Office Diaries

"The ex was a prince who's really a frog. But you – you're not a prince at all. You're a king."

Ha?

Tohru was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Shimizu Kyo, that asshole was a selfish spineless frog prince. He loved Yanee but still agreed to a contractual marriage with another rich family in order to secure power. He's so scared to lose his inheritance if he dared bring Yanee home, but he didn't want to let Yanee go either."

Chummy looked disgusted as she told him about the guy. Tohru felt uncomfortable too, honestly speaking, but he knew that this was an important thing he had to endure listening to. He needed to know to compare and learn from the other man's mistakes. He didn't want to do the same thing.

He would definitely treasure Yanee, he was sure of that. When he decided to pursue her, he already decided to go all out. He was scared to make mistakes.   

"But you are not like that, right, boss?" Chummy suddenly asked.

"Of course, not!"Tohru felt offended being compared to sc.u.m that he frowned.

"Don't be angry, boss," Chummy told him condescendingly. "I'm just pointing out that you are definitely not like that. Because you're not a powerless prince but a king – no scratch that. You must be an emperor. If not, your family wouldn't have let you do the trouble of acquiring a company just for a woman."

Tohru paused for a moment, absorbing her words, and then smiled sheepishly as he scratched the side of his head. "Well, they actually encouraged me to do this."

This time, it was Chummy's turn to be shocked.

"They…did?"

Tohru laughed at her stupefied expression. "Why are you shocked? Just as you said, I wouldn't have been able to do it without my family's blessing."

"Well…yeah, but…"Chummy looked at a loss for words. "I mean, I didn't expect them to be very supportive to this extent."

He nodded, understanding what she meant. She was probably thinking that his family just let him do whatever, but didn't expect that they were really supporting him.

"Are you aware of Yanee's project?" he asked.

"The Office Diaries?"Chummy asked back as she nodded. "That's her current work now, right? It's why she travels a lot. She has to do interviews for materials."

"That's right,"Tohru said as he half-closed his lids.

The bow of his mouth curved into an amused slant. He looked like someone who was enjoying thinking about a funny secret that made Chummy look at him in shock.

"Oh. My. God…"Her mouth hung open for a while as she studied him with wide eyes. "Boss, is Yanee's project part of your plan too?"

"What do you think?" he countered again and Chummy was so amazed she whistled.

"Wow. How?"

"The interviewees are all friends and family,"he answered as he told him about his big sisters and big brothers.

"Actually, Marian Kang is my older sister."

At the mention of the wife of the shopping mall mogul Liam Kang, Chummy was shocked. But she was more surprised of what she learned from him next.

"My sister is pregnant now, actually, so when we go to Kyoto later, we will be staying at my family home."

"Eh?" Chummy covered her mouth with her hands. She had been opening her mouth a lot in shock. "Doesn't this mean that Yanee will meet the in laws unknowingly soon?"

Tohru shrugged. "Well, just as you said, I have to tell Yanee who I am. What's the best way to do that other than taking her to my home?"

"Well… you have a point," Chummy reluctantly agreed. "And I think it's the best way to show Yanee your family and make her experience staying with them."

"Right. I thought about that too. That's why I agreed when my sister suggested it. Also, my mother insisted I bring Yanee home even if I told her that I haven't confessed to her yet."

Chummy laughed, feeling totally happy. "But your wooing method is so hardcore, boss. Hands down to you," she said with approval. "I'm totally convinced you're serious about my little friend."

Tohru smiled. "Well, I just wish your little friend's s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e enough to get my little hints."

With this Chummy smirked. "I'm sure she is. The problem is she has an automatic anti-attraction program installed in her brain. It translates appreciation to depreciation and who knows what else."

"What do you mean?"

"Boss, after experiencing something so awful, it's normal for her to have issues that are not easy to fix. You have to give her time to absorb things."

"Oh…" Tohru sighed. "Yeah."

"I'm totally impressed by how much effort you are putting into this boss. But don't forget to think about Yanee's situation too." Chummy looked thoughtful for a while before continuing. "If you're going to ask for my opinion, based on her reactions earlier, I think she's already aware of you – and I mean awareness in a sense that there's already an attraction in her eyes towards your person."

"But?" Tohru prompted.

"But she's a stubborn one. You will need a lot of patience," she said. "But don't worry. I, Cynthia Tan, the chummiest and prettiest BFF of Yanee is on your side."

Tohru laughed. "Well, I'll leave it to you then, partner," he said with a very handsome, boyish grin that made Chummy;s brain short-circuit.  

"Ah! I'm so excited for the babies!" she sighed.

"Well, that's a very nice notion but I have to win the mama first before the babies come, no?"

===

Beep beep beep beep…

The alarm sounded and Yanee slowly opened her eyes. She drowsily scanned the place as she stretched but froze upon noticing the unfamiliar place. In her panic, she sat up fast, making her dizzy as she clutched at the blanket with her hand and grabbed her phone with the other to stop the alarm.

"Where is this place?" she mumbled until she realized that the blanket she was holding onto was not a blanket at all but…

A jacket?

Sure enough, the material was a man's jacket. She slowly lifted it and took a whiff. A familiar minty smell assailed her nose reminding her of the man who held her against his c.h.e.s.t when she almost got run over by a cart back in South Korea and she blushed.

Urgh…

She finally remembered where she was. She remembered the potato telling her to go and take a rest. She just planned to lie down and close her eyes for a while to relax but ended up really sleeping. She remembered sleeping without a blanket though.

She glanced on the bed and noticed that she had used the folded blanket as a pillow. It must be the reason why she had the jacket on her. The potato must have come in and placed it on her earlier. Realizing that her boss had seen her sleeping, Yanee felt a bit embarrassed, but surprisingly not horrified.

Somehow, Yanee even appreciated the kindness the potato had shown her. From the beginning she had already noted her slight crush on the man, but lately, her feelings seemed to grow fonder, making her frown. She mentally kicked her thoughts away. In order to survive, she had to always be logical and professional. These little bits of kindness just needed to be chalked up as his charity. She worked for him after all, and the project she's handling was very important. She preferred to think that this was the reason why her boss was good to her. She wouldn't give any other meaning to it.

Never again…

"Dangerous," she suddenly murmured as she stood up and her stomach gave a low growl. She glanced at the far wall to the clock there. It indicated two in the afternoon.    

"No wonder I'm hungry," she sighed.

She had slept for four hours! Now, only if she could take a shower and change into a new set of clothes so she could go out and eat late, it would be awesome. She still had two hours before she had to leave to meet Ria and Michael anyway. She was thinking this when consecutive knocks sounded at the door before it was pushed open in a fraction.

"Yanee?"

Chummy's head popped in to check if she's awake. When she saw Yanee standing by the bed, she looked thrilled and opened the door wider to let herself in.

"It's good you're finally awake," Chummy commented as she crossed the room carrying a paper bag.

"What's that?"Yanee asked as Chummy placed the item on the bed.

"Change of clothes," her friend answered, surprising Yanee.

"Did you buy this?" Yanee worried about the trouble Chummy had to go through. "I'll reimburse you now."

"Relax," Chummy told her as she sat on the bed. "I didn't buy anything. Boss asked me to go to your house to pick up a travel bag for you. He thought you wouldn't have time to prepare before you go to Kyoto with him because it was short notice."

Well…

"Er… Thanks?" she didn't know what else to say otherwise.