Noelle took a look around to see who she was addressing. No sign of him.

What did you expect silly girl? Him waiting at the door just for you?"

The office was quite spacious. White was the dominant color, with many neon details around, giving it an energetic and dynamic feeling. There were two comfortable white sofas close to the door, where a beautiful woman and a sympathetic man were sitting. Behind that cozy living room area, there were four desks, currently empty except for one where a young man was sitting –not exactly just a young man, rather an impressive young god. 

Next to him, she saw Chloe, her temporary boss, standing at the door of a separate office with glass walls, that was clearly hers. When they entered, Chloe walked towards her. 

"Noelle! It's been a while! Welcome!" Chloe said, shaking her hand firmly. 

"Nice to be here. Thank you, Mrs. Pyo" Noelle replied. 

They had met a month ago during the interview. Chloe was open and supportive with her back then. Noelle felt that they would collaborate smoothly. 

"Guys, this is Noelle Auclair. She is a post-graduate student who was selected for an internship and will be joining the team for the next three months. I will be helping her with her thesis, and I hope you will show her how we do things around here, so she can learn more about the business. As you can see, she speaks Korean very well, and we can help her to improve even further", Chloe said to the rest of them. 

"Let me introduce the rest" she continued. "You met Mi-Suk. She is a very important member of the team, as she handles all of our social media". That was where Noelle knew her from. She the one filming many of his videos, and uploading them on the social. 

"Here is Ho Sang-Jun. He is responsible for media and public relations" Chloe continued, pointing toward the guy sitting at his desk.  

Noelle, of course, knew exactly who he was. The former band member, a talented boy with high potential who had just dropped out one day. He studied and then returned to work with his friend. 

"Nice to meet you, Noelle" he told her, politely but somehow coldly. 

"Likewise" she replied. Her cheeks flushed when their gazes met.  

"And here is our beauty queen! Si Dan-Bi, our styling advisor" Chloe continued, gesturing toward the beautiful woman on the sofa. 

Noelle knew her as well. After reading about her in an article, she had looked her up, and since then had been following her on her channels, where she gave advice on fashion and makeup. She had learned a thing or two from her over the years, and now she was finally meeting her in person. 

"Nice to meet you, sweetie!" Dan-Bi said, surprising Noelle with her cordial and straightforward attitue. 

"And finally, Kim Kang-Dae. We call him the co-pilot, as he usually helps us around with any crazy task we're working on and facilitates our work" Chloe said, indicating the last person in the room, a kind-looking man. Noelle hadn't heard anything about him, but how could she have known everything, right? 

"Welcome, Noelle!" he said, getting up to greet her and they shook hands, returning the greeting. 

"In this office, apart from visitors, you'll usually only see us. Kang-Dae and Dan-Bi aren't stationed here, but they come and go frequently. Ah! And the person whose name is on the door drops by now and then, but he's not around these days. Sang-Jun, the photoshoot is today, correct?" Chloe asked, turning to him for confirmation. 

"Yes, in about an hour. I'll be joining him" Sang-Jun replied. 

"Great! That will last the whole day, right?" Chloe wanted to know. 

"More or less" Sang-Jun said. 

"Nice. So, back to you, Noelle, would you like to share anything?" Chloe said. 

Oh, she wasn't prepared for something like that and felt her ears turning red. No matter how many presentations she had made, and how comfortably she could talk in front of an audience about any subject, talking about herself always made her freak out.  

"Um... not much. I'm Noelle, from France—Strasbourg actually. I’m an economics graduate and I've been studying here for a year, for my Master in Business Administration. I'm looking forward to working with all of you!" she said, as casually as she could. 

"We're looking forward to it, too, and we'll all get to know each other better. Now, you must visit the HR department for some paperwork. Mi-Suk, please take her upstairs and get back quickly; we need to discuss the issue I mentioned earlier" Chloe said decisively. 

She liked her style. She looked confident and decisive. Noelle knew a couple more things about Chloe, though. She had graduated from the same university Noelle was now attending, and she had worked really hard in the industry. 

She was also the mother of a seven-year-old boy she had been raising alone since a bad divorce, and she liked taking photos—her Instagram was full of great shots! Even though all these details made Noelle admire her even more, she knew she should be careful not to show that she knew anything. 

"Yes, ma'am! Let's go, Noelle!" Mi-Suk said, and Noelle followed her. "Everyone is great! We’ll all help you! We're very happy to have new blood on board!" she chattered on their way to the stairs. 

Mi-Suk guided her to the HR department, and left. Noelle stayed there for a while. She had contracts and declarations to sign, was informed about certain technicalities, and was given a laptop and an entrance card. About thirty minutes later, she put the brand-new laptop in her bag and headed for the stairs, a pack of contracts for Chloe to countersign in her hands. 

It was easy enough to find her way back to the office. She nodded to Ari as she passed by and kept moving. After a few steps, she heard Ari giggle and offer a silly "Hello!", but she didn't want to seem curious or snoopy on her first day, so she kept walking without looking back. 

She reached the office door, shifted all the papers to her right hand, and grabbed the knob. She pulled it like Mi-Suk had done before. It was a heavy door, unfortunately, and it seemed she would have to struggle a bit. But suddenly, the door became as light as a feather. 

And she felt a presence behind her. 

Someone was standing there, holding the door open. She turned to her left and saw an arm just above her head. She turned a little more and realized who the arm belonged to. 

The guy whose name was on the door was standing right in front of her. 

She felt like all the blood drained from her body in one second, only to come rushing back a moment later. One moment she was cold as ice, the next hot as hell. She couldn't think of anything; she could only look at him, gasping. He was looking right back at her, a smile on his face. 

Oh, shit!