Office Diaries

"Did you just say that I'm a prince pretending to be a frog?"

Tohru James had never heard of that comparison before. He was… surprised.

Chummy shrugged. "Well, you can also say you're a prince pretending to be a pauper or a diamond pretending to be a rock. You're so picky with analogy boss. They're the same anyway. In the end, you are still someone trying to appear simple when you're really not."

Well, she had a point. He had nothing to say to rebut what she said. He sighed and placed his fork down on the plate. In all honesty, he's really not comfortable to tell people his background. It was why he loathed the interview before.

"What do you suggest then? Yanee has trust issues. How do I fix that?" he said.

Chummy studied him for a while before sighing. "Boss, Yanee is not the only one with trust issues. You do too."

"I do?" Tohru asked before he realized and he paused. He inclined his head to think a bit before laughing at himself. "You mean my reluctance to tell people about my real identity."

"Wow, you really have a secret identity," Chummy commented, her eyes wide in amazement. This revealed that she really had no idea before. "I was thinking that you're one of those sons of the rich that didn't want their opulent backgrounds exposed. But the way you said things boss, it means it's not that simple."

Tohru nodded. He already asked for her help anyway, there was no need to hide. Just like what Ms. Tan said earlier, in order to gain trust, he must learn how to trust as well.

"It's not simple. It's actually bad – bad to a point I'm scared she would hate me when she finds out who I am," he confessed.

 Chummy grabbed her flute of rosé and gulped down its contents twice before speaking. She looked worried now. "Boss, are you mafia?"

"No," Tohru answered readily. "I don't mean bad in that way."

Did he look like Yakuza? Tohru wondered.

"What kind of bad then, boss? Who are you?" she asked and he sighed as he placed his hands on the table and leaned a bit forward.

"If I tell you, would you help me with Yanee? I'm already at a loss as to what to do with her. She had two interviews already and she's still not infected by the love bug. I mean I was told that girls tend to be more optimistic about love when they see people in love and hear about love stories, right?"

As soon as he found out about Yanee's dislike for office romance and pessimistic outlook about relationsh.i.p.s in general, he had asked his big sisters for help. They told him that Yanee needed to see good examples of successful stories to be inspired again.

"Sure boss. I'm rooting for you. But tell me how bad it is first so I can have an idea how," Chummy sincerely stated.

He felt relieved that at least, Chummy would be on his side now though he wouldn't answer her directly. He couldn't even say it out loud himself as he really thought his special background was a bad thing at the moment. He'd give her hints to see if she could figure out who he was.

"Think of the timeline. Yanee did the interview months ago. I fell in love with her then, but she went on vacation. Suddenly, your publication company was taken over – coincidentally, placing me in the same office as her." He looked at her face as he said that, and then leaned back, waiting for her reaction.

At first, there was a frown on her face as she analyzed the things he said. Then her eyes widened yet again, her mouth opening and closing like a fish – the second time she did during the day.

"B-Boss… Y-Y-You are…"

Chummy took another swig of rose' on her flute before continuing to speak. "Are you Niji?" she asked and Tohru grinned.

"Think higher," he said, and this time, Chummy's jaw dropped.

Tohru knew there and then that she finally knew who he was. Technically, he was already the Chairman of Arcus Iris Incorporated. He was just allowed to remain incognito for a longer while as it was his agreement with his father. But by next year, he would have to take over as the CEO as well.

"Oh my God," Chummy commented still in awe.

She was contemplative for a while that Tohru began to worry. He didn't know why but she looked like that information was indeed a big problem.

"Boss, are you telling me that you bought our company so you can get closer to Yanee?"she asked with huge eyes.

"Yes,"Tohru answered honestly. "I didn't know how we can cross paths again since our circles don't meet."

"Yeah," Chummy agreed. "If not for the interview, you wouldn't have met at all even if Yanee's family is also rich."

Tohru didn't comment on that because it's the truth. He watched as Chummy looked thoughtful again before turning to him with cautious eyes.

"Boss, do you have an idea about what happened to Yanee? I mean since you took the trouble to arrange things to be near her, I'm sure you also checked out her background?"

Chummy was talking about Yanee's history, of course. Tohru nodded and she twitched her lips before continuing.

"Then it means you already had an idea about what happened in Nagoya?" she asked.

"I know about her ex. She had a coworker who didn't tell her he was already engaged to be married." Tohru only read vaguely about it so he didn't really check the guy's details aside from the facts that he was a coworker and a cheating jerk. "He's the reason why Yanee disliked office romance, right?"

"Well, yes. But do you know the whole story?" she asked. "Do you know who that guy is?"

Tohru was quiet. He was surprised that there seemed to be more to the story. "What do you mean? Isn't he just a senior at work?"

Chummy shook her head. "Boss, Yanee's ex was the son of the company's owner. Just like you, he pretended to be a normal employee while he learned the ropes."

Uh-oh…

Tohru had a nagging feeling in his c.h.e.s.t. It seemed his circ.u.mstance was getting worse and worse. He felt…weak, but remained quiet as he listened to her story.

"Yanee caught him with his fiancée red-handed. It was already a blow that her boyfriend cheated on her. It was worst when she realized that she was the other woman."

Tohru's hands balled into fists on his l.a.p. If he could, he'd love to pummel the asshole's face. It took a lot for him to calm down and continue listening.

"Naturally, Yanee broke up with him and didn't have anything to do with him," Chummy continued with an annoyed face. "But the jerk didn't leave her alone even after getting caught. He tried to get back to her."

"What?"Tohru was shocked. "I thought he was getting married."

"He was. But it seemed he really liked Yanee. He tried to convince her to stay with him because it's her whom he loved. The fiancée he had was arranged by his family. Yanee didn't tell the guy she's from a rich family too so he thought she's a poor girl that he couldn't bring home. So he just wanted to make her stay as his ladylove."

Headache. Tohru was going to have a headache.

"What did Yanee do?" He could imagine how hurt she'd have been. He was angry.

"What else could she have done? She resigned. She cut off communications with the man. But fate was so funny. They met again at a party of one of Uncle's business associates. The man and his father were there. The guy accused Yanee of being a social climber, trying to find a husband among the rich."

"What?"

Chummy nodded. "But the guy was shocked when he found out that Yanee is Axel Corporation's Chairman's daughter, and Ami Lee is her sister. But the crazy guy accused Yanee of lying instead. He said that if Yanee told him who she was then he'd have married her instead of his wife."

Axel Corporation was a big international company, although not the same level as Arcus. But Ami Lee, Yanee's sister was a very renowned events planner. Every socialite in Japan and the US knew her name. Tohru was even surprised when he found out she was Yanee's sister.

"You mean to tell me that if Yanee told him her family was well off he'd leave his bride and marry Yanee instead?"

That was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. 

Chummy shrugged. "He's an asshole. What can I say?"

Damn. It was a good thing that Yanee decided to escape to Tokyo. But it seemed she became jaded in the process. But who wouldn't? Based on what Yanee shared about her thoughts on relationsh.i.p.s when she interviewed him, she not only didn't believe in love, she didn't believe in relationsh.i.p.s either.

"What should I do then?" If Yanee found out what he did, she would be mad. But he was kind of desperate. There was no other choice to get close to her.

"Er… Tell her who you are?" Chummy suggested.

"But you just said she hated the guy for hiding his identity," he reminded her.

"Boss, after learning about your identity, I realized you still have hope," Chummy said and he was curious. "The ex was a prince who's really a frog. But you – you're not a prince at all. You're a king."