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Yoongi had been right.  She had already been half in love with him.  That day that he’d defended her from the Neanderthal.  And brought her a pair of heavenly shoes.  And then, when he’d ordered her three desserts, she’d slid farther down that slippery slope.  She’d been three-quarters of the way to loving him.  But then her suspicions had ruined everything that night. 

But they’d been right, hadn’t they?

Except that Yoongi had come to her defense again.  This time against his own appa.  And from any bits of glass in the street.  What was it about her feet that so concerned him?  He seemed to think he had to stand guard over them, smooth their way, and pamper them.  The next kind thing he’d done had been to rub those aching feet.  Until she’d relaxed so much that she had fallen asleep.  Then he’d carried her to her bed and made her dinner.  And nearly kissed her.  Again.  And then he had just…

…slipped away.  Why?

After loving her and her feet so consistently, why had he simply walked out of her life?

Suddenly, Nari felt very sad that she had never worn the shoes he’d bought her after that first day.  She reached into her closet and pulled them out.  She examined them.  Sensible black.

It goes with everything.

But that wasn’t the only thing that made her sad. She’d never heard his music flowing from his fingertips while she sat next to him on his piano bench.  That was the saddest truth of all.  She still really longed to hear his music.

And, sometimes, she thought she was still half in love with him.

She sighed.  It was time to stop moping and get ready for work.  And to pack her memories of Yoongi back into their box.  But for one thing…

—

Nari could not have been more astounded than she was her first day working for her appa.  She’d taken a job with his company two weeks after she’d moved home.  She’d quit the diner to head for the mailroom.  He had insisted that she had to start at the bottom and work her way up.  Just because she was his daughter didn’t mean he was going to give her any breaks.

So, on Monday, she’d headed for work with Appa.  They’d parted ways at the elevator.  At nine o’clock, she’d punched her time card and sailed into the mailroom.  And run smack into a boy with beautiful eyes.

Yoongi reached out to steady the tornado that had just barreled into him.  

His shift was just beginning, but he’d already been here for fifteen minutes sorting mail.  He was working on making a good impression.  So he always arrived early.  And stayed late.  Now that school was over.

His eyes collided with Nari’s, and they both gasped.  Yoongi, inwardly.  Nari, outwardly.

“Yoongi?” she asked, stupefied.  “What on earth are you doing here?”

“Me?” His eyes went blank. “Why, I work here.”

“You work here?” She jabbed her index finger towards the floor.  “In my appa’s company?”

He nodded.  

“Since when?”

“Since three days after I last talked to you.”

She just stared at him.  Then she narrowed her eyes.  “Why?” she hissed.

He glanced away from her and headed back to his pile of mail.  “I need to get back to work.  It’s good to see you, Nari.”

Before she could say anything more, she was cut off by her boss, who had just walked through the doorway.

“Nari, please come with me.  I’m going to show you what I expect of you, then Yoongi here will train you.”

—

Nari was fuming.  

How ironic was life?  That the guy she’d fallen in love with – the one who had completely shut her out of his life – was working in her father’s company.  And now she’d been assigned to the same department as him.  There was no way her appa knew that Yoongi was working here.  He would never have countenanced them working together.

What exactly was Yoongi’s game?  Was he here to sabotage her appa’s company?

But, no, that wouldn’t make any sense at all.  She had convinced her appa to give Yoongi’s father a chance.  The two had entered into a business contract.  Four weeks after Yoongi had poured a whole bottle of wine down the drain.  So Yoongi had no reason to destroy her appa’s business.  Unless he wanted to hurt his own appa too.

But she was convinced that wasn’t the case.

She headed for Yoongi as soon as her boss finished taking her on a tour of the facility and filling her in on his expectations of her.  He was polite and professional.  But she didn’t feel any particular regard or favor from him.  However, the man practically doted on Yoongi.

“Sir, you said Yoongi will be training me.  Who is Yoongi?”

“The hardest worker I’ve ever had!” he gushed.  “He comes in early, leaves late, and gets twice as much accomplished as anyone else!  I wish I had ten Yoongis!”

“Did you hire him yourself?”

“Yes, I did!  That must have been a very good day for me.  Indeed.”

“Why is he working here?” she asked softly.

He shrugged. “I guess he needed a job.  He was still in high school when he started.  He worked every night until two in the morning.  Then he’d head to school the next day and do it all over again the next night.”

She just stared at him.  Yoongi had gone without sleep for a while in order to work for her father?  What was he up to?

—

“Yoongi.”

He glanced up from his pile of mail.  Honestly, he was bored stiff.  This job was mind-numbing.  He’d much rather be at his piano.  His missed his piano.  He hadn’t sat down at it in over three weeks.

He stared into Nari’s gorgeous, obsidian eyes.  And realized he had missed those eyes even more than he missed his piano.  He didn’t know what odd twist of fate had brought her to work with him, but he was suddenly overjoyed that it had.  He grinned at her, revealing his pink gums in all their glory.

She was stunned momentarily by that gorgeous grin.  She blinked, trying to pull her thoughts together.  But before she could speak, he did.

“You’re here for training, right?  Let’s begin…”

He was no-nonsense for the rest of their shift together.   Until it was time for lunch.  

Then he shrugged and told her, “Go to lunch.  You get exactly half an hour.”

She started to leave, but then she turned to glance back at him.  “What about you?  Aren’t you going to eat lunch?”

“I don’t eat lunch,” he responded absentmindedly as he stared down at the letters in his hand and began sorting them.

She came back towards him.  “My appa may be a hard man, but he always gives everyone their full break time.  You need to eat lunch.  Come on.  You can share mine.”  

She grabbed his hand and tugged on it.  

“Though,” she remarked with a wry twist of her lips, “I don’t have any black coffee with me today.”

But tomorrow she would.