Daniel gazed at the lady with the dark red hair and looked at her in the eye for several seconds before he closed his eyes and let the makeup artist do her work.
Samantha caught Daniel looking at her way but ignoring her, "I don't think he recognized me, did I overdo it?" Samantha whispered to Assistant Ahn.
"Uhh... I.. I think so, I couldn't recognize you at all, Ms. Kim.", he replied hesitantly.
Daniel Cho continued to take pictures for 10 more minutes. During this time, Samantha remained standing on the side waiting for him to finish. With a cup of coffee on her right hand, she stood there diligently. She felt her legs starting to ache for standing there for about half an hour in her heels, but she didn't complain at all... to relieve a little, she lightly tapped her thigh.
"Umm... Excuse me, Miss?" A male staff came over with a stool in his hand, he placed it near Samantha.
"Yes?"
"Uhh... Here, you can sit."
"Oh, thank you.. but it's okay, I'll just stand.", she rejected politely.
When Samantha entered the studio earlier, Assistant Ahn actually offered for her to stay in the waiting room but she declined, she wanted to wait where Daniel could see her. Ahn also offered her a chair but she declined again. Perhaps she was 'punishing' herself for whatever made Daniel mad at her.
The staff pursed his lips, "Are.. are you here for a photo shoot session?"
"What?", Samantha didn't understand..
"You're an artist, right?.. You look... really.. pretty. What's your name?" said the staff as he scratched his head.
"Uhh..." Samantha was speechless.
Assistant Ahn who was beside Samantha paled, another man just tried to flirt with his Boss's girlfriend. What was he supposed to do in this situation? He started to sweat when he thought of ways on how to handle the situation to drive the man away.
-
"Let's stop here, I think you've taken a lot of shots already.", Daniel said as he stood up and left the stage.
The photographer couldn't say anything and just accepted Daniel's order.
"Yes, President Cho. Thanks for the hard work.", he said while he watched Daniel walk away, no one could stop him.
A woman from the production staff hurriedly walked over and offered water to Daniel but he ignored her and just brushed past her.
Daniel strode towards Assistant Ahn and Samantha noticed him nearing, she cleared her throat and beamed at him, "Hello, President Cho... I'm Bella, Nice to meet you."
Daniel didn't look at her but instead, he shot a deadly glare at Assistant Ahn; poor Ahn just lowered his head, his boss is way too scary. He then turned to the male staff with an icy stare.
"P-president Cho..", the man started to have cold sweat on his back, 'Did I do something wrong?'
Samantha noticed Daniel's coldness, she handed him the coffee from her hand to divert his attention, "Ah, President Cho... here, I brought you coffee."
Daniel finally looked at Samantha and eyed the coffee in her hand, he received it and took a sip.
"Hmm. It's good.", he said.
The production staff who are currently watching Daniel were stunned. The CEO of Cho Corp who's known to be aloof and does not socialize with women just accepted the lady's coffee and drank it.
Daniel handed the coffee to Assistant Ahn before he took off his coat and wore it around Samantha's shoulders. "Why are you wearing light clothes? It's getting cold.", Daniel said in a gentle voice as he wrapped Samantha like a burrito with his coat.
"..." Samantha was speechless, 'Why is he being sweet to a random stranger? Or did he already recognize me?'
"Also, why are you just standing here? You should've sat down somewhere since your legs are hurting."
"H-How.. You.." Samantha is unable to answer him. And before she could even recover, Daniel stepped in front of Samantha and hooked an arm under her legs while the other supported her back. "Ah !", she yelped.
Without another word, Daniel princess carried Samantha as he walked out of the studio; Assistant Ahn followed them behind. Her cheeks reddened by his sudden sweetness.
Everyone in the studio was dumbfounded by what they've witnessed.
"Woah! What just happened?"
"Who was that? Did you guys recognize her?"
"Is President Cho in a relationship with that woman?" a staff said while she took out her phone and took a photo of Daniel's back with Samantha in his arms.
"Hey! What are you doing? Are you crazy? Do you want to lose your job?", warned her colleague.
"What? It's just a photo. What's the big deal?", she said.
"Delete it if you don't want to be jobless! The last paparazzi who took a photo of President Cho with another woman sold it to the media and it became a scandal. The woman was actually just a hotel staff, they were strangers to each other. The next day, both the paparazzi and the journalist lost their jobs, they couldn't get another job very easily. It seemed like no company wanted to hire them."
Upon hearing this, the staff hurriedly deleted the photo that she just took.
----
Daniel arrived in front of his car in the underground parking lot with Samantha still in his arms.
"How did you know it was me?"
"How can I not? You could be wearing a sack or cover your head with a box for all I care and I'd still recognize you.", Daniel said with a voice so cold.
"Why would I put a box on my head? That's just weird."
Daniel put Samantha down gently and held his hand out, "Your car keys.".
Samantha rummaged for her keys in her bag and handed it to him. Daniel took the keys from her and threw it towards Assitant Ahn, "Take her car back to Sapphire Gardens, you can go home afterward."
"Understood, Boss."
"Also, if you let her stand for a long time again. I won't give you a day off until I'm satisfied."
Assistant Ahn gulped. 'It wasn't my fault, okay? Your girlfriend is so stubborn!'
Daniel was about to open the passenger's door but Samantha held his arm, "Are you still mad?"
Daniel just looked at her but didn't say anything.
"I woke up earlier and didn't even receive any messages or calls from you. You're obviously mad.", she said as she pouted her lips.
Still no response, so she tried to continue talking.
"You're probably wondering why I'm dressed like this. I thought that putting a mask will just draw attention, and some may start recognizing me. I dolled up for you today; this way I looked totally different and this time I can stand beside you without being recognized. Didn't I do a good job?"
"Hmm."
Even with this small answer, Samantha grinned silly, "How do I look ?", she asked as she twirled around.
"You look adorable."
Samantha moved closer to Daniel and hooked her arms around his neck, "Ooh, does Mr. Cho have a thing for cute girls?" she said as she caressed his nape.
Daniel supported Samantha's back and held her in place.
"No, I have a thing for you.", he said in a low husky voice before he leaned forward and captured Samantha's lips with his.