She Doesn't Like Flowers

The Deal's Off

Taehyung had planned on being at the meeting room first but a last-minute call kept him tied up.

"I'm sorry for the wait..." He stopped right inside the meeting room door as his secretary and the HangukEO representative turned to look at him.

It was her.

She looked...well obviously it wasn't a party but she still looked stunning. She was wearing tan dress pants and a red collared top, with the top two buttons undone. Her black blazer was thrown across the back of the seat.

She gave him a small smile and stood up.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who was surprised." She said, walking forward and extending her hand. Taehyung shook himself. Business. Business, business, business...

"That's why your partner said I'd see you tomorrow." He said quietly. She still caught it.

"Deh, I'm sorry for not recognizing you sooner." Oh, she hadn't recognized him? That was a first. They shook hands and he gestured back to her seat, taking one next to his secretary. It was time to focus on business, not the fact that he could see soft skin peeking out from the unbuttoned area of Y/N's shirt...

-

"I look forward to our collaboration." Taehyung said, rising.

"I'll have my assistant get with your secretary." She said, rising as well. It had been very productive, they just needed to iron out the contract. Like he always did after closing a business deal, Taehyung walked her out of the meeting room and to the elevator.

"I can tell you're not Korean but you speak our language very well." He complimented as they walked down the hallway.
"I've had some practice." She said neutrally. He found her...puzzling. In the meeting room she had been straight-forward, saying what was on her mind. Very lively, very energetic. But now...it was like she had withdrawn in on herself and was just saying what she had to until she could get away from the person she was talking to. Him.

He didn't like that.

After she left he called his secretary into his office.

"I need you to make some calls. Maybe talk to Yoongi-hyung's office." Yoogi hadn't come from a wealthy family like the rest of them. He'd made his money off of knowing people's secrets. He wasn't mean, he was actually pretty easy going. But don't piss him off. "Please find Ms. Y/N's home address and send her a bouquet."

"Which bouquet? The normal one?" He thought about it for a moment. No. She didn't seem like the kind of person who would only last him a night. First the bouquet, then dinner. At least a couple times. At least until he could solve this puzzle. He'd call her office tomorrow and see if she was free that evening.

"No, order something that says serious and romantic."

-

"These were delivered for you, ma'am." Y/N was tired as she looked up at the doorman. She bit her lip as she saw the huge bouquet of flowers he was holding.

"Um... thank you." Not again. She awkwardly took them and looked for a card. Her worst fears were concerned when she saw it.

To: Y/N, From: Kim Taehyung.

She lugged it up several flights of stairs to her apartment and slammed it on the counter, pulling her phone out and dialing Ryung.

"Deh?" She felt like crying. All of them. It was all of them. She was never taken seriously, by any of them. She was never a person, just a body. She didn't represent a company, she represented a good lay.

"Ryung-ssi, call Kim Enterprises tomorrow first thing. We won't be going through with the deal." There was a long pause.

"What'd he do?" Ryung knew the routine by now.

"He sent me flowers." If it had been anyone else he would've joked that at least they'd sent flowers first. But he knew his boss. He knew how hard she worked. How much she wanted to be taken seriously, seen for her accomplishments, and not something less than human that existed to pleasure men. He knew a little piece of her died every time a deal fell through. Did her work even matter? He knew the question kept her up at night.

"I'll do it first thing. I'm sorry." Y/N hung up and eyed the bouquet for a moment before picking it up and smashing it on the floor, then stomping off to the bathroom.

"Why couldn't you have been born a guy." She mumbled to her reflection. Beauty was a curse when you wanted to be seen for your accomplishments.