JENNIE

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ME: She wants to discuss the trip. Over lunch. That she's paying for.

JISOO: Woah.

ME: Do you know what's weirder?

ME: SHE THANKED ME FOR THE COFFEE.

JISOO: Perhaps you should book an appointment with her doctor. Or did she hit her head on the way to the office this morning?

ME: She seems fine. Aside from the being nice part. I'm a bit scared.

JISOO: Maybe she really does have a crush on you and she's trying to soften you up to seduce you when you're on your business trip.

ME: I'm having a weird enough day as it is without your crazy fantasies, thank you very much.

JISOO: I'm just saying. Why else would she suddenly start being nice?

ME: I don't know, but Jimin was in there. I suspect it's his fault.

JISOO: Is it a bad thing if The Bastard is nice to you though?

ME: Of course not. The whole reason I'm leaving is because she's a total prick and I want a nicer boss.

JISOO: What if she becomes one?

ME: Too little too late. I bet it's all a ploy to create a better working environment, so I don't hand in my resignation.

JISOO: Told you she wants you.

ME: She wants my skills, not me.

ME: Stop talking shit.

I dropped my phone into my bag and stared at my computer. It didn't matter how many times she told me that Lalisa had a crush on me. It didn't make it true.

Besides, Lalisa was the kind of person who acted on things like that.

At the very least, I expected her to be a gentlewoman to women she was interested in.

This weird 'thank you' that kept coming out of her mouth was something I wasn't familiar with.

I wasn't sure she'd ever thanked me until today.

She'd certainly not been much of a gentlewoman. Things like opening and holding doors were something I did for her, and I could count on one hand the number of times she'd returned that gesture.

Maybe I was a bit old-fashioned. I was perfectly capable of opening and holding doors for myself and many other people, but whenever someone held a door for me, it showed a hint of kindness and consideration.

Values I appreciated in a person.

Values I was unsure my boss truly possessed.

Lalisa's office doors opened, and she walked out, adjusting her tie. "Ah, Miss Kim." She paused in front of my desk. "I have to check on something in accounting. Can we delay our meeting by around twenty minutes?"

Was that a trick question?

Obviously, the answer was yes, but usually her request would be framed as an order.

"That's not a problem, ma'am," I replied slowly. "Would you like me to go with you? Or is it something I can do for you?"

"No, it's nothing big."

"Should I order lunch, then? You didn't say what you'd like to eat earlier."

"No need. It's already done."

"It—" I pressed my lips together.

What in the fuck was happening today? What kind of parallel universe had I woken up in?

"Haruto!" Lalisa crossed the office and stopped in front of Haruto's desk, producing a slip of paper. "Can you go and collect this lunch order for me? It's the next street over."

"Y-yes, of course, ma'am," Haruto replied, taking the piece of paper. "Shall I go now?"

"Yes. The collection time is in ten minutes." She tapped her fingers against the desk and smiled. "Thank you. I'll be right back."

What the…

Another thank you?

"What was that?" Rora whispered after she'd disappeared. "Is Ms Manoban ill?"

"I have no idea," I replied. "She's been a bit weird all day. I'm starting to think she hit her head while showering this morning."

"I'm a bit scared." Haruto got to his feet and leant forwards as if he could still see the shadow of the boss through the glass doors. "I almost feel as though I'm being tricked into human trafficking or something. Like how those nail salons are a front for drug dealing and that."

He'd been watching too many movies.

"If it eases your mind at all, that lunch place is perfectly legit. She eats there at least twice a week. They usually deliver it, but she probably didn't order it in enough time," I assured him, getting up. "Rora, stay here. I'm running to the PR department."

"You are?" She peered up at me.

"Yes. Jimin was in Ms Manoban's office earlier this morning, and I plan to beat him up until he tells me what he knows about this weirdness." I adjusted the waistband of my skirt and marched towards the doors, only to have Haruto beat me and hold it open for me. "Ah, thank you!"

I made my way down to the PR department and let myself into the hubbub with my key card. It was always slightly chaotic in here with all the different teams working together in a way that was both opposing and cohesive. Combined with the endless ringing of phones, I honestly pitied anyone who had to work with such noise.

I couldn't do it.

"Ah, Jennie!"

I turned at my name and smiled. Louie Alberts, the department's heartthrob, had one hand raised in greeting. "Louie. How are you?"

He beamed his signature thousand-watt smile at me. "I'm better for seeing you. What brings you to our humble department?"

Ah, good.

We were flirting.

Well, he was flirting.

"I'm here to see Mr Park. Is he around?"

Louie smacked his lips. "In his office, I believe. And here I thought you'd finally come down to see me to tell me you'll have dinner with me."

"Mr Alberts, stop flirting with women who aren't good enough for you," Jimin said, walking into the main office. "Miss Kim, stop distracting my staff."

"You little—" I started towards Jimin, but Louie laughed.

"Sir, I believe you're mistaken. Miss Kim is far too good for me," he said humbly, pressing his hand to his chest.

At least we agreed on something.

Womanisers weren't my type.

"We'll agree to disagree."

"You," I said, grabbing Jimin's lapel. "Come with me."

"Miss Kim, what will people say if they see you dragging me around so seductively?" Jimin gasped.

"He's my cousin!" I reminded everyone, yanking him into his office. "Hi, Sana."

"Hi, Jennie," his secretary said. "Is he bullying you again?"

"It's not bullying when I always beat him," I quipped. "I'm borrowing him for five minutes."

"Sana, help," Jimin whimpered, reaching a hand out towards her.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you've done something to deserve it, sir," Sana said, turning her attention back to the files she was sorting.

Heh.

I knew I liked her.

I shoved Jimin into his office and closed the door behind us. "Tell me. What did you do to her?"

He adjusted his jacket, frowning at me. "What do you mean?"

"My boss. What did you do to my boss? She's being… nice." I shuddered. "It's scary, Jimin. She thanked Haruto for going out to collect the lunch she herself ordered."

"Oh, that." Jimin fought back a laugh. "She asked me how to be a better boss, and I told her she should try complimenting her staff and saying thank you once in a while."

I wrinkled my face up. "I should have known it was you. Now the office is all weird. She even smiled."

"Man, she really applies herself to stuff, doesn't she?"

"Tell her you made a mistake, and we don't want her to be nice."

"No can do." He shook his head, sitting down. "She really wants to try to be a better boss to the three of you."

"If this is a ploy to make me change my mind about resigning, tell her to cut it out. I won't change my mind. Ever."

"I know, I know." He waved his hand. "Can't you just humour her? She's trying."

"Oh, she's always been trying," I said through gritted teeth. "Trying my patience."

"Is it bad if she tries to be nicer to you? You have to live with her for six weeks, after all."

I opened my mouth to make a smartarse retort, but whatever it was died on my lips. He wasn't exactly wrong, was he? The idea of living with the Lalisa Manoban I knew was positively terrifying, but a nicer version of her who could say 'thank you' didn't seem all that bad.

Wow. The bar really was low.

"Right," I replied after a moment. "I suppose you're not wrong. It doesn't make it any less creepy, though."

Jimin grinned. "She's not as bad outside of the office as she is in it."

"We know different out-of-office Lalisa Manoban." I walked over to the door and glanced back. "By the way, tell Aunt Fizz I don't know if I can make it to her party because of this trip. I know we're leaving before, but I'll try and see if I can make it back."

He nodded. "Will do. Shouldn't you be getting back now? For your little lunch date?"

"Shut up and stop giving my boss weird ideas!"

..

"This is for you, and this is yours," Lalisa said, setting food cartons down in front of both Haruto and Rora. "I noticed that whenever you order Italian food for lunch, you always have a mushroom risotto, Rora, and Haruto always has a carbonara."

My babies both blinked at her.

Concern flitted across her face. "Did I get it wrong?"

"No, ma'am, no," Rora said quickly. "That's exactly what we order."

Her expression immediately brightened. "Good. I thought I'd made a mistake."

"Um, thank you, ma'am," Haruto said, pulling the food down from the higher ledge onto his desk. "That's very kind of you."

"Not at all. You're working hard." Lalisa turned to me. "Are you ready?"

"Just a moment," I said. "I need to send this email first."

"All right. I'll wait in the office for you." She picked up the bag and carried it into her office.

"Miss Kim!" Rora whispered, getting to her feet and staring at me with wide eyes. "Really, what's gotten into her today? Is this poison? Are we going to die? Aren't executioners always nice to their victims before they kill them? Is this our famed last meal before we're dropped into a pit of lions?"

Ah. They were both watching too many movies.

I sent the email I was working on and got to my feet with a soft laugh. "No," I said, gathering the files she'd printed out earlier for me and my small work laptop. "She's an extremely observant woman. It's actually one of her better qualities."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Come now." I leant against their desk. "You don't think she got to where she is by sheer dumb luck, do you? She notices everything about everyone. I'm not surprised she knew exactly what you eat whenever we order Italian food for lunch. I'd be willing to bet she also knows your favourite sandwiches, salads, and how you take your tea and coffee."

Haruto stared at the doors to Lalisa's office. "You know… That would be a bit scary if she were anyone else, but somehow, it makes sense when it's her."

I smiled. "I bet that when I go in there, my food will be a beef ravioli in a white sauce with a rocket salad on the side."

"How do you know that?"

"Because when I order Italian food, I have two orders: ravioli for a working lunch and prawn linguine for a normal lunch. This is a working lunch." I tapped my fingers against the desk. "Enjoy, you two."

I walked over to the office and knocked on the door before poking my head in.

"Come in," Lalisa said. "Beef ravioli and a rocket salad, right?"

Rora's gasp tickled me, and I stepped inside while choking back a laugh. "That's exactly it, ma'am."

"Good. Come and sit down." She motioned to the seating area where she'd laid the food out on the coffee table. "Oh, maybe we should have used one of the meeting rooms instead."

"We're here now." I set my laptop and file down on the table and turned on the laptop. "Did you get a chance to review the plans I sent you earlier?"

"Yes. They only pertained to the living and working arrangements, is that correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. Only unavoidable meetings are currently in place on your work schedule for now, but I'll make sure other meetings that require you to call in are scheduled on the same days to lessen the back and forth." I logged into the laptop. "I've also been assured by Cassidy that one of the rooms at the cottage is being turned into an office space for you."

"What about you?"

"I will be perfectly fine at the kitchen table."

"Nonsense. You need a proper workspace." She shook her head.

Oh. Was she being kind again?

"And I can't be shouting up and down the stairs at you whenever I need something."

Never mind. There was the real reason.

"Eat before your food gets cold."

"Yes, ma'am." I opened the cartons with my food. "Let's wait and see until we get there. It won't be long until the letting office will be renovated, so we can always move there."

She made a noise that could have meant anything. "You should know that I opposed the idea of us living together," she said after a moment. "I didn't believe it was a good idea, but I was overruled by my grandfather."

"Believe me, ma'am, I have never been under the impression that it was your idea."

She peered over at me. "You make it sound as though I think living with you is a nightmare."

"I live with myself. It is a nightmare."

"Miss Kim—"

"You believe in a work-life separation that living with your secretary doesn't allow for," I said, cutting her off. "For what it's worth, I feel the same way, so don't dwell on it too much."

She stared at me for a moment before nodding and turning to her food. We both ate in silence for a few minutes as I tapped away at my laptop with one hand, then when she was done, she took the files relating to us living together.

"If it helps, I've stayed at Buckley Cottage before, and it's more than big enough for us to coexist. Cottage isn't exactly the right word for it," she said. "Most people think of little thatched roofs when they think cottage, but this one is more of a rather large house than anything else."

I dabbed at the corner of my mouth with a napkin. "That was the impression I got, yes. Large enough for us to have our own space."

"Exactly." She peered over at me. "Are you sure you're all right with these arrangements? We'll be travelling up separately, and it's not too late to find another place for you to stay."

"What's the point? We'll be working together every day anyway, and that includes visiting the offices and the lake lodges. I'll be picking you up on a daily basis if we stayed apart, and that's inefficient. Not to mention needless expenses on fuel, ma'am." I closed up my food boxes.

"Right, of course."

"That said, I do believe we need to reframe how we discuss it. If we say we're 'living together,' people may get the wrong idea. I'd prefer to think of us as roommates."

Her lips twitched to one side. "Roommates?"

"Yes. That's essentially what we will be." I cleared my throat and reached for my glass of water. "And roommates should have ground rules in place. That's what we need to discuss today."

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