House Of Cards

First Meeting

I stare at the door in front of me, I don't know how long I've been standing here, but I know it's been a while. Taking a deep breath, I finally push the door open. My eyes squint as I smile kindly at the people in front of me.

"Good morning. I'm (Y/n) (L/n), the new member of the marketing team."

The men at the table stare at me in silence. One of them finally speaks, "Find a seat, the meeting will begin shortly."

I take a seat at the end of the table, distancing myself from the four men. They don't seem to care and are perfectly content with pretending I'm not here. Dohyun had warned me that the marketing team was full of rude men. I hadn't expected it to be true.

The guy two seats away from me is younger than the rest. He looks about my age, maybe a year older. I cautiously lean over and ask, "What exactly goes on during this meeting? I wasn't asked to prepare anything, so I'm completely clueless."

He gives me a kind smile. "Don't worry, this is just our weekly meeting. All we do is discuss the app's rates and how to better them."

"Thank you," I reply.

"I'm Jihoon, by the way," he says.

I smile, "I'm (Y/n), though I've already said that."

"Nice to meet you, and don't worry about the others. They're old and rude. It's best to just ignore them as much as possible."

"Noted."

"Good morning," a familiar voice says.

We all stand and bow to Mr. Wi. He nods, signaling for us to sit down. Once he's seated in his seat at the head of the table, he looks at me. "Welcome, Ms. (L/n)."

I nod in response, ignoring the stares from the men. The other men look older than Jihoon and I, possibly in their mid thirties. The oldest one hands a stack of papers to the CEO.

"Downloading rate hasn't dropped any, but it hasn't improved either. We seem to be at a stand still, which is a bit odd for a social media app," the man explains, pointing to things on the paper.

"Discuss ways to improve our rates as a team and present them to me in the next meeting," says Mr. Wi.

He stands up. "You're all dismissed."

He leaves the room quickly, and I look around at the others in confusion. The older men roll their eyes.

"This new guy is a disgrace. Always leaving meetings early, rarely making appearances. His uncle must be disappointed."

His words anger me for reasons I do not know. I shouldn't care about fellow employees talking ill of the CEO, I did the same with the old CEO. However, I'm unable to keep my mouth shut.

"It's unprofessional to gossip about your boss during work hours. Especially, while in a meeting room just seconds after the meeting was adjourned."

Everyone in the room turns to me. The man who had been talking is silent, his eyes glaring right at me.

"You've been on the team a day and think you can boss me around?"

I stand up, "I'm not bossing anyone, I'm just speaking my mind."

"How the hell did you get on this team anyway? You've been an errand girl for years," another man says.

"That's why you look familiar. You're that foreign girl the former CEO always talked about," the first man says.

Jihoon cuts in, "We were dismissed, I think it's time to go back to our offices."

"Agreed," I respond before leaving the room.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I lean back in my chair, rubbing my eyes in exhaustion. My back hurts, and my brain feels fried. When I look back at my computer, I sigh, I need to start wearing my blue light glasses. Staring at a computer screen all day isn't healthy.

A knock on the door startles me. I straighten my back, "Come in."

Dohyun enters, a big smile on his face. He's carrying two cups from the coffee shop. When he sits down, he places one of the cups in front of me. "How was your first meeting?"

"Thanks," I say, grabbing the cup and taking a sip.

He waits for me to answer, watching me with eager eyes.

"Jihoon is nice. The old guys are rude."

He laughs, "I told you they were mean."

"They also don't like Mr. Wi," I add.

"That doesn't surprise me."

I set my cup down and turn back to my computer. The rates for our app are low, much lower than they should be. Over ten thousand people have uninstalled the app in the last week.

"Maybe being an assistant wasn't so bad."

Dohyun stands up, "Welcome to the big boys club where we work overtime and live off of coffee."

"I think I'd rather be the one delivering the coffee."

He smiles and leaves. The room returns to its dreadful silence in the absence of my friend. The computer screen seems brighter now, almost like it's taunting me.

I pull out my notebook and begin writing my proposal for the next meeting. It's unlikely I'll be allowed to present it as I'm still new, but I'd rather be prepared. My wrist cramps up, causing me to drop my pen. I'm well aware of the fact that it's been a while since I've written this much, but this is just embarrassing.

I slide the notebook away and make a promise to myself to finish it tonight. For now, I should focus on something else.

My fingers behind typing on the keyboard, and without even realizing it, I've already searched what I typed.

'Wi Hajoon'

A Wikipedia page pops up, displaying a picture of the man himself. His face is stoic, much like it is in person. I click on the link and read through the page. There's not a lot of information about him, just enough to form a couple of paragraphs.

I exit and scroll through the Google search when an article catches my eye.

'Park Seojoon announces he's running for president. The Wi family is rumored to be funding and promoting his campaign'

So Dohyun was right. The CEO's family is involved with the Parks. Maybe the mafia rumors aren't as absurd as I thought.

I begin to do research on Park Seojoon as well. His father is the current president but is unable to run again.

My teeth bite down on my lip as I read through all of the articles. I pull my phone out and open my notes app. The notebook sits forgotten as I type out notes about the CEO and his family, as well as Park Seojoon.

This job just got much more interesting.