Incarnadine | Prequel to "Viridescence"

39

24th September
2016

Jihyun takes a deep breath as she stands in front of an intimidating building. Who would have thought she'd end up standing here, even though she's always wanted to be a baker when she grew up?

She now lives alone in a small apartment in the city, but as soon as her father passed, her friend's family took her in for a few weeks. It was a tough few weeks, the girl had to deal with the pain of having lost both of her parents. And what's worse is that she knows her brother is the one who carried out both murders.

She dealt with all the hatred and sorrow, but now only one question remains.

Why?

She doesn't know why, but she feels so curious. Of course she's heartbroken about the passing of her father but she feels like it didn't take her too long to get over the sadness. Maybe it was because she had lost her close bond with him over the years and it felt like living with a stranger at this point.

Either way, she needs to know where her brother is and what he's up to. What gave him the right to kill their father? He used to be so sweet so what happened?

And just like that, Jihyun found herself questioning many things. Her goal quickly switched from being a baker to pursuing this new interest.

And that brings her to the building of the national intelligence service. It is huge in a daunting way and she starts to wonder how she managed to get an internship here. She thinks about how her old best friend's father worked here at a pretty good position but he wouldn't get her a job...

Would he?

Jihyun feels grateful for the opportunity to work here at the same time as working towards a degree at the same time, but she feels a bit nervous now that it's finally the day to begin. However, she allows her determination to fuel her confident steps into the building.

After dealing with formalities and paperwork, the girl is ushered into a large meeting room. She takes a seat cautiously and her supervisor stands at the front of the room. There's an awkward silence in the room, but it's clear that the supervisor is waiting for someone as she keeps glancing at the door.

At last, the door opens and Jihyun shoots up to greet whoever it is. She feels so small in a building full of such serious and trained people. She feels too small to even dare open her mouth and say anything.

Two men walk into the room and Jihyun keeps her head bowed low. The two men do the same and it's clear that all three are extremely shy.

"Take a seat, we can finally start now." The boys sit far from Jihyun when the supervisor instructs them to sit and Jihyun fights the urge to roll her eyes. She may be scared of them but she doesn't think she looks too intimidating.

"Jihyun! These boys are the other interns I have on my team at the moment and the three of you are all going to be working very closely through your internships, so I have created a team out of you three," their supervisor announces.

Jihyun's eyes widen out of shock and she turns back to the men, who look equally as surprised.

Jihyun introduces her name to them and nothing more, still trying to process the situation.

"Hello, I am Mingi. I joined a few days ago and look forward to working with you," the taller man utters with a small smile. "My name is Wooyoung and I joined with Mingi, it's nice meeting you!" the other man also declares with a wider smile.

They both suddenly seem incredibly friendly after hearing that Jihyun is an intern too. She feels at ease now, their smiles feeling comforting. She feels like in this building full of dull robotic workers, these two are the brightness she will be automatically attracted to.