Episode 3

"Did you sign it?" Aaron, who happened to walk by and noticed Irene at Kang Yeri's desk, inquired.

 

"It took me a long time to think about it, and I've finally made up my mind," Irene said, turning to stare at Aaron.

 

Irene and Aaron rose to their feet to return to their respective rooms.

 

"How about your mother's words? Have you also made a decision?"

 

When Irene heard Aaron's words, she abruptly stopped walking and beat Aaron with an irritated face. Without realizing it, a female employee passing by could only smile a little and bow her head as she walked past her two superiors.

 

When Irene noticed the female employee's presence, she couldn't help but awkwardly smile while nodding slowly and inviting the woman to continue on her way, "Hey! You almost shattered my image of friendliness and firmness in front of that girl!" Irene mumbled while hitting Aaron again, who winced but held back laughter.

 

"I'm just asking, why did you hit me?"

 

"It took me days just to sign the proposal; how can I decide on my mother's words in a matter of hours?" Irene grumbled once more.

 

Almost all employees in this Company know about the relationship and closeness between Irene and Aaron. Even they expected Irene and Aaron to go on a date and get married because they look good together. Many people believe that Irene and Aaron have been secretly dating because they appear to be so closed.

 

In fact, Irene and Aaron only think of themselves as good friends without having no feelings for each other.

 

Even though Irene was not surprised, many people in her class and other classes assumed she and Aaron were dating.

 

Irene's cell phone rang when she returned to the room. She quickly pulled her phone from his jacket pocket and saw Jung Crystal's name in an incoming call.

 

'Hello?' Irene greeted her when she managed to press the green phone icon.

 

'Irene, are you busy today? Want to eat tteokbokki together?” Crystal asked.

 

Irene remained silent for a while. She wanted to drink a bottle of soju this afternoon because she was tired from her mother's words that she would invite her to dinner with her best friend's family.

 

'Don't tell me you can't? Won't you take your time to meet me? You're so busy even though you're working in your own company.' Crystal protested when she didn't get an answer from Irene.

 

'Ah no. I can. I'll be there soon. Did you come with Leo?'

 

'Of course not, he's coming home tonight, so I decided to spend some time with you. If you see Aaron, invite him to come along; I've called him three times but he still hasn't answered.'

 

'Okay, see you there.'

 

After the call ended, Irene took her bag from the table and walked out of the room to visit Aaron's room.

 

Irene opened the door to Aaron's room without knocking first and stepped inside.

 

"Hey! Can't you just knock it first? Luckily, you're the owner of this company." Aaron expressed his displeasure.

 

Irene laughed and threw her car keys at Aaron, who quickly caught her. "What is this?" Aaron asked, his face puzzled.

 

"Crystal invited us to eat tteokbokki with her, so you drove my car to the restaurant."

 

"Then how about my car?"

 

"After eating tteokbokki, I can take you back to the office so you can get your car. Hurry up, don't you know that I don't like slow people?" Irene said as she stepped out of Aaron's room.

 

"How can such a person be so admired by the employees of this Company?" Aaron snorted, shaking his head slowly.

 

Aaron started to walk towards Irene, who had walked out first.

 

***

 

"Oh, Crystal apparently contacted me three times." When the car they were driving arrived at a restaurant where they used to hang out together, Aaron said as he stepped out.

 

Irene, who was too excited to meet Crystal, got to ignore Aaron's words and took the first step into the restaurant.

 

"Irene!" When Crystal saw Irene's steps enter the restaurant, she waved her hand.

 

While waving back to her old friend's hand, Irene continued to walk over to Crystal in her seat.

 

"Did you come alone?" Crystal inquired as Irene approached and attempted to sit down.

 

Irene shook her head and pointed to Aaron, who was now approaching the two of them.

 

"Hey! Lee Aaron, is your busy schedule affecting your ear health to the point where you can't hear my phone calls?" Crystal sneered as Aaron joined them at the table.

 

"I'm so sorry. It's just that I didn't hear a phone call from you. I appear to be very focused on work in the hours before I go home."

 

Crystal remained silent while making a mocking face at Aaron. When her two best friends arrived at the table, Crystal immediately ordered a menu for them to share.

 

"Could you please give us three servings of tteokbokki?" As a male servant approached Crystal, she said.

 

"Ah, no. Just two servings of tteokbokki. I'm not hungry yet," Aaron stated.

 

Crystal looked at Aaron "Then you're just going to watch us eat?"

 

Aaron nodded while Crystal looked back at the waitress who was still standing waiting for the three to mention their next order, “Okay, 2 servings of tteokbokki with 2 bottles of soju.”

 

"5 soju bottles." Now it was Irene's turn to speak.

 

"Hey! "Why did you order so much soju?" Crystal protested.

 

"Come on, just give it to me."

 

"Okay, Miss. Is there anything else?" said the waiter.

 

"That's it. Could you please return soon? We're already starving." Crystal said with a smile.

 

After nodding and smiling, the waiter returned to the ordering desk and handed over a piece of paper that he had written down at Crystal's table.

 

"Why does your face look so wrinkled today?" Crystal re-opened the conversation when she looked at Irene's face, which looked disinterested. Moreover, Crystal knows that tteokbokki is Irene's favorite food, especially tteokbokki made by the restaurant.

 

"Wasn't her face like that since a long time ago?" Aaron said.

 

"How dare you insult my face!" Irene exclaimed as she began to throw Aaron with the tissue box on the table.