"I don't understand," Lisa Manoban said through the phone. "I've been working alone. You trained me to work alone - I don't need a partner, Nick!" She calms the irritation by smoothening her dark blue blazer.

Be cool Lisa...calm and collected, she told herself...somewhere in between the screaming of I want to kill him for this! She could tell that her boss is exasperated by the sound of him sighing deeply, and she immediately toned down. "Is this about that scratch on the company's van? I told you I'll pay to get it fixed - it wasn't even my fault that the cyclist came outta nowhere -"

"It's not just that -" She could also tell that Nickhyun is trying his very best to not shout at her. "Look, Lis. You know how much I appreciate you. You've done amazing work for the agency and I'm not sugar-coating it when I say you've single-handedly saved the company last year with the AIS account. But with the success, the company's now getting bigger projects and I can't send you out there deciding everything by yourself! Believe me, it kills me too to put you up to this but I have to,"

Yeah...I bet it does, she thought. But I saved the company last year, don't I get some sort of immunity on this? Don't I get a say in things?? But of course, she can't say any of it. She needs to be humble and polite...cooperative, especially to the boss. "Why can't I just report my work like I used to? I get shit done easier by my own,"

"I know but that was before. Now that you've gotten us this far, I can't let you micromanage every single thing - especially for an 8.4-million project! Unless if you don't want it of course...I'll give you another one,"

Ugh, I hate it when he does this passive-aggressive shit! "And who would you give that account to?"

"It's not hard to form a team, Lis. You know there are others who already volunteered for this job but I wanna give it to you. But just for the record...if you don't want it, you should know that it'll be hard for me to trust them as much as I trust you -" Damn right! "Just let me know and I'll put it up for auction...although I'd rather not since you're the best man I got in here,"

Again with all these passive-aggressive - "Woman - but I get what you're saying,"

"Lis, step off your pedestal a little, will you? Just one or two down, just this once. It's not that hard, right? You know for a fact that this Lotte account means big for us - the perfume line is only the beginning. If we do a good job at this, it'll secure us a much bigger fish...all I'm asking for is for you to accept this partner,"

Lisa sighs up to the ceiling above her. It's way too early for a headache like this...I haven't even had my morning coffee yet! "I mean...I don't see any other choice here,"

"Great! You'll be working with Jeon Jungkook,"

"Who? I've never heard of him before - is he new in the office?"

"He's this analysis whiz kid from Lotte," Nickhyun said. "They're only agreeing to us with the condition that this Jeon guy will be monitoring our marketing and PR plans, as well as making sure we're working within the budget we said we would,"

"So basically, they're sending in a spy?"

"In lay-man terms...yeah. This is a crucial project for us, Lis. I don't care if they're sending army tanks full of Koreans here, we need to make sure we don't flop,"

"I never flop."

"No, you only got yourself or other people into accidents and that'll all be under our costs. This Jeon guy will be reporting back to Lotte how we're spending on unnecessary fixes and we can't afford a bad rep on this,"

"Just a question, who's really in charge of this project cus if it's him, I'd rather quit,"

"No, no. It's you," As if sensing the suppressed anger, he continues with a softer voice, "Just think of him as an advisor. Listen when he speaks his concerns and assure him like you always do to all our clients. Please...please cooperate, Lis,"

"Fine. You better hope he's not an asshole or I'll happily throw him on the plane back to Korea - I don't care if I lose 8 million -"

"We. If 'we' lose an 8-million account. Lis...haven't I been good to you all this while? I let you get away with a lot of things - I fired people, vendors, all based on the trust I have on you. All I'm asking is for you to not abuse that trust. We've come a long way to be here now but please remember that you're still an employee here. And I'm still your boss. Please talk to me with a little bit of respect,"

Lisa shuts her eyes, feeling a bunch of regrets rising in her chest. Of course it's a foolish thing for me to act like this but he didn't need to guilt-trip me like this! I can't help it - I'm just...so mad!! "I'm sorry, Nick. I understand...I'll do better,"

"Thanks Lis. So Jeon Jungkook will be arriving tonight. You'll be meeting him at ten tomorrow in his suite,"

"Suite? Why can't he come to the office?"

"Lisa, please. Just meet him there and bring him around the sites. Then bring him to the office. I'm sure he'll get along well with you and familiar with the roads by then, so it's easier to get him to travel from The Westin to the office after that."

"Should I bring a dictionary?" Her annoyed voice is so obvious, she's sure he caught it.

"No Lis, he speaks fluent English," He laughed. Glad I'm still funny!

"Fine. His suite at ten." She said with a clipped tone and heard him thanking her with relief.

...

Lisa slammed the office door a little too hard and slumped herself onto the brown chair across her desk. The visit to the restroom to wash her face failed on lowering the amount of temper she has over the earlier phone call with Nickhyun. She heard the small click of the door and open her eyes to find Minnie, her secretary - placing a box of Awake's caffeinated chocolate energy bites onto her desk.

"Nick called and asked me to put this here," she said. "Just think of the greater love beyond that call. You know he means well,"

She took one and pops it into her mouth. "Sometimes I wonder if you're my secretary or his,"

"Yours, definitely! But he signs off my paycheck every month so," Minnie pulls one off the foil and answers casually. "You know what I still wonder?"

"Oh no, please don't say it -"

"That why are you two not even romantically involved yet?"

"Minnie, I really have zero energy to shout at anyone right now -"

"Like, how are you friends for the longest time, built this empire together, and not fall in love with each other? Nick is such a hottie too -"

"You did not just call the founder of the company a 'hottie',"

"I stand by it," The nonchalant shrug makes her feel like laughing. "Seriously, you're the only one he cares about so much among everyone here. Not even two seconds after you ended the call, he rang me up - knowing full well that you'll either scream in the Ladies or the rooftop, then asked me to prepare this to calm you down. How are you two not married yet??"

This, unfortunately, I know. Briefly, she recalled the night when Nickhyun had gotten a little more drunk than he used to after one of their many company dinners 8 months ago. His declaration of love for her was hard to miss - practically begging her to consider his true feelings to which she had politely denied over and over in the course of sending home that night.

Thankfully, Nickhyun seemed to have lost his memory the next day - or so he pretended to have lost it but lucky for her as it would've been more awkward - and Lisa had pretended it never happened too since! It hadn't been working well on days like this - example, exhibit NOW - but she likes to look at the bright side of things.

"I told you this and I'll tell you again - hopefully, for the last time. We've been friends since we were kids - he just knows me too damn well by now, that's it!"

"Is that why you don't find him hot? Cus you've seen him in snots?"

Oh, who am I kidding? Minnie won't ever let this go - "Can we not talk about my best friend slash owner-of-the-company please? I have bigger things to think about. I need to figure out how I'm gonna do a good job under the scrutiny of Jeon Jungkook,"

"Ooo...who's he?"

Lisa hangs her head back on the chair. "Some...Korean rep from Lotte. I'll be stuck with an old man in a suit for the next 3 months - fuck, kill me now!"

"In a suit, yes. Old man, no - oh damn, he's hot! Oh wait, he's the same age as us,"

"What?" She opens her eyes to Minnie's frowning - so focused on the screen of her phone in hand. "Are you Google-ing him? How are you so fast at this??"

"Research does wonders. You said that. Here - it says it. Jeon Jungkook, 24 years old, Manager of Business Development and Analysis of Lotte. Look at him!" Minnie shoved the phone right to her face. "Tall. Doe-eyes. Jawline. Look at that curved lips. You sure he's not just a model they hired to seduce and distract you over here?"

True, true, true...so true. Ugh, why am I getting this account only now?? She knew the answer to that. It's because she just wrapped up all the reports of her last account - spending way too much time figuring out how to cover the 'miscellaneous' costs from being detected! "I have no idea. All I know is I gotta get on his good side or Nick might fire my ass,"

"Pshh...who are you kidding? Nick won't fire you. He'll get mad - like real mad, but he won't fire you. He loves you so damn much -"

"I swear if you don't stop doing that, I'll tell Nick to get me a new secretary by end of this week,"

"And you love me too much," The pouty lips annoys the hell out of her but she's right. Minnie might be annoying when she talks about Nickhyun like this but she's probably the only one that gets how Lisa works. And she's also the source of all gossips around here! It helps getting Lisa on her feet! "Anyway, this Jeon Jungkook looks harmless. I can tell he's a nice guy just from his eyes...and sexy - he looks like someone who'd look so good waking up to in bed,"

"Mm-hmm...you should seduce him then. Maybe he'll get distracted with your cute slow-walks out the door to continue your work," Lisa rolled her eyes and refresh the computer screen, ready to get back on researching about the 8.4-million project. 8 million...eyes on the prize...

...

The elevator door opened, and the butler got out - gesturing her with one hand to the open foyer across the door to the suite. She had never been this high up in The Westin before, but the service is definitely top notch! Looking past her shoulder, she watched as the butler walked before her and pressed the bell. Lisa scans around the empty walls and high ceiling, waiting for someone to show up.

The door finally opened, revealing the face she'd seen on Google last night. Jeon Jungkook stands tall and bold, with an undisputedly best-looking face she had ever seen in real life. He looks even better in person! Radiating power and authority, his features are strong and serious - a hint of smile only found in his sparkling eyes.

"Lalisa Manoban, right?" His voice is smooth and almost silky, dripping in solids like honey. Lisa puts her best smile and nods. She was about to introduce herself formally before he continues, "You're late,"

O...kay. I don't like him already! She turned to the watch on her wrist and saw the extra 3 minutes. It's 3 fucking minutes!!

"I'm sorry," She gritted in her teeth - still putting on her best PR face on.

"We have a lot to discuss before we get everything started. Let's try to be punctual so we won't mess with the timeline, shall we?"

This pretty - I mean petty! Petty motherf- "Would help if I don't have to go through 2 security formalities and a 3-minutes ride to get up here," She slipped and noticed the small smirk at the edge of his lips. "But of course, noted on the human delivery process, Mr Jeon. I'll make sure to be earlier in the future," She covers it with a smile.

"Please put Miss Manoban under my guestlist. Let the reception know that they should call you the moment she enters the hotel and that there should be no delays," The strict direction towards the butler was way too serious for 'just a manager from Korea', but she kept that thought to herself.

He moved to a side, gesturing her in and Lisa took a deep breath before she enters. The suite is big and clean, with glass windows reaching all the way up to the ceiling. Behind it lays a part of Bangkok city - although she can't really tell which part from where she's standing. Shortly from the door, she enters a large foyer - with sleek, white sectional sofas before the mounted television on one side, an opaque-glass French sliding door beside it, and a large kitchen area on the other.

Fancy place! Just how important is this guy, really?

"Please have a seat, Miss Manoban -"

"Lisa...just Lisa is fine,"

"Lalisa...I've ordered a brunch set, in case you haven't had anything to eat. I wasn't sure what time you normally have breakfast here," He probably didn't mean anything by it but it annoys her nevertheless.

"Thank you, so kind of you. It's the same time as the rest of the world...when we get up and showered. It's a wonder that it's not served yet...I'm sure you told them I'll be arriving at ten?" She answered as casually as she could, not making any eye-contact to break her courage.

He took his seat in the armchair beside the sofa she sat and she's aware of the gaze on her. There's already a couple of folders on the coffee table with a few papers sticking out. It seems he's been doing some reading before as well.

"You don't mind me recording the minutes do you? Since it looks like it's gonna be a long discussion -"

"I don't mind. Anything that'll help us run this project smoothly," Can he not sound any more cocky?! "It'll be a waste of time for us to discuss things here and forgetting on what's already decided. And before we get started, I need to remind you that as mentioned in our email with Mr Nickhyun last Monday, everything needs to be as transparent as possible to us. Especially the spending. All budgets need to go through me. All vendors, bookings, purchase orders, and payments...my role is to make sure you get all the resources you need correctly and run the campaign according to the right procedures and channels. This is so Lotte won't face any troubles from your government in the future. We are quite excited on growing our business here, I'm sure you can tell,"

Oh yes...yes he can! Of course I'm aware of all these things - why is he taunting on my nerves?!

He leaned back to his chair while she kept the blank mask. "I can assure you that we don't run any funny business here, Mr Jeon. All our clients have been accommodative as well as they've been happy with our services -"

"I'm sure they do, but they're not giving you half of what we're paying you so I appreciate if you can understand how serious we are with this," Did he just cut me off to insult my babies -

"I do understand. As I was saying, we'll definitely provide you the in-and-outs of every details. We hold no secrets to our clients, regardless of how little amount they spend on us," She snapped back and saw the slight raise of eyebrows from the man. Good to know I can surprise him! "If you're done with the reminders, shall we get started?"

...

"What about the quality of their work - have they messed up on any jobs before?" Cocky as he is for the past 3 hours, it's indeed proven that he's as thorough and professional as it gets. And Lisa can't seem to get enough of staring at his profile when he wasn't looking. He had his sleeves folded up to his elbows, revealing a bunch of decorated black inks from his right wrist up and it made her wonder what kind of man he really is. Those tattoos don't match his uptight personality at all!

"Not with us - never,"

"When will we be meeting them?"

"I can schedule it once we finalize the visuals. It's best to have them prepare the mock-ups and color-proofs for us to identify whether we're going ahead with them. That's normally how we work...we don't wanna promise vendors anything without guaranteeing they'll deliver the job perfectly,"

He nods down to the paper, listening politely. In times like this, he almost look like a decent man. It's annoying because she already vowed to not like him - be it professionally or personally.

"That's the last one, right? Do you have any questions?" Jeon Jungkook scanned the table before returning to Lisa.

"Yes. You mentioned before about the company that'll be handling the shipment of the merchandises...Cross Whitmans?" He nods again. "Will you be the one overseeing them as well?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just cus...Whitmans have a little reputation of not delivering on time - just words among the retail industry here. I've heard it from a few of our previous clients as well. I'm just wondering if you'll pay the same amount of attention to them as you are with us,"

As she watched him looking up to her, her eyes widened slightly. Sighing a small smile, he lets go of the iPad onto the table - leaning back and resting his face on one elbow and looking like a GQ model. "Are you intimidated by my presence here, Lalisa? Is that why you keep bringing up my 'attention' to the project?"

Am I intimidated by the GQ-looking model-manager from Korea - pshh! "I'm merely sharing an information that might be useful to you -"

"And implying that this so-called 'attention' isn't a normal thing to do for a project this big. Also, you might wanna correct that phrase since you're the one who insisted how I don't have to worry about your agency's reputation - it'll be like comparing an apple to an orange...right?"

He's patronizing me...definitely! "I don't need to correct it, Mr Jeon. I think you've been extremely helpful and meticulous, and that kind of push will be an advantage to ensure that Cross Whitmans will not fuck up your shipments' timeline. In terms of reputation, yes, you're right - but my phrase wasn't directed to that. I'm referring to the fact that we both - at the end of the day - are agencies hired to complete Lotte's project successfully, and by that yes...it's apple to apple," She can't help the swearing, only the rising temper.

A grin appeared and it caught her off guard. It's a real smile as if he was seeing her for the first time, accepting and recognizing her as an equal. Briefly, she imagined that it's the moment where he realized the absurdity of his own power play since she stepped into this suite! Go ahead...hit me with another line and I'll wipe that smile off your face so fast - I don't care how good-looking you are!

"Forgive me for the misunderstanding. And to answer your question, yes...me and another colleague of mine will be managing them. I'll be handling the paperworks here and my colleague will be managing from Korea. Mind me asking, if they're not good...who would you suggest instead?"

"Me?" Are we playing 'teacher's pet' now cus I snitched a little on Whitmans?? "Oh, I'm not that familiar with that line of work, Mr Jeon -"

"Jungkook. Just Jungkook,"

Lisa raised her eyebrows. "Okay...Jungkook. I can ask around if you want...although it might not be of much help if you've already signed with them,"

"Let me worry about that...but yes, if you don't mind...I'd appreciate some guidance,"