The One I Should Love

Chapter 4 | 어서 와!

Hana felt like someone was watching her as she stepped off the bus in front of the agency that morning. 

Looking behind her, she almost walked into Seokjin. 

"Ah!" she cried out, stopping to stare at him in surprise. "How am I always walking into you?"

He looked down at her without expression, his arms folded across his chest. 

"You're like a different person," he finally said, studying her face. 

Hana glanced away self-consciously, aware that she had looked quite different the day before. 

"It's not a big deal..." she began, trying to walk around him. 

"Isn't it?" he replied. He moved casually to block her path, but his tone was low and serious. 

"It's just easier for work," she insisted. 

"I don't know, Hana-ssi. You've been lying this whole time..." 

"I wasn't lying! I just never mentioned it!" she frowned. 

"Ah, a lie of omission," he said, tsking and shaking his head. "Don't you realise what a big mistake you've made?" he asked, looking disappointed. 

"What mistake!?" she asked, getting angry. It should have been an inconsequential thing, but seeing an expression like that on his face was making her feel small. 

He leaned in closer, their crossed arms now mirroring each other. Where Seokjin's expression was calm and poised, her eyes were starting to spit fire. 

"You dropped my honourifics," he whispered pointedly, then broke into a wide grin. 

Hana just stared at him, her arms dropping to her sides as he began to laugh.

She turned her head away, unable to meet his eyes as her anger dissipated. She was only angry at herself now for getting emotional over that. 

He tried to calm himself down, his laughter eventually fading. He patted her shoulder reassuringly. 

"I'm sorry, Hana-ssi," he said. "I knew you were younger, but I didn't know you'd be gullible too."

That got her to meet his eyes suddenly. "Hey!" she cried out, eyebrows furrowing. 

"That's 'Hey, Oppa!' to you!" he corrected. 

"I can't call you Oppa," she shook her head, thinking she would never be respected at work again. 

"Okay, I get why you want to act older at work," he said. "I won't say anything, but my silence isn't going to be free," he said in warning. 

"What's the price?" she asked, dejected. 

"Hmm, I'll think about it," he decided. 

She sighed, wondering what she'd got herself into. 

--

Hana was working at a computer in the agency office later that evening, editing the video she had taken of Jimin's stunt during their dance practice a few days ago. 

She had managed to get a lot of footage while she had Soobin's camera, but she hadn't had much time to go through it all yet. 

She had slowed the video down to show the full range of his acrobatic move, but she was still dizzy watching Jimin flip himself over Hoseok again and again in slow motion. 

Once she was happy with the footage, she saved it to show Jimin later, and moved onto her shoot with the youngest member. 

Though Jeongguk had asked her to take a video of him, he had taken a while to bring himself to suggest a time and hadn't even made eye contact with her since their brief conversation.