Ava was on her computer again — the familiar glow of the screen reflecting on her glasses like a villain mastermind plotting world domination.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard with the precision of a concert pianist, while behind her stood Adelle — her ever-loyal, ever-suffering assistant — as stiff as a British royal guard who accidentally signed up for a lifetime subscription.
Adelle could have sat down. The plush leather chair by the corner was literally calling her name, whispering sweet promises of comfort and lumbar support. But no — Adelle didn't sit. Adelle was built different.
If dedication had a face, it would be hers, slightly squinting and clutching two notebooks like they're the holy scriptures.
"Adelle, what's my remaining schedule for today?" Ava asked without sparing a glance, still typing as if the fate of the stock market depended on her next email.
Adelle's eyes flicked down to the leather notebook clutched in her left hand, then to the MacBook balanced on her right arm. She scanned her notes, then cross-checked the laptop calendar like a soldier verifying launch codes.
Everything should be done.
No meetings. No calls. No last-minute dinner plans with egotistical CEOs who still thought women in business were a myth.
Yet... there it was.
One unread email sitting at the bottom of the inbox like a cockroach that snuck in when no one was looking.
Her throat bobbed.
With all the grace of a malfunctioning robot, Adelle tossed her notebook into the abyss — no one knew where it landed, and frankly, no one cared. She clicked open the email, eyes narrowing like a seasoned detective uncovering a criminal conspiracy.
"The—There's one last schedule, my lady."
Ava's fingers froze mid-type. The air shifted. The atmosphere in the room thickened like a Netflix crime documentary soundtrack.
She slowly turned her head — a little too slowly — as if preparing for the kind of stupidity that could shorten her life span by five years.
Without a word, she pushed Adelle aside with two fingers like a disappointed mother shoving a child out of the way during Candy Crush.
The email subject line greeted her like a middle finger from the universe: LastRemainingScheduleforToday.
Her eyes darted down to the message.
•••
DearestAvaSummers,
IwouldliketoinviteyouinapartyatExoShaneey'sNotShadyClub. Thisisdefinitelynotsometricktolureyouintosomethingsuspicious.
Seeyouby7PM.Thankyou.
SinsirlyYour's,
•••
Ava blinked once. Then twice.
Then squinted harder — as if the more she stared, the less stupid it would look.
"Who the hell typed this shit? A newborn fresh out of the womb?"
Adelle clutched her chest like the insult personally ricocheted into her soul. "My lady, that's... that's a formal invitation."
Ava's head snapped toward her so fast Adelle swore she heard her neck crack.
"Formal? Adelle, this email has more red flags than the men in my DMs."
Adelle's lips quivered. "Well... they spelled 'sincerely' wrong but—"
"And what the hell is 'sinsirly your's'? What are they? The ghost of my ancestors trying to slide into my calendar?"
Adelle opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Then decided she didn't get paid enough to argue with a woman on the verge of committing something very... very bad. Let's not go there.
Ava leaned closer to the screen, muttering under her breath.
"This is a scam. This is either a scam... or one of Eva's dumb pranks. Or — For Pete's and whoever's sake— it's both."
She shot a glare at Adelle.
"Did you check if there's a virus attached?"
Adelle's eye twitched. "I don't think Eva would install malware just to make you go to a party—"
"You don't know that demon like I do."
Adelle paused.
Fair point.
Ava reclined back in her chair, arms crossed, eyes narrowed like a woman calculating which circle of hell this invitation came from.
"Look at the grammar. No self-respecting scammer would ever write this badly."
Adelle slapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a snort.
Ava's gaze sharpened. "You think this is funny?"
Adelle's shoulders trembled.
"I'm—I'm sorry—"
"You think it's funny that someone out there thinks that a woman like myself will fall for 'sinsirly your's' like a desperate housewife signing up for a pyramid scheme? I smart—the epitome of perfection and—"
Ding!
"Oh—EXO!"
A new email popped into her inbox, sliding in like a smooth criminal.
Subject: Not a Scam. We Swear in EXO's name.
Ava's entire body went stiff.
Her pupils dilated. Her breath hitched.
"My lady... why do you look like you've just seen God?" Adelle muttered, seeing her mistress' eyes glimmered for the first time.
Ava's fingers trembled as she moved the mouse to open the email. She swallowed hard — the way a soldier would before defusing a bomb.
•••
DearestAvaSummers,
Weapologizeforourprevious... lackofprofessionalism. Pleaseallow us to reintroduce ourselves.
WearerepresentativesfromBELA Entertainment inpartnershipwithEden&Co. EcoWear— and we'd like to propose an EXCLUSIVE collaboration between your brand and
EXO.
Yes, THE EXO.
One of the kings of KPOP.
ThereasonyourentirePinterestboardinhighschoolwasnothingbutBaekhyun in leather pants.
Wearehighlyawarethatyoumayhavesuspectedthisemailtobeaprankorchestratedbyyour... adorablelittlesister.
Butrestassured, this is a legitimate business proposal— one that could make AVA Incorporated the official clothing partner for EXO's upcoming Green Planet Campaign for sustainable fashion.
Themeetingwillbeheldtonightat 7PM at ExoShaneey's Not Shady Club.
Shouldyouchoosetoacceptthisinvitation, you'll not only gain a historic business deal— but also... a signed OT9 album personally delivered by Mr. Kim Junmyeon himself.
SinsirlyYours,
Yes, we know it's spelled wrong. It's a branding thing.
BELAEntertainment.
•••
The sound that left Ava's mouth could only be described as a wheeze mixed with a dying dolphin.
Adelle flinched.
"M-My lady?"
Ava slapped both hands over her mouth like she was about to scream at her ancestors in tongues. Her eyes were bulging out of their sockets. Her soul had already left her body, probably booking a one-way flight to Incheon Airport.
Adelle crawled to her feet, alarmed. "Are you... okay? W-What happened to smart and epitome of perfection?"
Ava's breath quickened. "Adelle."
"Yes?"
Ava slowly turned her head, eyes glassy — the kind of eyes that had seen Kai's abs in 4K fancams at 3 AM.
"You don't understand."
Adelle blinked. "Understand what—"
Ava clutched Adelle's collar with the strength of a woman possessed.
"Do Kyungsoo... wants to wear... MY CLOTHES."
Adelle froze.
Ava shook her harder.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE WAITED FOR THIS DAY, ADELLE?! I PRACTICED ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES IN THE MIRROR IN KOREAN LIKE A CRAZY BITCH SINCE 2013."
Adelle was too terrified to breathe.
"My lady, please—"
"I AM FLUENT IN SARANGHAE AND NEOMU CHUAHAE AND THE ENTIRE FREAKING LYRICS OF LOVE SHOT."
Adelle's soul had officially left the chat.
Ava's nails dug into her assistant's blazer.
"If I die tonight, Adelle — bury me in an AVA Incorporated eco-friendly jacket with Kai's face printed on my chest."
Adelle finally snapped out of her shock.
"Okay, okay, calm down! This could still be a scam!"
Ava's head whipped toward her so fast her ponytail nearly gave Adelle a concussion. "Scammers don't know about OT9, Adelle. SCAMMERS DON'T KNOW OT9."
Adelle pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't even know what that means."
Ava grabbed her shoulders, eyes wild.
"Then congratulations — you're now the only employee in this company who's about to witness a woman sell her soul to capitalism in real time."
She spun toward her computer and slammed her fingers down on the keyboard, typing with the precision of a hacker in a Hollywood movie.
Reply:
•••
To: BELA Entertainment
Subject: My Body Is Ready
Hello.
I will be there at 6:59 PM sharp.
I have no dietary restrictions. I will sign any NDA. I will even sell my sister to the Russian mafia if necessary.
Also, if Kim Junmyeon personally hands me that signed album... I may pass away on the spot.
Sinsirly Yours,
Ava Summers
•••
Adelle stood there, speechless, watching her mistress go from CEO of an eco-friendly empire to a full-time K-pop stan with the mental stability of a X fangirl in the span of 30 seconds.
"So... should I book the car?"
Ava swiveled her chair dramatically.
"Book the car. Book the glam squad. Book the damn resurrection spell in case I flatline when I see Kai in the flesh."
Adelle sighed, pulling out her phone.
Meanwhile, Eva gawked at Helen like she'd just witnessed the woman commit a federal crime in broad daylight. The laptop clicked shut with the kind of grace only possessed by someone who knew they'd just gotten away with felony, fraud, and probably cyber libel — all before lunchtime.
Helen leaned back in her chair, spine straight, chin high, exuding the confidence of a woman who could rob a bank with a feather duster and still be home by five to cook dinner.
Her hands folded neatly on her lap, eyes half-lidded as if orchestrating email scams was just another Tuesday activity — somewhere between ironing the sheets and blackmailing government officials for fun.
"H-How did you know my sister liked EXO?" Eva stammered, blinking like she'd just been slapped with divine knowledge she wasn't mentally prepared for. Each word left her lips in shaky gasps, as if the truth itself might combust inside her throat. "A-And... who the hell is EXO?"
Helen's sharp gaze flicked toward her, unbothered — almost pitying.
"I simply observe Ava Summers," she replied smoothly.
Her lips curled into the kind of smirk that only belonged to retired assassins and women who secretly ran scam syndicates between grocery runs.
Eva's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again — brain buffering like a Windows 98 PC.
Observe?
OBSERVE?
What was she — the FBI? MI6? K-pop Stalker Twitter?
"I have been observing her... closely," Helen continued, the words rolling off her tongue like a confession from a villain in the last five minutes of a telenovela. "For this very moment. Because I was aware that you are — excuse me for my words —" She leaned in slightly, eyes glinting like she was about to commit verbal manslaughter.
"Too stupid... to scam your sister on your own. I wanted you to excel to at least brag about it on Adelle, but my oh my. Your sister, Lady Ava, is simply too perfect, it hurts my pride as your personal maid that's why I have no choice but tho use our family's forbidden jutsu to save you from your awful fate."
Eva's entire bloodline disintegrated.
Her soul yeeted itself out of her body and straight into the void.
She clutched her chest like the insult had physically entered her bloodstream and clogged her arteries.
"You—"
Helen raised one perfectly manicured finger, silencing her like a mafia boss about to give the kill order.
"Before you speak, my lady, allow me to remind you..." Her head tilted ever so slightly, eyes cold, voice low.
"You spelled 'sincerely yours' wrong three times before I intervened."
Eva's soul came back... only to immediately leave again.
"But... how did you even know she liked EXO?" she croaked, clutching the edge of the table like it was the only thing keeping her from passing out.
Helen's gaze drifted toward the ceiling — like a prophet recalling years of silent, thankless espionage.
"I have heard her... whispering names in her sleep."
Eva's lungs stopped working.
"I have seen her... practicing finger hearts in the mirror when she thinks no one is watching."
Eva's entire life flashed before her eyes.
"I have watched her... spend precisely 16 minutes and 42 seconds crying over Sehun's military enlistment video at two in the morning. Something your simple mind could never catch on—"
"Wow," Eva deadpanned.
By 7 PM, Ava Summers would unknowingly march straight into the lion's den — not to secure a historic business deal...
But to get scammed by the same woman who buttered her sister's toast every morning since they were eight years old.
"My lady," Adelle squinted at the email pulled up on Ava's phone, suspicion practically dripping from her narrowed eyes. "Why do I feel like this email looks like it was typed by Helen every time I look at it?"
Ava didn't even glance up, flicking her hand through the air like she was shooing away imaginary peasants. "Nonsense, Adelle! Helen can barely unlock her own phone without calling IT support — how could she possibly pull off something so... sophisticated?"
Adelle's mouth opened — then closed.
"Now, go over there." Ava gestured toward the massive aquarium near the entrance of ExoShaneey's Not Shady Club — a name so suspicious it might as well have come with a free fraud hotline number.
The only living creature inside was a single fish with a lazy eye and a face permanently frozen in what could only be described as the 'tax fraud' expression — like it was one unpaid bill away from running a whole Ponzi scheme.
Adelle's eyes flicked between the fish and her boss. "What exactly am I supposed to do there, my lady?"
"Blend in," Ava said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Adelle blinked.
With the fish.
The fish blinked back.