A Thousand Purple Stars (JinJi)

Never Been in Love

Jisoo arrived at the Jeon & Sky Publishing offices at exactly 10:30 in the morning, meaning that if she didn't get to the third floor in exactly one minute, she would be officially late. Served her right, trusting the buses to be on time instead of calling a car. The Embrace offices were on the third floor. She ran over to the elevator after obtaining a guest pass from reception. Once inside, she smoothed down her hair and fanned herself, trying not to look as winded and sweaty as she was.

Great, she thought. The most important interview of her life and here she was, walking in late and looking like she'd come back from a marathon. Evidently, her lucky flower wasn't in its element today.

She straightened out her blouse and her blazer, and when the elevator bell signaled her arrival, she walked onto the third floor with as much dignity as she could muster. Jisoo walked into a hallway and was first greeted by a girl sitting at a reception table. The words "EMBRACE" was written out on the wall above her head in the slick font she had come to love and recognize over many years as a loyal subscriber.

"You need some help?" the girl at the counter asked. Jisoo jogged over and told the girl that she was supposed to be seeing Julie Kiyoko, who was interviewing her for a position as an editorial assistant.

"Oh, another one," the girl offhandedly said as she gestured toward an iPad that Jisoo was supposed to sign in on. "Ms. Kiyoko is taking interviewees in that conference room down the corridor. It's a group interview. You're just a little bit late, but they'll have just started, so you can go right in."

"Thanks!" Jisoo said after tapping her name into the sign-in sheet. Then she grabbed her briefcase and tried her hardest not to sprint to the conference room. Once there, she pushed the door open slowly.

At the head of the table stood a short Japanese woman in a crisp white pantsuit. Her hair was cropped sharply to the same sloping angle as her jawline, and a pair of vintage blue glasses rested on her nose bridge. This intimidating woman could only be Ms. Kiyoko herself, Managing Editor of Embrace. Jisoo felt the saliva in her mouth go dry.

The other two girl who were sitting to Ms. Kiyoko's left looked up at the tardy third interviewee. They were both tall, even when sitting, and slender. One wore a sweet pink office dress and had her hair in a bun atop her head. The other had slick brown hair and a floral, textured blazer.

Shit, Jioo hadn't gotten the colorful outfits memo. She looked like she'd been to a funeral.

"You must Kim Jisoo," said Julie Kiyoko cheerfully. Jisoo apologized for her tardiness, shook her hand, and laughed nervously as she took the last empty seat to her left.

"Sorry I'm late," Jisoo said, still laughing nervously. "I took the bus, and there were too many delays, all these tourists and... anyway, it doesn't matter, I'm sorry I interrupted!"

"Oh, it's not problem," Ms. Kiyoko said. "Meet Krystal Jung and Suzy Bae. I hope you don't mind that I changed this to a group interview, I have to meet with our sponsors over lunch so this time worked best."

"Oh, it's no problem!"

Jisoo turned to the other girls and greeted them. They smiled and gave her a cold greeting in turn. The interview continued normally afterward, and Jisoo was glad her late entrance didn't put her too far behind the other girls. Through Ms. Kiyoko's questioning, Jisoo learned that both Krystal and Suzy were recent grads with degrees in Literature, and Suzy in particular had a concentration in writing. Krystal was the editor-in-chief of a student-run publication of creative writing at her college, and Suzy had four short stories published in Thread, another literary journal that specialized in publishing original works of fiction and poetry.