Prologue

Yuri let her luggage fall down onto the floor with a loud thud. Turning around, she saw Sooyoung dragging another piece of luggage into the living room, struggling through the doorway.

"What the hell do you have in here?" the tall, slim girl asked, out of her breath.

"How many rooms are there?" Yuri decided to ignore the question Sooyoung asked her.

"One sleeping room, this living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. Oh and there's a nice balcony on the other side, it's really nice at night to sit there."

"I don't need a balcony" Yuri frowned as she looked around once more. "What I need is a desk. And is there internet connection?"

"Yul, you're supposed to relax, not to keep working."

Yuri ignored Sooyoung's statement and walked pass the couch into the kitchen. She examined the bar-styled kitchen shortly before going back to the living room again.

"I can't sit in the kitchen. The couch in the living room is too low as well. If there's no proper desk in the bedroom, I'll go home."

With that, she made her way to the closed door to her left, not hearing Sooyoung's helpless sigh.

"Yul, wait."

Yuri turned around to see her friend throwing her the keys. Out of reflex, she caught the bundle just in time.

"I'm not saying that I'll stay" she reminded her friend.

"It's okay. Just look around as you want. I'll wait in the car."

"But the keys-"

Sooyoung was already out. Yuri frowned at the shut door but soon shrugged it off as she didn't really care. In fact, Kwon Yuri, being a workaholic, didn't care about anything but her work. That's why it took Sooyoung almost an entire week to convince her to agree on a one-week-vacation somewhere in a forest in the North. Actually, Yuri didn't even know where this vacation home Sooyoung rented for her was. She just knew she was going to be one week away from her office and for that, she prepared one luggage enough work for the seven days.

"What the heck" she mumbled as she found the bedroom door locked. Taking out the key bundle Sooyoung threw her earlier, she looked for one which could possibly fit the lock. But it was easier than she thought when she saw the keys were all tagged.

Yuri stuck the one with the 'bedroom' tag into the knob and with a turn, she opened the door.

She was expecting to see a huge desk in the room and hopefully, a comfortable chair. Because she knew with the amount of time she had to sit, a bad chair would give her terrible backache.

But what she saw went against all her expectations.

"Sooyoung!" Yuri called as she dashed out of the room. "WHY IS THERE A GIRL TIED TO A CHAIR IN THE BEDROOM???"

But as she reached outside, no Sooyoung was in sight. The car that brought her here had disappeared.

Yuri dropped the keys in her hand, not knowing what had just happened.

It's been a long time since she last had to care about something beside her work, and she definitely wasn't happy about it.

___________________

Chapter 1: Day 1 - She's a workaholic and she's not ashamed

Yuri watched the girl struggling in the chair as she just stood there.

Even though the girl was blindfolded and tied to the chair, Yuri knew she had a pretty lady in front of her.

The long brown hair reaching her small back emphasized her slim figure. Slender fingers tightly gripped the arms of the chair while her feet constantly stamped on the floor. She could hear someone was in the room, but couldn't say anything since she had a towel shoved in her mouth.

Finally, Yuri was touched and bent down, untying the girl. As soon as the rope loosened, the girl flailed her arms around wildly, accidentally hitting Yuri across her face.

"Ow!" she groaned, stepping back. "Fine, it was my pleasure to untie you."

Yuri rubbed her cheek in irritation as she walked out of the bedroom. She sat down onto the couch in the middle of the living room and took out her laptop. As she waited for the laptop to load, Yuri went over to her work luggage, searching for her reserved cell. Cursing under her breath, she had to give up as it was no where to be found.

Just as she settled down in front of her laptop again, the strange girl came out of the bedroom, freed from the blindfold and towel.

"Hello?" the girl asked carefully.

Yuri just gave her a short glance before bestowing her attention upon her laptop again.

"Who are you?"

She felt the girl approaching her, but ignored it.

"What are you doing here? Where's Taeyeon?"

Damn it. There's no internet connection. Yuri frowned even more.

"Hey, are you deaf? I'm talking to you!"

"Do you have a phone?"

"Huh?"

"Do you have a phone?"

"I had one. But they took it away from me."

Yuri cursed under her breath again. She forgot her phone in Sooyoung's car as well.

"Do you know where we are?"

"You don't know? I thought I was the one who's blindfolded!"

Yuri sighed and tried to find internet access again. But she knew there was no hope. Sooyoung had definitely planned this beforehand.

"What's your name?" the girl sat down on the opposite of her. "And how did you come here? Why do you seem like you're stuck here as well?"

"Damn it!" she shouted as another error box popped up in the screen.

"What are you doing?"

Yuri kept on ignoring the girl as she tried opening her browsers and changed several settings in hope for a miracle to happen. She didn't notice the girl standing up sulking, neither did she know the girl came back after a while until she got tapped on her shoulder.

Unwillingly, Yuri looked around to see the girl standing behind her, holding out a paper. She took it immediately as she recognized Sooyoung's handwriting.

"I- I found it in the bedroom."

Yuri clenched her teeth in anger. Not because the girl delivered her the bad news, but because she had to learn she was fooled by her best friend. Or ex-best friend, she had decided.

-You seriously need a week off from work.

Don't be mad, I just want the best for you.

And don't worry, there's enough food for two persons to not starve in a week.

Have fun,

Your forever best friend no matter how mad you are right now. -

"So... what's this supposed to mean?" she heard the girl asking her.

Without looking back, Yuri started typing on her laptop keyboard again.

"We're stuck here. Sooyoung will come in a week and I'll kill her then."

"Seriously?!"

Yuri stopped her typing fingers for a second upon the shock and fear in the girl's voice.

"No. Don't you know what sarcasm is?"

"But you don't look like you know much about joking."

As Yuri didn't react, the girl continued.

"And who's Sooyoung?"

"A swindler."

"Really?!"

"NO. She's my friend who left me here with an annoying girl."

"What? There's another girl in this house?!" The girl didn't see Yuri rolling her eyes, but eventually, she got it herself. "S-Sorry."

Yuri heard her leaving, then sounds of the bedroom door being opened and closed quietly. But she couldn't care less, she had to try finding a way to get access to the internet.

After probably an hour, Yuri gave up. She shut her laptop and stood up, stretching her body.

"So you think you succeeded Choi Sooyoung?" A victorious smile formed on her face as she saw her luggage of documents. "I have enough work for the seven days."  

Grabbing some sheets of paper on the top, Yuri sat down taking out her pen. But she soon stopped as the low couch with the coffee table wasn't suitable for working at all. She stood up, frowning again.

No, Sooyoung can't win this game. Because she, Kwon Yuri, wouldn't allow it. Yuri needed to prove workaholics were not ashamed of being workaholics and of course, could never be stopped. Never.

Yuri remembered she hadn't checked to bedroom for a desk yet. She got tied up with the stranger and totally forgot about her real intention. Just when Yuri was trying to remember whether the girl went into the room earlier or not, she saw her through the crack of the door she just opened.

A smile crept on her face as she saw the girl sleeping soundly with her head resting on a table. It wasn't exactly the desk she had looked for but it was definitely better than the comfortable-for-watching-TV-couch and table in the living room.

Entering the room quietly, Yuri looked around for a chair only to see that the only available was the one the girl got tied onto earlier and now was occupying in order to sleep on. Yuri didn't bother to go outside looking for another chair, after all the desk would be still occupied by the sleeping girl. So she rolled up her sleeves and carefully picked the girl up by sliding her arms one under the girl's legs, one under her upper body.

It wasn't until Yuri stood in front of the bed that she saw how messy it was. The rope was scattered on the bed, the towel and blindfold were most likely carelessly thrown on it by the girl earlier and a white jacket lied right in the middle, giving no space to lie the girl down. Yuri sighed as she looked around just to find nothing she could put the girl on even temporarily. She couldn't possibly put her on the chair again - the girl would definitely fall.

So, with the girl still in her arms, Yuri walked out to the living room. The couch was her only rescue. Carefully laying the girl down, Yuri made sure she didn't wake up. The last thing Yuri wanted was the girl to hit her again due to her good intention which could be taken the wrong way. Yuri looked at the girl sleeping on the couch. She couldn't help but to think the couch was pretty small for a person to sleep on it. But she quickly dragged that thought out of her head.

Nah, no way Yuri was caring for the girl. She just carried her out to get her spot at the desk. She didn't care if the girl would fall down or not. Kwon Yuri didn't care about anything or anyone, but her work.

Satisfied, she turned back to the bedroom again, sat down in front of the desk and started to work through her papers. After half an hour, she decided to go into the living room again. But not to check on the girl - no, never - she just wanted to get her glasses. But being on the way, of course it didn't hurt to take a look at the girl who fortunately hadn't fallen down yet.

After another hour, Yuri banged her head in frustration onto the desk. She still hadn't finished reading the first document. She never worked this slowly and it angered her that she couldn't figure out the reason. Yuri caught herself constantly looking out into the living room and every time she forced herself to concentrate on the letters on the paper again, but eventually, her thought drifted far away from everything work-concerned.

Then she decided she was hungry. Yeah, that's why she was not able to concentrate. She was looking out constantly - however not into the living room, but pass the living room into the kitchen, she told herself. Because, plain vanilla, she was hungry. So Yuri stood up to walk into the kitchen as looking didn't have any use, glancing briefly again at the girl while passing her. But she stopped in her tracks as she saw the girl was just about to fall onto the floor. Yuri swiftly walked around the couch and pulled the girl up just in time. She then made her way into the bedroom again and cleared the mess on the bed. She extra pulled the blanket aside before walking into the living room again and picked the girl up.

"I'm too nice" Yuri mumbled after laying the girl down, pulling the blanket up for her. She watched the girl cuddling against the soft blanket, a smile forming on her white, pretty face. Yuri didn't know why that smile seemed rather sad to her than happy or satisfied. But then again, she didn't really care.

Yuri wondered why her hunger suddenly disappeared. Maybe because it didn't exist in the first place. But she wouldn't admit it to herself - no, Yuri didn't need to. All she needed was concentrating on her work again, which surprisingly became a lot easier than about five minutes earlier. The reason? Yuri could only care less.

----------

Yuri just finished her tenth stack of documents when she heard a loud yawn from her right. She didn't look up from the paper, but she knew the girl had just woken up.

"Hey..."

Yuri heard the girl saying softly, but ignored it again.

"Do you by any chance know how I ended up on the bed?"

Ignored.

"Erm- do you know what time is it?"

Ignored.

"Are you- are you hungry?"

Yuri didn't know how many questions the girl asked her or how long the girl had sat there but after finishing her eleventh stack of documents, Yuri looked up and didn't see the girl on the bed anymore. Instead, there was that weird smell coming from the living room. It made Yuri feel uncomfortable, so she stood up to close the door. But before she could do it, Yuri saw a flame in the kitchen and heard the girl shrieking in fear.

Quick as a light, she dashed into the kitchen and turned off the fire, taking the burning pan aside.

"What are you doing?" she scolded the girl who was still shocked from her own doings.

"I-I was trying to crack the eggs and forgot about the oil in the pan."

The girl tried to explain, but Yuri wasn't listening anymore. She went opening every window and even the glass door to the balcony, trying to reduce the amount of smoke coming from the burnt oil in the kitchen.

"Luckily the fire didn't go outside the pan" she sighed as the last window was opened.

"I'm sorry-" the girl hung her head down, standing behind the kitchen bar. "I was just hungry but I don't know how to cook."

"Then eat something you don't have to cook at all" Yuri said, taking an apple out of the plate at the end of the bar and rolled it to the girl.

She wasn't sure if the girl wanted to talk back or not, because she had already turned her the back and walked into the living room to grab some more documents. Without looking at the girl again, Yuri went into the bedroom and settled down onto her workplace.

Yuri was in the midst of taking down some notes when she saw a plate being placed next to her. Looking to her left, she saw the girl standing there, munching on a sandwich which looked like one of those many on the plate.

"It's 6 pm already and you haven't eaten anything since this morning."

"I'm not hungry."

Yuri looked onto her notes and started writing again.

"It took me almost two hours making these" she heard the seriousness in the girl's voice.

"So what?" But too bad, Yuri didn't care.

"Why are you so cold? I am actually the usual cold one you know?" She heard bitterness in the voice.

"I'm not cold. I just don't care." Yes, too bad she didn't care.

The girl didn't say anything anymore. There was a minute of silence passing by before the girl stamped out of the room and banged the door shut. She must be mad, Yuri thought. But she could only care less.

----------

"Stupid dark-skinned conceited thing!"

Jessica kicked the couch in the living room in frustration. There she was nice once and this was what she got. She couldn't understand what exactly Tiffany or Taeyeon wanted or hoped to achieve through this. They said they wanted the best for her, but she was thinking over it again and again but couldn't figure out the point of being stuck with a complete stranger for a week. An arrogant, inconsiderate, selfish stranger in addition. Nice-looking and seemed to be intellectual too, but that wasn't important.

"I need a shower."

Jessica whined to herself as she made her way to the bathroom. She still couldn't believe her friends kidnapped her into this house in a complete deserted area. The only thing she could see when she went around earlier was trees, trees and trees. Obviously it was a forest, but which one out of the millions in this world, too bad she couldn't tell.

She told herself she had to complain to Taeyeon or Tiffany later on about the fridge. There's really much in there, but almost everything needed to be cooked in some kinds of way which equals the availability of nothing to feed her stomach. Luckily Jessica still remembered how to make sandwiches for she had done it with her mom not too long ago, although it took her almost two hours struggling, especially with cutting the tomatoes.

The only thing she was satisfied with was probably the bathroom. She liked how elegant- and well-equipped it was. It was just like a five-star hotel. And nothing can lift up her mood better than a nice bad in a hot tub.

Jessica enjoyed the comfortableness that the hot bath provided and temporarily forgot about her situation and that cocky person sitting in the bedroom scribbling and reading boring documents the whole day. Jessica didn't have anything against reading - quite the contrary, she loved reading. But that was when it's about novels, i.e. romantic novels, and not as mentioned boring documents.

She eventually got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around herself. It wasn't until then that she noticed she didn't have any clothes to change into. Sighing, she reluctantly walked out of the bathroom, hoping to not have to meet that other person.

Walking around the living room and the kitchen, Jessica didn't find any clothes. She then remembered the big dresser in the bedroom and decided to give it a try. That workaholic wouldn't care anyways, she told herself.

As expected, the black-haired girl didn't even look up when Jessica entered the room with a cracking sound of opening door. The girl in the towel made her way straight to the dresser and opened it. Her eyes got wide open when she saw the content.

"Do you have any clothes with you?"

She couldn't help it. She had to ask.

"Yes."

The person answered shortly and went on doing her stuff.

"Good" Jessica sighed in relief. "Because there are only couple outfits here in the dresser. They even have matching sizes for us I suppose."

Jessica tried to think of a possible reason for why Taeyeon or Tiffany or both would do these kinds of things as she took a pair of pajamas out of the dresser and headed to the door. But before going out, she turned around to the girl again.

"Oh and workic... The white towel is mine. I left you the blue one."

"Workic?" the girl turned around looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"It's nicer than workaholic."

"I have a name. Yuri. Thank you."

"Whatever. I don't care."

And with that, she walked out of the room. Finally she got her revenge.

----------

After that little interruption, Yuri was glad the girl didn't come in interrupting her once more. She worked throughout until she felt so worn out that she couldn't even hold her pen properly. It wasn't until then that she paid attention to her growling stomach.

Yuri looked at the plate and the untouched sandwiches which were still next to her. Casually grabbing one, she stood up looking for a clock. Eventually, she found one on the night table next to the bed.

"What the-- half past eleven already?"

Swallowing the whole sandwich down, Yuri grabbed another one before heading out of the room. She saw the brown-haired girl sitting on the couch, her back facing her, watching a random music channel on the TV. Yuri started to wonder how they would handle the sleeping thing for the seven days. It's almost impossible imagining them sleeping on the same bed, not to mention the bed wasn't really big enough for two strangers to sleep together. Beside that, she didn't remember herself and the girl getting along that well. What was there to expect - she didn't make a single effort to befriend the girl.

In the midst of her chain of thoughts, Yuri almost got choked as a piece of tomato wouldn't want to get down her throat. She coughed and hit herself on the chest hardly and it wasn't until she thought she was dying that the tomato piece obeyed her will. She wanted to throw tantrum on the girl sitting on the couch, who didn't even move an inch hearing her struggling for her life, blaming her for the killing tomato piece. But in the end, she decided against it. The girl already thought she was cold and hard to get along with; Yuri really didn't see the point of making their relationship worse. After all, they still have to stick with each other for a whole week. That was if Sooyoung didn't trick her again.

Yuri went into the bathroom and took her clothes off. She couldn't help but to notice the comfortable smell that engulfed her - strawberry scent. After a quick shower, she stepped out of the shower and sniffled at the towels that were hanging in the corner. She had to admit the strawberry scent was pretty addicting. Whether it came from the towel which the girl used earlier, Yuri wasn't really sure. But she decided it wasn't important and, wrapped in the blue towel, she went out of the bathroom to get some clothes.

She frowned as she saw where her luggage was. It was next to the couch where the girl was sitting. Yuri made sure her towel was tightly wrapped around her body before walking behind the couch to the other side, bending down to open the luggage piece. She avoided eye contact to prevent any embarrassment that could happen.

"Damn" she cursed as she saw nothing wearable in the luggage. She must have been too focused on work to pack properly - there were only long pants and some underwear in it.

Yuri cleared her throat as she decided to ask the girl. She began to regret a little that she didn't care about the girl enough. She didn't even know her name.

"Do you-"

But Yuri got stuck in her sentence. The girl was sleeping again, her position never changed from what Yuri saw when she exited the bedroom earlier. She asked herself whether it was really possible for a human being to sleep that much - after all, the girl napped from morning till afternoon and now she's sleeping again.

Sighing, Yuri stood there not sure what do to. As far as she could remember, there wasn't any luggage the girl brought with her. Then the little incident earlier began to blurrily coming back into her mind. She remembered the girl asking her about clothing.

Yuri run into the bedroom and looked around. There was that big dresser on the opposite of the desk. She opened it and got speechless for a second upon all the couple clothing inside.

"Choi Sooyoung" she growled. "What is this supposed to mean?"

But being left no choice, she reluctantly picked out a pair of pajamas. Yuri then went back into the living room and turned off the TV. She walked to the sleeping girl on the couch before sliding her arms under her body again. Immediately, Yuri recognized the sweet strawberry scent again.

"You have quite a good taste" she whispered to the girl in her arms.

With her foot, she pushed the bedroom door open and walked in, laying the girl on the bed. When she was about to take her arms back, the girl unexpectedly wrapped her hands around her neck.

"Don't leave me."

Following the weak whisper was a single tear that Yuri quickly wiped off with her thumb. She then knelt frozen onto the floor next to the bed. Yuri hated to admit it, but the girl was the first person being able to distract her from her work since forever. However, it wasn't like Yuri cared about her - no, it was all just pure curiosity that got the better of the workaholic - not workic.