I Love Crossing Paths with Yoo

Chapter 8

POV: Kousuke

"Welp, I've never more scared in my life. I thought he was going to fire me for being a minute late." Shin-ae chuckled, standing up.
"Why? He's not that mean of a person." I said, standing up and putting the chairs back.
"Well, Yeah..But when you're nervous, your brain goes all jelly and it's hard to think straight." She chuckled more, and began to speak again, but I got sidetracked by a message on my phone.
"Hey honey, Meg and I stopped by your house to help you pack your things!" My mother sent.
"What?? Why?" I replied back.
'I barely want my mother in my home, let alone Meg.'

"What's wrong?" Shin-ae asked.
"I'll be right back." I said, exiting the room.
I got my driver, and headed over to my apartment. As I got up to the door, mother opened it.
"Oh, hi sweetie! What are you doing back so soon?" She asked innocently.
"Where is she?" I asked, moving passed her, "why the hell would you bring her here?"
She chuckled and closed the door.
"Oh sweetheart, I may be harsh sometimes, but I'd never bring someone into your home without permission." She put her hand on my shoulder.
"What are you talking about? You did that on my Birthday with Miss Yoo." I said sternly.
"Oh Sweetie, but that was a surprise! I thought that you'd like having Shin-ae there. It's only just ever you and I, so I thought that I'd mix it up!" She smiled.
"You tricked a high school girl to come over to my place, had her make food for me, and spilt wine on her to try and evoke my feelings!" I glared at her.
"I mean, if you'd like to call it that, then yes." She turned and walked towards the counter, leaning on it, "but then as soon as you left with her, you had fun right? I mean, you were gone with her for a long time, so you must've been enjoying yourself a small bit, right?"

   I thought back to that evening, "Yes, I guess that I enjoyed it more than my past birthdays.." I cleared my throat, " but that doesn't give you any right to mess with me or Miss Yoo's lives."
She snickered and stood tall, "well then, would you like to know now? Why I'm here, that is."
"Yes, amuse me." I crossed my arms.
"Well, you're leaving in a month! So, I've taken liberty of hiring someone to dress your new apartment! That way, you can just go there and not have to get all settled." She grinned.
"And what does that have to do with me missing work?" I asked, annoyed.
"Oh sweetie, don't be like that! I have movers on there way now to bring some of your furnishings to Japan." She said.
"Alright, but this better not take too long.." I sighed.

   Many hours passed, and most of my furniture was gone. Other things too, including half of my wardrobe. What remained was my bed, tv, and some stuff in the kitchen. If that was all I needed to be done with my mother for a few days, then I'd happily do it.
By the time we were done, it was very late. I had missed a whole day at work, and wasn't happy about it.

   The next day, Shin-ae was barely in my office. She was running around doing her work in other areas, and when we came face to face, her expressions were quite dull and emotionless. It felt strange seeing her like that. She wasn't ever really bubbly, but she normally had at least some emotion. She barely spoke to me most of the day, and it made my anxiety sky rocket. By the end of the day, I was stress eating some pudding in my office. It was around 8:30, and I heard my door open.
"I'm heading out now." Shin-ae said, going over to were she normally places her things. She turned back and looked at me.

"You're eating pudding? What's got you all stressed?" She asked, raising her brow.
"Can't a man just eat his emergency stress pudding without stress?" I muttered, shoving a spoonful into my mouth.
   She rolled her eyes, and walked towards the door.
"Have a good night." She said, walking out.
'Tch, who does she think she is?'

........

   I stood up and quickly walked towards the door. I stepped out, and quickly made it to the elevator as the doors were closing. Shin-ae and another worker stood in the elevator.
"Take the next one." I said sternly to the worker, who immediately stepped out.
The elevator doors closed, and I was left alone with Shin-ae.
"What was that about?" She asked, a bit of nervousness in her voice.
"Why have you been distant all day? I've never seen you in this low of a mood before, and it's been stressing me out!" I clear my throat, trying to calm down. I took a deep breath, "I'm sorry." I sighed, rubbing my temples.
'What the hell has gotten into me?'

She raised her brow at me, and crossed her arms.
"Well, why did you rush off yesterday? Were you angry that your father offered me a job with you?" She mumbled. 
"What?" I asked, "no, I wasn't upset about that. My mother tricked me into packing up my apartment, which is why I took so long..." I paused, "was that why you were keeping your distance from me? Because you thought I was upset?"
  Her face grew red and she looked down.
"I thought that you were angry, and hated having me as an assistant...I spent the whole day pushing through all of my work, and even worked on some extra..."

The elevator doors opened, and were both in complete silence
"I-I'm going to head home now..I'll see you tomorrow." She said, leaving me in the elevator.
I sighed and leaned against the wall.
"I ate my emergency pudding because of her..." I ran my fingers through my hair, and pushed the floor number. I got back to my office and collected my things, discarding the empty pudding container into the trash. I then headed home.
It felt empty; more so than usual. Instead of the articulated array of decorations, it was bleak and void. All of the furniture was gone, though I never really used it. Only some days would I come home and sit on the couch to watch 'Nailed It' on Getflix. I normally just work until I sleep.
I laid down in my bed, thinking back to what Shin-ae had said.
I thought that you were angry, and hated having me as an assistant
At first, I was upset about having her as an assistant. She had no previous training, was still in high school, and wasn't fond of acting like a professional. But her actions today made me realize that her acting like a 'professional' just made me feel strange. Like when you see a tiny dog act fierce. It was unnatural, and that's why I got so stressed.

The following days, she continued to act similarly. Though, she didn't ignore me. Days drove by like cars on the highway, and weeks went by like they were nothing. It was two days left until the big move