Baek Ha Rim

i arrived at the floor of my hotel room and the atmosphere was already so serene and quiet. i realized that an hour had passed by quickly after chae hyungwon and i had spent some time together.

i was doing well progress-wise, but my feelings definitely had to stop getting involved in the process. it was a weakness to be emotional for a fighter like me.

"it's his stance, his aura, and everything. he's a daunting person who makes everyone's heart race, ha rim-ah. let's not mistake that for something else."

"mistake what?" i suddenly heard a deep voice echo in the hallway.

i immediately turned around in surprise and saw changkyun himself dressed in all black with a cap hiding his face. in a split second, he was already coming for my direction.

"kyun-ah.." i called.

he quickly grabbed my arm and dragged me all the way to his room, leaving me no time to protest.

"yah, im changkyun!" i raised my voice to call his attention the moment he finally released my arm inside his hotel room.

slamming the door shut and locking it behind him, he looked at me with a bewildered expression.

"what's up with you?" he asked.

"what do you mean again this time? i thought we resolved things this afternoon."

"you entered that floor for yoo kihyun but left with chae hyungwon. is this a change of heart, ha rim-ah?" he asked.

i felt like facepalming myself mentally. changkyun was tiring me out; it felt like i constantly had to remind him about how i was going to do things.

"and what about it? i hit two birds in just one night then, isn't that the point? changkyun, ever since i've been making progress in my plans, we've been arguing even more. what are you getting so worked up about?"

"everything would end fast if we got straight to threatening mr. chae with his own son's life. tonight, you had the chance to corner chae hyungwon, but what? i just find you chit-chatting with him?"

"did you really expect me to bring a knife or a gun with me back there? i failed, i get it. so, can't you let me try a different approach?"

"i can't!" he protested.

a moment of silence filled the room and we both seemed taken aback. i could tell even changkyun didn't know how to explain himself anymore. there was too much going on in his mind.

"i know where this is going. your playing of his feelings will eventually affect yours, too. i saw you and i can tell whenever your smiles are genuine, ha rim-ah. i heard you back in the hallway on top of that." he finally spoke.

"why are you talking like that, is this still about my plans-"

"it's also about me liking you, stupid!" he finally confessed.

i was stunned by his words. my lips slightly parted at that moment. everything froze; it was all that rung in my ears. i could see the troubled look on his face, and i knew he wanted to get a hold of me but my mind was already too occupied.

i knew it was eventually going to come to this moment of truth. i feared it because then i wouldn't be able to understand his motives. it was hard for me to trust, and on top of that, i now had to discern if changkyun was doing things because he had to help me or rather because he liked me and was expecting something out of it.

"i'm sorry. please don't get the wrong idea. i'll confess to you properly next time." he tried to make up for it.

"i want to understand you, but the way you've been acting towards me has been suffocating, kyun-ah. you keep tormenting me about forgetting how my plans should be playing out, but here you are. you've been reacting that way because you can't keep your feelings under control. this isn't about you." i spoke.

i now realized how much he hated seeing me with yoo kihyun and chae hyungwon. it's not entirely because of my plans, it's rather because of the way he wanted to gatekeep me.

"whether this is about your plans or the way i feel about you... i want you to know that i can't ever let you catch feelings for the enemy's son. knowing that there is a chance of you growing fond of him won't only be my weakness, but it'll be yours by the end of this." he reminded.

his eyes were determined. it felt as if changkyun was staring into my soul, meaning every word he had said.

"and whether this is about me as a comrade, friend, or a lover to you... it doesn't change the fact that i won't stop caring for you and serving the purpose of protecting you." he added.

i slowly looked away from him feeling regret. i realized that i had probably hurt him by saying he was suffocating. although it doesn't change the fact that my frustration over changkyun and me not getting along was valid, i still could've tried harder to restrain myself.

"i know you forgot to bring your room's key card with you. you can sleep on the bed. i'll take a comforter and a pillow and i'll sleep on the floor." he went ahead to change the topic and walked away from me.

i quickly searched inside my pouch when he was gone, and realized it was true.

"great." i muttered to myself.

i just got into an argument with changkyun, had him confess his true feelings for me, and now there's no way to escape this place after all the tension.

way to go, ha rim.

_______________________________

Chae Hyungwon

i massaged my heavy head and slowly took a sniff of white flower oil to alleviate some blockage in my nose.

"should we cancel today's meeting, sir? your condition doesn't seem very good after we came back." my secretary asked.

my mind quickly drifted to that night; our last stay at yk hotel where i took a night swim.

i had finished 15 laps in the swimming pool beforehand yet i chose to spend another hour in the jacuzzi instead of leaving when it was time to rest. the air was quite chilly, but i pushed myself through the night and ended up with an awful cold.

"does it look like i'll let a cold hinder me from finishing off important work? proceed, i've gathered the design and marketing teams today."

Baek Ha Rim

the meeting room's temperature was a little less cold than usual.

every now and then, the ceo's gentle sniffles could also be heard throughout the duration of the entire meeting. although i wouldn't consider the sound a distraction, it was enough to notice that our ceo had gone to work feeling sick.

i took a quick glance at chae hyungwon who still had his eyes fixed on the projected presentation. our eyes had never met since the moment i had stepped foot inside the room which was new to me.

i needed his gaze or even just a quick glimpse from him. it would serve enough validation that i had truly him wrapped around my finger.

"and.. that is the end of our presentation. if there are any questions or clarifications, the floor is open for it. thank you."

i quickly got back to my senses and tried my best to recall the key points that were reported.

"move the slides back to the financials. i need to get a closer look of the budget allocation and the expected profits." with a raspy voice, the ceo spoke.

the presenter did as he was told. ceo chae carefully analyzed what was projected on the screen, and i could already tell that it was a nerve-wracking moment for most of us who wanted to impress him.

"i don't see any budget for traditional marketing media. we need print advertising. magazines, billboards, coupons, and brochures. where did that go?" he started.

truly, his eyes were sharp. ceo chae was displaying his attention to detail right at this moment.

"sir, we will be focusing our efforts on social media marketing and-"

"why should we limit our scope and efforts to online media? just because we're in the 21st century?" he cut him off.

ceo chae took a moment of silence to ponder about it. maybe he was rather processing his disappointment in us and trying not to lash out. apparently, being sick could have your temper going bad because of increased irritability.

"review all of that and present it to me next time. this meeting is adjourned." he quickly wrapped up.

we slowly stood up from our seats one by one, and started to leave the place while taking our belongings.

a number of thoughts came across my mind but i was mostly relieved that the meeting was over. if i got interrogated for our work, i was not quite sure how i'd be able to handle it. it was a disappointing mistake we overlooked.

we thought that our financials would look better if we cut off expenses and grow our reach on the digital space instead. but chae's couture surely loves their print media. it suddenly brought me to the time i saw chae hyungwon's enormous billboard that day i first encountered him.

"miss baek?" i suddenly heard the ceo's voice call me from behind which broke off my train of thoughts.

maintaining composure, i turned around to see him.

there he was, standing a few feet away from me with his hands in his pockets. he casually walked closer towards me and stopped, suddenly handing me a wallet.

"sir?" i spoke, confused with the wallet that was now in my hand.

"buy me two bowls of chicken rice porridge, please? there's a good store that sells it across our building. bring it with you to my office room." he requested.

"oh, and you don't have to worry. that's a spare wallet so it doesn't have any important cards in it. i know the exact amount of money that's in it so you better bring the right change and a receipt of what you bought." he added.

"alright, sir." i took his instructions in carefully.

"i'll see you. deliver it yourself with the wallet, alright? take care." he reminded me and eventually left to walk off in the other direction.

out of the blue, minhyuk suddenly appeared right in front of me with his eyes wide open. he looked astonished just as if he had just witnessed something unreal.

"did i hear that right? he used "please" and told you to "take care"?  he asked.

"i guess so." i shrugged it off.

"we're in trouble. i mean, why would he be sweet to you like that? don't tell me he likes you?" he assumed.

"so, is the bar really that low? he likes me because you heard him say those words?"

"yah, it's ceo chae we're talking about! you have no idea how blunt and closed off he is even more so that he isn't feeling well today." he crossed his arms at me.

"consider yourself lucky, you just witnessed a miracle. a miracle!" he raised his arms up in the air like a crazy man.

appearing with an indifferent exterior, i secretly smiled inside my head like an absolute winner.

so this is how it works?

like a sly fox, i was already getting myself on chae hyungwon's good side.

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i have a question, guys!

do you prefer reading the story in ha rim's pov or would you love it if i placed more pov's for the the male leads like hyungwon, changkyun, and kihyun? just wanted to know so i could write better for you all~

see you in the next update! please leave me a vote or comment if you enjoyed! thank you! ❤