seungwan steps into a pristine white room. it's honestly so annoying how rich people hate color. why wouldn't they like to go all out and hire some designer who knows what to do?

she would love to put some dirt on those walls. some kind of fantasy plays in her head as she dances in the room alone, throwing everything and the walls turn black. she could breathe some life into this lifeless place but this is not her business. she's not here for some higher goal. she's here strictly for money.

that's what she told herself the whole way here - joohyun's office. she didn't even know that there was a building this size in her neighbourhood. she thought all businesses wouldn't want to settle in a place where people live.

while her family is deep into business world, it never interested seungwan. she would doze off every time they would talk how the business is going. she wishes she had now.

looking at this place, she understands that joohyun is not some average business woman trying to make it. she's at the top. she's someone important. someone who would get vip treatment anywhere she went.

some people would come by and be very quiet. some man even put a finger to his lips when his co-worker (seungwan assumes) was too loud. is she respected or is she feared? which one is better?

"you can come in now." the secretary calls her and gestures at the big double door.

she was seated on a white couch, sitting as if she was going to be assassinated any time now. she hesitates to do what she is told. what is she doing? she's going crazy. she shouldn't have agreed. she can still run, she can-

"miss bae doesn't like waiting."

"oh, sorry." seungwan quickly stands and nearly trips walking to the door.

they are heavy, she has to put in the strength to really push them open.

joohyun doesn't look up.

"um, hello."

"um?" joohyun asks, "what's that?"

"what?"

"speak confidently."

"right." seungwan blinks, nervously clutching her backpack straps, "sorry."

"never apologize. you're admitting you've done something wrong."

"so-" seungwan stops. "right." she clears .

then silence.

seungwan stares as joohyun keeps signing papers one by one. her eyes are laser-focused as she reads them through before the last thin line where she's supposed to sign. her hands look elegant.

seungwan swallows.

the huge window behind joohyun creates a silhouette of her but her hands are bright. the sun behind her shines on them, the end of the pen glistens as she writes. seungwan is hypnotized by the cursive writing. she wants... she doesn't know what she wants. she wants to think about it more.

"take a seat, seungwan." joohyun says as if she's annoyed.

seungwan looks at the couch by the wall, the armchairs in front of joohyun's desk, and the lone chair in the corner. should she...? she clears and walks over to sit in front of joohyun - that's what she's supposed to do she knows because her father had thought that to earn respect you have to be decisive.

"um," seungwan starts and curses herself, joohyun just told her to be confident and here she is - back to stuttering, "can i ask you something?"

"i suppose."

"can i tell anyone what i do?"

"no," joohyun raises her eyes to give seungwan a sharp look. "no one."

"what if i were to tell my closest friend who won't tell anyone?"

"seungwan," joohyun sighs, she caps her pen and puts in on the table, "don't ever trust anyone like that."

"she-"

"you have no idea what the future brings. money can buy anything."

seungwan thinks about seulgi being bribed with money and laughs a little. joohyun doesn't look pleased with her reaction. her eyebrow raises and a shiver goes down seungwan's back.

she nods. she doesn't know why but it seems right. she lowers her head, submitting herself to joohyun. it's definitely a power play and seungwan has no power here at all - she has no chance.

"alright," joohyun reaches for a folder that is blue.

it's only one folder in color on her desk. seungwan is immediately curious. it's obviously for her - is she a special case? she somehow feels a bit of pride there. she is "special" for joohyun to be picked apart like that. she's in joohyun's mind in a different way than the others. to be in a person like joohyun's mind is something she never thought she would be happy about. but here she is.

seungwan knows a powerful woman when she sees one. she can't help herself but feel respect towards her without really knowing her. it's the charisma. it's the way she's so sure of everything and she doesn't even look like she has a doubt in her mind. she looks like she knows what seungwan is thinking about. a mind reader, a physic, a witch. someone who knows the future and is not afraid to use it to her advantage.

"let's sign some papers." she passes the folder to seungwan.

the documents inside are already signed by joohyun - too bad, she wanted to see her sign once more.

the information is already written in. they have her address, her phone, her email, her age - everything. she feels uneasiness in her gut. how did they get this information? is it out there for everyone to see? did they work for it.

"don't worry, we value privacy." joohyun says and offers her a pen but not the same she was writing with before.

"can i take it home and read it?" seungwan asks.

always be careful where you put your signature, her father would say. she remembers that.

"no." joohyun smiles but it's not friendly at all. "you can read everything here and take as much time as you need."

seungwan looks down at the folder.

it's not that difficult to comprehend. it is for her to keep quiet about the inside of the business. it's an agreement that she won't be babbling to anyone what she will be doing and where or with whom. she can't say anything to anyone.

the next page is full - there's point after point, it says she will have to promise not to sleep with the men she "pursues" to sign any contracts. if she were to break the rules it would result in the termination of the contract. she has to be up to date with what agreements joohyun wants from the men, she will have to report any information that she manages to get from them. she doesn't have to be alone with men alone but if it happens it's not joohyun's fault - long story short seungwan will have to take care of herself too.

that's fair, seungwan thinks. accidents do happen.

there's one clause that makes seungwan pause.

she can't ever lie to joohyun or it will result in contract termination.

seungwan slowly raises her eyes to look at joohyun who is now working on her laptop as if seungwan isn't there at all.

it's a problem because seungwan is already lying. or, rather, she's not telling the truth. does she have to disclose her uality? the contract doesn't say that she has to tell her everything. it just says not to lie. joohyun never asked her if she was a lesbian. she never said she wasn't.

their eyes meet and seungwan quickly looks down, pretending that it didn't happen. her face flushes.

screw it all.