As I have nothing to give you, I give you my heart (IU Verse Book#1)

Chapter 14

           He catches Jieun staring at him from a distance. They were sitting in a meeting room with all the staff who are working in Edam Entertainment. The CEO of the agency, who was Jieun's former manager, had called this meeting to address the changes in the agency. Because of the incident in Jieun's office, a lot of people were left confused about what happened, who was responsible for it, and what was the purpose behind it. Why they always had to be cautious and what they could bring and what they couldn't to the office also raise questions.

          Jieun decided to speak up about everything that had happened to everyone present in the meeting, and everyone was left with shock and confusion, especially with the fact that she bluntly said that there is someone in the company who is working under the perpetrator who was after her.

          Whispers began to escalate around the table. Jieun shifted her gaze towards Jihyuk who was sitting at the other side of the long table, next to Hanteo. She saw that his eyes were narrowed and his eyebrows ceased together. He had his hand on his head and was messaging it, looking as if he was trying to ease some sort of pain from his head. She lowered her gaze when his fell upon hers.

           The meeting closed with the CEO telling everyone to be careful, and the last request for whoever was behind the office incident to step up and confess. When no one did, he sighed and dismissed the meeting. Jihyuk stood up from his chair, and because of the abrupt move, he felt another wave of pain shooting through his forehead. His hand went up to massage his temples. Hanteo glanced at him with a worried expression. Seri and Jieun were at the other side of the table conversing with the CEO, not noticing Jihyuk's slight discomfort.

           He decided to at least leave his position from the table and left the room. Hanteo trailed after him and once they were outside, the older male asked him if he was okay. Jihyuk told him that he had just gotten a slight headache and that he should be fine. Hanteo seemed unconvinced but he nodded his head, nevertheless. They conversed with one another for a while when Seri joined in and began to address the younger male. 

          "Jihyuk-ah. Jieun told me that she noticed you massaging your temples a few times during the meeting. She said that if you're having a headache, you should head to her office. There's Advil in the top left drawer of her desk." Momentarily, upon hearing Seri's remark, his heart somewhat picked up its pace and was beating rather abnormally. They hadn't had a proper conversation ever since she was upset with him, so to hear that she still noticed and still cared about him gave him a small sense of relief, knowing that her anger towards him might have subsided at least a bit.

          Jihyuk nodded and excused himself as he made his way towards Jieun's office. He felt another wave of pain across his forehead and now his shoulders as he struggled to find the medicine on her desk. When he found it and took it without water, he felt his hand burn as it touched his mouth.

         He felt his forehead to see that it was warm as well. Soon enough, he began to develop a fit of coughs as he sat down on the couch. He slowly lay down trying to ease the pain that was now developing throughout his body. He closed his eyes trying to ignore the aches in his muscles and muffled his coughs using his hand. 

          Jieun left the meeting room shortly after the talk with her former manager/CEO of the agency as she made her way to her office. As she neared the door, The sound of someone coughing from inside caught her attention. She slowly opened the door to see Jihyuk laying on the couch, his eyes closed but he was coughing nonstop, his hand covering his mouth in an attempt to muff the sound. His eyebrows creased together and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.