章 2: Male devil

*************

'What on earth does he want from me?'

In the elevator, Ji-Soo began to recount her entire life while tapping her heels on the floor.

Raising her wristwatch to her line of sight, her entire face was contoured in a frown while letting out exasperated sighs.

Finally, when the elevator doors opened, she scurried away like an intern on a job hunt.

It was embarrassing to see one of the directors of a big company like 'Dream Axis' in that state unfortunately, the person did not care.

By-passing the long empty hallways with framed art hanging on the white walls, Director Oh took a right turn before arriving in front of an electronic door with the nameplate, 'President Kim Ji-hun'

Shutting her eyes, she took a few seconds to take in and release deep breaths before proceeding to press the button beside the door frame.

Ji-Soo didn't have to wait long before she heard the sound of the door unlocking and taking one final deep breath, she bent the door handle and pushed the door open.

Walking into the coffee brown and white-themed large working space, she ignored the ambience created to give one a creative mindset to face the man who had commanded her attention.

"Good morning, President Kim," she greeted in a light tone while approaching his desk.

Hearing her voice, the man whose head was lowered, raised his gaze to meet hers.

"Do you know what time it is?"

The man with the devilish-handsome looks asked with his gaze narrowing down at her.

Not even a pinch of a smile could be seen on his face.

From her peripheral view, Ji-Soo glanced at her wristwatch not knowing that every slight move of hers was being followed by Kim Ji-hun.

"It's 7:55."

Kim Ji-hun shut his eyes tightly and the next moment, they snapped open again.

"How many times do I need to remind you to arrive at work earlier than me? I even gave you a specific time, what was it again?"

"7:30 to 7:45 AM," Ji-Soo replied while avoiding making direct contact with him.

As it was, her heart was pounding heavily against her chest as she did not know the next move he would make.

The man who was only 2 years older than her was unpredictable and he nagged better than a granny.

"Director Oh, do you know what the word 'punctuality' means?" He questioned sternly.

Without waiting for her response, he continued with his interrogation, leaving behind the work he initially had at hand.

As it is, lecturing the woman standing in front of him, was more important.

"Are you not familiar with this popular phrase, 'Time is money' or do you think it's not true?"

Not a single word escaped Ji-Soo's lips. She just stood at the same spot and in the same position, downloading all her boss's scolding.

If only he knew how much she wished for this section to end sooner.

Thankfully, he did and in the end, concluded that phase with an assignment.

"Director Oh, study the word 'punctuality' you need to meditate time consciousness into you."

'Kim Ji-hun, how can I arrive at work before you when you literally live and brood here?' Ji-Soo cried in her head.

Oftentimes, she believed that the man with those striking facial features was after her life.

He was a poisonous good-looking fella.

Her peace of mind was completely gone with her directly working under him.

"You may sit." Kim Ji-hun said while rolling his eyes at her.

"Thank you," Oh Ji-Soo replied breathlessly while sitting on one of the chairs across from him in a poised manner.

"I heard there is an upcoming bidding," he started, hoping for her to brief him while going through the Apple laptop in front of him.

Taking the cue, Ji-Soo started to brief him on the potential upcoming project.

"J Group is looking for an architectural company to take care of their new project. They don't mind if the company has made a name for itself or not. They are more or less interested in quality work, and a reasonable budget to back it up."

She went on to elaborate a bit about the bidding, listing the names of the top architectural companies interested in taking up the project.

After listening for a while, President Kim who hadn't spared her a glance all this while finally raised his head.

"I will give you and your team 24 hours to submit a proposal for the J Group bidding."

*******

Three minutes later, Oh Ji-Soo found her way into the elevator after literally staggering over.

Leaning at one end of the small space, she folded her arms below her chest while holding unto a file and then shut her eyes.

How was it possible to get everything ready and submit it on or before 8 AM the next day? This project is a huge one, and not child's play.

To make matters worse, he was clear about the whole situation yet, he was more interested in living up to his given nickname, 'Male devil' and torturing her in the process as usual.

It was no doubt that he was literally trying to stretch their nerves and tendons.

While Ji-Soo was lost in thought planning how to get the project started once she got to the 20th floor, the elevator doors opened and in came Director Baek.

Seeing the beauty for the second time within a short span, the man smiled to himself knowingly.

He very well knew where she was coming from while looking like an unsheltered wolf.

"Director Oh, you are indeed the epitome of beauty and brains, but you are almost in your prime why don't you think about taking a break?"

Just as those words left his lips, a deep breath escaped from Ji-Soo's nostrils, but she still didn't open her eyes.

She only remained in the same position, pretending to not have heard anything, but how could director Baek let her off so easily after losing his chance to speak to her earlier?

"You are almost thirty, yet you still work so hard. Director Oh, don't stress about climbing the ladder, think about settling down."

Instantly, the woman who was pretending to be deaf just a moment ago snapped back at him.

"Director Baek, if you are going to be this rude to me, don't bother taking the elevator with me next time."

Rolling her eyes at him, she stepped out of the elevator right on time as its doors opened for her, leaving the man at a loss for words.

'I can't be swallowing insults from President Kim and still be accepting your off-handed comments. Just who do you think you are?' she snickered in her mind and stormed off.

At this point, she hadn't time to waste on irrelevant people and situations. She had bigger fish to fry and an erupting volcano of a boss ready to go off within 24 hours.