"May I inquire what we're doing here, Assistant Kang?" Jumin crossed his arms nonchalantly while standing next to a equally laid-back Jaehee (which was quite a sight for an usually overstressed person). Jaehee turned at him with slightly parted lips, a smile stretching over her soft features.

"We're waiting for the bus." Was her simple, straightforward answer before her head shifted ahead again.

"Why?"

"I've always wanted to take a tour around the town..." Jaehee muttered wistfully, her eyes not meeting with Jumin's. "But since I was much too busy to be able to do so... I decided perhaps today that I'm free would be a perfect day to complete that task, no?" She smiled brightly at him again, which never failed to make his heart leap.

"I... I suppose," he cleared his throat and looked away with a nearly indistinguishable blush, just as the interesting-looking vehicle reached its stop. The wheels halted elegantly, and Jaehee nudged Jumin's arm, indicating him to follow her. Jumin didn't move, merely inspecting the bus with squinted eyes.

"Mr. Han, is there an issue?" Jaehee feigned complete surprise over Jumin's reclutance. There was no way Mr. Corporate Director was about to ride a public bus through this city full of commoners, was there? "I mean, you do not have to accompany me if it makes you in uncomfortable-"

Jaehee saw Jumin's grey eyes shift one way to the other quickly before he firmly shook his head with determination. "No," he said shortly, clearly resolved to do this strange task his assistant convinced him of.

And once Jumin Han was determined to do something, he would do it.

Jaehee's brown eyes nearly popped out of their sockets with astonishment and she gawked at him in a quite unladylike manner for her. "W-w-wait, you're actually coming?"

"Of course, though normally I wouldn't be inclined to do activities such as this, I did give you my word to follow you, Assistant Kang," he said with this unwavering sense of loyalty, getting inside the bus. Jaehee stood on her spot for a while, flustered, before nervously stepping after him.

Once inside the bus, seeing himself surrounded by a brand new, strange scenery for him, the C&R Director was suddenly paralyzed like a deer caught in headlights. "Hm, Mr. Han? Are you okay?" Jaehee asked confusedly, now trapped behind him.

"Ahem, I'm fine, it's just... huh..." He attempted to convince her he wasn't nervous at all.

And failed. Jaehee shook her head with a small chuckle. "It's fine, Mr. Han, just follow me," she reassured him before walking in front of him, calmly passing her bus card on the scanner.

"Beep! This bus card is empty! Beep!" The machine immediately spoke up in response, freezing Jaehee like a block of ice.

"Well... this machine gives away quite humiliating information, Assistant Kang," Jumin looked sympathetically at Jaehee. "Let me try-"

"No, no!" Jaehee stopped him with a frantic wave of her hand. "Don't worry, this is on me! I'll pay..." She felt bad that everytime they went out, Jumin would always be the one paying. Jumin couldn't help but smile amusedly when he noticed this.

Thankfully she had another card, which also thankfully was full. She smiled at Jumin and the two proceeded to find a place to stand inside the pretty crowded vehicle. Jumin still felt extremely awkward, though. Imagine, an extremely wealthy corporate heir, who grew up with all marvelous luxuries, always donning a custom-made three piece suit, constantly on business trips, flying on his private jet plane...

...Riding the public bus.

Yes, it was quite an odd sight; and everyone in the bus was staring at him weird. But the fact that Jaehee made him feel more normal... more human, made all these oddities unimportant. Their eyes were locked together, since thanks to all the other people surrounding them, they were standing extremely close to each other; but neither of them minded.

A person stood up from their seat and Jumin, being gentlemanly towards Jaehee, asked her to sit there now that it was unoccupied. She timidly didn't accept at first, telling him to sit instead, but he insisted. Now sitting down, Jaehee glanced out the window. The bus suddenly came to a halt; Jumin's feet stumbled since he never expected something like this and he lost his balance completely.

Jaehee instantly turned towards him with worry, but she didn't have time to say or do anything since all of the sudden, he fell straight on her lap.

The two stared at each other with eyes as wide as saucers, and they were immobile for a moment. Jaehee noticed Jumin's face go red with embarrassment; at least as red as Jumin's face could get, and the CEO-in-line immediately got up without saying a word while everyone else inside the bus was murmuring about them. Jaehee looked at him with concern, but he refused to let her see his blushing face.

Jaehee finally glanced away again, a sincere smile forming on her face. "How does he manage to be so cute sometimes?" she wondered with a blissful sigh as she continued admiring the beautiful scenery outside the crystal window.

---

"That wasn't so bad..." Jumin admitted afterwards, though still a little embarrassed, as he and Jaehee walked down the street peacefully. "The sights outside were quite delightful."

Jaehee chuckled in response. "Not at all bad," she agreed, cheerful.

"But what is our next activity, Assistant Kang?" The corporate heir smiled, glad to see Jaehee happy once again.

"Um..." Jaehee's eyebrows crashed down, deep in thought. Her eyes suddenly brightened up. "Aren't you hungry, Mr. Han?"

"I suppose... what about you?"

His chief assistant nodded in response. "I know of a perfect place to eat! Follow me!" She thoughtlessly grabbed his hand and led the two of them forwards.

---

Jaehee and Jumin arrived to the nearby dining place Jaehee was talking about. It looked admittedly shabby, like a shack, but an alluring aroma of food brought the two of them (as well as dozens of other people) to enjoy the atmosphere.

"Um, what kind of restaurant is this?" Jumin asked out of curiosity, mesmerized.

"A pizza place," Jaehee answered with sparkly golden eyes. "I usually reproach myself for not eating healthy... but once in a while, it won't do you any harm, I suppose," she told him while still holding his hand between her fingers.

One of the vigorous employees noticed their presence and immediately led them to two empty chairs, taking their orders and leaving to get their food prepared. "Thank you, Unnie," Jaehee smiled with closed eyes, as if already familiar with the middle-aged, friendly woman.

"No problem, sweetie," the woman, apparently knowing Jaehee as well, replied with a chuckle. This left Jumin staring at the two of them, wondering if perhaps they really did know each other before.

Being polite and not knowing how to ask her though, he held in his tongue until the pepperoni pizza arrived to their table. Jaehee grabbed one of the slices and put them on a plate and Jumin's eyes lighted up as he looked at the commoner food; the brunette realized how he was looking at the pizza slice and slowly offered it to him, only to playfully take it back and put it in her mouth when he was about to reach it. She laughed slightly while looking at Jumin's annoyed expression.

"That was quite childish of you, Assistant Kang," he spoke attempting to sound stern, but unable to hide his amusement. He truly enjoyed discovering new sides of her.

"I apologize," she giggled again, covering her lips, "But being in this place does make me feel like a child once again..." Her sweet voice trailed off.

Jumin smiled softly at her, before his question returned to his mind. His voice became silky to his assistant's ears, "Jaehee..." Her heart stopped for a moment, hearing him say her name like that, and she couldn't help blushing slightly while staring at him. "Why is this an important place to you? It seems the owner of this restaurant is familiar with you... and you seem comfortable, too... almost as if..."

Not needing him to say any more words, Jaehee nodded gently, her long hair falling in smooth waves, perfectly framing her face as she looked down. "Yes... this is a special place to me," she told him, her voice sounding distant but beautiful as always. "I... I used to come here frequently with my mother when I was a child. Very young, around... five to eight years old," she stopped for a moment before finding the courage to speak again thanks to Jumin's reassuring gaze. "This kind of street food was everything we could afford sometimes..."

Jumin nodded in understanding; but also in pain to know that this unhealthy kind of food was all Jaehee had been able to eat as a child, he wished he could have given her and her family a better life...

"Dad was often sick, so Mom was the one who worked to sustain the two of us..." she continued, sounding strained while remembering those hard times. "But her job didn't pay enough to both give us food, pay the house bills and Dad's hospital bills..." She took a deep breath. "Then... then my father passed away..."

Jumin couldn't help but frown sadly, nearly able to feel Jaehee's dreadful pain by her broken voice. "...And me and Mom were left alone. But I rarely got to spend any time with her anymore since she was constantly busy with work. I wanted to help as much as I could by being a responsible daughter... but an eight-year-old can only be so responsible, I suppose..." Her eyebrows creased when she remembered the exact moment she had gone outside from their small house while her mother was working, taking out a trash bag before Jaehee had been snatched away.

She didn't mention this to Jumin though, feeling as if it were unimportant for him to know. "Even after all that... she..." she took a deep breath. "I lost her, too."

There was an edge-cutting silence for a while.

Then she softly spoke up again, "My aunt was practically forced to take me in... I suppose she wasn't very happy about it." She was firmly staring downwards. "I was just a burden for her and my uncle. Even if I tried to give my best for them and to be as independent as possible... I knew I couldn't depend on anybody anymore." Another afflicted sigh escaped her lips.

Her eyes finally looked up, nervously.

She felt had already overwhelmed him too much. But instead of seeming irritated, tired or even emotionless, she was able to see compassion seeping through his normally steely, but now warm grey eyes. She was surprised when he slowly took her hand, gently enclosing it inside his, soothing her with comfort.

"I... I'm sorry, Assistant Kang."

"It's not your fault," she told him, pushing away a stray, lone tear with her other hand and trying to smile at him. "And I know you already heard this story, yet you listened so attentively... thank you," she gratefully looked up at him, unbelieving of his kindness. In that moment she realized... how much she trusted him.

"And I want to tell you that you're not alone," he said without an ounce of doubt. "I'm always here... and you can depend on me, just as I depend on you," he finished sincerely, eyes connecting with hers in an outflow of assurance.
---

"Mr. Han, look!" Jaehee's eyes brightened up as she rushed towards some kind of game in the street.

"What is that?" Jumin rose an eyebrow, puzzled, as he reached her excited figure. He put his curious hands over the crystal separating them from a bunch of plush toys.

"It's called a claw machine," Jaehee replied happily, shifting toward him. "To play it, you're supposed to insert a coin and try to catch one of the toys with the controller..."

"Hmm, it sounds interesting," Jumin hummed in response, convinced. "I wish to try playing it."

"Eh?! Really?" Jaehee exclaimed with surprise, not expecting him to be the type to use claw machines (he barely even knew how to use vending machines!).

"I will play it, Assistant Kang," he got in front of her, picking a coin from his constantly full wallet. "...And I will win a plush toy for you." He smiled brightly at her, determined to do this.

"O-Oh... well, thank you."

"It's no issue," he confidently told her, "I remember you stating you wished to get a plushie from your date after your evening out from your survey."

"He still remembers that?" She sweat-dropped nervously, now shyly turning towards Jumin as he turned on the machine and proceeded to pull the controller on side to the other while trying to catch one of the fluffy toys. She began cheering for him as he managed to grab one of them, a dog plushie, but just as he was starting to slowly and carefully pull it up, it fell down, causing both of them to shout in frustration.

"No!"

Immediately, the two of them turned to each other, laughing at the coincidence. "These machines are tricky," Jaehee informed him, "That's why they're so difficult."

"It doesn't matter," he responded with the same shimmering confidence. "As long as I keep trying, I am certain I will be able to win."

But he kept trying, literally over fifty times...

He didn't win.

"Mr. Han..." Jaehee sighed tiredly. "Please, please, let's leave this machine. It's already seven in the night," she pleaded, but the raven-haired man was resilient.

"No... I need to give this to you," he insisted, but Jaehee grabbed his arm, slowly pulling him away from the evil game.

"You don't have to... we need to rest." She smiled sheepishly at him, still holding his arm. "Honestly, Mr. Han... thank you for today. I sincerely enjoyed myself."

He smiled, too, feeling the same sentiment. "So did I... Assistant Kang... you will be coming to work tomorrow, right?" he asked with concern.

Jaehee nodded firmly, seeming satisfied with the outcome of her holiday. "Of course."

The two began walking away, but Jumin still refused to give up on the claw machine, staring at it as they left. "I still wish to defeat that game..."

"Don't worry, you'll be able to someday," Jaehee reassured him cheerfully. "I mean... you did waste at least two hundred dollars on it... I'm sure buying the claw machine itself would have costed you less."

"I will win this game fairly."

----

"Hey, CEO-in-line."

Jumin Han looked up at the person who had just intruded inside his office. Zen stared at him with that same glare of always, once again, it seemed he had something to bark at him.

"How bothersome," Jumin thought with a deep sigh, trying to pay the actor no mind. "What is it this time?" he asked, straight to the point.

"We're doing a project together, remember?" Zen snapped before approaching him without a care in the world; yet the tension was still more than present between the two. "I came to discuss it with you, since I'm pretty much done with my part anyway..."

Jumin noticed how Zen was looking around his studio, glancing curiously as if attempting to find someone in specific.

"If you're looking for Assistant Kang, she hasn't arrived to work yet," Jumin's low voice sounded threatening almost, as he sharply glared at the younger man.

"Oh..." Zen was clearly disappointed, but he resolved to sitting down in one of the chairs in the office. He really had wanted to see Jaehee...

"And even if she was here..." Jumin continued with those cold eyes of his. "You shouldn't be meeting with her. You don't have to report everything to me, either."

Zen turned to him, his eyes now resembling Jumin's in terms of lack of warmth. "You know, Mr. Trust-Fund Kid... this project may mean nothing to you, but it means a lot to V and Jaehee. V is really worried about the two of us, you know? Doing this together would calm him... as much as I hate saying that."

"..."

"So know that I'm doing this for them, not you, okay?" Zen scoffed and got up, ready to leave already after leaving some paperwork on Jumin's desk. "Just keep that in mind, ciao."

Jumin merely rolled his eyes.