Page 9 of Fallen Starboy

Their presence off-stage was just as intimidating.

Unless, of course, you knew them and their real selves. Which I did.

“You can drop the bad guy act, Minseo. I know better.” My eyes cut to the left, catching his sneer before he managed to wipe it off his lips. “How long are the two of you here?”

“Til tomorrow,” Minseo said, just as Yang-Jin muttered “through the weekend.”

I quirked a brow. “Having a misunderstanding?”

Their faces mirrored each other as they went into defensive mode, hiding their lies under silence. That was fine; they could play this game with each other. I had big girl shit to do.

Like my normal job. The one that just so conveniently got me as far away as possible from my ex, and the daughter I abandoned.

“Sorry, boys, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have important shit to do, so if you don’t mind—” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, swiping the screen over to search through my contacts list. “I’ll be going.”

“Sure, go ahead,” Minseo erupted, rage etched into every line of his body. “Walk away again. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”

Like a dagger straight in my heart, he wounded me with no concern for my emotions. It didn’t matter if he didn’t know the truth, hethoughthe did. And the truth he knew wasn’t the right one, but it was the only one, and I wasn’t fond of the idea of shattering his delusions.

If they hated me, it made it all easier. There wasn’t room between hatred and resentment for me to catch feelings or get attached.

“Yeah, sure, I’m good at that,” I muttered, shaking his hand off my shoulder. “So let me do what I do best.”

I marched off before either of them could say another word.

The next two days passed in relative silence. On day three, however, I got a call from my boss, inviting me to join her for an impromptu meeting with the department head. Like any good employee vying for a promotion, I didn’t bat an eyelash before marching my ass into that conference room ten minutes early, ready for anything.

Okay, soanythingwas an exaggeration, as it turned out. I wasn’t prepared to see the other person in the room.

Jun.

His eyes found me the second I walked in, then cut away, staring pointedly out the window at nothing. My boss, whose job was about to be open once he worked out his remaining days to retirement, sat in the chair at the head of the table, his lips pursed as he watched the client—or prospective client. I still hadn’t heard whether or not he’d signed the altered contract. As a matter of fact, I’d thrown myself into other jobs over the weekend in the hopes I could forget all about the awkward reuniting with my ex in the hotel conference room.

The other person in the room was Ms. Steele herself, holding what looked like one of our run-of-the-mill contracts.

But why was she here? The head of the agency rarely got involved, and certainly not with things as mundane as a contract negotiation.

She held out a hand and motioned for me to take a seat next to Jun. I wasn’t about to disobey, but the way his whole body tensed as I lowered myself into the chair to his left didn’t go unnoticed.

I held my breath, waiting to see what this meeting was all about. If Jun was here, then it wasn’t about a promotion.

“I hear you’re gunning to take Ryan’s seat when he goes into retirement, Rizzo. That true?”

I dared to glance in Ms. Steele’s direction. “That’s correct, yes.”

Her brow quirked in shock, perhaps at my candor, or perhaps the balls it took to outright claim your ambitions, even in today’s career world. “And you’d do anything to secure that position, I assume?”

That was the million-dollar question. I could go any direction with the answer, but from one woman to another, I didn’t think she was looking for the standard answers that men in my position would give. I leaned into the female stereotype and opted for funny.

“Well, I draw the line at sleeping with you, Ms. Steele. You’re attractive, but unfortunately, not my type.”

The answering smile on her face, accompanied by the choking sounds from the men in the room, told me I’d picked right.

“You’re cocky, sassy, and confident. I like that about you, Rizzo.” She tapped those expensively manicured nails on the table, then stood, marching over to the window where she could look down on the rest of the city like a queen did her subjects. “So I’m going to make you the offer of a lifetime.”

The chair creaked a bit as I leaned back in it, crossing my arms. “I’m listening.”

“Our newest addition to the agency, Mr. Kim Seo-Jun, needs a temporary all-rounder. You know the ins and outs of operation at the management level, according to your original resume you submitted to us when you were hired, isn’t that correct?”

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