The Calm Before The Storm

In the headquarters of Care Industry, there was a warm café where employees and some superiors gathered for lunch. Pingguo was warmly welcomed there; all the waiters knew her, and even from a distance, she was recognizable by her feline and distinguished walk. Indeed, she was the only woman with such elegance here, aside from the models. Her entrance, under the watchful eyes, didn't please her companion. He looked at her, a grimace wrinkling his face. Yeongwon didn't like knowing that she was so admired; he didn't appreciate the attention people gave her now. In the past, when Pingguo had just arrived during their meeting, she was just a simple girl whom everyone looked down upon.

She was young, alone, and with a painful past. At that time, simple affection was enough to soothe her. And Yeongwon had somehow been her ray of sunshine; no one had ever been so kind to her, so Pingguo had simply mistaken love for sympathy. She had let him intrude into her life, until now. And Yeongwon refused to let his place as the hero in the life of a miserable girl, even if it meant persecuting her.

"Jagiya!" he shouted, waving his arm.

Pingguo stopped in her tracks, embarrassed by the looks. Until now, no one knew about her affair with the model, and there, in the midst of all her colleagues, Yeongwon made it clear that the field was taken and sealed by a single owner. She smiled discreetly and waved her arm, trying to cover her face. She joined the table, Yeongwon took her hand and kissed it.

"Stop," she submitted, "we are being watched."

"So what? It's also your fault," Yeongwon replied, sulking, "you make me jealous when I see all those admirers around you."

"What... are you talking about admirers, you?"

Yeongwon innocently scratched his head; he really had no reason to complain considering all the young girls who chased after him all day long.

"Ah... you're a bit right. But jagiya, I don't like it anyway. You know you're only mine, so I want them to know they missed their chance."

"You're talking nonsense..."

Pingguo smiled timidly, amused. Yeongwon pinched her cheeks, but immediately, she struggled because it embarrassed her, yet the young man continued. The couple's lunch arrived, a chicken salad for Pingguo and a plate of Italian pasta for Yeongwon; seeing his plate, his partner grimaced.

"You're supposed to watch your figure, right? The season is about to start, and you'll end up with a big belly if you keep eating this kind of stuff."

"Impossible! You know very well, I automatically burn the calories I take, I'm made for the job, so don't worry."

"Yes, sure. Come on, give me that."

The young woman exchanged their plates, while Yeongwon pleaded with his eyes. She looked him straight in the eyes while attacking her pretty plate with satisfaction.

"Mean..."

"It's for your own good; you'll thank me."

"You talk!"

They started eating in peace. Pingguo felt her anxiety decrease; in the end, it wasn't going so bad. They talked quietly, laughed, like a normal couple. It was these kinds of moments that made Pingguo think that maybe, if she remained cautious, she could manage to silence Yeongwon's bad side and keep only the loving, warm, and gentle one. The one she had always known. The young woman thought that the calm moment was the perfect time to talk to him about her current situation, the one concerning Taiyang's custody. If everything went well, Yeongwon would probably react positively and even support her decision.

"Ah! Jagiya, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yes," Yeongwon replied. "Tell me, is there something you want to tell me?"

Pingguo hesitated again, but anyway, she thought Yeongwon would eventually find out, and it was better that it came from her. The young woman bit her lower lip, uncertain.

"Well..."

Suddenly, her phone rang abruptly. Pingguo wanted to ignore the call at first, but she saw that it was from her boss. Without noticing, Yeongwon's expression changed radically when he understood that it was Yuanwei Hua. His eyes turned black with anger; he would have liked to reproach his fiancée for interrupting a conversation between them because of a call. She knew he didn't appreciate this kind of gesture; it was considered disrespectful and judgmental. Nothing was more important than Kim Yeongwon. However, reacting like "the Kim Yeongwon from before" would have pushed his fiancée away. The fiancé's goal was to truly win over Pingguo and succeed in persuading her to work for him, not for Yuanwei Hua.

Pingguo apologized to her fiancé, the latter gave her an angelic smile, claiming that he was not offended. The young woman leaves, without a real goodbye for Yeongwon.

"Damn Yuanwei Hua..."

Pingguo answered to her call.

"Hello?"

"He's crying," Yuanwei simply said.

"How so?"

"What do you mean 'how so'? What's confusing about: he's crying? The kid, he's screaming, and it's preventing me from concentrating."

"Ah! I'm coming right away. Try to stop him until I get there, please. I'm on my way!"

"Impossible, I can't touch him... and what if I hold him wrong and he breaks or something!"

"Breaks? It's not a toy or..."

Pingguo had forgotten Yuanwei Hua's antisocial side; it was pointless to try. She blew a kiss to her partner before rushing off; he remained stoic. Pingguo ran into the elevator, which she found horribly long. She could hear Taiyang screaming; he must have changed color at this rate.

"He's going to have a headache," Pingguo worried.

Yuanwei also saw it; the little one had turned as red as a tomato. Taiyang wriggled, screaming; he seemed to be in pain from shouting like that. Yuanwei wondered why he just didn't give up, and if he was making himself worse, it was better to stop. It was the same with adults; this little one wasn't to blame. But then again, it was ultimately a way for him to show how much he missed Pingguo's arms. Yuanwei watched the baby torture himself in his seat, wondering if his arms could somehow soothe the pain of his protector's absence.

Yuanwei definitely couldn't carry him; he didn't want the death of an infant on his conscience, so he looked for another way to calm him down. He rummaged through Pingguo's tote bag, filled with things for the little one.

"She has already bought so many things... that's all she knows, spending without counting."

In the bag, he found several toys. Yuanwei waved them one by one, but none brought more joy to Taiyang. He blushed and often stopped to catch his breath before expelling his sadness. Fortunately, the glass walls of the office were soundproof, or they wouldn't be able to work, Yuanwei thought. Then, at the bottom of the bag, the young man came across a pacifier. He took it and put it in the baby's mouth; after a while, Taiyang finally stopped crying.

"At last..."

Yuanwei took his hand off the pacifier and turned his back on the baby; immediately, Taeyang started crying again. So Yuanwei went back and returned the pacifier to him; once again, Taiyang calmed down. But as soon as he turned his back, the baby started to grimace.

"Okay, okay. I got it," Yuanwei capitulated, sitting in front of the little one. "You're driving me crazy..."

Yuanwei remained sitting on the floor, near the seat, holding the pacifier in Taiyang's mouth. Every time he sucked on it, Yuanwei felt it move. Up close, it was rather cute to see a baby sucking on a pacifier. The thought reassured Yuanwei that maybe he was starting to be infected by Pingguo's madness. The young man was more than uncomfortable; he didn't think he had the tact needed to move Taiyang, so he had to sit on the floor, dirtying his suit.

"This girl... she's going to drive him completely crazy," Yuanwei sighed, loosening his tie, "unbelievable."

Pingguo descended from the elevator and ran to her boss's office; the idea that Taiyang was probably in danger couldn't leave her. She finally arrived; the young woman opened the door with a bang.

"I'm here!"

She didn't even finish her sentence; her boss behind his desk signaled her to be quiet and pointed to the baby seat, where Taeyang was peacefully sleeping. Pingguo found it hard to believe; Yuanwei had really calmed the little one. She cautiously approached the seat next to his desk; Taeyang was sleeping. As a precaution, Pingguo ran her index finger under his nose; he was still breathing.

"Yah, do you really think I'm that cruel?" Yuanwei looked at her, stunned, unhappy. The young woman gave a nervous smile and bowed. She approached him, taking small steps. Pingguo leaned on her desk, looking cheerful.

"Thank you, sir. I'm sorry, and really, thank you. You'll see, I'll work hard to repay you. By the way, I invite you to dinner, what do you say?"

Yuanwei looked at her then returned his eyes, framed in his glasses, to his documents.

"No, thanks. Back off."

"Of course. I'll go back to work, okay? And tomorrow, I'll invite you to dinner."

"I said no."

"Yes, we'll go to a nice restaurant where they make good barbecue."

Yuanwei preferred not to answer; he didn't want Pingguo to infect him like she had already infected Taiyang. And after Pingguo's return, the baby didn't cry for the rest of the day until the end of the shift.

8:30 PM

Pingguo left the office at the same time as her boss, like every evening. They went down together to the ground floor. In gratitude, Pingguo accompanied her boss to his car parked in the underground parking lot. After all, what she really wanted was for him to give her a ride because the baby seat was becoming heavy to carry.