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"It would be difficult to sign a contract this time. The departmental stores being 80% of the source of incomes for such an exclusive line of the brand, it seems impossible after the debate. People think it's not worth their money to buy products from the stores. They want to rely on online retailers."

"Secretary Kim," Jeongguk says and checks his watch while the guards open the glass doors, letting him and his colleagues walk inside the building they are supposed to meet an investor in, "We still have time before we get back to our office, we should have lunch,"

Secretary Kim turns his head to look at the younger, offended. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Steak or bone stew? What do you like, Secretary Kim?"

"If we lose codeshares over this clause of yours, both you and I lose our jobs," Secretary Kim says, "Then we won't even have money to buy lunch,"

"I like sausage stew, but it makes my clothes smell," Jeongguk scrunches his nose, sniffing once.

"Sir, this is really a big deal," Secretary Kim sighs, pushing another door to let Jeongguk in, "The union has already started talking about it,"

Jeongguk stops walking and turns towards his secretary, "Oh come on, Secretary Kim. Trust me here a little."

Secretary Kim deadpans, "It isn't the time to say cute things like that."

Jeongguk scans the latter from head to toe, his eyes criticising the latter's clothes and sighs, "I wonder if the sashimi restaurant owner will let you in,"

Jeongguk starts walking again after sniffing and shrugging at nothing. Secretary Kim pushes his glasses up from the bridge of his nose before catching up with his boss.

"This is an imported suit from Rome," he says, making Jeongguk look at his outfit once again. "It's called patch—"

"—You still look homeless," Jeongguk quips.

"Then raise my salary,"

Jeongguk gives him a tight-lipped smile.

Secretary Kim sighs, "That is not the only issue. If a premium product is sold at a departmental store, then the promotion requires freebies and a huge sale for day one,"

"I know that already,"

"Then you must also know that our factories can only produce 85% of what is estimated to be sold, including export and online orders?"

Jeongguk walks inside the restaurant, mumbles 'put more salt in his dish, please' to a waitress who just blinks cluelessly.

He takes a seat at a cosy corner of the place, Secretary Kim sits across the table after making sure his dish doesn't actually get too salty. The silence stretches from seconds to minutes. Jeongguk keeps staring blankly at the bottle of pepper on the table until all of a sudden, he bangs the table, "Two assorted platters please,"

"I don't get paid to handle your tantrums," Secretary Kim mumbles.

"Aww, you don't get paid to make such statements about your boss either," Jeongguk winks.

The waiter keeps their dishes in front of them, making Jeongguk inhale deliciously."When did you order these?"

"Last night," Jeongguk digs his chopsticks into the pot noodles and eats a big mouthful.

"Of Course.. you did...Why do I try...Why do I try..." Kim mumbles and then looks up, remembering another important thing, "Okay, but have you at least thought about how you are going to get Mr Jung to meet you?"

"About that," Jeongguk tries to swallow the last bite of noodles and speak at the same time.

If not for Secretary Kim's master abilities of understanding Jeongguk even when he is at the Dentist's, lying down with his mouth open, he would assume Jeongguk was cursing him.

"Secretary Kim, do you know how to play golf?"

...

"Good morning Ms Yoon, here's your coffee,"

"Thank you Dahyun. What happened to the meeting with Mr Jung?" Minhee sits on her chair, taking a sip from her coffee. Dahyun's lips turn upside down before she tells Minhee about the proposal getting rejected.

"How did that happen? Did the planning team not push for it?"

Dahyun shakes her head, "They insisted a lot but Mr Jung seemed very reluctant about it. Also, I have two more pieces of bad news, which one would you like to hear first?"

Minhee looks at Dahyun for a brief moment to make sure she is speaking the truth before turning towards the files on her desk, "Whichever would keep me alive to hear the second one,"

"Your father expects you to be home an hourly early today,"

Minhee hisses. It should be a good thing, but going home early has never ended up well before. She chooses a random folder and opens it, "Well that kept me alive, what's the second one?" she asks, flipping through the pages.

"Mr Jung agreed to meet with BE Cosmetics,"

"What?" Minhee widened her eyes, pushing the file away and looking up at Dahyun.

"Mr Jeon is currently at his golf—"

Minhee stands up, her chair hitting the shelf behind her. "Get my keys,"

...

"Chairman Jung, it's your turn,"

Ever since Jeongguk had decided that he would want to open his own company, he indulged himself in practices of the elite, the rich. He wasn't very poor per se, but he wouldn't be categorised into the elite rich on the social media polls.

There exists a hierarchy within the rich itself. When he had learnt about it during his high school years, it made him laugh because not only is it ignorant but also a waste of time. If the rich weren't so busy with pushing and pulling among themselves, the middle class wouldn't have to struggle so much.

But then again, this push and pull game is a way for them to 'show' the world that they aren't aware of the low-class struggles because 'oh, Ms Min has more cars than them, that is not acceptable.'

"I must say, Mr Jeon, I didn't expect you to be so good at golf,"

The statement brings Jeongguk's guards up. Jeongguk hates when people comment in this manner. It may be the underlying tones that show the front person's surprise or envy or the microaggression towards people like him who haven't belonged to these places since their birth.

What made him assume would be bad at it in the first place?

The lack of response from Jeongguk makes the other spectators turn towards him. Secretary Kim realises Jeongguk's stiff shoulders and steps forward to answer instead.

"Oh, he's not any better than you Mr Jung. If I remember correctly, a video of you hitting the ball into this club's farthest hole in only three strokes went viral a few weeks back. I almost fell for you,"

Mr Jung bursts into laughter. Jeongguk's shoulders tense more, realizing how genuine it sounds. It reminds him of something his father used to tell him when he was younger.

"No one in business, especially the ones who are higher up in hierarchy smile or laugh genuinely, it's all fake. A charm."

It isn't so easy to identify ingenuity here. Jeongguk is still learning.

"You are funny, Secretary Kim. No wonder Mr Jeon seems younger every time I see him, after all, he has a Secretary like you," Mr Jung says, adjusting his grip on the golf club and swinging it back for a clean aim. Mr Jung's secretary is scrambling to follow him with an umbrella. If he feels a little bad for the woman, he doesn't let her rest because he needs the shade.

Secretary Kim smiles and bows a little, brushing his shoulders against Jeongguk deliberately. Jeongguk eases back, stretching his lips into a smile. Get yourself together, Jeongguk.

When Mr Jung gets busy taking aim at his ball, Jeongguk leans back to whisper in his secretary's ear. "Which video were you talking about?"

Secretary Kim snorts and leans closer, "I made it up,"

Jeongguk scoffs, unable to keep his laugh inside. Soon it's his turn again and he's ready with a stance unrivalled. It's an award-winning shot for sure. He is almost ready to hit the ball when he is interrupted by someone clapping.

"What a not-so-pleasant surprise."

Jeongguk turns so fast he's sure he's hit Secretary Kim at some point but what leaves him flabbergasted is how he's immediately able to recognise whose voice it is.

"Ms Yoon."

Jeongguk side glances at Mr Jung who acknowledges her presence. He doesn't seem happy about it and Jeongguk wonders if it is because she showed up without any prior notice.

"I thought I informed your secretary that I will not be able to meet you this week,"

"I am aware, Mr Jung. I happen to be around this area for some work and thought I should check out your golf course as well. I didn't expect you to..." Minhee turns to look at Jeongguk, "be busy,"

Around this area? Bullshit, Jeongguk thinks. If anything, she came here on purpose because she heard I was here, with Mr Jung.

"I hope I am not interrupting something,"

"It's alright Ms Yoon, more people make games fun. Join us, come," Mr Jung gestures to his secretary to hand Minhee a golf club. Jeongguk's attention is zeroed on Minhee and Minhee alone.

Why is she wearing a Hawaiian shirt if she's here for work? Can she be more obvious about her intentions?

"Fancy seeing you here...or not," Minhee says, eyes on Jeongguk and eyebrows frowned due to the increasing heat. She places her golf club over her shoulder like a baseball bat and no other proof is required for Jeongguk to confirm that Yoon Minhee doesn't know how to play golf.

"Why are you here?"

"You're not the only one who can afford an exclusive membership," Minhee retorts, resting her hand on her hip while a frown appears on her features.

Jeongguk blinks. He didn't mean to offend, but it looks like Minhee is adamant about making it seem like she's always out for blood. He genuinely wanted to know if this was another one of her reckless decisions just because she can't lose to him.

Jeongguk senses an incoming headache. He leans himself on the golf club propped on the grass, "Didn't expect you to be the golf-kind of person,"

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Minhee says, adjusting her sunglasses on her nose. Dahyun is standing right beside her with an umbrella in her hand and Jeongguk feels a little left out all of a sudden. It's silly but truthfully, it hurts.

He leans back towards Secretary Kim and whispers in his ear, "Why aren't you holding an umbrella over my head?"

Secretary Kim squints his eyes at him, "Caps also provide the same purpose as an umbrella. Since you already wearing one, I assumed you don't need me to hurt my elbows for you,"

"I need the shade, the cap only covers my eyes."

"10%," Secretary Kim says, making Jeongguk frown, "What?"

"I will take a 10% bonus of my salary for holding up an umbrella for you," the older man says, nonchalantly.

Jeongguk gapes at him, speechlessly. "Someone might think that I don't pay you at all. I swear Secretary Kim if I look like a skin-coloured zebra tomorrow, you'll be wearing reindeer horns to the office for the whole week,"

Before Secretary Kim could give him a witty reply, Mr Jung speaks, drawing their attention towards them. "Ms Yoon, please," the man gestures to her to hit the ball. Jeongguk hisses when he sees Minhee step forward.

Wrong posture, Minhee.

That's not how you hold a golf club.

Wait, where are her gloves—

"Watch out!"

Jeongguk snaps out of his thoughts, turning to where the loud warning came from.

There isn't much time to do anything. It all came too fast. A whip of a blurred white object appeared in his peripheral vision, sailing across faster, faster, and closer to where they are, heading straight towards Minhee. Jeongguk didn't have the luxury to think, since his body reacted all on its own, muscles tensing in the spur of momentum.

Before even realizing it, he's already running towards her, the cap falling off his head in his rush. And before he can even breathe out, they're already rolling on the ground.

The item that could've hit Minhee sailed past them, heading straight to the glass windows of the Golf Course's lounge area, causing a loud crash. Jeongguk is positive that there's going to be an ongoing commotion because of the glass windows' ear-splitting breakage. He is sure there will be spectators around — board members, golf course employees, Mr Jung, their secretaries — but he doesn't care.

He's too focused, instead, on the faint smell of Lavender..something like a talcum powder wafting from Minhee's skin. They are close — too close — pressed chest to chest, Jeongguk on top and arms wrapped around her frame. Minhee smells...soft.

He did his best to suppress the onslaught of a full-body shudder, but he fails, mentally scolding himself for it. He wouldn't have snapped out, if not for Minhee's loud coughing and out of breath wheezing beneath him.

"Shit, are you okay?" Jeongguk hastily asks, slightly lifting himself by propping his arms on either side of Minhee's head, looking down.

In which Minhee returned an answer in the form of a punch aimed at his gut.

Now, for all of the times Jeongguk had been disrespected and got criticized, none ever tried laying a hand on him. This was, by far, the first time someone attempted and succeeded in doing so. Jeongguk inhaled sharply before coughing hard, tears pooling around his eyes, as he doubled over in pain, hands clutching the place where he got hit.

"What the—" Jeongguk chokes out, breathing harshly while falling over to the side, "—fuck is wrong with you?"

Minhee scrambles to sit up, sunglasses falling on her lap. She looks over at the crowd than at Jeongguk. Only their secretaries are around—others are making sure if Mr Jung is alright. Fucking ass lickers.

Jeongguk, though he isn't looking, feels glares as sharp as knives thrown his way. He groans in pain while rubbing the place he got punched, turning over so he can slightly push himself up, making him dizzy.

"I apologize for punching you," came in Minhee's apology, sarcasm lacing her tone. "It's a natural response."

Jeongguk curses, eyes shut tight as he tries to soothe whatever discomfort he feels. He uses one arm to support himself up, palm pressed flat on the bruised grass of where he laid. Secretary Kim helps him up.

"You're awful." he points a finger at Minhee.

"You're intolerable."

"You're annoying."

"You're insufferable."

Mr Jung comes just in time to apologise for the commotion caused by a group of younger boys playing golf on the opposite side of the course. The game ends in no one's favour and Jeongguk thinks he should be pissed off.

Minhee interrupted him when he could have bagged the chance to work with Mr Jung.

But instead, he thinks about how no one had ever punched him before, Yoon Minhee was the first one to land a hit.

He won't ever forget that.

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