Office Diaries

"I'm so glad to finally meet you," Jisoo Park crowed in delight.

If other people would say it to her face, Yanee, of course, wouldn't believe them. But Jisoo Park looked genuinely happy and she felt her warmth when she talked to her that Yanee had no choice but to believe. Besides, compared to these people here, there was nothing she had that would make people covet or scheme against her. It was safe to accept their warm welcome at face-value.

"Tohru always talked about you, so it made me very curious," she added which made Tohru suddenly cough.

Yanee watched curiously as Jisoo suddenly covered her mouth as if she said something that she was not supposed to say, and Yanee suddenly felt nervous again.

Eeeeh? Her boss talked about her?  

"Did you eat something bad?"Jisoo suddenly said as she hurried to tap Torhu's back, looking totally apologetic that made Yanee's curiosity bigger. Jisoo hailed a waiter serving rosé and took a glass. She hurriedly handed it to Tohru who still hadn't stopped coughing. "Here, have some champagne," she told him.

"Boss, are you alright?"Yanee asked. Tohru sounded like he's going to kick the bucket. "You didn't get any virus or bacteria of some sort, right?"

"Oh he has a virus alright – a nasty one," Jisoo answered enigmatically with her dancing pair of eyes trained on Yanee. "Love virus," she cheekily added but only for Tohru to hear.

"Pardon? Boss is sick with what?"Yanee asked worriedly.

This time, if her boss was indeed sick, she felt bad for not noticing it.

"Big Sis," Tohru said warningly with a pout after taking a sip of champagne, and Yanee blinked in case she was hallucinating.

Tohru James, the man who wore a  stern expression the entire time she interviewed him – the mean boss who threatened her to lose her job if she failed on her project was at the moment pouting like a teased little boy in front of her.  

A pouting Potato…

Jisoo stuck out her tongue at Tohru before grinning. She looked like someone who did mischief and was proud of it. However, whatever mischief that was, Yanee had no idea. She was depressed to realize she was not privy to some little secrets between her boss and the big sister, and she felt it was somehow related to her.

Did the potato tell them she'd get the boot if she failed in this project? Yanee wondered if they knew the book she was working on was her life-saver.

"He's sick. He's got the workaholic bug like most guys," Jisoo suddenly said, and Yanee couldn't ask further.

"You two follow me," the Big Sis added, taking Yanee by the arm and pulling her across the room without warning.

"Er… what about the boss?" Yanee asked Jisoo as they walked.

"Oh, Pooh! He knows how to walk. It's you we've wanted to meet for a while," Jisoo said dismissively, not caring about the little brother anymore.

Tohru James was not able to do anything but shake his head with a smile and follow.

"Heeeeey!"

Yanee was led towards a set of tables on the farthest side of the room where a group of equally stunning women beamed up at them as they approached. The poor journalist felt like she was suddenly thrust into a roomful of beauty queens and felt underdressed and inadequate.

It's not that she felt ugly. She just felt more conscious of herself. Unlike the ladies here, her skin was not fair but a golden tone – something that made her feel a bit insecure. After all, in Asia, most people's standard of beauty having pale skin that was as white as snow – like the beauties in front of her was a must.

"Yaneeeee!"

A joyful voice called out, and Yanee turned to see Yunjae, looking all dolled up in her turquois chiton wrap dress.  

"Yunjaeeeee!"

Yanee's insecurities were suddenly blown away. She was truly glad to finally see a familiar face. The other woman hurried towards her and enveloped her in a hug. Her orange-vanilla scent filled Yanee's nose and calmed her down.

"You're here! We've been waiting for you to come!" Yunjae told her eagerly, and Yanee laughed nervously.

People kept telling her they'd been waiting to meet her but she had no idea why and it was making her uneasy. However, Yunjae finally explained the reason which appeased her.

"I kept telling all the girls about you so they're so excited to meet you. You're the one who will be writing our stories so they're so thrilled and couldn't wait to see you finally!"

Oh. That's why.

Yanee finally relaxed. Their reason for wanting to meet her was entirely work-related and not something else and that calmed her down finally.

"And here I was thinking I did something wrong that you guys talked about it. I was so nervous," Yanee said in a half-complaining voice, making Yunjae laugh.

"No, nothing bad, of course," Yunjae assured her.

"Hey, Jae, stop hogging Yanee to yourself. Share the little sister with us, okay?" A melodious voice called out, and Yanee found herself being ushered towards the other women at the table.

Little…Sister?

Yanee knew they were referring to her, but had no idea of why she was suddenly adopted. She turned around to check where her boss was but frowned when she realized he was not there at all. She was left alone at the mercy of the ladies!

PO.TA.TO… You Liar!

So much for his "Don't worry, I'm here," speech earlier. He left her, in the end, to fend for herself.

"Are you looking for Tohru?" Jisoo asked, and Yanee turned to her with a sheepish smile, indicating "yes". "Don't worry about that little brother. His big brothers took him somewhere for a discussion."

"Yes," Yunjae agreed. "Leave the business to the boys, and stay with your big sisters here."

Er…

There were other people in the room – other guests that Jisoo and Yushin did business with. It was understandable that as one of the hosts, Yushin would be catering to them so that they would not be neglected when Jisoo was spending time with the women.

Yanee didn't have a choice anyway, and so she just went with the flow. Soon she was introduced to the ladies one by one.