Mr Sim's Spell | Sim Jaeyun ♧

Chapter 19

Timeskip
(Friday)

Jake's pov

It was the day of the trip, and frankly, I'm not as excited anymore. I really felt that this trip could both be beneficial to my employees, and allow Nareum and I to spend more time together.

I suppose that's not happening anymore. 

Jungwon and I get in the car and for the first time in a while, he sits at the front with me. I started to drive off and we headed to the place.

“I guess I'm not seeing Eunseo either”
Jungwon broke the silence.

“No, it's fine. Don't act strange around her, but don't ask about Nareum to her. I'm not that selfish. Hang out with her if you want”
I replied.

“Okay. By the way, the hotel said that they're already available for check in. They said you paid for the entire floor?”
Jungwon looked at me.

“Yes. Everyone has their own separate room. We're not sharing, but two rooms will be connected by a door, so in case anything happens, they can look out for each other”
I replied.

“Oh okay”
He then slouched back in his seat.

We're headed for a long drive.

Timeskip
(11pm)

I tapped Jungwon awake because we had already arrived at the place. We got out and I saw the bus coming into the parking lot.

A guy approached me and he seemed to be the tour guide so I discussed some administrative things with him so he could lead the employees smoothly.

I was just there to listen and follow along, but the workers will have to write down certain details so they could use it in the near future.

After that, the employees alighted from the bus and the enthusiastic tour guide caught their attention, gathering them around for a short briefing.

I watched Nareum walk over and her face was glum. She definitely isn't in the mood for this. I would tell her to rest, but that'd make things worse, considering the situation we're in currently.

“Without further ado, follow me”
The tour guide said.

He was going to go through a few exhibits today and the rest tomorrow, so everyone was now following him so they could start the first activity.

Jungwon and I just observed them as they listened intently to the guy talk about the theory behind activity before they did hands on.

“Looks fun actually. Wanna try it too? Let's just do it as a pair”
Jungwon asked.

“Sure”
We went to get the materials and then sat down.

“The group, or pair,  which gets through the menu most rounds wins a small prize”
The tour guide blew the whistle, and the first round starts.

Everything turns chaotic with all of us trying to complete the mission quickly. Groups are eliminated one by one, and so far, Jungwon and I are quite speedy with it.

We go through the next few rounds, cheering when we were safe for every single one. There were five groups left, but slowly turned to three…two, and we were in the finals.

“Okay, we have the two remaining. What's your name?”
The tour guide asked the other group.

“Nareum”
She answered.

Oh.

“Let her win. Please, just listen to me”
I gave a signal to Jungwon.

“Got it”
He said shortly.

“Okay, and you're up against the ceo. Good luck, and we're gonna start. 3, 2, 1”
The whistle blew.

All eyes were focused on us and Nareum's group until I heard a round of applause.

“The winner of this activity, is Nareum's team! You each get a goody bag”
The tour guide started passing them oke each.

I watched Nareum from afar, and thankfully I saw a small smile on her face. 

“At least your small action will cheer her up a little”
Jungwon eyed Nareum as well and I hummed.

We moved on to the next activity and I decided not to join in and just check in with every team instead.

This activity was something that most of them haven't tried before so they were taking it slow. It was an opportunity to try something new though.

I walked up to each group and asked how they were holding up, but all I earned was short responses. They seemed frightened of me. 

“Why are they all so quiet?”
I asked Jungwon.

“Because you've never really showed interest in their well being, obviously. You're often cold to them and seem rude”
Jungwon explained.

His words were right, I never interacted with them casually before. I brushed it off and went to Nareum's group.

“How's everything going?”
I asked, trying to sound laid back.

“Fine”
One of the employees answered.

Only one person responded..wow.

I glanced at Nareum and she didn't even bother looking up to see me. Instead she was busy stirring a liquid.

“Okay, good luck”
I said and walked off to the final group.

However, as I was walking away, I heard something fall to the ground and audible gasps from behind. I turned around and saw Nareum standing up with her outfit stained.

She has spilled the liquid she was stirring all over herself by accident. I rushed back to her.

“Are you okay? I have spare clothes I can give-”
Nareum cut me off.

“I have my own clothes to change into, Mr Sim”
She stepped away from me.

My heart sank when I heard the last two words.

Mr Sim...?

“The washroom is over there. You can go change there. We'll clean the mess here”
Eunseo pointed to the toilet sign just around the corner.

“Thanks, I'll be right back”
Nareum then left, going back to the bus to retrieve a new set of clothes.

“Let's just go”
Jungwon put a hand on my shoulder and guided me to sit down.

It's like someone pinched my heart. I didn't expect her to call me that. At first, it was normal, but now it hurts to hear that coming from her, irritating even.

I was mad that she shut me off that fast, I felt furious honestly. It felt unfair that I didn't have a chance to speak before she left that day and now she's acting like we're complete strangers.

“You have to bear with it for a while and have some patience”
Jungwon told me.

Some patience, fine.

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A/n: I apologise because I didn't exactly specify what were the activities, because I also never specified what kind of company they were working at.

So, sorry but I'll leave it up to your imagination for this.