Office Diaries

"Welcome baaaack!" Chummy rushed over to envelop Yanee in a bear hug.

As if she's not still satisfied with their closeness, Chummy tiptoed and placed a kiss on Yanee's cheeks too before clinging to her arm.

"Are you a cat? I've only been gone for four days,"Yanee jokingly scolded her.

Chummy on the other hand snuggled closer. She laid her head on Yanee's shoulder as she complained. "Ah, but that's still too long. You went away again when you just returned from your week vacation."

"So clingy," Yanee teased, just as the door to the inner office opened, and a handsome potato stepped out.

Tohru James was looking at the doc.u.ments in his hands, but when he looked up and saw Yanee, he was obviously surprised that he misstepped. The glasses on his eyes fell sideways due to the inertia and Yanee's heart fell with it.

"Why is this potato looking so good again today,"Yanee mumbled inaudibly – or so she thought.

She missed the shocked look on Chummy's face as she transferred her gaze from Yanee to their boss. A knowing glint flashed in her eyes. She looked like one of those paparazzi who smelled a possible scoop, and an evil smile appeared on her face.

"What's going on?"Tohru James placed his glasses back on his face coolly as if his earlier surprise never happened.

"Good morning boss, I'm just greeting Yanee," Chummy said as she rubbed her face on Yanee's shoulder again like a satisfied cat.

Tohru looked amused. "That's how you greet each other?"

"You can try it too boss, it feels nice. Yanee is so soft and smells good," Chummy invited unashamedly and Yanee panicked.

She quickly extricated Chummy from her arm and slapped her hands away when the latter tried to cling to her again.

"What are you talking about? Don't teach boss some nonsense," Yanee scolded as she glared at her friend.

Tohru laughed but didn't attempt to do it, though Chummy noticed the look of regret in their boss's eyes.

Aha! Chummy felt like she had discovered something really, really nice, and she had butterflies in her heart and her stomach, plus a giggly b.u.t.t. She couldn't wait to corner Yanee and interview her.

"Ms. Lee, why are you here?" Tohru asked as he placed the doc.u.ments in his hands on Yanee's table. "I thought I told you that you can take the morning off and just go straight to your interview in the afternoon?"

He leaned back against the edge of the table and placed his arms across his c.h.e.s.t.  He looked like a sleepy cat – a gorgeous sleepy cat. It seemed their boss pulled an all-nighter but his pair of intelligent eyes were clear as they stared at Yanee.

"Yanee missed you so much, boss. She needs to see your handsome face for energy," Chummy suddenly answered, making Yanee look at her in horror.

"What are you saying?"Yanee looked like she wanted to murder Chummy at the moment.

Her face was red and she felt so embarrassed. But again, the potato surprised them by laughing.

"That's fine then. I missed her too," he said so suddenly making Chummy squeal and Yanee looked as if her soul left her body.

WHAAAAT?

"Really boss?" Chummy looked so delighted.

 "Yeah. I got so spoiled by her back in South Korea. I felt lonely when I had to return here lone," Tohru complained. "I don't feel safe too."

"Oh? Why don't you feel safe, boss?" Chummy asked on cue, totally fueling this outrageous conversation.

Tohru sighed exaggeratedly as he shrugged his shoulders in sorrow. "Ms. Lee protected my chastity so well. I felt so loved. But we had to part so…"

The way that Tohru James used to tell his story was sooooo misleading that people would think there was something going on between them. Yanee felt like murdering her boss too.

"Boss, give me a break, will you? Don't joke with this clingy person anymore," Yanee almost begged as she bonked Chummy's head.

"Why are you hitting me? I just asked questions," Chummy complained looking totally aggrieved.

Tohru laughed again. "You dislike clingy people. Ms. Lee?"

Yanee didn't even want to bother answering that. She gave her boss a look that said "give me a break" but the expression on her boss's face was serious.

"Er… no," she answered.

Tohru looked thoughtful for a while before nodding. "I'll keep that in mind then, along with your other likes and dislikes" he suddenly announced making Yanee look at him as if he'd gone mad.

Chummy on the other hand gave out a loud squeal as she jumped up and down.

"OH. MY. GOD. What is this? I didn't have any breakfast but I feel so full so suddenly," Chummy chirped as she fanned her face "It's hot here too. Boss, why don't you take Yanee to your office and do your business? If I get any more dog food I'll probably die, so go ahead."

"You –"Yanee wanted to reprimand Chummy again. But seeing as the potato might say something outrageous again, she opted to just close her eyes and counted to ten for patience.

Tohru laughed at her again, but Yanee didn't care anymore. She wondered what the potato ate this morning to be this unruly. She had already seen this playful side to him back in South Korea, but she was still shocked to see him like this even in front of Chummy.  

Tohru picked up the doc.u.ments he placed on Yanee's table and walked back to his office again. "Follow me," he ordered and Chummy waved happily to them as they disappeared behind the door.

"Ms. Lee, I already got our bullet train tickets for Kyoto," Tohru James said as soon as the door closed behind them. "After your interview this afternoon with Ria and Michael, you have a couple of hours rest before we go to Kyoto."

He crossed the room and sat behind his huge table. Gone was the playful man just a few minutes ago, and Yanee was relieved. He really was just playing with them earlier. Still, she wondered what flirty god possessed the potato to be so coquettish.

Remembering how he said he missed her and that he would take note of her likes and dislikes though, made Yanee blush again. Tohru James's face was already her type. If she were still the same person back in Nagoya, she'd definitely have a huge crush on him – oh alright she did have a tiny bit of a crush with him already. But if he continued to flirt with her like earlier, she'd need all the saints and patience in the world to resist.

"A flirty potato should be illegal," she grumbled as she took a seat in front of his desk.

"What did you say?" the potato asked suddenly, startling Yanee.

Urgh… She should be careful. Tohru James had good hearing.

"Nothing boss. I just said I need to take vitamin C," she answered, making the other frown and reached out a hand to feel her forehead. It was so impulsive that she was not prepared to feel his cool touch on her skin.

"You don't seem to have a fever," he said, his pair of eyes still studying her face.

"I never said I am sick, boss," she reminded him. "I just said I need to take vitamin C to boost my immune system. I fly a lot and the plane and trains are contained. I don't want to pick up bugs."

Tohru was thoughtful for a while before nodding. It was at this time that Yanee remembered something.

"Boss, you are coming with me to Kyoto?" she asked.

Earlier Tohru mentioned buying their tickets and going there together.

"Yeah. I have business with Liam," he said and Yanee didn't ask anymore.

"Are you sure you don't want to take a rest first? You had an early flight back,"Tohru asked as he scanned her face for any sign of fatigue.

To be honest, Yanee was indeed tired. She was very happy to get some time off before she had to work again, but unfortunately, something happened in her apartment and she couldn't sleep.

"I wanted to rest but some people are repairing the locks in our apartment today," she said.

"What happened? Did you have a break-in?" Worry masked his face.

It was a fact that Yanee's apartment was near Ueno, one of the most dangerous areas in all of the country. The said place had a gangster element and there were many homeless people at parks. It's no wonder that there were some burglaries and other crimes there.

"No, no, no. " Yanee shook her head vehemently. "My sister forgot her keys last night so she had to call someone to break the door. She had them fixed today."

Ami had ordered a new door and the installation was being done when she arrived from the airport earlier. It was why she couldn't stay home to rest.

"Then go there,"Tohru suddenly said as he pointed at the small door to his side.

"Where?" she asked as she followed his finger with her eyes.

With a sigh, Tohru stood up and pulled her towards the door and opened it. Yanee was surprised to see that the room was modeled into a small bedroom with a walk-in closet and bathroom.

"I had this room prepared in case we have tons of work and need to stay here,"he told her, and Yanee found herself being pushed inside. "Go take a nap. I'll just wake you up later when it's time."

Huh?

"But…"

"Don't argue. I don't want you sleeping at work later," he told her. "Sleep here. I'll go out to the literary department and hand out new projects," he said as he turned around.

Yanee watched him go back to his table to grab a stack of folders and go to the door. But she didn't know why but she called him. "Boss…"

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned to her.

Yanee wanted to ask him why he was so nice but decided it's not good to find out. When she didn't speak, the playful smile returned on Tohru's face.

"Why Ms. Lee? Do you want me to tuck you in?"

Yanee's eyes widened in panic. "No," she snapped as she entered the room and closed the door to his laughing face.

That flirty potato!