Office Diaries - Chapter 175

“Mr. Kim? Mr. Kim?”

Peter felt a sharp jab in his rib and he flinched. Annoyed, his eyes zeroed on his editor who was sitting across from him, wearing an equally annoyed expression on her face.

“What?” the writer snapped.

“What do you mean what? I have been talking here for a long time and you were not listening to me,” Jun Kim answered with a false laugh as she nervously looked around them to see if there were people who can hear them.

Ever the professional, Jun refused to call him by his given name when they meet up for business.

“If you want me to listen to you, why don’t you just call me Peter Choi like you always do? You’re always saying Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim— I thought you were talking to yourself.”

“Haha, funny,” Jun Kim muttered as she frowned at her friend. “We’re outside so this is business. You were the one who chose your pen name so why are you complaining now?” he asked, referring to Peter’s alias, Anter Kim. “Anter” was a mix of his and Anjee’s names while Kim was a common family name in Korea where they lived.

“Yeah, yeah,” Peter muttered, choosing to ignore the comment and to start cooperating.

He’d give anything to be able to go back home right now. For hours since he came to this restaurant to discuss the book he just wrote, he had been restless and hadn’t stop looking at his watch from time to time.

Ever since that day when he had nearly made love to Anjee, the latter hadn’t shown up at his place. She didn’t even pick up his calls which made the writer depressed. Since Anj had a habit of popping at his house, Peter hoped that she would do that again and so he had holed up at his place. If it weren’t for the fact that he had to discuss the book with his editor and Jun Kim knew that they wouldn’t be able to do that at the writer’s house for Peter had a habit of spacing out when he’s at home and not working, the writer wouldn’t have been dragged out of the house to this restaurant.

“So what were you saying?” Peter prompted as he picked up his fork and started stabbing the steak in front of him.

Usually he would be eating with gusto, but at his present state, with his emotions running rampant, the chunk of meat didn’t have its usual appeal.

“I was telling you that I’ve finished reading Pathos,” Jun said, referring to the manuscript Peter wrote. “I think…”

“It’s different?” Peter supplied the word since the editor seemed to be lacking it.

“Yes, it’s different but,” Jun’s eyes sparkled as she recalled the story which she had finished editing the previous night. “But in a very good way.”

With this, Peter’s brows rose. Jun Kim was an editor, but she’s one that didn’t give out compliments easily. Saying that the book he had written was different in a good way was something.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you write something with a romantic theme,” she said. “Even the beginning of the story wherein the baby was abandoned and she was picked up by a prȯstɨtutė, it was heartwarming and yet heartbreaking at the same time.”

“Really? I guess so,” Peter commented, but he wasn’t really interested.

“Where did you get the idea for this piece?” Jun inquired after a while. “The name of your protagonist, the one who fell in love with the businessman was Anjee. But, you have a friend named Anjee in real life, right?” the editor continued thoughtfully, and then her eyes widened as she realized something. “Wait! You named the businessman after your real name so it means… it means…that you to Anjee…”

With Jun finding out his secret, Peter stared at his editor, wide-eyed. “I-is that very obvious?”

At his flustered look, Jun chuckled. “Well yes— no, not really. Maybe not to those who do not know your real name. For them, this may be just pure make-believe, but I guess for you that’s not the case right?”

“Yeah,” Peter sighed heavily, his frustrations making his shoulder slump. “I’ve tried everything for that girl to know how I feel. But everything I did just wouldn’t get through her.”

As a last resort, he unconsciously poured all his feelings in his new piece, used their real names in the novel, and now his editor found out.

“I just want Anjee to know that I’m seriously in love with her,” he grumbled as he grabbed a glass of wine and drank it in one go.

“You want to express how you feel?” Jun looked thoughtful for a moment before she grinned. “Well, Mr. Anter Kim, I have a better idea.”

“Really? What is it?”

“Have you ever heard of dedications?” the editor asked making Peter stop to think and then a smile finally played on his lips.

In all the years Peter Choi wrote as Anter Kim, he’d never used the section for authors to dedicate the book to someone.

“It’s like an all-out love confession huh?” Peter asked as he nodded. “Well, I guess that’s the only way she’d ever understand.”

With this, Jun Kim clapped her hands together. She looked and acted very excited about the idea.

“When do you think you can pen one?” she asked with eyes that seemed to glitter in anticipation.

“As soon as I get my bearings together,” he retorted.

He was embarrassed in all honesty. It felt like he had laid his heart bȧrė for everyone to see and judge him. Even if Jun seemed to be happy about it and was even excited about it, he still felt awkward and hesitant. It was him that would be stripped nȧkėd and seen once the book came out, after all.

“Then get your bearings as soon as possible. The printers will not wait forever,” Jun reminded him and he snorted.

“I don’t need the extra pressure, thank you very much.”