It was sometime close of five in the morning; most people would be sleeping deeply during this hour, yet, waking up this early for work reasons was nothing new for the corporate director of C&R and his chief assistant. Jaehee was used to coming early to Jumin's penthouse before to give him a recall of his lengthy schedule for the day.

She walked inside the living room distractedly revising and re-reading a clipboard in her hand while paging through it quickly. Jumin was standing in front of a tall mirror (if Zen knew he only owned one mirror, he would scream), tying a red tie around his collar before taking it off with frustration. It just didn't seem right.

Then he grabbed another one, this time purple, and examined it profusely. Discontent, he put it away as well, now staring at a royal blue one. Seeking to multi-task while putting on different ties, he spoke up. "Assistant Kang, please give me a report of my schedule for today," he asked; eyes still firmly on the mirror.

"Oh." Jaehee finally looked up from her clipboard, and cleared her throat. "As you know, at seven o'clock, you have a meeting with the director of the Metropolitan Library," she informed him. "And the main goal is to come to an agreement with Mr. Lee where C&R can gain half-ownership of the library, and thus gain monthly profits as well as positively impact the company's image."

Jumin nodded slightly, satisfied with the flawless report. However, he still seemed irritated while inspecting various ties. Jaehee tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Is there a problem, Mr. Han?" she inquired, thinking that maybe he didn't like her report.

"Selecting ties for each special occasion is such a pain..." He muttered with a frustrated sigh, brows creased in a frown.

Jaehee glanced away in thought. Well, it was true each tie a director chooses can determine how successful a meeting could be. For example, black and white ties should be reserved only for funerals or other solemn events, red ties could be used to intimidate a corporate rival because of the fiery color, purple ties could be interpreted as arrogance, and blue ties...

"I could help you with that!" she chirped, raising a finger with determination.

"Huh?" Was all Jumin was able to say with surprise as his assistant practically ran towards him; any sense of personal space most likely forgotten as she laced her hands on his collar.

"For this occasion, a blue tie would be ideal," she said, eyes half-closed in concentration as she tied it around his neck effortlessly. "Because the color blue is often associated with peace and tranquility..."

She finally opened her eyes again, looking at him with a pleased smile. "...And that's the sort of relationship we want with this director," she finished speaking and fastening the tie, passing her hand over it to get rid of any remaining creases.

Jumin was speechlessly staring at her, eyes widened in shock. His assistant could clearly see the colors of the sunrise outside reflected on his dark eyes, making them look lighter.

Jaehee tilted her head again. "Is there something wrong, Mr. Han...?" she asked, purely perplexed.

The raven-haired man finally snapped back to reality, blinking. "No," he said blankly, turning around and leaving.

Jaehee frowned slightly; she was confused since she was sure she saw a slight tint on his cheeks before he moved away. Was he embarrassed?

She shook her head at her own thoughts, deeming them impossible.

Meanwhile, Jumin was feeling something burst with joy inside of him. Of course, he wouldn't let anybody know that.
---

Jaehee was more than surprised when Jumin told her to come with him to the meeting. Normally, in special, confidential assemblies such as this, she just had to stay at the office for the rest of the day; taking care of less important paperwork and waiting for him to come back while reassigning his schedule; after all, she was just an assistant, she supposed.

But Jumin had decided to bring her with him this time, and even though it wasn't completely unfamiliar to her, it did make her quite nervous.

"It's an honor to see you again, Mr. Lee," Jumin greeted before he and Jaehee simultaneously bowed down in respect.

The round old man laughed in response. "The honor is mine, Mr. Han," he replied before enthusiastically shaking hands with Jumin after he lifted his head again. "I see we're having an agreement here?"

"Indeed," Jumin nodded, while Jaehee stiffly fidgeted with her hands.

"In that case, I believe you fully have the right to look around and see what you'll be soon acquiring," Mr. Lee said, grinning widely at him. "I have to admit I'm quite proud of this library, so go and inspect it as you like."

Jumin smiled ever so slightly, permitting himself to glance at the trembling brunette next to him. "Don't be nervous, Assistant Kang," he softly whispered in her ear, so only she could hear. Jaehee flinched a little feeling him suddenly so close to her, and slowly glanced back at him; her nerves calming down.

"Then let's get going," he gave her a nod, and waved at Mr. Lee. "Thank you for your warm welcome."
---

Pale fingers traced gently over the sideways pages of closed books, looking up with interest. "I wonder if there's any books on dark magic in here," Jumin wondered out loud.

Jaehee sighed. "Considering how antique and rare those are, I mostly doubt it."

"It still wouldn't hurt to try and look," he said, looking at her with something akin to an amused expression.

Jaehee wanted to sigh again, but instead shook her head slightly; yet a smile somehow made its way to her face as she walked closer to him. "I suppose..."

The lights above them began to falter, dimming repeatedly until they finally gave out complety as some sort of short circuit clearly occured. They uncouciously backed away into each other when everything surrounding them became pitch black.

"Huh?" Jumin uttered while Jaehee gasped beside him. "I see the lights went out."

"I can't see anything," she replied, "I hope this blackout isn't too serious..."

"Let's get out first and inform the director," the Corporate heir said nonchalantly, even if he couldn't see anything two inches apart from his nose...

Which was probably what caused him to bump into Jaehee as he turned around.

"Ow!" she muttered, while stroking her head.

"I apologize," he told her worriedly; he wished he could see her clearly right now to make sure she was alright.

"It's fine..." she responded, before taking two step forwards (which Jumin also did) causing them to bump into each other again.

The two sighed deeply. 'This isn't going to work...' they thought at the same time.

"Assistant Kang, try to extend your hand," he told her, "that way we'll be able to relocate each other more easily."

"A-alright." Jaehee followed the suggestion, extending her arm. But it didn't stretch too far, since it immediately hit something. Confusedly, she softly passed her hands over it until they finally reached something familiar: the tie.

"Assistant Kang," Jumin coughed awkwardly, "that's my chest."

Jaehee couldn't help but blush, for once glad he wasn't able to see her face. "My apologies!" she exclaimed. But before she could pull away her hand, Jumin took a hold of it gently.

"It's fine," he said, "At least we've finally found each other." Then he calmly led her away by the hand, until they were able to find a long table situated nearby; apparently for people to sit down and read.

The pair sighed in relief, and stayed in the same manner in silence until Jaehee looked down to their still linked hands and cleared her throat nervously. "Hm, Mr. Han..."

He glanced down as well; eyes windening in realization. "Oh, I'm sorry," he quickly let go of her, awkwardly putting his elbows over the table and holding his head with his hands.

Jaehee felt awkward as well, but brushed it off to take her phone from her pocket and turn on her flashlight. Finally her and Jumin were able to see each other's faces, as well as their near surroundings.

Jumin looked at her with surprise and a tinge of amazement, though. "How did you do that?" he asked innocently.

"Oh, it's just my phone's flashlight..." she said with nervousness.

Jumin still seemed confused. "Is there a function for that?"

"Yes," she couldn't help but chuckle slightly. He really didn't know about technology. "Don't worry, it took me a while to find it as well." She showed it to him, somehow marvelling the young man.

He managed to turn on his own flashlight, illuminating the room even more.

Jaehee smiled. "Since we have light now, maybe it'll be easier to find the exit."

"This library was built on the base of technology," the corporate director said, "Most of the doors are elevators. Because of the blackout, none of them function."

"So we're basically trapped here?!" Jaehee exclaimed, losing all hope of escaping.

"Yes..." Jumin nodded, while momentarily glancing at her. "But at least we're trapped together..."

Jaehee turned towards him for a moment, not knowing exactly what he meant with that expression.

She huffed out a puff of air in frustration. "I suppose that's true." It was someway a relief. "And perhaps we can still inspect the books." She got up; holding her phone in one of her hands.

Enthusiastically, she passed by tall bookshelves, looking for something in particular. She pulled out a book that made her gasp in pleasant surprise. Jumin looked at her with confusion because of how excited she seemed while paging through this book.

"Did you find something interesting, Assistant Kang?"

She jumped slightly, as if caught red-handed. "No... well, hm..." she fumbled. "It is interesting for me, but I'm not sure if it's of your liking..." she admitted.

"In that case, it interests me as well," he got up, approaching her curiously.

"It's a romance book," she said sheepishly.

"Huh?" Romance? He remembered not so long ago she used to think of love as an idialistic fantasy of some sort that would only drag Zen's career down and thus she distrusted.

But he supposed she must have gotten an eye-opener some weeks ago if the subject caught her attention... It was the reason she was leaving his side, after all...

"Forgive me for my bluntness, but I don't see what you find interesting in those kind of novels," he admitted, resolving to sitting right beside her.

"Being honest," she started, "What I truly like about these novels... well..." She paused a bit to think, looking upwards.

"When I read them, it feels as if there really is still good in this messed up world. Love is such a simple yet complicated thing, don't think? It's so complicated that before I couldn't even understand the mere concept of such strong affections..."

Jumin nodded as he listened to her rant, interested in her opinion.

"...It's just-" She gave him an awkward shrug after a while. "I enjoy the purity of it."

"Purity," the black-haired man repeated. "Purity seems to wear off after childhood..." This was starting to bring back memories he'd rather forget.

Jaehee agreed with a solemn nod of her own before giving in to a self-conscious smile. "Sorry for rambling so much..." she apologized.

"I didn't mind," Jumin stated genuinely; he was still comfortably gazing at her face. "You have a really nice voice... It's quite soothing." Her voice really was beautiful.