In Your Dreams

Chapter 9-Welcome Back?

"Welcome home, Miss Parker." The doorman greets me as I walk towards the door, bags in tow.

"Thank you."

I step off the elevator and, looking left and right down the hallway, locate my apartment. After unlocking my door, I head inside, leaving my bags by the door. I close the door and take in the surroundings. This place is amazing. To the right is the kitchen with a large island and stools on one side. Directly in front of me is a living room with a couch and a loveseat. A glass coffee table is directly across from a fireplace and a TV hanging on the wall. There is a doorway to the left and right of the fireplace. Straight across from the door is a balcony that overlooks the city.

Going to the left through the door is a bedroom with a king size bed in the middle. The fireplace goes all the way through from the living room. There is a nightstand on either side of the bed. A large window makes up the far wall, and in front of it sits a desk and chair. To the left of the bed is a large walk-in closet and a large bathroom. The bathroom has a freestanding tub and a shower big enough for three people.

This is so much more than what I expected. I head back towards the door to grab my suitcases and see something lying on the counter. I walk over and see there is an envelope and a packet. I opened the packet first. Inside is my employee badge for entry into the Hybe building. There is also a credit card with my name and a note saying that it will be loaded weekly with money for essentials and groceries. The note also states that Seung has been assigned as my driver for the duration.

I pick up the envelope, and in it is a card from the members welcoming me to Seoul and telling me how excited they are to work with me on this project. I take the ID and the card and place them in my wallet. I decided to unpack tomorrow as it is already almost midnight. I unpack just the items I need for the night. I set my alarm for early in the morning, hoping to acclimate myself to the time change and fall asleep.

My alarm blares in my ear the second I close my eyes, or so it feels like. Actually, it feels like I have been run over by a bus. Jet lag is a fickle bitch. I get up and place my suitcases on the bed to unpack. An hour later, I am completely unpacked and absolutely starving. Since there is nothing to eat in the place, I take a shower and get dressed. I need to go and explore my surroundings.

I wave at the doorman as I decide to set off to the right. A few blocks away, I find a café. I grab a hot tea and a chocolate croissant. Not much more in this direction other than clothing stores. I turn and head the other way, waving at a confused-looking doorman as I pass him. I walk a few blocks and find a small market. I enter and roam around. I am still not fluent in Korean, so I cannot read much of what I see, so I just go by looks. If it looks good, I buy it. Thankfully fresh fruit and vegetables need no label. I come out with a handful of bags.

As I exit the store, I look up and realize I am standing directly in front of the Hybe building. Nice, I won't have to bother Seung as much. Back in my apartment, I put away my groceries and relax on the couch. Tomorrow is Monday and my official first day. As I am a contractor, I have pretty much free reign as long as the work gets done. I decided to email the members to get this thing started. It will be my first contact with them since I left.

Gentlemen,

I would like to get started on our joint venture. I think the first thing to do is begin with the individual stories. I will be setting up a shared Google Drive. The easiest would be to share what you want to be in the book with me via the drive, and I will get it written. This will be the least disturbance for you.

Once it is done, we can meet in person to see if any revision is needed unless you prefer to do this electronically as well. Regarding pictures for the stories, please share those via the drive as well. Once the individual pieces are done, we can work on the group information.