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It had been a week.  She’d been his secretary for a week.  And he had yet to ask her anything.  He supposed he should wait, though.  It didn’t appear that she remembered him.  She’d been stumbling nervously around the building for a week.  He should probably ask her something if he wanted to get somewhere with her.  But…what?

“Mr. Kim, you have a meeting in twenty minutes.”

Taehyung looked up at Nia, who was standing right in front of his desk now.  He still found her short hair odd.  When they were younger, she had been obsessed with long hair.  But today she was standing in front of him with her shoulder-length hair.  Half of it was clipped back and her wispy bangs were framing her face.

Nia stared down at her boss.  He was gazing up at her with a dazed look in his eyes.  He’d been doing it on and off all week.  Was he sick?  She’d never had someone look at her like that unless they weren’t feeling well.

“Mr. Kim?”

Taehyung shook himself from his reverie.

“Right.  Meeting in twenty minutes.” He paused. “And get us a reservation for two at that new sushi restaurant down the road.”

Nia’s eyes widened. “Um…for one o’clock, sir?”

“Yes.”

Nia bowed and hurried out of his office.

Taehyung sighed.  What was he thinking taking her to lunch?  They barely knew each other anymore.  And he was but a stranger to her.

——————–

Nia sat across from Taehyung at the sushi restaurant.  She wasn’t even sure why they were here.  Had he overheard her telling Hobi she’d wanted to come here?  She stared down at her plate.  Just those few pieces of sushi alone had to have cost a fortune.  She felt embarrassed that her new boss had spent so much on lunch for her.

“Um…Mr. Kim?”

“Yes?”

“If I may ask…why did you bring me out to lunch?”

“I figured I should get to know you.  It’s not often that I get a new secretary that I keep.”

Nia gulped.  That sounded almost criticizing.  She hoped he wouldn’t fire her.  There was something about him that seemed familiar.  Despite how tough he was, she could tell he had a soft side.  She sighed and began to eat her sushi.

“What would you like to know about me, Mr. Kim?”

“What are your interests?”

“My interests?”

“Like…hobbies.”

“Um…” Nia chewed on her piece of sushi. “I like to draw and paint…and I enjoy hairstyling.” Why was he asking her this?  It seemed an odd question to ask your secretary.

Taehyung nodded in response.  She had been quite the artist when they were younger.  Often, he’d been staring into space for a long spell of time and would break from it to find her sketching him.  Or he’d arrive at her house to find her transforming one of her sketches into an oil painting.

“Any close relatives?”

“Um…not really.  My parents are often too occupied to pay any attention to me.  My fiancé is the only person I really spend time with.”

So, he’d been right.  She was engaged.

She continued. “But even he is a bit distanced.  He’s very sweet, but something about it seems forced.”

Taehyung looked up at her for a moment, but then his gaze returned to his plate.

“How about you?”

He looked up again. “Um…I have no close family either.  No one but my mother.  And she passed two years ago.  I haven’t seen my father in a long time.  He left when I was born.  Then suddenly he reappeared and left me with the company.”

Nia’s eyes widened.  Her relationship with her parents wasn’t the best, but at least they still talked to her every once in a while.

“You don’t have a girlfriend?”

Taehyung shook his head. “I….” Should he tell her? “I had a girlfriend.  She died eight years ago.  I never got over her.”

That was all he said, but it left Nia with tears streaming down her face. “She died?” she spoke in a soft whisper. “Was…was it an accident?”

Taehyung shook his head. “She died from a brain tumor.  Her parents didn’t have the money for surgery.”

Nia stared down at her plate.  Was it such a coincidence that she’d survived having a brain tumor?  She wouldn’t have survived either had Hobi’s parents not paid for her surgery.  She sniffed and wiped her nose on her napkin.

“That’s horrible….”

Taehyung stared down at her.  She really didn’t remember anything, did she?  He knew how easy it was to pretend you didn’t know someone.  But there was no way her reaction had been fake.  She’d rarely shed a tear when they had dated.  It had always been a joke between them that she only cried when someone died.  Until she had been given two months to live.  Then it hadn’t been a joke anymore.

“It’s all right.  I’m sure she’s living a better life now.”

But it really wasn’t.  She was sitting in front of him, and now he knew he couldn’t have her.