting room had been missing from the pleasures of my life. When I opened the door, a majority of the management staff had already arrived.

Mr Min waved at me to catch a seat next to him. Surprise. There was no seat next to him.

I almost rolled my eyes.

"Drag a chair from there." He motioned to the far end of the room.

Right. I turned and grabbed the back of the seat at the same time that a hand pulled it back, making me stumble ahead.

The heck?

Of course. Of course, it was this bastard. Jeon Jungkook. But why the fuck was he at this management meeting? Well, duh, he was management too, right? Was I eating shit for breakfast or what?

"That's my chair." He deadpanned at me.

I closed my eyes, seething from the inside. Ragebait. That's what this was. I had to act maturely or people were going to think wrong again. I let the chair go and wiped my hands on my skirt as if touching it was like touching shit.

He caught it, his eyes flickering with the spark.

Hah.

Once I had found myself another chair and dragged it to Mr Min, I sat myself down, my mood already ruined. I couldn't fucking catch a break, really. I wanted peace. For a minute. For an entire minute—

"Did you find out what Mr Jeon was reporting about?"

For a damn minute, Sir!

I turned to Mr Min, who, for some reason suddenly looked punchable to me. No offence but did he have to start the conversation like that? I mean, I had enough missions for today already. First, it was the bargaining spectacle with Jungkook, then it was this Taehyung revelation, and now Mr Min was on his toes again.

I overlapped my legs, rubbing my knees aggressively to warm them. As usual, the meeting room was set to a temperature suitable for men because women were meant to die in the cold.

"Nothing happened. He just wanted something installed on her system." I tried to dismiss, almost proud of my lying abilities.

Keyword: almost.

"Why would a director call her to install an update?" Mr Min frowned.

I grinned, "It was important. And he wanted to feed this back to her to never miss it again."

"How major was it for him to be involved, Haerin? Are you sure you're not covering up for her?"

Was this man trying to ruin everything for me?

I clenched the arm of my blouse and prayed that this meeting room's temperature would kill me first. I had too much anxiety built up in me to go on and this cold was not helping.

"No. I handled it. He called because I've recently been through a session and—"

"Mind if I join this mini-team meeting?" A voice cut through and I wanted to hug him for his timely help.

We looked up at Mr Seo. He was the manager of another team. We rarely had any situations where we could meet but this meeting turned out to beat those odds. Mr Seo was a kind and decent guy with that sharp look, gelled hair and the face of a high school sweetheart. Not to mention, his team had a majority of women, so the ambience in the team was better than ours and it always smelled like flowers in their work-bay.

"Not at all." I grinned as he slid his chair behind me so that he was the top tip of our isosceles formation. "Good morning Mr Seo."

"Good morning, Miss Kang. Long time." He turned to Mr Min, "Mr Min, you've been keeping your assistant hidden away so we don't even get to bond. Look at us awkwardly pushed into a trip now."

Mr Min chuckled but I needed an explanation. What was he keeping me out of where Mr Seo was around?

"I don't. You just drag your AMs everywhere." Mr Min bit back.

It wasn't funny. Not my kind of humour.

"Really?" Mr Seo looked at me, a brow propped up. "How's this bloke treating you? Does he dump everything on you and disappear for hours?"

"He does not." I shook my head to assure him and saw Mr Min relax a little.

"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!" A man I didn't know stood at the head of the table. "Welcome to the official announcement of the management trip. An M-O-M will be shared with everyone after this meeting. We are thrilled to confirm the resort we have booked for our trip. While most of us wanted an adventure park-themed outing, a lot of us expressed our concerns about the fact that they needed something more of a laid-back vacation where they could unwind and enjoy themselves after a long and hard week. So we listened. You'll be staying at—drum rolls please—"

I pounded my fists on the table quickly to give him the perfect drum roll, making a few people chuckle.

The host passed me a warm smile too.

"—The Banyan Mirage! A five-star resort nestled in the valleys of Wando Island."

A five-star resort?

I couldn't help but clap along with the rest of the group because hell yeah! This seemed more luxurious than whatever the hell normal teams got in the name of outings. Maybe I'd finally find the will to unwind and relax. Click hot pictures and let everyone from my school know how pretty I am now.

"Oh, I've been there. It's beautiful." Mr Seo got my and Mr Min's ears perked.

"Really? Is it that good?" I looked at him, curious.

"Yeah. Although it was back when I was not a sad single, my then-girlfriend enjoyed it a lot." He folded his hands, seemed to be lost in the memory of his broken relationship. I didn't have the time for it.

I turned back to the host.

He was working with the presentation slides, showing the beautifully blue pools and the exquisite view of the valleys from the windows and the three-storeyed bungalows that were probably the resorts.

"A spa resort? Are we going there to have fun or get oiled up?" Somebody barked from somewhere.

It was hard not to laugh. I saw Jungkook scoff from the end of his seat, interested in the slides.

A picture of the pool came up again in the slide and someone said, "Do we wear company-approved swimwear?"

What? I laughed.

"Yeah, the one piece with the Neureva logo on the chest." I scoffed and a buckle of laughter fell through.

"Sure, Miss Kang. Would you like Neureva to step in for that?" The host looked at me and I hid my face, embarrassed and shaking my head to show my disapproval.

"Miss Kang, if you're coming then we need someone to restrict the alcohol there." Mr Seo joked.

"Matter of fact, I do not drink that much. You can ask Mr Min." I lasered him with my glare, forcing him to nod to my words.

Good.

"Sure." Mr Seo scoffed.

"You just want me there to draft your apology emails in advance," I smirked and then chuckled.

Mr Seo slapped the back of my seat when he laughed, shaking me up hard enough to make Mr Min crack a smirk too.

"Do you have any other witnesses to your controlled drinking habits? Or is it just this man you've held by the throat because of the work?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, my cheeks aching from grinning for so long.

"I don't think there's anyone else here I know." I looked around and met Jungkook's eyes. He wasn't smiling. He was just staring. At me. Or maybe we both looked at each other at the same time. Let's give this asshole the benefit of the doubt because if he was really looking at me, then I'd have to get ready to be buried behind Neureva.

The host knocked on the desk to get everyone's scattered attention back. "Room pairings will be same-gender by default, but if anyone has any preferences, or is up for mixing for coordination reasons, let me know—"

Mr Seo raised his hand, "Miss Kang is a good manager. I wouldn't mind having her around to wake me up on time—"

"I hope that's a joke," A sharp voice sliced through the fun. "Mr Seo."

I turned to Jungkook, my eyes narrowing, offended. Why the fuck did he have to open his mouth in this? What was it to him? I was the one getting paired, right? Not like I had planned to go through with sharing a room with Mr Seo but I was more offended that Jungkook interrupted it.

"Of course!" Mr Seo laughed. "It's dangerous here. Cannot risk something like that."

Jungkook finally cracked a smirk and leaned back in his seat, folding his hands at his chest, "Don't joke about such things at all. It's a very sensitive issue. Besides, I'm all up for letting everyone sleep alone. I'm not a fan of the same-gender pairings either."

Fuck this man.

"We'll try to arrange that. Definitely."  The host nodded hastily. "Maybe give you your own separate room. Because it's a resort, the spacing is limited. So I will speak with the fun committee and ask if there's a chance for that, Mr Jeon."

"Thanks." He smiled.

"Are we going to ask Taehyung from the next department too?"

My heart literally shot out of my ass for a second. This was like a death situation. But then I realised they meant someone with a similar name from the next department. Not him. Not fucking him.

I pretended that I hadn't just been stabbed and turned to concentrate on the presentation.

The host explained the time of departure. The common contact point and what all we needed to carry even though that was a given. I had officially planned to shop for this trip with Bo-Ah.

By the time we wrapped up the meeting, my bum had gone numb. Sitting was somehow the most difficult part of this job.

I stayed there for a second, trying to be one of the last to leave but when I saw Jeon doing the same, my ass flew up. I turned and tried to get away, but I swear, he had some kind of disgusting aura about him. One of the chairs that was pulled back caught my heel and my hip landed sideways on the table, right where he sat. Right fucking in front of him as if I was leaning there to chat to his face.

No the fuck I was not.

I balanced myself straight, red in the face.

"Are you okay, Miss Kang? I'm sorry that your best duo isn't there to catch you." He smirked.

"My best what—?" My voice lowered in an aggressive whisper.

Jungkook looked like he was having the time of his life when he stood up, suddenly towering over me like a damn tree. His hands pressed inside his pockets, eyes hovering over my face as if he was trying to find something to make fun of again.

"The man you almost shared a room with. I'm sorry if I ruined your plans. It wasn't my intention to interject a budding romance." He pouted, dramatically showing me how not-sorry he was for that.

Oh, this motherfucking doofus.

"Aw, did little Jeonie feel left out not being paired with a girl too?" I cooed, pouting harder than him.

He looked away, smirking into the air as if something was preciously funny.

"Should I tell the host that someone's sexually frustrated?" I blinked at him, faux-innocently.

His jaw ticked, and he stepped towards me, but I jumped away like he was a disease. Well, if his man was a disease, he'd be pox for sure. Contagious and itchy.

"Mr Min!" I turned to him and started walking out. "Let's go. Do you want to have some coffee first? Mr Seo?" I leaned towards the man next to him. "Coffee?"

"Absolutely." He grinned. "Lead the way."

I stuck a tongue out at Jungkook when only he was watching me.

He looked confused for a second before smiling defeatedly because hah. I won. Haerin was the official winner of this round. Muah muah!

Once we were out of the glass door, we decided that it was better to have the coffee from the cafeteria downstairs instead of the low-grade machines in the pantry. I mean, I loved the pantry and all but machine coffees always had something missing. They tasted like spit and coffee powder. And if it's something bitter, it will kill you. There was just now in between.

We headed downstairs to the cafeteria, got some coffee, and decided to stroll out of there to the favourite company spot. The cake shop. That's right.

No. That was the wrongest fucking thing.

Because what I felt was the hounding fear. This creeping, crawling, disgusting feeling of being scared.

I stopped in my tracks at the gate, eyes socketing when I spotted that bastard again. No, not Jungkook. The other bastard. Taehyung.

Oh goodness fuck this shit. I was out.