Secrets

I have a job for you

"You called for me?"

Seonghwa sat in the doorframe of his father's office and waited for a response. As CEO of the major fashion industry KQ, his father was a busy man and Seonghwa hardly ever got a chance to speak with him. So for his father to ask to talk one on one, it had to be a pretty big deal. Seonghwa's knee bounced in anticipation.

"Yes, come sit," motioned his father, setting his laptop to the side of his desk.

Seonghwa nodded and walked in, trying not to stare at the hundreds of gold and platinum awards lining the shelves. It was always impressive to see just how successful his father was. It made him smile in pride.

As Seonghwa took a seat, his father grabbed a slim manilla folder from his bottom drawer. Seonghwa kept his hands clasped in his lap to keep himself from fidgeting.

"I have a job for you."

Seonghwa's heart leaped. It had to be important if his father was asking him to do it.

"Of course. Anything you need."

"We've recently hired a new employee at the Ilsam branch and his records are very concerning."

"Concerning? How so?"

"He was a former JYP employee."

Seonghwa felt the anger building up in his mind at the name. JYP was a mega million dollar rival of his father's company and they would throw lawsuits against any minor error on his father's part. They were determined to take him down so they could dominate the fashion industry.

"And he came here?"

"Yes. That's why we're not certain we can trust him. We decided that if he truly is a spy, denying him work would show we were suspicious and so we hired him to give ourselves time to keep an eye on him. That's what I want you to do."

Seonghwa was taken aback.

"Me?"

"Yes. You're my most trusted staff member and my best employee. I've put you in place as a floor-level employee so that you don't stand out. It'll be an adjustment for you but I trust you will sort yourself out just fine."

"Thank you. I would be honored."

Seonghwa stood and gave his father a deep bow. This was definitely not something he had expected. It felt a bit degrading to work as lower level staff but if his father insisted it was to maintain his cover, he would do it.

"That's enough, I'm still just your father," he smiled and Seonghwa nodded, sitting back down.

"Now, I know you're used to working behind the scenes and you've never truly been in an office with other employees, so I understand this will be an adjustment. I've arranged for your first day to start in three days. The employee will start the day after you."

Seonghwa nodded. Three days was quite soon. But he was excited to get out of his home office and work with others for once.

"That way you can get a handle on who you're working with and what your tasks will be before he gets there."

Seonghwa nodded as his father handed him the file.

"I want you to study this information over the next three days so you know who you're working with. He'll probably try to put on an act so don't fall for it. I have faith in you but I'm just warning you. He could be the difference between life and death for this company."

He gave a firm bow before heading out of the office. As he made his way back to his own, he felt a smile creeping across his face. This would be fun.

He reached his office and sat in his chair, crossing his legs as he leafed through the file.

"Kim Hongjoong, huh?" he said to himself, reading the name. "What kind of trouble are you going to cause?"