Chapter 2 The company dinner

"I will also be joining you for the dinner"

Someone said from behind, when Min ju turned around, Soo hyun was standing a few metres from his office with his hands in his pockets.

"Sir? " Mr Lee asked confused

Min ju became scared again, she feared that Soo hyun was being sarcastic as a way of reprimanding her for going on a team dinner on her first day of work when she wasn't through with the assignment he gave her

"I said, I will be joining you for the team dinner, or am I not allowed to?" Soo hyun asked raising an eyebrow

"No sir, that's not what I meant, I was just shocked since you have never really participated in any team dinners. Of course you are allowed to join us sir" Mr Lee replied in shock

"Ok then, shall we?" Soo hyun said while gesturing to the door

Min ju and her co-workers hurried to gather their things from their desks to leave for the dinner

Soo hyun had decided to join them in the team dinner after hearing Mr Lee inviting Min ju to the dinner. He knew that So mi would tell his mum he said he was too busy to go shopping with her and his mum would call him to nag at him so he wanted to use the dinner as an excuse for his mum. As they were leaving, Soo hyun's phone rang, it was his mum he didn't want to be nagged at in front of his employees so he ignored the call.

"Let's go" he said

At the restaurant where they were having their team dinner, all the employees present including Min ju were extremely uncomfortable with the presence of the president. Soo hyun noticed this and tried to ease their minds by offering to grill the meat himself and pay for whatever they would have.

"Ms Kim min young, let me help you grill the meat" He said trying to clear the awkward atmosphere

"Oh no sir, I can't do that" Kim min young said shaking her head

"Just let me and Mr Lee grill the meat sir"

"No it's ok, I like my meat grilled in a specific way anyways." He said as he took the twisers from her.

"You are all free to eat and drink as much as you want, I will be paying for it all "

"Thank you Mr president" they all chorused

"So you should all relax and feel comfortable, you are making me feel awkward"

"Yes, the president is right, we should all relax and be comfortable. We are here to welcome Ms Park Min ji. Let's all work hard together. Cheers" And they all raised their glasses

" ma'am we need more bottles of soju and beer here please"

The sound of meat grilling on the hot charcoal made Min ji's stomach rumble. She wasn't able to eat lunch because she had been doing research that would aid her in making the marketing plan she was asked to draft. Her stomach rumbled again, she decided to drink a glass of beer but Soo hyun stopped her.

"Your stomach just rumbled, you shouldn't drink on an empty stomach, didn't you have lunch today"

"I was a little busy then"

"Eat this for now" He said while dropping lettuce wrappings on her plate

"Thank you"

"I thought everyone said that he was pretty cold?" She asked herself as she ate the lettuce.

"Ok, let's eat"

As they ate and drank, Soo hyun's phone rang but he ignored it, he picked up the call after it rang the second time.

"Excuse me, I need to take a call; hello mum"

"Hey where are you?, why didn't you go to the department store?, don't you know you hurt So mi's feelings?, she called me crying to tell me you refused to go see her"

"Mum I told her that I wouldn't have time to meet her this week I am very busy at work"

"You are meant to make time to see your girlfriend. That much is allowed"

"Mum, how many times do I have to tell you she is not my girlfriend, she is just a girl you and dad want me to get married to, she is no more than an associate so stop calling her my girlfriend "

"You little punk, didn't your dad say you can forget about work for today so you can make time to see her?"

"Yes but I knew I wouldn't have time to see her, am at an important event right now"

"What event is that?"

"A very important company dinner mom, I need to go now"

Soo hyun was getting tired of the constant nagging he was getting from his mum because of So mi. It seemed to him like she was determined to make his life miserable. It made him imagine what his life would be like if he was to get married to her. He shuddered at the thought of it.

"Sorry about that, It was an important call"

"No worries sir, no need to apologize "

" Ok then. Ms Min ju how was your first day at work"

"It was ok Mr president"

"This dinner was held to welcome you to our company, so I would like to welcome you to the company formally and I ask you to put in your best effort in improving the sales of the company as our new marketing coordinator. Good luck and welcome "

"Thank you Mr president"

As they clinked their glasses, Min ji became rather confused. The president whom she had heard of was rumoured to be rude and cold, but this man sitting beside seemed pretty warm and kind-hearted. She concluded that people only said that about him because they didn't really know him outside of work.

As they all prepared to go home outside the restaurant, Min ju realized she had left her purse in the restaurant and went back to get it

"Mr President, how will you get home, would you like me to call a designated driver" asked Mr Lee

"No thanks, I already called one, How will you all get home"

"We will take taxis, most of our homes are near here"

"Ok see you tomorrow then"

"Ok Mr President"

Ten minutes later ;

"Good night Mr president"

"What You haven't gone yet?"

"No, I left my purse inside so I went to get it back"

"You should be careful. How are you going to get home?"

"I will take the bus"

"Is your home close?"

"Not exactly, I live at Gong - ro dong"

"You are right, It's not exactly close, am going that way though, why don't I drop you off"

"Oh no sir, it's ok, I can't ask you to do that"

"I can't really let you go home alone at this time, just let me drop you"

"It's really ok"

"They came to this restaurant because I was at the dinner. If I hadn't come they would have gone to one of the cheap restaurants near the company. So it's my fault you have to travel a longer distance to get home"

"Ok then. But are you sure you can drive, you drank"

"I called a designated driver"

As they were on their way Min ju's phone rang. She smiled after seeing the caller ID. It was her mum. She knew her mum was calling because she wanted to hear about her first day at work. She didn't pick it up though, She didn't want to talk about it while she was with her boss.

"So, do you think you would be able to be done with draft of the marketing plan by Friday?, we are supposed to market the products at least two weeks before the launch of the products and that's on Monday, so it should be ready by Friday"

"I will try to finish it by then"

"You can tell me if won't be able to make it, but that puts your job at risk because I agreed to let today's incident slide if you are able to draft up a suitable marketing plan"

"Yes Mr President, I remember and I can do it"

"Ok, if you say so"

"You can drop me off at that next bus station please. Good night "

"Yes "

Min ji was really exhausted after her first day. She had spent the entire day doing research on the new products and trying to find the best marketing strategy that would definitely help grow the products. She fell onto her bed and immediately took a shower. Just as she was about to start sleeping she remembered her mum had called her earlier. She jumped up and looked for her phone to call her mum

"Hello mum"

"Hello, Min ji, are you awake?, I called earlier but you didn't pick up the phone. I thought you might have fallen asleep. Anyways how was your first day?, I hope it wasn't too exhausting "

"No mum it wasn't, it isn't too bad except that I made a mistake mum. And it may actually cost me my job"

"Mistake?, what mistake?"

" I accidentally bumped into the president and poured hot coffee on him and I ruined his clothes mum"

"Oh no, you didn't get hurt right"

"Mum I just said I poured hot coffee on the president and you are asking if I got hurt" Min ju could not believe her ears

"Sorry, it's just I was worried you may have gotten hurt. But I hope he is ok, he didn't get burnt right?

"Am not really sure mum, he left before I could bring him some napkins"

"Don't worry, if they let you go it will be their loss"

"Thanks mum"

"Ok, it's late, you should go to bed, you still have work tomorrow right?"

"Yes mum. Good night"

At the Kim family house, So mi stormed through the front door, she was seething with anger. Her eyes filled with frustration and sadness as she slammed the door shut behind her, the sound echoing through the hallway. She kicked off her high heels with a force that sent them flying across the floor, she slipped into her fluffy slippers, her feet pounding the floor as she marched into the living room. She broke down on sighting her parents

"Mum, dad!"She called out, her voice trembling with indignation. Her parents, seated on the couch, looked up at her with concern written all over their faces

"So mi, what's wrong? her mother asked, but so mi didn't answer. She was still crying.

"What is it so mi, stop crying and tell me what the problem is" her mum said trying to persuade her

"Soo hyun and I were supposed to meet up at the department store today so we could shop for my birthday dress ahead of the preparation for my birthday party this weekend but he didn't show up. He said he was busy and didn't have the time to pick up dresses with a woman." So mi explained, still crying.

"Did you call him?, what of his mum?, did you call her?" her dad asked trying to calm her down

"Yes dad I called his mum and he told her the same thing, that he was at a company dinner"

"It's ok dear, stop crying, maybe he was actually really busy" her mum said enveloping her in a warm hug

"Yes, that isn't enough reason for you to be so upset, it's not that serious"

"Dad it's really serious cause he never has time for me and we are supposed to get engaged in two months time" So mi in disbelief as she couldn't believe her ears.

"Well you are the one that insisted on getting married to him, if he wants you guys to remain friends why don't you reconsider, he is not exactly interested in you" her dad was getting tired of seeing her cry over little issues because of Soo hyun

"Honey, I can't believe you are saying this, she loves him and that is all that matters, you shouldn't discourage her"

"Well if she really wants to get married to him by force she should try to understand things. But I will call his dad, he still shouldn't let my princess cry right?"

"Thanks dad" so mi said smiling.