It was quite a normal day.
Nothing extraordinary happened so far, therefore the news had no other choice than to report the usual gossip about celebrities and co. to earn their everyday share of bread.
The streets were tranquil. Even though it was summer there had been better days, resulting in most of the folks to remain indoors, doing whatever could be done.
Bustling around outside, were only the people who had no other choice than to do so. Be it the young university students dragging themselves to their classes, the social workers keeping the city in a clean and pleasant state or the average businessman searching for a place to fill his growling stomach.
In midst of this placidity a lone but large office room could be found. It was colored in simple gray. The shades though varied from a deep black-like charcoal to a soft brightness that already could be considered white. Furthermore, one of the four walls was only consisting of wide and big windows, giving a breathtaking view over the skyline, making tourist agencies all over Korea be green with envy.
The room just seemed to melt together with the cloudy sky, stretching on forever and ever.
It truly was a peaceful Tuesday afternoon.
...
Peaceful?
PEACEFUL?!
No, no, no, no, no... That's not how this place was supposed to be!
Outside, the world could come to the end but everything in here would still be going on as if nothing were wrong at all!
But even so, right now, that highly inconceivable situation was unfolding itself.
Normally the room would be filled with the noises of the fast hammering on keyboards, clattering coffee mugs, trampling of busy feet carrying piles of freshly printed papers around and the constant cussing of the workers whose time never seemed to be enough.
Nothing.
Not a single one of those sounds prevailed anymore.
Absolute silence.
Both, their bodies and breath, completely frozen.
All of the employees' heads were facing one direction, towards a certain spot right in front of the office's entrance.
Their eyes subtly darting back and forth between two well-dressed figures in disbelief.
One was their young boss.
The other was his female assistant.
Jumin Han stood by the door frame. His arms crossed in a lax manner as always, while his dignified posture didn't suggest any kind of anomaly whatsoever.
Jaehee Kang in turn was an utter mess. Her clipboard and different types of carefully sorted documents were decorating the floor in a disordered fashion similar to confetti. Also, her mouth was gaping open contrary to her regular expression which gave her the jocular nickname of "Ms. Stoic".
"Mr. Han, w-what did you just...?"
Apparently not even the slightest bit faced by his right-hand (wo)man's odd behavior he repeated calmly: "It's as I said. During the time I am on my honeymoon our department will be temporarily closed. There still are some things that urgently are in need to be taken care of but everyone can prepare themselves for 2-3 weeks of vacation. Paid of course."
No reaction.
"My father already agreed to it. Considering the recent incidents and the co-occurring chaotic situation he deemed it as a 'necessity' to give our employees time to rejuvenate."
"Sir, you are not joking, right?" She couldn't help but ask once again. In the meantime her colleagues too, were hoping that this indeed wasn't the case.
"Who? Time is precious! As if I would indulge myself in such leisure and waste my breath on something so unsophisticated as tasteless jokes like these!"
"Supposing that this is indeed the truth then how exactly would you explain all the pointless banter with Zen in our messenger?!" Though she was thinking this from the bottom of her heart, Jaehee Kang would never dare to say it out aloud.
Preoccupied with with her slight annoyance, the room, once again, returned to its former quietness.
No one knew how long this went on, until finally a young office worker was able to snap out of his trance.
"V-vacation?"
Before he could continue a fierce glare came his way, prompting him to gulp down the rest of what he possibly wanted to say. It was the same. The very same glare a newbie had gotten a while ago, when he actually attempted to voice his opposition against one-of-dozens cat projects. Needless to mention that the originator of both was Jumin Han. His workmates could only express their pity towards the youngster inwardly, afraid being the next victim of this daunting stare.
"Didn't I just indicate that I will NOT repeat myself?"
Everybody flinched.
Maybe it was better letting someone else speak for now. It was a silent consensus between all of them.
As if called, Jaehee Kang cleared her throat, at the looks of it having finished her inner debate:
"Ehem.."
"Mr. Han as you are aware our department has many responsibilities within the company so we were only trying to make absolutely sure."
Turning his head back towards his assistant he says: "Of course. I also am sharing your worries. We will very likely need to work even more diligent for the next few weeks to make this into reality, but I genuinely believe that every single person here deserves a good rest for all the hard work you have done."
The only word possible to describe the attending persons' current mood was flabbergasted.
It's not like they never had any vacation before. They are completely normal, slightly more competent, employees with completely normal contracts.
This also included the claim to have a few weeks off each year.
Most in this room however never made this right into reality. Barely anyone here had any romantic relationships with their workaholic attitude and so enjoying Christmas or other holidays became something akin to a department event.
One on side this was because none would like to spend those days in solitude, looking at the falling snow through the window nor would they want to hear the endless nagging of their old-growing parents as of why they did not have grandchildren yet.
Staying at work and being actually productive seemed therefore like a fairly appropriate solution to this predicament.
"As expected of Mr. Han chosen subordinates!" could often be heard murmured in the shadows... not that any of them actually cared because it was the sad truth.
But now their own boss, the overlord of those work obsessed fanatics, actually proposed to make vacation into exactly such an event?
It was far too ridiculous to believe!
Until this day they weren't even aware that the young heir had this word written down in his personal dictionary. This wasn't that far off to believe, if one just remembered the analyzes about prepacked lunch boxes from convenience stores he demanded weeks ago from his already busy assistant.
Talking about Jahee Kang, she still maintained her silence.
Her facial expressions were changing with each second though.
It was not hard to see that she tried her uttermost to conceal a slight smile that would just sneak back over and over again. Her elation was evident.
Did this woman actual ever had a free day since she was "blessed" with the opportunity of being the personal caretaker of the great Jumin Han?
The workers could only scoff at their own question.
And while each of them continued to stare off into space Jahee was thinking.
About all the musical DVDs with Zen she could watch (especially the Zoro one), the reduced daily expenses for coffee and that cat.
Indulged in her happiness, the suggestion to take care of the white fur ball that contaminated her suits with endless strands of hair far too often actually popped into her head.
Fortunately, her brain was faster to react than her mouth and so this thought vanished in the abyss as fast as it originally appeared.
Why should she even care about that spoiled thing?
Jahee Kang decided not to continue contemplating on this question.
Her sanity already was at the brink of slipping away and she had no intention to provoke this any further.
"Why did it suddenly become so quiet?"
Jumin Han was once again the first person to speak up.
It's your fault!
The initial shock since long ago had already turned into frustration and the workers couldn't help but curse their boss inside their heads, no matter how much they may respect him.
How could it be that the man praised as "The handsome and talented bachelor of business" by countless magazines was so clueless about the most obvious things?
Just read the mood!
Their silent protest went on.
It was at this very moment that a soft voice reached their ears.
"Ummm... Excuse me?"
As if they were a precise machinery all attention switched to the person who just walked up to the door frame behind Jumin Han's back.
It was a woman of petite build, maybe at the beginning of her twenties, with long brown-golden hair, bangs that covered her forehead and a mesmerizing colored pair of eyes.
Her shy but at the same time confident posture evoked a slight blush from many of the attended males.
"You came over? I don't remember you giving the number of Driver Kim yet though."
"I took a taxi."
The woman's voice fitted her appearance.
"Why didn't you call me? I would have send the limo over with a bouquet of beautiful flowers."
"I am sorry", the brown-haired female said while adding a modest and innocent chuckle.
Jumin could only sigh at this.
But the tender smile while doing so didn't escape the notice of his employees. They were too busy trying to comprehend this unknown expression on their boss' face that they even missed the previous part about the flowers.
"What are you doing here? Paying us a visit?"
"I hope I am not intruding Jahee."
"Absolutely n-"
"You seem to be in a good mood today judging by your jokes. How could the presence of my very own wife be a bother to us. Rather it's a very welcome blessing."
"I am not your wife yet", the woman said embarrassed.
"Who cares about that minuscule paperwork. Just the signatures are still missing.
Did their boss just write paperwork off as minuscule?
The workers who hoped that the beauty would bring with her a change to ease the situation ended up muddling the thread inside their heads even further.
"Mr. Han, you still didn't introduce her yet. Please think of your position and take your employees into account!"
Jahee Kang's voice was harsh. She still seemed angered about being rudely interrupted before so this was her only way of getting payback without putting her neck into a string.
"You are right, please excuse my manners. This beautiful person over here blessing us with her healing presence is the woman I am going to marry soon."
While one half was trying to figure out if this was indeed a hint of euphoria that accompanied his voice just now, the other wondered if he may have secretly quoted a line from a K-Drama.
"Hello. As Jumin just said I am his soon wife-to-be. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The woman said as she gracefully bowed towards the group of people.
"W-welcome to C&R International! We hope you will enjoy your stay here!"
Somehow, they actually were able to say it in unison.
"Thank you for this warm welcome!"
Her smile gave her every action an indescribable feeling of genuinity, letting everyone in the room relax almost immediately.
"I was just announcing the news to everybody."
"So that means Director Han agreed to it? That's great~"
"It seems since the first meeting between you he can't help but spoil you. He really became fond of you during that dinner and even started bragging to his friends. I know that I should feel proud but why do I feel like I am losing to him?"
"I didn't knew you two were competing." Her words were followed by a soft chuckle as her eyes returned to the group of people next to her.
"I am sorry that it can only be two weeks. I wished I could have give you all more time..."
?
"It was my dear wife's bridal wish for all of you to get a good rest so you should be grateful for her kindheartedness."
"I couldn't help but feel guilty for the whole mess we created. Please accept this as my apology even though it may not be much!" As soon as she finished the sentence she bowed ruefully, letting her long hair slide over her shoulders, nearly touching the floor.
An angel!
An angel descended upon us!
"TH-THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
The employees returned her bow and shouted those words with all their might to show their gratitude as Mr. Han advised them before.
One wouldn't even need to look at their faces to know how happy they were. Their tear-filled voices were enough.
Though startled at first a smile just naturally formed on her face when she looked at the people in front of her. Their sincerity could move even the most indifferent person.
Stealing a glance towards her beloved was enough to prove this.
As the beautiful woman continued to simper upon the cheers of all the workers and her dear husband the former collectively decided that this person from now would be their goddess and wouldn't mind giving her every flower and treasures of this world, even when it may surpass their monthly salaries.
And while the celebration, which filled the office with the all so familiar bustling noises once again, went on, Jahee Kang finally seemed to have realized her empty hands and the documents at her feet, proceeding to carefully pick them up as she silently agreed to her co-workers statements, but just this once.
- The end -