Mornings - They hold an undeniable significance in people's lives as they are the start of every new day!

People love them because, when it's morning, a new day starts, and when a new day starts, it's time to let go of all those petty things that kept bothering you till last night.

Be it the embarrassment you faced because the information you strongly believed and argued to be right was proved wrong by someone with the help of the mighty google, or, how you forgot to take your umbrella, got completely drenched in rain and got your new dress spoiled... 

Be it anything that caused your mood to shift from a happy to sad one, it's time to move on from it and start a brand-new day with a brand-new energy.

But... The other huge set of people hate them because, when it's morning, a new day starts, and when a new day starts... It's time to pull those blankets off your body and get into that repeating cycle of living.

And Dayun definitely, fell into the second set of people. 

But who can blame the poor girl when the day was - A Monday!

Dayun rushed through her company's entrance disturbing the peaceful lives of a few pigeons in the process. She may have done it with a little intention caused by jealousy towards the birds as they have no work to do and fly off whenever they please, unlike her, who has to work to everyday all-day.

Her run continued to her office hallways as she desperately prayed for someone to not be present... That someone happened to be her boss, known to everyone as the young and hard-working CEO of MoonTalks - Moon Insoo.

When she reached his office after having a straight 7-minute run, she placed her hands hard against the walls of his office room to prevent the damage her head would have to suffer if hit against it.

Only after witnessing the empty seat of his room did her body calm down and relax with a 'Phew' as she rubbed the sweat off her forehead.

A small smile grew on her face as she mumbled to herself, "Today is my lucky day, I guess. Thankfully he is not here yet." She said panting hard due to running all the way here. But who cares, her boss isn't here yet, her heart started to grow relieved.

...

But...

...

"Who... is not here yet?"

A voice that she hoped to not hear whispered close behind her back. A little too close as she could feel his breath on her shoulders. The man too looked inside the room from behind her, curious.

...

His act made Dayun carefully and slowly turn her head to look at the face of her boss who was looking through the glass doors of his room staring at the same empty chair she was looking at seconds ago. Sensing her eyes on him, he leisurely diverted his gaze from the empty chair, which was probably getting a lot of attention, to stare at her eyes. It was then that Dayun realized... the patheticness of the moment.

*Thud*

She fell to the floor with her back flat against it followed by a scream. A scream that gathered the attention of almost all the employees who were until then doing their jobs in peace.

"What? Were you expecting that 'I' wouldn't have come?" He, who had walked right in the moment to end the woman's short-lived happiness, asked with an unbothered expression, holding his morning coffee. The commotion didn't affect him a bit. 

Dayun moved her hair that was preventing her from seeing the man's face. Then... On realising the awkward position her body was in, she quickly stood up and corrected her dress, simultaneously asking for apology, "I- I'm sorry sir..." 

Apology is the key to every mistake you've done, right? But not when you're late for the tenth time in a month that has had only ten working days.

"You've broken a record, Ms. Ro." Insoo's expressionless face showed a slight sign of excitement.

"Wh- What?" The girl was confused.

"Yes, you have! This is the farthest you've gone with being late." He said looking at the watch that hung around his wrist. 

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You're 13 minutes and 52 seconds late. Your last record being 10 minutes and 10 seconds. That's an amazing thing to do on the first day of the week. Congrats!...... But, I'm a bit sad that your 10-10 record had to be broken like that, though."

"Sir, I- Actually, I was-" She tried to explain herself and make those lame excuses like any other human would do when arrived late.

"Cut the crap." He roared. The liberty of a few seconds changed the atmosphere from a fun to a cold one. "Don't make any excuses. You know I hate them. Every single one of us have a thousand of reasons to be late, but a difference is made among us where the responsible ones overcome those reasons to be on time while the irresponsible ones like yourself don't do that."

'Here we go again...'

"On top of that, you... are my Secretary. And secretaries arrive before the bosses do. But I, being a generous man, don't ask you to come before me, I'm asking you to just be on time and you couldn't even do that! Don't you know that next to me, it's you... who holds the most responsibility. In my absence, it's you... who has to make sure the others come on time and do their work properly. But how can you do that when you are late yourself?!...."

*Sighs*

"Look... I'm starting to think that you've become unbothered and irresponsible since you've worked here for four months and not just a newbie anymore. Is that so?" He finished his long speech of vigorous hand gestures explaining his agony, with a question.

"No sir... It's definitely not like that. I'll- I'll try my best to be on time." She was quick to deny the conclusion her boss had brought upon her.

"Not words. I believe in action, Ro Dayun. I want action. Understood?" He put forth his demand.

'You want action? Then, you should be in a cinema theatre. At least I would have been at peace.' She wanted to say but ended up with an, "Okay sir", with her head facing the floor.

"Loud!" He demanded. And it made her raise her head to face him again.

"Okay sir. I understood." Her voice came a bit louder.

He nodded and with that, he went inside his room sipping his coffee.

She watched him leave.

...

'If he had not become a CEO, then he surely would have become a Politician... He speaks without break...' She sighed.

"I mean, how does he even speak like that? He doesn't make his lungs work much." She thought back to all the things her boss told her seconds ago.

"Hey Dayun, had a rough morning again?" The owner of the voice approached Dayun.

Jung Jaemi, the only person she has close to a friend in the office.

"Why do you ask about that Jaemi, I was too late today, aargh..." Dayun said massaging her temples.

"Oh, leave it, he's too strict anyways. Wanna have some coffee?" She was quick to divert the mood and dragged her before she could open her mouth to answer.

~

~

Dayun's POV,

We both were sipping our hot coffee mugs. Ironically, the hot coffee, cooled me down. It has become our regular habit... to drink coffee whenever we were tensed.

"Look, hot coffee is such a help." She spitted facts.

"Yeah... But I was 13 minutes and 42 seconds late today, Jae-mi, or was it 52? I'm not sure. It doesn't matter. Either way, I was too late today." I once again thought back to what he had said and suddenly another thought popped inside my head. "What if he fires me?" my eyes grew wide dreading the possibility.

"What?... Noo... Why would he do that?" She looked at me like I was trash talking. "Look, if he wanted to fire you, you wouldn't even be standing here right now... You may not know him well since you've worked for him just for a few months, but I... have seen people getting fired on their first day of work... he keeps you because he wants you - Trust the five-year experience of this legend here." She pointed at herself.

I giggled at that and somehow got relaxed. "You've got a point there."

"Was it because of Iseul?" She asked knowingly.

I nodded.

"That girl... Getting her to school is the hardest thing ever..." Panic washed over my face as the events of getting her ready, came to my mind. "I'd rather climb Mt. Everest." I said sipping my coffee.

It was her time to laugh. But her face quickly turned serious as she asked,

"But why don't you tell our boss about her? He could understand-"

"No..." I was quick to deny. "You know I can't go around telling people I have a daughter. Having a daughter at my age, I don't think it will sit well with whoever comes to know that... I got rejected twice in job interviews. They thought ill of me, because I was a single mother and had a daughter at a rather young age. I don't want that to happen again... Even you were a bit unsettled when I told you, weren't you?" She slowly nodded thinking about what people would say if they knew about Iseul. "Plus, even if I tell him, nothing would change. He's too perfectionist of a person to consider this as an excuse..."

"Yeah, you're right..." She agreed.

Suddenly, we heard someone calling my name, "Ro Dayun! Where's my schedule?" Moon Insoo shouted.

"Speak of the devil...... See you around." I told Jae-mi and started walking towards his office as I screamed back, "Bringing..."

~

~

~

Nothing much happened that day. Everything was the usual. I informed Moon Insoo of his schedule and went along with it. We attended a couple of meetings, discussed a few business plans and just like that the day was done as soon as it started.

I went to my table and proceeded to pack up for the day when my eyes landed on the calendar that was placed on my desk. I remembered the day when I started to work here and a lot of different memories rushed to my mind.

...

It has not been longer than 4 months since I moved back to seoul with Iseul and started working at Moontalks. But I already feel like I've spent a long time here...

Hadn't they given me promotion and increased my salary two folds, I wouldn't even have considered moving back to this place. They didn't give me any other option too.

My thoughts shifted back to the time when I was still working at an almost remote place in Muan. And I remembered how I had to leave that place...

Flashback 

"Ms. Ro, you're being promoted as the secretary of the CEO. So, you don't have to work here anymore."

"Really?" I asked with a confused look.

"Yes, you'll be working at the main branch from now."

"Oh..." I took my time to take in the news. And I suddenly realised what it meant.

"Wait... What? Main company? As in the one which is at Seoul?!"

"Yes, of course in Seoul, do we have our main company at any places other than Seoul?"

"No, but, sir... I... I'm happy to work here. Must I go? Can't I stay?"

Seoul? No, not again.

"No, you can't. Don't you know that our branch is getting closed? All the employees are already being transferred."

"Yeah, but... can't I be transferred to any other place? Any place other than Seoul would be fine." I tried to persuade him.

"No, It's not possible Dayun." He was persistent. "You should be grateful that you're being transferred to Seoul and not some small town. You'd have a better life style and you'd work directly work under the CEO, even your salary would increase two folds."

"That's right sir... But..."

Seoul has better schools too. Iseul could be at a better place. Right? I gave it a second thought.

"Don't think much Ms. Ro. This is a great opportunity. You must have the talent they require for them to give you such an opportunity. I say, go for it." He advised.

"Yeah sir, I'll give it a thought. Thank you."

Flashback ends.

So, that's the story of how I came here.

Initially, it was hard to keep up and I was constantly getting shouted at by Moon Insoo for messing things up. My work too increased two folds just like my salary and I struggled to manage things. But I did and am doing my best to adapt to this new workplace and life. So far, it's been nice except for a few small bumps here and there. Other than that, I'm doing good...

Or I should say I was doing good, actually. Because ever since school started, I had an additional task of getting my daughter ready for school and I also had to make her do her homework too. Ahh... It has been so tiring and I am still learning to adapt.

*sighs*

After bundling up all the completed files, I proceeded to pack my things and then I'd be done for the day. I took my handbag and walked towards Mr.Moon's room to inform him that I was leaving.

The office was empty and everybody had already left. But since I'm his secretary, I shouldn't leave early.

Secretaries come first, leave last. And since I don't follow the first one, I planned to follow the latter at least.

~

It was already 6... I went to his room and peeked through the glass door. He was still working.

I carefully knocked on his door.

To be continued...