Yoona was nearly skipping, and Changmin did his best to not laugh at her. His grin widened when she started humming , nearly floating down the hallway, in her own world, obviously forgetting she was walking right next to him. This euphoria had been triggered by three words: "Travel the world."
"So I take it that you like traveling?" he quipped.
The humming continued, and if he didn't know any better, he would have thought she had headphones on. The bounce in her step increased, and he couldn't resist stopping, and watching her from behind. He folded his arms over his chest and smirked with complete satisfaction at the view. He wouldn't be surprised if she started swinging her arms, dancing to the song that only she heard in her head.
He wondered how long it would take before she noticed he was no longer accompanying her. It didn't take long.
Two women walked toward Yoona, one looked to be in her thirties, very stylish, held a slender Louis Vitton briefcase in one hand, and a coffee cup in the other. The younger woman also held a coffee cup, she wore a very short mini skirt, and a blouse that immediately made Changmin think of pirates: white, fluffy and lots of ruffles. Her head was turned to face the older of the two, and he noted that she had not bothered to remove her extra large sunglasses even though she was indoors.
He snorted as they neared Yoona. These women obviously belonged to the same world that Ok Taecyeon and Director Jihoon belonged to. They walked with confidence, and placed one foot directly in front of the other, accentuating their hips as they swayed.
Yoona glanced to her right … finally noticing that Changmin Shim was no longer walking with her.
She stopped dead, and turned half way around, finding him behind her, now leaning against the wall, with his arms folded in front of him. His eyebrows were raised in amusement as he shook his head at her.
He was playing with her!
She was both embarrassed and miffed that he tricked her like this, and swung around just in time to collide with the younger woman who was now in front of her, but had not noticed Yoona standing there.
Changmin pushed himself off the wall immediately as he witnessed the coffee cup splash onto Yoona.
"Look what you've done!" yelled Yuri Kwon, holding out her half emptied, dripping cup. She immediately glanced down at her blouse and skirt… "Lucky for you..." she started, but then saw a few drops on her shoes.
"AIGOOO!"she exclaimed. "My brand new Jimmy Choos!"
Yoona instantly bowed, while trying to tug her own suit jacket away from her chest. Hot coffee had stained her newly tailored suit, but she felt partially to blame since she had been blocking the hallway.
"Are you ok?" the older woman asked.
"No I'm not ok!" Yuri cried, "Coffee stains! On my Jimmy Choos! They are ruined!"
Changmin had come up behind Yoona and was about to tell the younger woman that he had seen the entire thing, and she, with her eyes covered in dark shades, had not even watched where she was walking. But before he was able to defend Yoona, he heard , "Yah Yuri! I'm not talking to you! Look at what you've done to her suit!" She glanced over at Yoona and continued, "And it looks to be a tailored Vera Wang!"
Yoona stood to her full height and apologized, "I'm sorry! I should not have stopped in the middle of the hallway!"
"See!" Yuri pouted at her CEO, Hyori Lee, "She even knows it's her fault!"
Hyori opened her briefcase and extracted a silk handkerchief, and extended it to Yoona. Yoona held it almost in reverence. It looked much too pretty to use.
"What's your name?" Hyori asked Yoona.
"Yoona Im, I'm new here. I am really sorry."
"We should tell Jihoon Oppa ," Yuri glanced at Yoona and then back at Hyori, "He should fire who ever hired someone as clumsy as her!"
Changmin cleared his throat and tapped Yoona on the shoulder, turning her slightly to face him. He took the handkerchief in Yoona's hand and started dabbing at the suit.
"Did you get burned?" he asked her. When she shook her head, she reached for the handkerchief in his hand. He pushed her hand away, and continued dabbing.
Hyori smiled and tugged on Yuri's arm. "You've done enough damage for the day, we'll be late."
As they walked past the couple, Yuri noticed Changmin for the first time. He was tall, handsome, and extremely focused on tending to the young girl in front of him. She watched him press the cloth against the girl's breast, ignoring the protests of the girl.
"Yah, Changmin," Yoona scolded. "I can do it!"
"I think the suit is ruined," he observed as he pressed it against her skin. "But as long as you're not hurt…" He stopped the dabbing when he noticed the peaked nipple pressed against the stained fabric. He stared for several seconds, before realizing what he was doing.
His head whipped up to face Yoona and he nearly stuffed the handkerchief into her hands, completely embarrassed. Yuri snorted at the scene before turning to catch up with Hyori Lee.
Changmin looked away, then up at the ceiling, and then down at his shoes.
"I didn't mean to…" he started.
That was twice today that Yoona had her breasts touched by near strangers! TWICE!
"I told you to stop!" she snapped at him.
He looked up at her and saw the anger. "Yah, Yoona," he defended, "It's not my fault! Who told you not to wear a bra?"
Her eyes nearly popped out as she pursed her lips together and snapped her hand up to cover his mouth. "Shhhh!" she whispered in fierce warning, "Don't tell the world about my underwear!"
She removed her hand from over his lips and he smirked at her. "Or lack thereof…" was all he got out before she covered his mouth again. "Changmin Shim!" She watched as his eyes inadvertently fell from her face, down to her neck and then down farther, to rest on the coffee stain, or more accurately, what was under the stain.
He smiled into her hand, and even if she had not felt it, she could see his smile fill his uneven eyes.
Men!
She released her hold over his mouth and turned to stomp off. Let him stand there like a buffoon grinning from ear to ear, she thought. Alone! And damn that Ok Teacyeon for making her rush this morning, and completely forgetting to put on a bra!
It was Changmin's turn to nearly skip behind her.
As he came up next to her, he nudged her, looking straight ahead. "You got something to change into?" She folded her arms over her chest and nodded. "Shall we go back up to the dressing room then?" he offered.
"I can manage alone, thank you very much," she snapped at him.
"Aww come on, don't be mad! I'm a man too you know! "
When she didn't answer he nudged her again with his elbow, and she glanced over at him. He winked at her and smiled softly before turning to face forward again. "Besides, you haven't told me what you want yet."
"What?" she asked.
"You said it was something BIG… probably something like using me to make a boyfriend jealous or …"
"I don't have a boyfriend!" she told him sternly.
Changmin's smile broadened, he felt like pumping his fist in the air and yelling "YES!"
"…or maybe it's something naughty…" he paused, "Even though I'm available I should tell you that…"
She stopped walking, turned to face him and placed her hands on her hips, forgetting about the soiled suit.
"I wanted to ask you for a copy of all of those photos I looked at in your lab… but if you're gonna be an ass …"
"Whoa!" he put his hands up in mock surrender. She obviously wasn't in the mood to joke around. She had gone from euphoric to bitchy in seconds. He preferred the skipping, happy Yoona, but this firecracker, ball busting Yoona had appeal as well!
He considered her request for a moment, looking into the pools of fire that used to be shiny, sparkling eyes just moments before. "Come on," he reached her hand and headed straight for the stairs they had ascended earlier. "We'll talk about this while you change."
Hyori tapped on the office door lightly before opening it without waiting for a response. Both Taecyeon and Rain looked up from their conversation at the conference table to see her and Yuri enter.
Hyori smiled as she walked over to Rain and kissed both cheeks, just as the Europeans do. Yuri on the other hand, walked up to Taecyeon and leaned down to place a full kiss on his lips, brushing his chiseled cheek as she finished, and gave his shoulder a squeeze.
She gave Jihoon a slight bow of acknowledgement before turning her full attention back to Taec.
"When did you get back?"
"Last night," he answered as he watched Hyori blow him an air kiss from across the table. He reached up and grasped at the air, pretending to catch it, and then raised it up to his mouth, opening wide, then closed his eyes as he moved his jaw back and forth, pretending to savor it. Yuri attempted to pinch his bicep, but it was so solidly hard that she couldn't get a hold of any flesh.
Hyroi giggled at his coquettish behavior and looked back at Rain. "So what's so important that you ask me for a meeting before noon? You know I don't do mornings."
Rain reached up for her coffee cup, he stood and extended his arm out to Yuri for hers. "Yes Madam," he smiled genuinely at Hyori, "I remember. But first things first, let's freshen this swill up."
"Oh that reminds me," Hyori said, "Did you find someone new?"
Rain nodded as he walked back to the credenza for the ceramic mugs.
"Oh you met_"?"
Yuri piped in, "She's such a klutz, Oppa! Really, look at what she did to my Jimmy Choos!"
Hyori ignored Yuri and turned to face Rain, "He's raw, but tons of potential. He'll need to cut the hair of course… but his height, the broad shoulders… the dark, smoldering eyes! What's his name?"
Before Rain could answer Yuri walked around the conference table to point her toes in his direction. "They're ruined! She needs to be fired. And the person who hired her should be fired too! It's obvious that she's incompetent!"
"Ah!" It dawned on him who they were talking about. "That would be Changmin Shim and Yoona Im."
Taec snorted in dissatisfaction before adding, "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm with Yuri on this one. Both of them have no place here…"
"Are you afraid of the fresh competition, Taec?" Hyori asked him directly. "Because it will take at least a year of grooming and training before he can take the catwalk."
"Pshhh," Taec blew out. "Puhleeeesee. He's no model."
Both Hyori and Yuri waited for Jihoon to explain as he handed them fresh cups of coffee.
"Have a seat, ladies." He sat down and grinned, "I'm about to rock your world!"