Secrets

He had to make a good impression

Seonghwa adjusted his tie in the mirror for the sixth time. He knew that a staff position would be much less stressful than his daily workload but it wasn't the work that was worrying him.

His father hardly ever reached out to him with a specific mission. So it had to be important. A lot of weight rode on his shoulders.

Over the years, his father had faced a lot of false accusations and won many outrageous lawsuits, so he'd gotten good at fighting the system. When they had Seonghwa, they knew that he could be at risk because of his business, so he covered up his identity.

Though Seonghwa did a large portion of the work for the company, only five employees were even aware he existed.

He mostly operated over phone or email so he'd often pretend to be his father when needed and use another email address.

Therefore, he hadn't really worked with other employees before.

That was his biggest worry.

In order to avoid issues, he had to use a false name during his time at the lower level office so he'd come up with Lim Hwaseong.

It wasn't the most creative, but since no one really knew his real name anyways, it wasn't all that important to make it very different.

He positioned his name tag and looked at himself again in the mirror. Though no one would know now, eventually when he took over the company, his employees would remember him. So he had to make a good impression, even if he was just another staff member.

He sighed, straightening his tie a seventh time and moved to his closet to grab a suit coat. He turned back to his room and grabbed his laptop and briefcase from his desk and headed out.

As he rode to work he couldn't help but feel a bit excited. He hadn't driven himself since he'd gotten his license years ago.

For his safety and convenience, his father always prepared a chauffeur. Though he was grateful, it felt freeing to be in control of his own vehicle. He was getting a rush from the feeling of independence. Being in charge of his own life.

It was a bit excessive as he was simply driving, but it emphasized to him just how independent he would be on this mission. He was entirely on his own. And his father trusted him.

He felt like he was finally his own person. A normal person.

He reached the building and parked in the lot. It was a much further walk to the doors than he was used to but he almost enjoyed it.

As he entered another employee appeared behind him so he stepped back and held the door. The man gratefully bowed and insisted on holding the second door.

Seonghwa bowed back and continued on to his department.

He was trying to hide his joy at getting to hold the door for someone. Something so small and menial would be insignificant to anyone else, but Seonghwa was so used to having the door held for him. He had wanted to repay the favor, at least once.

Now he could do it. No one here knew his standing, no one had expectations for him, no one would be overly formal to him. He could be on the same social level as everyone else—even below others. It was such a foreign concept to him.

He walked up to the front desk and asked where he could find his department and the woman kindly directed him. He bowed a quick thanks and followed her instructions.

As he approached the door to the office, his heart started to race. This was it. These were the people he would be working with.

He had to make a good impression.

He closed his eyes and opened the door, taking cautious steps inside.