All in all, it had been a successful week.
And today - well, today was such a jolly good fantastic day.
Woo Bin sat on his office chair, rather pleased with himself, as he read the update that Shinhwa had found their revised contract to be acceptable. Everything actually went according to his calculations; imagine that! Because of him, their company would not only more than satisfactorily deliver Jun Pyo's demands of having a bigger school building, but they would also happily profit from this deal - which was A Good Thing whichever manner he looked at it.
And he was definitely looking at it.
It was his responsibility to do so after all.
Suffice to say, no matter what the vantage point was, Song Woo Bin clearly did A Good Job with this project.
He checked his watch. It was only four in the afternoon, but he'd more than done what was expected of him the entire month, so of course he was entitled to leave early should he decide to. Not that he had a clear mind's view of where to go or what to do to pass the time exactly, but anywhere was better than the confines of his office - a harsh truth he'd learned from the very first day he reported in.
Woo Bin reached for his office phone, then almost jumped in his seat when it rang before he could even touch it. Seeing his assistant's name on the screen, however, made him pick it up and butt in, "Cancel all my remaining appointments. I'm going out," before the man could say anything.
"Certainly Sir, however-"
Beep.
He shut his laptop down, straightened his tie, and stood. Stretched a bit.
Now where should he go at this hour...? He checked his watch again. Was school hours finished already? Maybe he could go visit-
His thoughts were interrupted when his office phone rang. Again.
"Please Sir, there's someone-"
"Are you deaf?" Woo Bin said, only half-joking. "I just said I'm going out."
"Yes of course, but-"
Beep.
Woo Bin frowned as he stared at the phone. His normally quiet, unassuming assistant was acting rather strangely, come to think of it. Maybe he should listen to what the guy had to say...?
But just as soon as the thought came, it was summarily dismissed. Whatever his concern was could wait. Song Woo Bin, Businessman Extraordinaire, had some Other Important Things to do at this moment.
He exhaled loudly. Already he could taste the sweet, sweet release of freedom as he reached for his briefcase.
But, just as he'd managed to take a step towards the door, his assistant burst through it, slammed it close behind him, and held it shut with his own body.
Woo Bin raised his brows. Well, this was a first. His cool, calm, collected assistant acted like the very devil was behind his office door - and really, who wouldn't be apprehensive with that image running in his brain?
"What?" he demanded. "What's going on?"
His assistant cleared his throat and straightened himself before saying, his voice suspiciously shaky, "Master Song, please, I deeply apologize for this intrusion but I strongly advise against going out at this hour."
Woo Bin placed his briefcase down and regarded the man benignly. He wasn't afraid; of course not. His building was guarded by both security forces and his own men, so the chances that someone uninvited came waltzing right in were close to nil. So for his well-mannered, unassuming assistant to behave like this-
Well. It was actually kind of mind-boggling.
"And why is that?" he asked, internally steeling himself against whoever - or whatever - was outside.
Was it his imagination, or was his assistant beginning to sweat? "Because-"
Knock! Knock! Knock!
His assistant winced, then positioned himself so as to cover the door better.
Woo Bin rolled his eyes.
Really, this was getting just a tad ridiculous for his taste.
"Ya, Yeol Seo Jun," he muttered, feeling the first stirrings of impatience in his blood, "Would you mind telling me why the hell you're blocking my door? And who's that outside?"
As if hearing his question, the hard knocking sounded again. Knock! Knock! Knock!
Hell, his assistant really was sweating now. "Master Song, please, you have to understand, security didn't inform me beforehand about her arrival and, well, by the time I-"
"Her?" Woo Bin repeated, because of course that was the word he fixated on.
"Ya, you stupid secretary! Open this door, or else!"
Woo Bin stilled.
-yeah, there was no mistaking that. That voice was definitely a her.
Now this was interesting! He had no appointments with a her. Obviously he would have known about it. Hell, maybe he would have even prioritized it!
So who was it, then?
Only one way to find out!
Woo Bin impatiently gestured for the man to step away from the door.
Oh so slowly his assistant did as he was instructed, and the moment he stepped away the door swung open as if by its own volition - if one didn't count the blood-red boot sticking out of the doorway, that was.
"Psst! Introduce me!" someone hissed, and by god that was most definitely not him or his assistant. Which meant-
"M-Master Song," his assistant reluctantly said, sounding borderline frightened out of his goddamned wits as he looked from the visitor towards him, "may I present - Miss Yo Na Park."
Woo Bin could have sworn his brows disappeared into his hairline altogether when he heard the name.
Wait, what?
What?
He was hearing things, wasn't he? That's the only logical explanation for-
"Miss Park, M-Master Woo Bin Song."
No.
No.
A bright redhead sauntered into his office - like she belonged there. Like they had been friends ten years running.
Holy shit, no.
This couldn't be happening... could it?
But, as he stared at the non-disappearing female figure before him, already Woo Bin could feel his high spirits sinking down to the level of his boots.
A jolly good fantastic day, eh?
Well fuck that.
"I finally found you, Song Woo Bin," Park Yo Na basically sang, as she found her place on the chair before his table. She swung one foot over the other as she sat, perhaps to show him her leg - or the shortness of it. "I'm not going to call you Master Song or Prince Song or anything archaic like that, okay? I mean we're like practically the same age."
Actually he would have preferred her calling him whatever she wanted for as long as it was from a position very, very far away from him, but Woo Bin did not want to say it out loud - even as a jest. So he smiled through his teeth and said, "Nor will I obligate you to do so, Miss Yo Na. I can assure you of that."
His assistant had already slunk off to god knew where, but to his credit he did leave the door wide open - probably anticipating that Woo Bin would bolt the moment an opportunity presented itself. Man, he really ought to give that man a raise - but not too much since he did fail in warning Woo Bin about the incoming threat of this... woman.
He retreated behind his desk, all the while cursing that he had not Go Jun Pyo's hellish and prickly temper, or even Yoon Ji Hoo's quiet ways of ignoring anyone he disliked. This meeting would have been over even before it begun, if he did. "So. To what do I owe this visit?"
"Oh, nothing," Yo Na said, waving the question away. "I mean my dad went here because of business, and then I was like, well, our families are basically business partners and it's rude of me not to say hello when we've met already. So, yeah. Hi." She smiled, in what he assumed was meant to be a flirty one.
Woo Bin stared at her, seemingly encountering a conundrum.
Truth be told Park Yo Na really was a pretty girl, even with her short legs, overly bright hair, and pointed chin. Physically speaking, she looked like the type of woman who knew how to have fun, who had no limits or inhibitions whatsoever, who would go to great lengths just to satisfy a man - basically, Song Woo Bin's Favorite Type of Woman, back in the day.
You've had so many women in your life. Do you even know what your type is?
Wouldn't Go Jun Pyo be so glad to know that yes, Woo Bin now knew what it was, but his tastes had changed so dramatically over these past few months - all thanks to one girl?
Who might or might not return even an iota of his affections?
He shook his untoward thoughts away and said, "Given that our first meeting was less than favorable, I'll admit that I'm rather... surprised you'd exert effort just to say 'hi' to me." He would have vastly preferred it if she didn't - which of course went unsaid.
To her credit, Yo Na looked a bit chagrined at the unspoken reminder. "That was like, what, a month or so ago? I'm over it already."
"Really?" Woo Bin said with a sardonic chuckle. "So the threat of your family having my head over the incident - I suppose I should be over that, too?"
Yo Na raised her hands up and said, "That wasn't my idea, I swear. Dad can be a bit... melodramatic when it comes to me. I mean, why wouldn't he? Look at me." She batted her eyelashes at him.
Idly, Woo Bin wondered if she'd had anything done to her face - then cursed himself for such ungentlemanly thought. "I am," he said simply.
Seemingly disappointed at his lack of verbose and effusive response, Yo Na said, "I'm just saying it's such a... you know, unimportant thing to talk about, so why bother-"
Woo Bin scratched his chin, trying to reign in the anger that was coming up the surface. "I don't know. I guess I'm not the type to think threatening my friends is something... unimportant."
She rolled her eyes and said, sulkily, "You're acting like what we did was such a big deal. I mean it's not even half as bad as some of your exploits as a member of F4."
As soon as the words were out though, Yo Na seemed like she wanted nothing more than to take them back - and rightfully so. Woo Bin leaned back on his chair and just looked at her, until she was almost squirming on her seat. Then he said, coolly, "If that's all, Miss Yo Na, I believe you've done more than say hi to me. Now I'm sorry to inform you that I have to attend to some other-"
"Wait! Wait. Just... just stop. Okay? I mean, yeah, I have some other..." She rummaged through her bag to take out a card and handed it to him. "My birthday. I want you to come. I mean... can you? Our families are like... business partners and all that. So. I'm inviting you to join me in celebrating it." She cleared her throat. "And if the other F4 can come too well, that's even better."
Woo Bin wanted nothing more than to outrightly say no, of course not, are you an idiot? but of course he didn't. Politeness dictated that he receive the card - so he did. "I'll see what I can do," he said, careful not to commit anything.
He stood and headed towards the door - effectively forcing her to stand as well. "Thank you for coming," he said. Don't ever come again.
She basically dragged her feet to join him. "You could have at least offered me coffee," Yo Na groused while adjusting the strap of her bag pettily.
He smiled through his teeth. "Unfortunately, we're all out."
"How about some tea?" She batted her eyelashes at him, opting for quite a demure look.
"I don't drink tea." Woo Bin shoved his hands in his pockets. "Anyway, it's been fun-"
He looked out the doorway, unsurprised to see his assistant standing there. But, dear god, the one beside him, the one currently fixing something on her skirt-
"Chu Ga Eul?" Park Yo Na barked from somewhere behind him. "What are you doing here?"
Ga Eul paused, looked up, and stared. "Park Yo Na," she said, after some moments. She then glanced inquiringly at Woo Bin but didn't say anything.
He cleared his throat, feeling constricted all of a sudden. And- wait, was he actually sweating? "She just... visited?" he said, then silently cursed as he sounded unsure of himself at that moment. "I mean... she's just about to leave, so."
"Yeah," Park Yo Na said, surprising him. Then she grabbed his arm, hugged it to her chest, and said, "It's been really fun, Prince Song. I'll see you again sometime." Then she released him, blew him a kiss, and went her merry way.
Leaving him, Ga Eul, and his assistant awkwardly standing there like a bunch of awkward adults.
His assistant quietly slunk off, though Woo Bin barely noticed it. All he was aware of, at that moment-
-well.
For the life of him, he felt as though he had to say something - anything - just to break off the silence engulfing them.
So he said:
"I can explain."