Plus One | Yanan Spin-Off ✔️

Chapter 14

chapter 14 | The Way Out of Friendzone

Elkie was panting so hard, heavy pile of papers in her hand. She had just finished printing her and Yanan's worth of overnight work. It was quarter to eight so she ran to Kim Kijun's office as soon as she could. "Good morning, Kim Kijun-nim."

"What is it so early?" He asked with a hint of annoyance.

"I've finished the documents you asked me to-"

"What documents?"

"Uh. The historical facts and some trivias..."

"Oh. That. Right. Nevermind. I don't need it anymore. Minhee gave me the original summary, so it's good."

Elkie's jaw dropped. For a moment, her ears seemed to ring. "What?" The word escaped her mouth.

Kim Kijun's piercing eyes met hers. "Are you making me repeat myself?"

She clenched her jaw. "Then..." She talked slowly, unable to hide her anger. "What should I do with these?"

"Go contact a paper shredding service. Jeez, why do you have to ask me something so simple? Are you stupid?"

Elkie swallowed hard, pushing back the tears she knew was building up in her eyes. "Excuse me, you asked me to finish this work by Monday morning. I didn't even get a break on Sunday because I was working on theseㅡ"

"So, are you complaining?" He asked.

"No, I just want you to see that I'm working hard. And I'm not stupid."

He chuckled humorlessly. "You're working hard?" He asked before raising his voice. "Do you know how much sleep I get to get this film together because my co-PD hasn't shown up? It's closer to none! You think you're working hard by doing a simple work on a Sunday night? Listen carefully, some of the staff here don't even get a day-off. They miss important events of their personal lives, but they're still here. If you can't give up a little bit of your time for this job, then you should just quit. So infuriating!"

For a moment, she seemed to be frozen where she stood. Was she really just complaining too much?

"What are you still doing there? Get out!"

Elkie bowed her head before leaving. She googled the paper shredding company and took a taxi to get there. But Yanan worked so much harder than I did on these papers.

With a heavy heart, she returned to the set. For a moment, she just stood there watching everything unfold. This was what she wanted; to be there, to be involved behind the scenes. She looked at every single person there, even the actors. Everyone of them must have given up something to be there. She knew that, so why was she feeling so angry?

• •

Yanan knew that Elkie wasn't in a good mood when they went grocery shopping that night. She was making the don't-piss-me-off-further face where she doesn't smile at all and she stares into space, and she doesn't seem to hear anything at all.

Finally, when they reached the parking lot to put the groceries in his mom's car, he asked her: "Elkie, what's wrong? You've been quiet."

She didn't say anything.

"You know you can still talk to me? right?"

She nodded.

"How was work? What did your boss say about your homework?"