𝙴𝚈𝙴𝚂 𝙾𝙵𝙵 𝚈𝙾𝚄

Chapter 11

(f/c) = favorite color
(f/g) = favorite genre of music or artist(s)

~~~~

Y/N shook his head, shaking away the thought. He turned his gaze back to the others and caught Avani waiting for him just a few feet away.

"You know him?" they asked.

"I don't think so," he replied, receiving a confused look from them. "I think I've seen him before but I don't personally know him."

At that, Avani nodded in understanding. "Well, you probably won't see him again anyway."

Avani then turned back around and continued walking. "Yeah... Probably," he muttered to himself, taking one last look in the direction the red-haired man had gone before catching up with the rest.

"What about this?"

"This one's nice too!"

When Y/N and Avani reached the others, they already had their eyes on some furniture items. F/N was the first to notice the two and motioned them over. "Check out the stuff we found!"

Sanya motioned toward a set of comfy (f/c) chairs. "Hammock chairs might be a little expensive to get, so maybe these could work? They'd make a nice place to lounge."

Y/N nodded. "They look really comfortable."

Sanya smiled at the (h/c)-ette's approval of her choice of furniture. F/N then motioned toward their pick. "This small table too. It'd be a nice piece to set in between the chairs."

"Yeah. Maybe put it in the space near the balcony."

One by one, the others showed Y/N their picks for furniture, with Avani set on getting a record player for the office. With the (h/c)-haired writer's seal of approval for each of their picks, they raced to the checkout counter, excited about their contributions.

--

(F/g) music was playing softly in the background as the group began moving furniture around. Near the entrance, Y/N was busy sketching out his characters on the wall. His pencil strokes were light, not wanting them to show through the paint too much.

On the other side of the room, Sanya was beaming with delight. Her choice of chairs and F/N's choice of table were perfect. It was now a cozy corner of the room, likely to draw the staff toward lounging there during breaks or even just doing some casual work.

Opposite of them, Avani had finished setting up the record player on top of a stand they bought as well. Now, they were sorting and organizing some of their old vinyl records inside the shelf underneath the stand.

Shou and Masao were busy taking care of the details such as table and wall decor, plants, rugs, and cushions. Eszter was overseeing their work, letting them know some things needed adjusting and needed to be placed elsewhere.

Halfway through their work and Y/N's sketching of the second main character, there was a knock at the door. He turned back and walked toward the entrance. Waiting on the other side was his editor, Hirose, and a few technical staff from the company. They were hauling carts filled with all sorts of equipment as well as boxes and metal and wooden pieces.

Earlier that day, Hirose had sent Y/N a message, letting him know that all the equipment was set to arrive that morning. The news was a relief considering all the office-decorating work had to be done by the time interviews were over and the team was finalized by the company.

Now that everything was gathered, Hirose and the technical staff were quick to bring the equipment over. The sooner everything was done, the better.

Y/N opened the front door for them and was immediately greeted upon seeing everyone. "Hello," he replied. "Thank you for all of your help."

They waved their hand, letting him know it was no trouble. "All the equipment and desks are courtesy of the company," Hirose said. "So, no worries on this end, Y/N."

"Thank you," was all Y/N could say.

He was thankful for how much the company was pulling through for him. On top of covering the cost of the office itself, they were also covering the cost of equipment, desks, chairs, and replacements should any of the equipment suffer from technical difficulties or be damaged. Truly, he was happy to have their support. Being one of their best-selling authors definitely had its benefits.

Hirose and the staff greeted the others in the room as well, thanking them for helping the (h/c)-ette, especially with the tight deadline he was given. They then began work on building up the desks, letting the others resume their own work.

Y/N quickly finished sketching out the rest of the characters before grabbing his painting supplies from the storage room. He set everything out, making sure he had all his brushes, paints, palette, and a jar filled with water.

Gradually, he zoned in on his work, drowning out the noisy background and instead focusing on each stroke of his paintbrush, careful to make the least amount of mistakes possible. Starting from the top, he slowly made his way down, taking care of each tiny detail.

Occasionally, he'd clean the brush and dip it in another blob of paint, resuming his work. It was when the sound of power tools died down that Y/N eventually returned to reality. He moved from his spot and toward the room, his eyes widening.

The desks were done and set out. They were a good size, the surface offering enough space for the equipment the staff would need. Underneath, there were small cabinets that allowed for any personal items, but with enough leg room for them to move around freely. 

Each desk also had its own respective chairs. They were comfy-looking with enough padding on the seat, back, and head to endure sitting in it for hours should the work call for it. All that was left was getting the equipment set up and hooked up to power.

In addition to the technical staff's work, F/N and the group had set out some more of the furniture and decorations left in the storage room. It was all coming together so quickly, Y/N almost couldn't believe it.

Hirose noticed him in his stunned state and chuckled, walking over to him. "What do you think so far, Y/N?"

"It's..." he started to say, still trying to find the words to describe his amazement. "Wow. I just can't believe how much the place has changed in just one day..."

"Mhm," his editor replied. "I'm relieved the equipment arrived earlier than predicted. This way, the office might just be ready by the deadline if not earlier."

Y/N nodded, taking another look around the room. It was then that he thought to ask Hirose something he'd been wondering for a while.

"By the way... Do you know exactly how many people will be here?"

Hirose thought for a second, recalling how many staff members had been finalized to work there as of that day. "For the moment, there's five. Interviews are still underway, so I still don't know the exact number."

"I see..."

"But," he said, turning his head toward Y/N. "Once it's finalized, I'll let you know. They're all nice, hard-working people, so I doubt you'll have any issues."

"You said they already work at the company, right?"

Hirose nodded. "That's right. Used to work for a different author, but they retired. The staff returned to their previous posts as they didn't have any more work to put out. But, I reached out to them about working with you and they accepted without hesitation."

"And the rest are new?"

"Up and coming artists, writers, proofreaders, cleaners. All of the above. Definitely not new to the field, but new to the company. As I said, they likely won't give you any problems, but should they cause trouble, get in touch with me and we'll get it worked out."

"Okay," Y/N replied.

Hirose showed him a smile before excusing himself to continue helping out the staff. Y/N took one last look at the room, feeling newfound satisfaction at how well everything was going. But there was also some nervousness and anxiety swirling in the pit of his stomach.

Meeting new people wasn't his thing. Not at all. But it would have to be done lest he wanted to keep sacrificing his sleep and putting his health at risk.

Ugh...