alexithymia | l. hyunjae

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"What are you doing here?"

"We're having a meeting with the architect whose in charge for the building." Younghoon looking confused, gave a brief look to Hyunjae. "But what are you doing here, Yoon?"

She went silence. The client name is Lee Hyunjae so why tf he's here?

Mingyu nudged her, leaning into her right ear. "You've met them? When?" He whispered. Yoon looked up to him and nodded her head. "I did know them but..." trailing her words, she averted her eyes to her clients again.

"By any chance, are you perhaps Mr Kim? Mr Lee's assistant?" Mingyu joined the conversation as if he could read Yoon's mind.

"Yes I am Kim Younghoon and this is Mr Lee Hyunjae. The Head Manager." Pointing at his friend, Hyunjae smiled and gave a slight wave.

"Wait." Everyone's attention turned on her.

Shit, did I just said that out loud?

Clearing her throat to calm herself, Yoon asked, "Isn't your name Jaehyun? I heard someone called you that the other day. I'm confused. What's happening?" She looked at Hyunjae, eyebrows furrowed.

He seemed confused as well but then snapped his fingers when he finally recalled the said event.

"Oh! Jaehyun is my real name. Only those who are very close to me will call me by that name but then as I grow up, my parents legalized my name to Lee Hyunjae." He explained.

Her breath hitched. Heartbeat quickened.

Oh no. I'm doomed. It makes sense now. Everything makes sense now. No wonder he looked so genuinely confused when I hate him without reason. Her hands went wet.

"But if I'm not mistaken, there's only one Jaehyun in the neighborhood. Did you lived there before?" Hyunjae nodded his head. "Yes, I lived there until I was 5. Very few people know me though." He stared at her, observing the situation.

Under his glare, Yoon shifted awkwardly.

What should I do? Should I apologize? Or maybe I should just run away. Wtf Yoon you're so stupid!

She tucked Mingyu's sleeve, signaling him emergency glares. The confused Mingyu literally didn't get the signal and kept asking her "Why? What happened?" out loud.

Yoon groaned and thought of something quickly before calling out Younghoon's name. "Mr Kim, I think we should postpone our meeting to other time. I'm so sorry for the inconveniences." Mingyu who stood beside kept looking at her with neverending confused look.

"Postpone? But we really should discuss about the building today because we're going to hire new staffs by next month" Younghoon explained.

"Really? How unfortunate because I suddenly remember that I have to visit a building site. I will ask Mingyu to reconfirm about our next meeting so..." She grabbed Mingyu's hand. "See you later!" Turning around, Yoon quickly trying to walk away.

"Wait..." He trailed. "Are you perhaps, mistook me with some other guy named Jaehyun?"

Yoon almost immediately stopped on her track.

"You hated him hence why you always give me cold shoulder because you thought I was him. Ahh, I understand now."

Younghoon stared at the two, back and forth. "Jaehyun? You mean, Jeong Jaehyun? That friend you were always with until high school? That Jaehyun?" He asked. Hearing that name, Yoon's face changed drastically. "He's not my friend anymore so don't remind me."

She must really hate that guy, huh? Hyunjae thought, judging at the way Yoon's expression darkened just by the mention of the name.

"Ah... I'm sorry."

"What kind of beef you had with him? Sounds interesting." Hyunjae asked.

Looking back through her shoulder, she said, "Mr Lee, it's none of your business."

"It is my business. My supposedly meeting today get postponed just because of him. Correct?" He put his hands inside his pockets, and walked towards her side.

"I'm sorry Ms Ha but I insist to start the meeting today. I can't wait another day because we need things to be done faster for my newly hired staffs"

On her left, Mingyu nodded his head as he agreed with general manager's words. With that, Yoon began to rethink about her actions. She soon realized that she was so unprofessional by mixing personal and work life together. Yoon suddenly felt bad at Mingyu.

Taking a deep breath, she finally turned around and walked back to the table.

"Alright, let's start the meeting now. I have many clients to meet by today." She ignored the stares and took a seat.

Following her, everyone else started to take a sit and get themselves ready for the discussion.

Smiling, Hyunjae nodded his head. "Okay, let's start the discussion now. I'm a very very very busy person too, you know?" Yoon rolled her eyes.

Hyunjae smiled mischievously. His mind was full with ideas on how to get back at Yoon for the cold treatments he received.

This is so interesting.

Yoon sighed for the nth times.

"It's too red. How can my staffs do their job with red walls surrounding them all day? It's bad for their eyesights." Hyunjae shook his head aggressively.

"Alright, then I suggest this light green. This one is not too vibrant and not too dull, a perfect balance. The color is soft and calming." She flipped the page, pushing the template book closer for him to have a clear look. Hyunjae observed the details then shook his head again.

"It looks boring. They will be exhausted faster and become lazy. Not encouraging at all. Next." He leaned back after pushing the book back to her, slightly smirking.

Are you trying to get back at me? Damn you. Yoon thought. She tried to calm herself. This is all your own fault, Yoon. You deserve it.

Seeing the look of distress in her face, Hyunjae grinned, widely. The other day, you hated me just by breathing and won't even look at my direction. Now, you're trying your best to make satisfied, huh?

Younghoon on his side gave him a questioning look but Hyunjae just ignored it as if he didn't do anything weird.

Mingyu nudged Yoon and leaned closer to her ear, whispering. "Yoon, don't forget your mission. Smile and be friendly." Yoon glared. "Can't you see I'm trying here? Stop nudging me."

Mingyu and Younghoon gave each other looks. They could obviously feel the tension between Hyunjae and Yoon.

What a weird day I'm going through, they thought.

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