CHAPTER-6: MALICE

Evelyn was curious about her new neighbour. She slowly moved forward in the direction he stood with an intention to greet him. 

As he turned around, she was shocked to see that familiar face, it was Dayun Shin in flesh, standing right in front of her. Her brain got hanged as she didn't know what to say. 

DAYUN: (surprised) Hey! I expected to see you here early but you came late today. Wait! Do you even remember me..? You were so wasted that night that you even forgot the address of your own residence. Do you know how difficult it was for me to bring you safely to your apartment. (Laughs) Anyways! How have you been? You didn't even try to contact me. I'm so disappointed (pouts)

EVELYN: (Feeling shy and embarrassed) Of course! I remember you but you don't need to say every single thing aloud, happened that night. I don't exactly remember everything but I do know that I might have done a lot of embarrassing things. Thank you so much for dropping me safely to my house. By the way... Nothing... happened between us that night.. right? 

DAYUN: As far as i remember, all i did was to drop you off at your residence. (Grins) Why? Were you expecting something? Don't worry, nothing happened that night. Anyways, it was quite entertaining to see you so drunk. (Teases her) Well, we are neighbours now so I hope we will get along Ms..? Oh! I never heard your name (Frowns a little)

EVELYN: I'm sorry, i didn't even realise that we haven't exchanged our names yet. My name is Evelyn Noran. I work as an editor in Neon corps. 

DAYUN: "Neon corps.. the famous gaming company, huh? That sounds interesting. Well, it's nice to finally know your name. I hope we will get along well (pauses) Eve-chan." (Offers a charming smile) 

The way Dayun addressed Evelyn, made her flinch a bit as he was the only outsider who called her by that name. It was her nick name. 

Everyone at her home, including her grandma used to call her by that name but she kept it to herself as she didn't like it much. She wondered how Dayun came up with that name. 

DAYUN: Anyways, I'm Dayun Shin and I'm an Artist.

EVELYN: Yes, i'm aware of it... I mean I have seen your business card you left last time at my house. 

DAYUN: It's great to know that you still have my business card. But I'm a bit sad that you didn't even try to contact me once. (makes a gloomy face)

EVELYN: That's.. i mean i.. had my own reasons (feels guilty) i hope.. you understand. 

DAYUN: "haha.. Relax..i was just kidding. You don't need to explain yourself, Eve-chan. I understand. (Smirks) But now that we're neighbours, how about I invite you over for dinner sometime? I'll show you my latest art pieces." (Winks)

EVELYN: Ohh yeah.. sure, I'll come next time. (''where to put it?'': one of the labourers asks Dayun, interrupting their conversation) I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you. See you next time. (Bows and leaves)

DAYUN: No worries, Eve-chan. Take your time, I'll see you next time. (Nods to the labourer) Hey, careful with that! Do you want my art pieces to get damaged? (Shakes his head in disappointment) Anyways, see you later. (Bows and smiles)

Dayun saw her heading towards her apartment and mumbled to himself- ''you didn't change a bit. Nice, It would be more fun this way'' (Smirks)'' 

Her mind got filled with mixed feelings of confusion and fear. she had lost all expectations of bumping into Dayun again but who would have thought that she would meet him..as her neighbour. 

Eve had no idea what Dayun had in mind that he decided to shift right next to her. And she wondered why even the security guard didn't tell her about Dayun despite that he had once mistaken him as her boyfriend but it seems like he didn't recognised Dayun. 

Was it just a coincidence or something more. Whatever the reason could be, but she didn't want to get involved with him. 

Her mind couldn't help but think about it the whole night. And the next morning, Dayun knocked at his door, bringing her out of Dreamland. 

It was 7 but still early in the morning. She was wearing her night pyjamas. She hesitantly opened the door, unsure of what to expect. 

DAYUN: "Good morning, Eve-chan. (Looks at her clothes) Ohh, I'm sorry if I woke you up. (Puppy eyes) I was wondering if you would like to join me for breakfast. I made some delicious pancakes and we can continue our conversation from last night. What do you say?" (smiles warmly)

EVELYN: (hesitantly) i'm sorry.. but I have to go to work.. early today.. so i.. don't have time to.. have breakfast. 

DAYUN: Oh, I see. That's too bad (frowns) but I guess we can have dinner together instead. As neighbours, we must be well acquainted with each other, right! I'll wait for you to come back from work. (smirks) Have a great day at work, Eve-chan.

His warm and friendly nature forced Evelyn to accept the invitation, with a heavy heart. 

She reluctantly went to work, not feeling comfortable with the fact that Dayun is now her neighbour. 

She worked in the editing and graphics department which was situated on the 4th floor. As she entered the department, she was greeted by Maxwell ..with a gloomy face. 

EVELYN: Good Morning Max. What happened? You seem down today. (Concerned)

MAXWELL: Morning Eve. (sighs) Do you remember that last week, we started working on a new gaming project and tomorrow is the launch of that new game. 

EVELYN: Yeah! I do and everything is almost completed in it. We just need it to get approved by the director sir and then we can launch it tomorrow as planned.

MAXWEL: "Well, that's the problem. The game has been rejected by the director for some unknown reason. He wants us to make some major changes in the last minute. It's a total chaos here. I don't know what to do." (frustrated tone)

EVELYN: What? But how could he do that. The graphics and animation are good. And the levels of the game are also made cautiously so that any player, despite their age group, enjoys playing it. So, what's the problem? (Frustrated and angry 💢)

MAXWELL: I don't know. The director didn't give any specific reason. All he said was that the game needs more 'edge' and 'excitement'. Which makes no sense to me considering how much effort we've already put into this project.

As Eve was anxiously discussing the matter with Max, her eyes subconsciously moved towards Alan's desk. 

He was wearing a devilish smile on his face which clearly stated that he had something to do with the failure of their project. It made her furious. 

EVELYN: I think I know who would have done this to us. (Stares angrily at Alan's cubicle)

MAXWEL: (his eyes moved in the same direction as Eve's) "you wouldn't believe that I had the same thing in my mind. I bet it's that moron's doing. Now I recall, i even saw him talking with the director yesterday. He must have convinced him to reject the game for his selfish reasons. But don't worry, we'll find a way to make it work." (determined tone)

EVELYN: We need to clear the matter with him. We can't let our efforts go in vain because of that jerk. Let's go (moves towards Alan's desk)

MAXWELL: Hey Alan, we need to talk. It's about the game you recommended to the director. Why did you do it? Your selfishness cost us our hard work.

ALAN: I have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't even know about the game being rejected. Maybe your game just wasn't up to par with the director's standards. Don't blame others for your own failure.

EVELYN: Mr. Alan Christopher.. no need to act too innocent. I'm well aware of your egoistic nature. You must have convinced the director to disapprove our game. And who knows, you might even have bribed him. You are just envious of Max that he took your place in completing this project. (Frowns angrily)

ALAN: "I don't have time for your petty accusations. Maybe you should focus on improving your own skills, rather than blaming others for your failures." (smirks)

MAXWELL: You know what, forget it. You're not worth our time. We'll prove your wrongdoing. And maybe next time, you won't be able to manipulate the director with your smooth talking.

ALAN: "Ohh really, but how? (Crosses his arms) You don't even have any proof for your baseless accusations. Just accept that the game wasn't good enough and stop making a fool of yourself. I have better things to do than entertain your childish drama." (rolls eyes)

To be honest, Eve had expected that bullsh*t from Alan. He might have had his evil eyes on their project the day when she substituted him with Max. 

But they couldn't afford to waste their time dealing with Alan. They need to find a new investor without any further delay. Only this could save their efforts going into vain. 

The day went on with that pressure and it was already the time they got off.