Office Diaries - Chapter 180

Diabetes. The story was pure diabetes.

Even after a minute or two had passed, Yanee could still taste the sweet, sweet taste of the story in her mouth. She let out a dreamy sigh as she smiled at Anjee knowingly.

“What’s with that look?”Anjee asked, although her mouth had also twitched to the side to keep herself from smiling.

Yanee knew very well that being reminded with that moment brought insurmountable happiness to Anjee. After all, being confessed to on national television was a one of kind experience— very romantic too!

Ah… Butterflies flurried in her stomach, her ċhėst filled with happiness for her friend as well as she fought the urge to giggle.

Huh?

Yanee paused, amazed at how her mind and heart responded to the story.

“What…”

“What’s wrong?”Anjee asked her as she scrutinized her face, and Yanee finally snapped out of her reverie to shake her head with a smile.

“Nothing. I’m just amazed at how I react to romance in general now,” she confessed and Anjee grinned.

The singer’s eyes twinkled knowingly as well as she had an idea how allergic Yanee was with romance before— but of course, Yanee didn’t know that.

“You don’t find it too corny?”Anjee teased and Yanee laughed and shook her head again.

“I don’t. I mean, sure, maybe I would even cringe at the sweetness before, but…” Yanee paused and Anjee looked at her expectantly. “But these days, I’ve realized my horizon just expanded. It’s not that romance is completely unreal— it can be real with the correct people, correct circumstance.”

Anjee smiled and nodded. “But never forget that it’s not always sweet or romantic. Relationships need balance too. You cannot just be immersed in the feeling and ignore things around you, most especially when you have a career.”

It was now Yanee’s turn to nod. “Of course,” she agreed and then tilted her head at the other woman, remembering that this one was a busy singer while her husband’s a successful writer. Both had busy jobs. Realizing this, she couldn’t help but ask. “How do you and Peter manage it?”

Anjee laughed. “Balance. But of course, it can get so tricky most especially with my work and Peter’s…”

6 months after the live confession on television…

He was typing maniacally on the keyboard, his brows knit in concentration.

BANG!

The report of the rifle echoed in the woods as birds flew in all directions in fright. The smell of fresh blood traveled with the soft breeze and hounds barked in anticipation of the coming chase.

The frail form in tattered clothing stumbled on the ground and the berries, which had taken him hours to gather, fell on the dirt. Desperately, he gathered as much as he could in one swoop and resumed his flight. He was running for his life. His heart beat frantically as he ran, but the injury he had on his ankle from the rifle earlier was gradually making its presence known. The pain intensified with each step, but he ignored it. There were just too much at stake in his escape. He couldn’t risk himself being caught. “Brothers…”

He closed his eyes as an image of three children flashed in his mind, all dirty, hungry, and depending on him. He found his new strength to run. He needed to survive. “Hongki, Jaejin, Seung Hyun…”

BANG!

A sharp pain sliced through his flesh and he stumbled on the ground once more. His leg was numb and the smell of blood…

The smell of blood…WHAT?!

He pulled at his hair in annoyance. He was having it again. Writer’s block.

“What’s wrong?” Anjee asked as she entered the room carrying a hot cup of coffee and placed it on the table next to the ŀȧptop. Peter turned to her with a troubled expression and so she became worried. “Did something happen?”

“Anj,” Peter wailed like a little child as he pulled her into an embrace. “I’m dying.”

“WHAT?” She pushed herself from him so she could stare at his face. “What do you mean you’re dying?”

“The deadline for the new manuscript is near and I haven’t written a chapter yet,” he wailed. “Jun will kill me, so I’m dying.”

“Why didn’t you work on it sooner?” she asked as she sat back on his ŀȧp.

“Because it’s rare that you get to stay with me for a long time,” he answered.

Six months ago, after their not-so-formal announcement on national TV, Anjee’s career skyrocketed, and had been very busy with different activities. Peter who had to stay at home all the time because of his writing had developed a case of writer’s block from missing her so much.

“Are you blaming me now?” she countered cutely and he shook his head. “Then be a good boy and finish your work. Jun will be mad at me too if you do not finish your manuscript,” she added but Peter just looked more troubled.

“I can’t finish this,” the writer said stubbornly and she sighed. “Peter, finish the manuscript and then let’s go on vacation somewhere. How does that sound?”

Peter’s eyes widened like saucers with excitement and then his face darkened. “But I can’t finish this.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because it’s Le Désespoir.”

“What the heck is Le Désespoir?”

“It’s the title,” he wailed. “It’s French, meaning ‘despair’. I started this when we were still not together and I was really depressed. But now, I’m so happy with you. I’m far from feeling despair so I can’t finish it.”

“Then why don’t you just write something else?”

“Because I can’t write something else,” he answered stubbornly as he hugged her.

Peter was a writer of novels with dark themes. Writing something dark was kind of difficult when he’s living a world full of roses.

“Anj, I love you. Do you love me?”

Hearing the familiar and endearing question, Anjee smiled gently as she turned around to face him. “I do. I love you, Peter…” she answered easily and their lips met for a kiss.

“Anj…” he whispered as his hand ċȧrėssed the length of her thɨġh up to her hip. Before he could go further though, she broke the kiss and jumped from his ŀȧp. “Anj! Where are you going?”

“I need to go to work too,” she said cheekily as she stepped out of his reach.

“But …” Peter stood up and tried to grab onto her hand but the other sidestepped him and started to walk away. “Hey, you can’t just leave me like this!” he complained, but Anjee wasn’t stopping.

“I love you, Peter. Finish your work before Jun kills you okay? Then we’ll go on that vacation.”

“But…” Peter wailed but he obediently turned back to his ŀȧptop and started typing.

These busy lovers had a long way to go and need to work a lot on their careers and romance.