adora • lookism

6. Penthouse

"Yisu Cho," said Director Cheon. He stood next to the passenger's side of the car, gazing down through the open window with one hand flat on the roof. "You can go back to the office. I'll drive."

The man named Yisu Cho paused, as if this were an unexpected request. But only for a moment. In the next instant, his seatbelt was off and he already had one leg out of the car, briskly vacating the driver's seat so that Taejin Cheon could take his place.

From her position behind Director Cheon, Ari peeped curiously at Yisu Cho. He didn't appear before her often, but from the few occasions that she'd seen him, he seemed to be some sort of secretary or assistant to the director.

She privately thought he was quite handsome. She didn't typically like close-shaven hair, and he wasn't built as hulkingly as Taejin Cheon, but she found something about his lovely eyes and his mild manner oddly compelling. He served without being slavish, and he did everything with a brusque efficiency that spoke of a sharp mind. She was also intrigued by the way he never made eye contact with her even when she was standing right in front of him; it made her feel important, somehow, like he couldn't presume to look directly at her eyes not because he thought lowly of himself, but because he thought highly of her. It made her feel kind of like the donna of a mafia gang. Which she supposed that Director Cheon's group sort-of was.

Straightening up, Director Cheon reached down to open the passenger door for her, gesturing for her to get in with a tilt of his head.

"Thank you," Ari said, padding over.

As she shuffled into the car, she almost bumped her head because she was still trying to read Yisu Cho's forehead tattoo out of the corner of her eye. Fortunately, Director Cheon's hand shot out at the last moment to block the impact, a large, warm barrier between her head and the frame of the car.

In the half-second before she glanced away, deeming it wiser to actually see where she was going, Ari thought she saw a shift in Yisu Cho's perennially placid face, his eyes shooting to meet hers as if in surprise. But by the time she was sat down safely and could glance back at him again, he had returned to looking calmly down at his feet, like it had never happened.

Well, it probably had nothing to do with her. Maybe he'd seen a moth or something.

Turning away, Ari smiled up gratefully at Taejin Cheon, who was now closing the door beside her. "Director Cheon's reflexes never fail to impress," she commented, tongue in cheek.

"Hmm," he replied. He gave her a sidelong look. "Please put on your seatbelt."

A man who avoided superfluous words, as usual.

Ari obediently pulled on her seatbelt as Taejin Cheon came around to the driver's side. He glanced over at her, and then at Yisu Cho on the other side. "Take care of things while I'm gone."

Yisu Cho bowed and stepped away from the car. "Yes, president."

Apparently satisfied, Taejin Cheon pulled away and out onto the street that would take them away from Grimm Plastic Surgery Tower. Without wearing a seatbelt, Ari couldn't help but note a little grumpily.

As the car approached the first red light, he suddenly said, "There's a bag in the backseat."

Ari, ever quick on the uptake, waited for the car to come to a stop to turn around in her seat. Seeing two plastic bags in the backseat, she wriggled forward over the central console, the seatbelt twisting around her skirt and legs, to snatch them up. He hadn't made clear which he wanted, so she just pulled the both of them towards her and squirmed backwards, back into her seat.

She looked to Director Cheon, wondering what he wanted with what looked like bags full of drinks and prepackaged food in the midst of driving.

"They're for you," he said. His eyes, which had been glancing at the rearview mirror, returned back to the road. "You should at least eat something during the drive over."