Office Diaries

"So?" Tohru James prompted.

His pair of serious light brown eyes bored into hers, waiting for her answer. In all honesty, he hadn't planned on confessing today. But after his talk with chummy, he realized that if he kept things dragging without at least being honest about some things, he would ruin his chances in the future. By then they would all be in too deep into the lie and the chance that Yanee would hate him when she found out was bigger.

He didn't want that.

As he looked at her, he noticed how she seemed to wish this thing was not happening at all and he could understand. He even sympathized with her. She had a lot of work to do and then out of the blue, her boss suddenly dropped a bomb on her.

Romantic bomb.

But her boss was on the desperate side so he hoped she would forgive him.

"Unlike your interview with me previously, this time, I will answer all of your questions about me from now on," he added.

When she did the interview, he didn't allow her to ask many questions about his personal life. He just gave her his basic background and his professional information that everybody already knew. He only did the interview anyway as a favor to his friend. He was not planning on giving more than what was already generally known.

But he's sincerely applying to become somebody's boyfriend right now. This was why he would try his best to keep his promise of answering her questions as long as it's possible. Well, he's still not yet ready for her to find out about the project.

Yanee remained quiet, and Tohru understood it's futile to speak more. At least she gave him a small nod before turning her attention to the front, ending their conversation. He might not be able to get a direct answer from her right now, but at least she looked like she would think about it, and so he let it go.

Sleepy…

Finally settling this thing with her, he closed his eyes, and he didn't realize that he had already drifted off to sleep.

======

Yanee was a bundle of nerves the whole time Tohru James was talking to her. She was tensed; her body ready to bolt from her seat, although she had to agree it's ridiculous to do that inside the bullet train.

The friggin' potato likes me!

She had totally thought that he was just messing with her and Chummy earlier. Never in her wildest dream that she thought would it happen. But then again, now that she knew then what of it?

It's not like there's something she had to do if someone liked her, right? Panic. She felt so alarmed. By this time, she already had to admit to herself that she liked him, but her fear was greater than her like.

Yanee leaned forward and covered her face with her hands. If she could wish for one thing, it would be to just work peacefully. This new boss of hers gave nothing to her but trouble since he arrived.

It was a good thing that he seemed to not expect her to say anything about it for now. But she was honestly hoping he'd forget about that this happened at all. The rest of the train ride was uneventful with her boss sleeping serenely next to her, but her heart was far from relaxed.

The train arrived at Kyoto Station at exactly twelve minutes past seven in the evening. From there, Tohru and Yanee hailed a cab and drove to a place near the suburbs where traditional huge houses were. The two of them didn't speak much to each other. If need be, the topics were purely about work that Yanee was thankful for.

"Is this the hotel?"Yanee glanced out of the car window to the huge ancient gates in front.

Tohru glanced at her with amus.e.m.e.nt in his eyes. "That's not a hotel. This is the Cypress Gardens, a private residence. It's where Marian is staying."

Oh.

Yanee totally forgot to ask her boss about their accommodations earlier. She thought that they would be staying at a hotel like they did when she interviewed the others. She frowned, thinking that the week's stay wouldn't be that comfortable since she had to stay with her host.

The huge gate opened and the two paid the cab and got out. Tohru took Yanee's suitcase again much to her uneasiness. But it didn't take that long. As soon as they stepped within the gate, a line of servants wearing traditional clothing greeted them.

"Greetings Young Master, Young Miss," they chorused.

Yanee was surprised. Young Master? Young Miss? Huh?

She was wondering about how they addressed them when an energetic Marian came rushing out of the house, crossing the yard towards them.

"Yaneeeeeee!" Marian looked thrilled as she literally threw herself on Yanee.

Infected by Marian's positive energy, Yanee finally smiled as she caught her. "That was dangerous!" she scolded her.

Pregnant women weren't supposed to run and jump at people, right?

"Hey! What about me?" Tohru asked Marian with a pout, but the latter didn't pay him much attention.

"Oh, hi there, little brother," she said blandly before pulling Yanee towards the house excitedly, leaving Tohru with the servants.

Yanee looked at her boss as she was being dragged away, but Tohru just smiled at her and turned to the helpers to speak to them. She then gave up asking for help from him. She forgot that he was useless when the big sisters were there.

She gave up and obediently followed Marian into the house. As soon as they got to the entryway, Yanee removed her shoes and wore the ones the servants handed her.

"Thank you," she told everyone with a smile, and she was amused when the helpers shyly smiled back and retreated.

She noticed that each and everyone was giving her curious glances akin to people peeking at idols without bothering them.

What's going on?

"Oh, don't mind them. They're just happy you're here. We haven't had a guest in like forever," Marian told her with a laugh and Yanee finally understood the surreptitious but happy looks.

She was then guided into a huge tatami room where a broad table filled with a variety of dishes stood in the middle. Marian guided her to one of the pillows on the floor to sit down, and sat next to her.

"I hope you're hungry. My parents made the chefs prepare all these dishes for you to try," Marian told her eagerly.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry. Thank you but you shouldn't have. It's a lot." Yanee felt embarrassed now.

She totally felt she gave their hosts extra work. But Marian shook her head at her as she gave her arm a gentle squeeze.

"Don't worry. Aside from Liam who's in South Korea, all the family members are here. It's why we're having a feast tonight."

Oh. Hearing this, Yanee was reassured. This was the reason she felt uncomfortable staying with her hosts and preferred to stay at hotels. She hated disturbing people and didn't want them to have the trouble of catering to her. She was finally starting to relax when the screen door opened and an elderly couple came in.

Yanee looked up and her mouth opened in awe at the sight of the two of them. The lady, a tall, slender woman in traditional clothing looked very regal and beautiful in spite of her age. The man, on the other hand, surprised her. He was handsome and looked imposing, but the one that was glaringly obvious was that he was not Asian. He had grey hair, but Yanee would bet her fried chicken that his hair used to be blonde, and his eyes were blue.

"Mom, dad!" Marian called as soon as they stepped in.

Yanee, upon realizing who they were, immediately stood up and bowed in greeting. "Good evening ma'am, sir."

The two elderly looked formidable standing together with blank expressions, but when their eyes landed on Yanee, the latter was surprised at how instantly they softened. It was as if she was someone they already knew and were happy to see.

"Oh, is this Yanee?" the lady asked, and Yanee cleared her throat before answering.

"Er… Yes, ma'am. I'm Yanee Lee," she answered politely.

 "Oh, you cute child," the lady said as she seemed to teleport next to Yanee in her speed. "That's my husband, but you don't have to mind about the men..."

Yanee found herself being guided back on her seat with Marian and her mother flanking her on both sides. Then they started talking to her, asking her questions about herself that made Yanee have that weird feeling when the big sisters drilled her at the party.

The elderly man took his place not at the head of the table but on the opposite side facing the ladies. He was not as talkative as his wife and daughter but he continued to smile and listen to them.

Soon, her boss finally showed up and he took the seat next to the elderly man. Surprisingly, the two greeted each other with a fistbump as if they were of the same age and were friends.  

"Work doing good?" the old man asked fondly.

"Yep," Tohru answered before he turned to the old lady's direction and blew her a kiss, making her giggle.

Er… what's going on? Yanee was once again thrown into a sea of confusion.