It had not even been full twenty minutes since Y/N arrived at work but she was more than ready to go home. Every blink she made became longer and harder to pull away from as she tried to keep her focus on the bright screen of the desktop in front of her. She should have made the effort to sleep earlier.
But sleep was out of the picture as she found her mind plagued with thoughts and whispers. She spent all of last night tossing and turning as she worried about her decisions in life. The thought of what could happen kept her from feeling any ounce of exhaustion.
What would Bada say when she sees me? What would I say? 'Hi'? 'How have you been?'. Would she even say something or anything at all? Just what the hell am I gonna do?
The thought of backing out of the project had crossed her mind many times but they were always washed away by her pride. Kang Suyon had looked so proud and expectant when she took the project and she knew that it would be hard to gain that type of recognition if she backed out.
"Hey, Y/N!"
With a jolt, Y/N found herself sitting upright. Vision blurry and mind fogged. She must have dozed off again. The sigh she let out was long and deep as she rubbed at her eyes and slapped at her cheeks in hopes of driving the drowsiness out of her system.
"Woah... you okay?"
It was Jung Sumin, one of her coworkers. The one who got bitten by a snake while deep diving in the province. The two of them had gotten into the company at the same time which made it possible for them to bond so quickly. The girl gave her a look of concern as she stood in the doorway. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she leaned on the doorframe, eyes expectant of an answer.
"Sumin?" Y/N's brows rose in surprise. "You're back already?"
"Yeah, thankfully the snake wasn't venomous." The girl sighed and raised her left hand where a small plaster was placed between her index and thumb. "The shots for tetanus were still mad painful though." She huffed.
"Well, I'm glad you're back. I won't have to deal with..." Y/N trailed off, raised her brow, and shared a knowing look with her friend. "You know who, alone."
"True." Sumin shook her head with a small laugh as she pushed off the doorway. "Anyway, Miss Kang's waiting for you in her office."
"Oh, did she say why?"
Sumin gave her a look. "Sure, she told me everything while we gush about our love lives and braided each other's hair."
"Okay, okay. I get it." Y/N rolled her eyes and stood up. "Thanks, Sumin."
"Anytime." The girl clicked her tongue. "Anyway, I gotta go before Mister Lee goes mental on the interns." She gave a small wave before dashing off.
The moment that Y/N had stepped out of her office, she nearly ended up face-first on the ground as she felt herself being shoved aside. "Hey!"
Whoever it was, did not even spare her the effort of turning around and apologizing. And Y/N, with her brows set into a deep furrow, watched as the girl's back got further and further away until she rounded a corner.
You better pray I don't ever find out who you are. I might just place you in Jang Tanya's team. What's the rush for, anyway?
The further she walked down the hall, the more she got weirded out. Almost every room she passed was empty. What's going on? It isn't even lunchtime yet. The thought did not remain unanswered for too long as she found just about everyone in the employees' lounge. More specifically, in front of Kang Suyon's office.
They were crazy. At least as crazy as one can get in a work environment. For a minute, she contemplated waiting for the crowd to die down, but the slowly growing number of people just convinced her otherwise. And so, with a deep breath, she walked closer and started squeezing through the gaps she could find.
"Excuse me..."
"Sorry!"
"Coming through!'
"Hi, excuse me..."
As she finally managed to get to the front of her boss' door, it felt like she could finally breathe. "Yah!" She yelled out as she faced the crowd. The immediate silence that followed threatened to paint her red, but she did not let the feeling linger for too long as she cleared her throat. "Look, it's CEO Bang!"
For a minute, she found it ridiculous how they all turned to the random direction she pointed to. But her amusement soon vanished as she hurriedly twisted the doorknob open, slid into the room, and clicked the lock shut.
Her breaths were heavy a she leaned her forehead on the wood. That felt like something from a zombie movie. From where she was, she could still make out the faint protests from the locked-out employees. What was so great about Miss Kang's room anyway? And where did the guards go?Oh, wait, I think they were even part of the crowd.
The sound of someone clearing their throat pulled her out of her thoughts and she froze. "Miss Song?"
She could tell that it was her boss. Kang Suyon. But based on the strange prickles on the back of her neck, she could tell that the woman was not alone. For a couple of seconds, she remained frozen, thinking whether it would be better to get trampled on outside or bear with the embarrassment she could feel was coming her way.
With a deep inhale, she plastered a smile on her face and forced herself to turn around. "Good morning!" She greeted and bowed, refusing to meet any of the eyes on her.
There were three pairs of shoes in front of her. She could feel that the one in the middle was Kang Suyon, based on the woman's usual black pointed heels. The other ones were a pair of black dress shoes draped in ironed black slacks and the last was a pair of white Adidas superstars.
Someone clearly didn't get the memo.
As she stood back up, she kept her gaze on her boss. Hoping that the familiar face would somehow ease all the unpleasant feelings she could feel creeping up her spine. If I can't see it, it's not real.
"I think we can start now." Suyon clasped her hands together with a small smile. "Y/N, this is Mister Park." She pointed to a middle-aged man who gave a small nod and a smile. "And this, as you may have known by now..."
The woman trailed off and gestured to her other side, making Y/N unconsciously follow. The tall and lanky stature should have given it away, or maybe the multicolored hair. But it was not until Y/N met those sharp brown eyes that she felt her smile quiver.
"... this is Lee Bada."
