The clock ticked 9 am and Seulgi scrawled a signature and then looked up. She saw everyone, even the plus one, was present, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready to go. She didn’t even have to gather their attention as she already had it, as soon as she looked up.
She smiled at them and everyone smiled back without realizing it. The Seulgi Effect was in observable, real time effect.
The small local printer burped out the st page that was being printed. Seulgi looked away from her people first. She got the papers, organized them first then got started. She took a sip of tea to wet her throat and she started speaking.
She presented the papers to the appropriate people. Everyone looked over the list of the assigned objectives. Nothing was surprising as they were all in the realm of what they were doing st week. Just an update on what was needed to be gathered, collected, updated, or pushed to the clients.
She then began to verbally specify and crify on further details were needed and cleared any questions as they came up. No matter how thorough she thought that she was, there was always a point that needed to be cleared or a detail that needed to be crified. Once she had everything that she needed to be cover covered, she opened the floor to questions, comments, or concerns.
She should not have added that st word.
“Why are you looking so worn out?” came immediately, from three different people. The harshest question was asked by Jackson, of all people. But everyone knew how overly protective he was, so it should have been expected.
“What?”
Four people in harmony: “What. Happened, Seulgi?”
“What do you mean?”
Everybody in the room, growing angry: “SEULGI!”
Seulgi: “Well, you see, it’s like this…”
Everyone: “Yes?”
Seulgi: “After we got done, I met up with some people….”
Everyone growling: “Yes?”
Seulgi: “Well, we went to dinner.”
Nayeon: “Seugi? Love? Dear? Lord and Commander? Understand this. We. Will. Beat You.”
Seulgi looked shocked.
Nayeon: “If I have to bring the boss in, I will. And when he finds out how you look and how you are stalling with expnations, he will join us in beating you. You know this. So, quit teasing us and spill it!”
Seulgi: “OK, OK. Sit back down, everyone. After singing with all of you, Wendy, Katie, and I went to get dinner with JooHyun. She introduced us to someone and we went back for more karaoke. There. Happy now?”
Everyone had variations degrees of shocked faces.
Everyone: “Who?”
Seulgi: “Can we get back to work?”
Everyone: “No.”
Seulgi, flexing: “Everyone, get back to work.”
Everyone: Affronted.
Seulgi, Serious Angry Momma-Bear Face: “Now.” The Reverse-Seulgi Effect In Effect.
Everyone: scatters like quail.
Nayeon as she flees: “This ain’t over!”
Seulgi growled back: “If I say it is over, it’s over.” The angry frowny face might be faked, but as Nayeon was not willing to tempt fate, she outpaced those who left first.
She Harumphed in satisfaction. Until she saw that there was one person left. The one person that she could not manage to bully, if/or when she tried.
Even more unusual, he had a serious face on, not his usually irreverent look.
“One question, then we’re done. OK?”
“Yes.”
He simply asked, “Are you OK? Seriously? You look beat.”
She replied just as simply: “Yes.”
He grinned and left. That confirmation was all he needed. That implied level of trust was also why she could never really get mad at his antics. She could not get mad because almost all of his behaviors were antics. And most of his antics tend to be charming. To her, at least.
She is pretty sure that he was so used to being the Harmless Office Weirdo that she was not quite an act anymore. But, she knew that he breezed into pces others could not. And get information that others could not. She also knew that she could trust whatever he said and whatever he did. She did not even trust Nayeon that much. She was sure that there’d be a whipped cream pie in her face in the future if she let down her guard.
Whatever else he might be, Seulgi knew that Bhuwakul would never harm her. When he had her back, there would never be a hidden dagger. She didn’t know why he was so fixated on her, but she had faith in that fixation and that she would be safe.
She shuddered, uncomfortable with that level of trust in someone who was in so many other ways bazaar. Yes, he was very handsome. Ridiculously so. Only Jackson could compete with him in looks. Gillian, of all people, would side-eye Bhuwakul! Jackson caught her at it once. All he could do was shrug his shoulders. It’s not like he could get jealous. He was a very handsome man, and Bhuwakul’s attachment to Seulgi is nearly legendary.
When Jackson saw Bhuwakul leave with a grin, he rexed and trusted that Seulgi was fine. He was not overly concerned with the implications of that trust. All he knew was that his fg bearer was listing and he had to pull up the sck. Someone had to watch all of the rest of the girls, after all. He needed to be able to react to things if Seulgi was too busy – or tired – to do it herself.
Most of the company went to Seulgi when they had something difficult that needed to be taken care of. But today, it was quietly passed around among the cn to go to Jackson first. Although it is very rare that this happens, it has happened before. Many of the more astute outsiders followed their lead, thereby taking some of the pressure off Seulgi without her even knowing.
If or when she finds out about this filtering process, it is just another reason that Seulgi loves her people.
She did notice her people coming by her door and peeking in more often than normal. Her tea was never empty. There was a fairly steady stream of snacks. Someone that she didn’t even know asked how her ankle was!
Despite her grousing and protestations, it was obvious to those who knew her that Seulgi was actually enjoying being pampered. Just as those in her Household enjoyed pampering her. Everyone involved knew with ironcd certainty that if anyone else was in her condition, Seulgi would be at the forefront of the Pampering Brigade, making sure that her people were taken care of.
