Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from this drama. Rae Na. Jae Min, Jae Na, Hye Su, Akira, Amara, JaeHoo are mine. Jan Di's company is also mine.
Note: Alright! This is the new chapter! I hope you like! And It's LONG! Please Review!
Note || I know it had been a little while. College is tough . . . What can I say? Thank you for your patience!
JD | Tuesday: 12:56:52 AM
She groaned inwardly. Oh sweet baby Jesus! She was nervous. Nevours beyond all comprehension. This was pure ridiculousness. Why was she nervous? She'd said yes! He said great! What was left? Jan Di heaved another sigh and quietly berated herself, the car keys, her briefcase, suit jacket, and every red light from her loft apartment to ShinHwa headquarters.
It had been a very very long morning. And the slow droll towards lunch did not seem to be getting any better. Which just meant she was going to make another perfect impression. Was it not bad enough that she was late on the first meeting? Someone had to be out to get her. Jan Di couldn't think of anyone that she could have possible upset within the last few weeks, but her Karma was on a down-hill slide.
This was not good.
Jan Di shifted, fighting with her suit jacket once more. She hated it, but alas, to fit into the society of the business world - suit jackets were a must. Jan Di squared her shoulders and flattened out her erratic hair - it had a mind of its own when she needed it the most. She watched as the floor level numbers flashed - the elevator was lowering to her level. Jan Di eyes her lack of make-up throught the silver doors. It wasn't that she needed make-up, cause she didn't; every now and then it was nice.
Ding.
Jan Di bit her lower lip before stepping in. She heaved a small sigh and stood in the center of the elevator.
"Which floor miss?"
Jan Di smiled. "25." She bowed slightly in thanks before going quiet once more. She bit her lower lip and smoothed out her outfit once more. Her hand tightened on the briefcase. Everything will be fine. Stay in business mode and keep everything out on the table. Show him you mean business without being a pompous idiot. Stay calm and in control.
Ding. Ding.
Jan Di looked up at the row of numbers positioned at the top of the elevator. Level 25. She heaved a small sigh. Here we go! Jan Di smiled to the elevator bellman. "Have a good day."
"You too Miss."
Jan Di bit her lower lip and edged down the hall. It was, for a lack of words, intimidating. The floors were a deep cherry wooden as far as could be seen - the feeling that each office had carpet instead lurked in the back of her mind. As she stepped off the elevator, Jan Di moved into a foray - housing a circular table with a an array of flowers - as a greeting she presumed. The foray was circular shaped with three separated hallways deviating from it making a perfect half circle.
Stay straight.
Jan Di nodded to herself. At least she remembered that much. So, here she was. Still edging down the hallway, cringed with each echoed clack of her heels. Why did corporations always have non-carpeted flooring? Her shoulders eased back as the hallway opened up leading to what she would describe as a foray slash waiting area - receptionist included. Jan Di was going to get lost. So freaking lost if the receptionist sent her down a different hallway and towards another foray. So lost.
"Hello." A tight smile and controlled voice.
Jan Di smiled and moved closer. "Hello, I have an appointment - with Mr. Goo." She bowed politely and waited. A tight smile covered her lips. Yes, she was in a business - head of it actually. But in all of her life she hated the mannered-mechanics one showed as a must-be polite attitude.
"Oh! You are a bit early." The woman stated softly.
Jan Di glanced down at her watch. Was she? No. "I was informed to be here at 12."
The receptionist frowned. "One moment." She slid back from her chair and walked to one of the three doors that were located behind her.
Ominous.
Sweet Baby Jesus - she was lost. She had turned the wrong way, gone down the wrong hallway and ended up at someone else's offices. Was she even on the right floor? Had that old toad put her on the wrong floor? Jan Di groaned. Brilliant. She had wanted to make a good impression. Now she was late and lost. Her shoulder's slumped.
Moments later the receptionist returned with another smiling woman.
"Ms. Geum? Or do you prefer another name?" She smiled widely. "My name is Jae Ni." She bowed slightly. Her long honey-brown hair was curled around her in a soft and dark halo. Her lips were pale pink and bow shaped placed directly under a button like nose. Her eyes were wide and charming.
She bowed in return. "Hello Jae Ni, Jan Di is just fine." Her brows furrowed. "Am I early?"
"Oh, heavens no. I got a couple of the numbers mixed up." Jae Ni waved it off. "It's what happens when Junpyo has me doing more than three things at once." She winked while holding out her arm. "Please, come."
Jan Di smiled. The place was intimidating, but the people were not, so far - Jan Di was a teetering on the first receptionist. "Who are located in the other two offices?"
"Junpyo's sister - Vice President Goo Jun Hee - is in the office to your right. Their mother - President Kang - is in the office to the left. And of course President Jun Pyo is straight back." Jae Ni smiled and held the door open. She giggled softly at the look she received. "I run interference - that is why my office is through this door." She pointed to her left, "personal kitchen and bathroom." She pointed straight back, "President Jun Pyo."
Jan Di nodded. "This place is designed . . ."
"Interestingly?" Her eyes sparkled. "Yes, I know." She urged the woman forward. "A good friend of Jun Pyo's - Woo Bin, owns a construction company." Among other things. Jae Ni paused in her speech to knock on the door.
"Cause I didn't know it was you?" Junpyo called out.
Jan Di held back a giggle.
"I was being polite cause we have a guest." Jae Ni jabbed. "Next time I will just barge in?" She grinned, her eyes shimmering in contained mirth.
Jun Pyo scoffed. "Woo Bin is hardly a guest - neither is any of the others."
"Junpyo - they would resent that. And mock you." Jae Ni smiled brightly. "I meant an actual guest." She shook her head and pulled Jan Di into the office. "When was the last time you looked up from that paperwork to glance at the clock."
Junpyo shrugged. "I'm working - not passing the time. Something you should take into consideration." A smile covered his plump lips, eyebrows shifting comically. "I was thinking of giving you a raise - but if this is how you spent your time while I was overseas." He shook his head and continued to glare at the papers in front of him.
"As if!" Jae Ni exclaimed. "I do my work." She huffed while winking at Jan Di. "President Goo."
Junpyo heaved a small sigh and rolled his shoulders while straightening his back. He groaned in discomfort. His dark eyes dilated slightly as he backed away. Had he really been that close to the screen? He scrunched his eyes closed before glancing down at his watch.
12:02.
Geum Jan Di.
His eyes widened as his head shot up. Junpyo's mouth ran dry as he jerked to a standing position. "Ms Geum." He bowed. "That was very unprofessional of me. My apologies."
"No, I refuse to take that." Jan Di laughed at the frown she received. "It was nice." her dark brown orbs sparkled. "It was nice to a different side of the business man Goo Jun Pyo." She smiled briefly. "It shows that you are still human. Sometimes that is a rare quality in a business tycoon."
Junpyo fought the urge to blush and bobbed his head. He unbuttoned his suit and moved form behind his desk. Easily, and with a grace acquired from years of practice, he slid the jacket from his body and onto the back of his chair. "I can agree with that."
"Good." Jan Di smiled brightly. "I'm glad." Her dark eyes flitted over the food that had been placed on the lower coffee table. "Food?"
He nodded. "I was not sure if you had eaten. Considering the time I called the meeting for, I wanted something here for you in case you hadn't." Junpyo coughed. Yeah, he sort of rambled when he got really nervous.
Jan Di's lips curled upward as she fought giggling. He was sort of adorable. "It's fine. Thank you." She eyed the assortment on the low table. "I wouldn't mind some of the kimchi." Her eyes sparkled at the bright smile that covered his lips. "It looks divine."
"Oh it is." Jae Ni giggled. "My sister craved this while she was pregnant." She laughed out loud at the look she received. "And this restaurant was the only place she'd get her's from."
Jan Di chuckled. "I know the feeling."
Junpyo's smile dropped. She knew the feeling? Impossible. Her file had said she was incapable.
"Oh," Jae Ni's eyes brightened. "You have a child?"
Junpyo watched the quick flux of emotions that passed through the brunettes eyes. There was something there. Something not in the file, something she was hiding.
It took everything in Jan Di's power not to wrap her arms around her stomach. A phantom pain stretched through her muscles. Jan Di forced a smile and moved towards the plush leather couch. "You will be eating too?" Her dark brown orbs catching on Junpyo.
He nodded, stunned by the emotion she was trying to cover. Junpyo moved towards the couch across from the other leather one that Jan Di was using. "I will stick to the gimbap, though." His nose scrunched as he eyed the kimchi.
"Wimp," Jae Ni taunted. She laughed at the glare she received. "He had a bad interaction with kimchi one time." She rolled her eyes. "He hasn't really let it go." She shook her head. "Life is a game of catch and release Mr. Goo."
"It moved, Jae Ni. Food shouldn't move." He muttered in reply.
Jan Di giggled softly while taking the plate from Jae Ni's hands. "Thank you." She eyed him once more. "My daughter agrees with you on that subject." Jan Di shook her head. "It is nearly impossible to get her to try new things."
"Same with him." Jae Ni mused softly.
Junpyo grumbled as he watched the two chat at his expense. Okay, fine. Slight grumbling. Truthfully he was trying to absorb any info she was willing to shell out about his child.
"Okay, I will leave you to to discuss work." Jae Ni smiled brightly and bowed.
Junpyo shook his head, a soft smile on his lips. Jae Ni was a one of a kind secretary. One you either loved or fired five minutes into the job. It had been touch and go when she had been hired.
"I like her." Jan Di murmured after swallowing a bite of kimchi. "She's different."
Junpyo nodded. "That is one word I use for her on occasion." He chuckled and stood. He moved towards the table off to the left side of his desk. "I have set out a couple of blue prints for the main mall here in Seoul.
Jan Di set her saucer sized empty plate on the low coffee table. "Okay, may I ask why you have more than one blue print?"
Junpyo shrugged. "I want this to work." I need this to work. I want my little girl. "It made more since to have a couple different ones on hand in case you did not like the first one."
"Ah," Jan Di voiced her understanding. "Okay, let me see." She stepped closer to the long rectangular table. Her eyes narrowed as she stared down at the first blue-print paper. Her nose scrunched. "I see your point."
Junpyo frowned. "Explain."
She pointed at the expanse of space next to the place designated for her. "I do not want to be next to this one."
"Why?" Junpyo questioned, keeping the smirk off his supple lips. Well, he no longer had a fear of her not stating her own opinion - she wasn't liking in that department.
Jan Di frowned. "I do not like speaking ill of others. But I have met her." Her nose scrunched in distaste. "She is rude and spiteful." Jan Di's brows furrowed slightly as she stared down at the layout.
Junpyo nodded. He already knew that. "Why do you say that?"
"I met her before I made a name for myself." She smiled softly. "Though I have to say she is the reason I became a designer." Her dark brown eyes misted over, head tilting to the side. "She wanted my designs."
"Well," Junpyo started. "I'm glad you didn't give in." I would have never met you. I would have never found my daughter. Thank You. He pulled the first blue print from the table and and ripped it in two. "How about this one?" Junpyo questioned while pointing at the second one.
Jan Di shook her head. "No, that is to far away from the major stores, most people hit the stores they want and mingle around a couple of stores on either sides." She frowned. "This one is not around anything."
"Understandable." Junpyo repeated the process, ripping the blue-print in two.
Jan Di giggled softly. "Too close to the food courts for my liking." Her lips pursed. "I don't want my store to smell like food." Her nose scrunched unhappily. "That won't bring in business."
"Picky." Junpyo murmured softly. A slow smile covering his supple lips.
She blushed softly and looked down at her feet. "Sorry." she shrugged slightly. "I just have a vision."
"And you don't want to stray from it." Junpyo smiled. "I can work with that." He ripped up the third blue print. "What about this one?" His dark brown eyes gazed over at the woman. She was something different. A breath of fresh air. Junpyo liked her. She knew what she wanted and went for it - he liked that.
Jan Di hummed softly while lifting the blue print up closer to her. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the picture. "Yes," her smile widened. "I know the women at Bloomingdale's and Saks." Her smile widened. "I like them."
"Good." Junpyo nodded and put the blue print on his main desk. "I will make arrangements for tomorrow?" He looked through online itinerary. "The mall does not open until noon. Will nine be okay?" He glanced at the woman once more. "There is a holiday tomorrow." Junpyo smiled. "I let them take the mornings off on Holidays." His head tilted tot he side. "Christmas and Black Friday not included.
She cracked a smile and giggled for a second. It slipped. Jan Di frowned, her lips pulled back in a grimace. Shoot.
"Something wrong?" Junpyo froze. They had come to far - nothing could go wrong now.
She smiled shyly. "I will have Rae Na with me . . . Is that okay?" She grimaced slightly as she waited - it would be entirely up to him. Though, he would have to be completely understanding when she declined his offer all together. Rae Na was her daughter. She was going no where Jan Di wasn't.
Junpyo froze.
. . .
"Who is she?"
Junpyo held in a growl. How had she gotten through. "No one, President Kang."
"Don't be rude." Her lips curled in disgust. Her eyes narrowed in anger. "If I am the President - should you not answer me?"
Junpyo chuckled. "You are the president only in face terms. I sign the checks, every account is in my name, and I am the one meeting with every person that I want to do business with."
"How dare you!" President Kang hissed. Her hands curled into fists as her face scrunched in anger. "You will not talk to me like that."
Junpyo smiled tightly. "I need to make a business call." He blinked a couple of times as silence filtered in. He heaved a small quiet sigh and pressed the intercom button on his office phone. "Jae Ni, please come and show Mrs. Kang out."
"Yes sir."
President Kang screeched in anger as Jae Ni opened the door. "You ungrateful little child." Her eyes narrowed darkly. "You will regret this."
Junpyo waved her off while picking up the phone once more. "Hello. Yes, this is Goo Junpyo I need you to clear out space 205 A on the second floor. Thank you." Junpyo leaned back in his chair. A slow smile spread across his lips. I get to see my daughter tomorrow.
OKay! Revamped. Better?