The office was buzzing around as usual. Papers flying from desk to desk, muttering in the distance about who knew what and of course…
"I don't hear those keyboards typing!" MC rambled on, "How are we supposed to help Jumin like this?"
The other employees nervously shared a glance at each other before nervously returning to their work. It was true that MC drove profits up single handedly. The 130% Jumin had been looking for following his father's own marriage was certainly found in her.
But she also brought in a very… unique personality. On her own, she was actually very helpful and kind. Much like the ideal personality one would want from a good friend. Adding Jumin in the picture changed her though. Not drastically but it certainly made her go on full "protect" mode as they called it.
She had just barged in the meeting room one day and all you could hear from it was yelling and screaming. Jaehee had walked out calmly at one point, picked up a bag of popcorn and walked back into the room as the screaming continued on.
"SHE'S PULLING MY HAIR! JUMIN!" Sarah had yelled out.
"Oh please, you must not care about breakage too much to dye it such a cheap color. This isn't even in season!" MC had retorted back.
Sarah had left the room screaming with Glam Choi running after her and MC was quick to follow. Jumin's own father left a bit scuffled by the whole scenario, but he somehow learned his lesson to not simply let anyone into those meetings. MC had done a great job of showing how dangerous that was.
After everything had settled, Jumin and Jaehee walked out of the meeting and continued to work as if nothing happened.
The whole facility was left baffled by the turn of events that day, but it didn't seem like anything changed too much.
After work that day, Jumin took a deep breath of relief. It was the first real breath he felt like he had taken in a few days actually. "I'm home, Princess." He said to Elizabeth 3rd happily, "You'll be happy to hear that you're completely safe from harm now. Those women won't be entering this penthouse anytime soon."
He leaned down and pet her gently, reflecting a bit on everything that happened that day. He was Christian; he had not really sat down with his religious beliefs in years. But, for the first time in who knew how long, he thanked God. He wondered if MC was brought into his life just as a means to stop all of this. It could have easily been escalated to a point that would have droven him insane.
But it was all avoided thanks to MC's almost barbaric manner of helping. Crazy, yes. But he knew talent and drive when he saw it. He also saw loyalty and dedication beyond even what he would expect from Assistant Kang.
He was… impressed? No, that didn't feel right. He knew talking to her gave him some kind of emotion, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He knew when he was impressed. That wasn't it.
"No, I don't need to waste time thinking on that." Jumin thought out loud as he took off his coat and tried to relax a bit, but his mind remained focused on MC. He tried to cover it with thoughts of work and Elizabeth, but MC just continued to run back to his mind.
He almost liked that there was someone out there willing to fight for him. There was no way he was going to try to fight his father, but for someone like MC to fight against him. Well, maybe it was something he had secretly been wanting his entire life.
He looked at his phone and felt his emotions swirl around again. He had no idea what emotion MC was making him feel, but he felt the need to sort it out. After today's work, he felt like he owed it to her.
He called her up.
"You picked up…" Jumin said calmly, although his mind was still in a mess of emotions. "Did you return to the apartment okay?"
"Of course!" MC was confident, "Nothing is going to keep me standing still when you're on the line!"
Jumin chuckled lightly. He had heard things like this so many times in the past before, but for a change, he felt like MC actually meant it. She was dead set on making sure no one else laid a finger on him, except for Elizabeth of course. "With confidence like that, it's a wonder why we have all been worried about this hacker…"
"Oh don't worry about me! Worry about you! Are you going to be eating something good tonight?" MC chirped up.
What a strange question. Jumin had no idea how to answer it, but his mind kept trailing off and off with her. "Ah, I suppose I should consider something. Elizabeth 3rd doesn't like to go hungry."
"Okay, well for tonight I'd say coq au vin sounds good." MC's own mouth watered.
"That's a very sodium heavy dish, but I suppose I did skip out on lunch today. I will take that into consideration." He sighed, "You should eat something yourself. Don't worry about my father or his woman to go after you, I can handle this myself. But… Thanks to you, I don't think I will have to deal with Sarah anymore. Thank you."
"Anytime~" MC was thrilled at the gesture. "You just let me know if someone is out for you and I'll be there!"
Jumin nodded his head, "Loyalty is a very admirable trait. I find it to be the most important trait of any employee I bring into this company. You can always third party source any degree of skill, but you can never out source loyalty for your own staff. Would you say that's agreeable?"
"Of course it is! Loyalty is super important!"
"Mmm… I am glad to see we agree on this. I would like for you to remain as loyal to the RFA as possible. The party will be soon and I hope you are still planning on doing your best."
"I wouldn't plan on anything less." MC began to look around the pantry for her own dinner.
"In that case, I should go check on Elizabeth 3rd and consider her dinner. Her dinner is of up most importance. I will call you again if I have time. Have a good evening."
It was true he was expecting nothing but the best for the RFA party. It was their first party in so long, he wanted it to be as best as it could, despite V's constant reminders that MC was new to this.
But he knew MC could meet his expectations. He just… had a feeling. He couldn't describe it, but he knew she could do it.
And he was right. Boy, was he right. The party facility was completely filled with almost well over 40 guest alone. In less than a week! "Impressive." Jumin told himself, "She's diligent as well."
Loyalty… Diligence… These were some very admirable traits. She was still just as protective of Jumin as she was just a few days ago, being on the lookout for any certain women coming too close to Jumin for casual chat.
The more he thought on it, the more curious he got. Even now, MC still had this weird force that made him feel so… strange. He wasn't even sure what the feeling was, but he figured she could be trusted enough for him to look at her closely and try to figure himself out.
He started the ever so baffling tradition of dating. Jaehee herself was in shock upon hearing it, but at the same time, she recalled all of those past messages and MC's own actions with Sarah… it was hardly unpredictable.
It still felt weird with Jumin having a girlfriend… even if there were weeks where it seemed like nothing had changed at all. Jumin didn't seem to visibly moved by dating as much as he just looked lost. His father kind of looked confused upon seeing Jumin's own choice in women, but he shrugged and figured maybe he was missing a bigger piece of the picture here. He had picked Sarah because she seemed so sweet to him, but maybe Jumin wasn't into that type of thing. Maybe Jumin was into something else entirely. It only dawned on him now how little he knew about his own son when it came to this front of women anyway.
"Ju~min~" MC would come into his office with a formal badge at a set scheduled time. It wasn't even like they were an actual couple when it came to the office space. She was just another girl that Jumin would allow in his office sometimes.
He let her go into his house once before in the past, but it made him feel uncomfortable. The office was the only place the two of them would just sit and chat and Jumin was always working.
A few months juggled by like this. MC would come visit, bringing some type of snack food with her to see Jumin before sitting down with him for an hour or two and leaving. It was a never ending cycle. Jaehee almost wanted to ask Jumin to stop playing with the poor girl's heart when he approached Jaehee one day.
"Assistant Kang…" Jumin said, "I have a question for you."
"Y-Yes sir?"
"My father's wedding was finalized and he'll be marrying soon. With this said, we'll be needing to push our sales more than before."
Jaehee wasn't sure where the conversation was going, but she figured it was a good start, "Yes."
"This said, we do have a position opening for Managing Director I would like to fill."
"You do?"
"Yes… I believe I have it figured out. MC would be perfect for the role, don't you think?"
"MC?!" Jaehee's jaw dropped, "But aren't you dating her?"
"Yes, I am… But I'll have to dismiss our relationship formally in the contract if she is to be hired. But I think I have her sorted out."
"Sorted… out?" Jaehee was almost dreading the answer on this one.
"Yes. For a while now, I have noticed that MC gave me… a feeling. Every time I spoke with her, I felt at ease. I felt like I could relax a bit. She is someone that is loyal to me and my own ambitions. She doesn't question anything from me and ask only to be acknowledged. With her own drive and ambition, I have no doubts she can lead the company in a stronger direction than before.
"Really?" Jaehee sighed out. He just dated this girl only to say 'He wanted to have her work for him'.
You know what they say, like Father like son.
"Have a contract prepared by tomorrow afternoon. I'll call her in for lunch." Jumin instructed.
"Yes sir." Jaehee said and walked back to her desk to prepare the contract.
It was bittersweet. A small part of Jaehee had almost been curious to see what Jumin would have been like in an actual romantic relationship, but at any rate MC would be above even her. Maybe she would get normal work hours in the future for it.
She watched MC come in and walk happily towards Jumin's office, ignoring Jaehee herself in the process. The two of them headed out for lunch and were gone for the usual two hour period. Jumin returned to the office with the contract in his hand.
"She signed it." He smiled, "She didn't even have to think about it."
"I see…" Jaehee slightly felt bad for allowing MC to go along with it and sign a contract like that. Her days of Jumin being someone that cared for her wellbeing were over. Not that he really cared much anyway. Or showed his concern.
All that time together and he still felt distant from MC.
Orientation had approached quickly. MC had walked in the office door with her usual smile on her face as Jaehee introduced her to the team.
"I hope to get along with everyone!" MC smiled, "We can all make this a greater place and make Jumin extra happy, okay?"
And Jumin was right. She was motivated, loyal, dedicated… practically the ideal employee. Someone he had always wanted to have on his team.
Still, even though his business numbers continued to climb, he would sometimes stare at MC and still feel off. He had given her a future, right? With a job like this, she could not only be respected, but could easily live comfortably in a few years. Surely that was enough to repay what she had done for him? It felt like enough, but his curiosity would forever remain seated inside of himself as his own work began grow stronger every day.