"Oh, hi, Miss Ryuk," he stopped on his tracks, surprised. "What brings you to the twenty-fifth floor?"
"I just dropped off some documents for photocopying," I replied as I stepped out of the room. Closing the door behind me, I asked, "What about you? Shouldn't you be working right now?"
He said, "I was working but I had to take a quick vape break. Which is why I have this," he lifted the coffee-filled paper cup he was holding. "Will you be heading back now, Miss Ryuk?"
His sudden formality came as a shock. He didn't speak in this manner when he apologized for his friends' behavior. Being called Miss Ryuk by my co-workers was foreign to my ears and a bit uncomfortable. Even though I was Mr. Nam's secretary, I didn't want to create some kind of barrier between them and me.
"No, I'm waiting for my photocopies. And please, there's no need to call me Miss Ryuk. That's too formal for the two of us," I replied.
"But you're Mr. Nam's formal secretary. I can't just call you by your name. That would be disrespectful," he protested.
I sighed and explained, "I may be his secretary but I don't want a strict barrier between me and my officemates. I'm still under his supervision, which means we're all the same. We work for the same company and the same boss."
"But–"
I tilted my head slightly, raising my brows at him.
He stared at me for quite some time before he sighed in defeat. "If you say so. I just don't want to get into trouble, all because I called you Mingyu."
"Trust me, that won't happen. If anybody asks about it, just tell them I said so. And if they don't believe you, then tell me and I'll tell them myself," I smiled.
He nodded, exhaling deeply. "So, what will you be doing while waiting?"
I shrugged. "I actually don't know. I suppose I'll just have to wait in the cafeteria."
"I can join you."
"Are you sure? Aren't you needed back upstairs?" I asked.
"I suppose I can spare a few more minutes with you. The photocopies won't take that long. They have numerous machines for that," he said. "And besides, it sucks to wait alone. I know how that feels because Minju used to make me do her photocopying tasks for her."
Ah, so it was already Minju's habit to pass her tasks to other people. Even her childhood friend wasn't safe from her tyranny.
"Why would she do that to you? From what I heard from Soyoung, you've been friends with her since you were little. She shouldn't be treating you like that," I remarked.
He chuckled as he smirked. "Well, not all childhood friends treat each other the same."
"I was actually surprised when I found that out. Now that I'm aware of your connection with her, I'm upset that she treated you like you're some kind of henchman," I replied.
"It's a long story, actually. And it was also my fault that I was treated that way," he said.
"What do you mean?"
He looked around and sighed. "Like what I said, it's quite a long story and I don't think it's appropriate that we discuss it in the middle of a hallway," he smiled. "However, we can talk about it while we have coffee in the cafeteria. I'm sure your waiting time will be enough for me to explain everything."
I nodded. "Alright, then."
~~~*~~~*~~~
"Here you are, one iced americano for you," Haesung said as he carefully put the drink in front of me.
"Thank you," I smiled faintly, pulling it closer. "You didn't have to buy me a drink. I could've just bought it myself," I continued whilst he sat across from me.
"No, I don't mind. Take it as my peace offering for what the girls did," he replied as he made himself comfortable. "Anyways, where were we?"
"You said you have a long story to tell."
"Ah, right, I see," he nodded as he chuckled. "Well, for me, there's not much to say other than Minju is my childhood friend. But just because she's my childhood friend, that doesn't mean we're that close," he explained. He added, "She just helped me enter this company. And right after that, we never spent time together. I never really mattered to her."
My brows furrowed. "If you didn't matter to her, she wouldn't have helped you get into the company," I said. I continued, "It's not easy to get into this company. I'm sure she had to convince Mr. Nam to trust you to hire you."
"She was able to get me in here because of her family connections. And she only helped me because I was once useful to her. She didn't help me because I'm her friend. She helped me for her own convenience," he protested.
What do you mean?" I asked.