The double doors of the CEO's office never failed to make Lalisa's insides churn.

She'd been here countless times before - when she'd first arrived at YG Entertainment, when she was chosen to be a part of the Pink Punk lineup, when she was called for their postponed debut, when she was chosen to be a part of BLACKPINK, and many other times where she made mistakes that put the company into shame.

But right now, she didn't really know what the hell she was doing here. She tried to recount her memory... and came up with nothing. Lisa did not do anything wrong - well, at least that's what it seemed like to her.

Manager Jung opened the doors, stepping aside to let her in first. They both exchanged a knowing glance before she entered, expecting to see the new CEO but found no one.

As if noticing her distress, Secretary Gong spoke, "The CEO would arrive shortly. She still had a business dinner with one of our investors but she's on her way now."

Lisa nodded, "Alright." Whatever.

No one inside uttered a word as the minutes passed by. She could sense the growing tension from her manager, since it was his first time meeting the new CEO was well. Secretary Gong was just standing there at the corner, her eyes glued to her tablet.

The sight of her alone made Lisa want to throw a pillow at her head.

Refraining herself from doing so, she resorted to checking her watch again - but what she saw made eyes widen like saucers. It's fucking 7:20 pm.

Jeongguk.

"Manager Jung," She started, disturbing the silence in the room, "Can I borrow my phone, please? I need to text my unnies. I told them I'd treat them tonight and they're probably expecting me." She spoke hurriedly, thinking of Jeongguk. He must be worried sick now.

"There's no need," Secretary Gong said from the corner, looking up from her tablet, "I've already informed Jennie so you don't need to worry about anything."

She nodded, fists clenched, "Manager Jung... can I..." Lisa trailed off, not knowing what excuse to say. She kept her mouth shut instead and lowered her eyes to the ground. Great, Lalisa.

Jeongguk was probably wondering where she was right now.

Shit.

▪️

Jeongguk stared at his phone.

It was thirty minutes past 7 now, and Lalisa still wasn't here. He'd sent her a string of messages yet she didn't read any of them and all his calls went immediately to voice mail. Where the hell was she?

His eyes turned to the still-burning candles atop the table. It had been burning like that for an hour and the wax was already melted halfway through. Sighing, he blew the candles - dimming the entire room.

The food that he'd prepared had gone cold and the bluetooth speaker needed to be recharged. It stopped playing a few minutes ago, much to his annoyance. He had to buy a new one - again.

Maybe the traffic was heavy or something, he thought as he checked his phone once more.

Like always, there was no reply.

▪️

After thirty excruciating minutes of waiting, the CEO finally arrived.

By this time, Lalisa turned from calm and collected to fidgety and anxious. She couldn't stop her fingers from shaking as who seemed to be like the CEO entered the room. Pale with long black hair, shorter than her by a few inches. She had an air of elegance around her as she greeted the three of them with a nod.

"Sorry for the tardiness, everyone, Mr. Choi was insistent," She said with a chuckle as she settled into her seat, "I'm Hwang Bo-kyung, new CEO of YG Entertainment."

Automatically, her manager went forward and shook her hand, "I am Jung Bo Kyung, ma'am, BLACKPINK's manager."

"And I am Lisa, a member of BLACKPINK." She dipped her chin as she shook her hand.

The CEO gave them a small smile, "I apologize for this urgent meeting. I don't have any available schedules except for tonight so I knew I had to meet you, Lalisa."

She tilted her head, "Um, may I ask why, CEO Hwang?"

"I've met with the rest of the board the other day and we discussed about you - your group specifically," The CEO pulled out a stack of papers in her desk, "Since I am now the CEO, I would like to impose new rules for our only female group in this company."

"New rules?"

"Ever since the prostitution mediation, tax evasion and cover-up of a drug scandal, our stocks have been plummeting along with ex CEO Yang's resignation," She sighed, "Our artists' safety has been on the line as well."

Lisa's jaw dropped, "What? What happened?"

CEO Hwang waved her hand, "It's not important," Not important?! "The point here is, we cannot risk our girl group as well, which is why I fixed some things in your contract."

Her eyes turned to her manager, who had the same look of confusion in his face.

"For BLACKPINK, security would be increased. Body guards would follow you everywhere you go. There would at least be four body guards in your dorm, one for each of you. You are not allowed to go anywhere without them." Lisa gulped, "Next, no clubbing, drinking, and driving, as usual."

"Okay, ma'am."

"Lastly, your dating ban would be extended for two more years," CEO Hwang gave her a look that she couldn't recognize, "After that Jennie and Kai scandal, they've sent your member death threats and we can't risk another member having one as well. The company's image was trashed because of it." She shook her head, "As for now, I would like to keep you all monitored 24/7 and like I mentioned before, with body guards at all times."

Lisa couldn't comprehend what was happening. That look she gave her... it sent chills down her spine. "What do you mean, ma'am?"

"In simpler terms, you girls shouldn't involve yourself in relationships first, especially in secret ones." She felt her heart drop, "You knew what happened to Jennie." Of course Lisa knew, Jennie said they threatened her. "Not that I'm saying you're involved in any, but you aren't, right?"

She shook her head, "No, ma'am, of course not."

"Good. You better not."

Her sudden change of tone surprised her. It sounded like she was accusing her, "Excuse me?"

"I've always loved YG Ent., ever since I came to work here 15 years ago." Lisa couldn't understand anything, "I love it with my entire heart, every fiber in my being." The woman smiled to herself, "I would do anything and everything just to keep it safe from harm - especially from its own artists."

"What are you talking about, ma'am?" Manager Jung asked from her side. He, too, was skeptical.

Did she know?

"What I'm saying is that whoever taints the name of YG Entertainment, they would face the consequences." Her eyes turned to Lisa, yet again. "No matter who you are, no matter where you came from, I'll bring you down."

The entire office was silent.

The CEO put her hands together and said, "That's all for tonight, thank you so much for coming."

Lalisa and Manager Jung both stood up, bowed, and left the room.

As soon as they were out, she turned to her manager and asked him sharply, "What the hell was she talking about?"

Manager Jung shrugged, "I don't even know. I guess she's really overprotective over the company, huh?"

"I guess, she looked like she was willing to sacrifice her life for it." She snorted, "The way she told me about that dating thing creeped me out. It's not like I was doing anything wrong."

"Well, maybe you don't know it yet." He replied as the elevator doors opened. There was no one inside, luckily.

"Don't know what?"

"Don't know what you're doing wrong." He pressed the ground floor button and continued, "You know what, I've heard from other employees that CEO Hwang is not to be messed with."

"Huh? Why?"

"They didn't tell me, but she's scary. I don't know why but she's said to be worse that CEO Yang himself." Bo Kyung fished something out from his pocket and handed it to her, "Anyway, here's your phone."

Lalisa clutched it and immediately turned it on. There, on the lock screen, she'd received 22 messages and six missed calls from Jeongguk - which was not a good thing. It was past 8 o'clock now, and she still had to go back to her dorm to get changed.

8:34 pm

LALISA

guk?

I'm sorry I

didn't text you

my manager

took my phone

i'll go there

in a bit, just

need to get

changed.

i'm really,

really sorry

As the doors of the elevator opened, she dashed outside to the awaiting car and went on her way home.

▪️

Jeongguk slowly rose up from the chair as the clock from the living room read 8:00 pm.

His stomach started growling but he didn't bother eating because he wanted to wait for her. Still, Lisa wasn't here.

He was starting to feel hopeless. He felt like she wasn't coming, but he had no idea why. She should've texted him, not stood him up. Now, his ego and his pride were bruised and he felt like he couldn't face his hyungs because of the embarrassment. They prepared everything for the both of them but she didn't show up.

He almost started to pity himself for looking like an idiot, but meh, he decided against it. Maybe she fell asleep.

He grabbed the vacuum cleaner from the storage room and pursed his lips before he vacuumed the rose petals from the kitchen until the entrance of the apartment.

The candles from the table were returned back into the cupboard and the chicken wings was placed in the refrigerator along with the two bibimbap. He decided he didn't have the appetite to eat after all that.

Exhausted, hopeless, and embarrassed, Jeongguk went into his room and slowly drifted to sleep.

▪️

15 minutes was all it took her to get changed and hail a cab from Bamseom to Hannam. Jennie had asked her multiple questions about the meeting with the CEO as she arrived home but she wasn't able to answer them all. Jeongguk was her priority as of the moment and nothing else.

As she went out of the taxi, Lalisa rushed inside and took the elevator without looking back. Her watch said that it was 9:30 pm, making her heart beat faster. Hurry, Lisa, hurry.

She made him wait for more than three hours and she felt bad about it. I just hope he isn't mad at me. I should've tried harder to get my phone back and inform him.

The elevator doors opened and she almost ran to the door of his apartment. Lisa almost wept as she reached the entrance and grabbed the spare key Jeongguk gave her from her back pocket.

She struggled with opening the door as her hands were shaking, but she managed.

Her expectations of him sitting there and waiting for her crumbled when she saw that the entire place was dark and it was silent in the living room.

Blinded by the darkness, her hands crept up to the walls and found the light switch, immediately turning it on.

No sign of the guy or his members.

Lisa walked to Jeongguk's room as the kitchen was empty and knocked thrice, "Guk? It's me, Lisa. I'm here now."

Seconds passed, no reply.

Still, she carefully opened the door to his room and slipped her head in. There he was. The sight of him sleeping peacefully made her knees weak.

"Guk," She spoke softly as she sat on his bed and removed his hair from his face, "Guk, wake up." She lightly shook his body, "Get your lazy ass up."

Hearing her, Jeongguk groaned and slapped her hand away.

"Excuse me?"

"Go away, Lis." He muttered, eyes still closed as he rolled to the other side, "You stood me up. You never even texted."

Lisa blinked, "I'm..."

"Save it." He hugged the blanket tighter, "Go home now, I'm sleeping."

"No, Guk, listen," She pulled his body back to face him, "I was supposed to come her as soon as I arrived but the new CEO's secretary picked me up at the airport."

This caught his attention, "And what? You two had dinner instead and forgot about me?"

She slapped his arm, "No. It was a she. She told me the CEO wanted to meet me as soon as I returned." She sighed, "Trust me, I tried so hard to inform you but they took my phone away."

Jeongguk frowned, "Why?"

"I don't know, but I'm sorry, I really am." She held his arm as she said, "Let's eat dinner now, Guk, I know you've cooked up something special for me."

He sat up and looked at her, "I forgive you... I just..." He pushed his hair back, stressed, "I thought you weren't coming."

Lisa smiled at him, "I'd never to that to the people who are important to me."

Jeongguk tilted his head, "What did you say?"

She almost face palmed, "Nothing, let's go." She turned around to go to the kitchen when he pulled her back to the bed, making her land on top of him.

"You owe me a kiss for being late, darling," He murmured, staring up at her. The position and the way he spoke gave her involuntary shivers, to which he noticed, "Are you turned on right now?"

Thankfully, she was able to wake up from his words, "No. I'm hungry, let's go." She removed herself from him and headed to the kitchen, his laughter following from behind.

"You still have to have your punishment for making me wait like this!"

Well, fuck.

▪️

Secretary Gong moved from her position in the corner as Manager Jung and Lisa left, "Ma'am, I think you were being too obvious."

CEO Hwang laughed, "That was my intention, Miss Gong, so that Miss Manoban knew that I wasn't just going to let this slide."

"What do you intend to do now, ma'am?"

"Assign another body guard for Miss Manoban. Have him follow her around whenever she goes - secretly. I'm sure that tracking device you've installed in her phone would be of good use." The CEO leaned back, "Until then, I need to have proof if what I speculate is true."

"And if it is true?" Secretary Gong pressed on even further. "A lot of fans have predicted that it was her with Jeon Jeongguk the other day. We can't just ignore them. Our stocks have been decreasing because of her connection to the boy and the hate online has increased rapidly - especially to our company."

"Let's just say that if its true, Miss Manoban wouldn't like the consequences," She clicked her tongue, "We let Miss Kim slide before, but we won't do it again this time."