A Little Slice of Heaven [Namjin]

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hypothetical Children

AN: Howdy!  We're getting there.  

I hope this chapter isn't too boring.  Please let me know what you think!

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The stoic man on the other side of the desk glanced down at the papers that sat in front of him before returning his gaze to Namjoon. The placard on his desk proclaimed him as a Mr. Choi Hajoon, HR Specialist. He had been, for the most part, politely detached for the duration of their meeting.

The blond attempted to look respectable and not fidget, but the urge to play with his fingers was growing as the discomfort he felt pressed down on his head. He gripped the tops of his thighs tightly to prevent himself from twiddling.

"Can you explain the five-year gap in your work history?" Mr. Choi asked blandly, pen poised over a notepad where he'd been scribbling comments.

Namjoon felt a cold sweat threaten to break out and did his best to calm the internal panic that started the moment the question left his interviewer's lips. He knew this would come up and, despite practicing with Geongmin, he still wasn't sure how to fully answer without either fabricating his response or disclosing his sexuality. The former option wasn't very integral; the latter could prevent him from getting hired. Anti-discrimination legislation was rarely upheld when it came to the gay community.

"My spouse made enough to support us, so I stayed home to work on my writing." His mouth felt incredibly dry as the words came out.

"Any particular reason you've decided to try to rejoin the work force now?" The man scribbled on his notepad.

"Change in circumstances," Namjoon replied immediately. He wasn't under any obligation to elaborate and hoped the man would just take the answer for what it was and move on.

Another scribble. "Have you ever done data entry before?"

"Not specifically, but when I worked at Hong Kong University's library, I was the lead on a project that involved transferring the entire card catalogue into digital form."

"I'm surprised they weren't already digital." Mr. Choi raised his eyebrows. It was the first time he sounded remotely interested in any part of their conversation.

"They were, but the school insisted upon transferring to a new database system. Someone didn't do their homework, though, and the new system was not compatible with the old one; we couldn't just move the files from one to the other. It had to be reentered by hand." Namjoon forced himself to relax his grip on his slacks, hoping he wasn't wrinkling them.

Mr. Choi sighed and shook his head. "That sounds all too familiar." He jotted down another note. "This merger has run into numerous instances of incompatible software solutions. Finding people who are familiar with both systems has been impossible, so we've been migrating everything over to the newer system. Hence, hiring of you and the rest of the temps we've been onboarding."

Namjoon's stomach leapt. Did he hear that right?

"Sounds frustrating," he agreed, sitting up a little straighter. "Nothing I couldn't handle, though."

"Let's hope so." Mr. Choi set his pen down and picked up a file folder sitting on top of a filing cabinet to his side. He passed it over to Namjoon. "I'll be frank, Mr. Kim. A monkey in a suit could do this job. But we don't have nearly enough of those." A glimmer of humor sparkled in the man's eyes. "Fill out the forms in there and return with them on Monday morning. We start at eight, sharp. You are allowed two fifteen-minute breaks and a half an hour lunch. Overtime is expected to occur at least once a week, but if I'm being completely honest, you'll be working over most days. Those who consistently meet their deadlines have a chance of being hired on permanently once the project is complete."