Forget Me Not

Chapter 13: Change up! Or maybe not?

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Author's note:

The biggest cliche in most dramas we watch is a love triangle. Am I really above that? what should we do about these "enemies"? Should they turn into friends or something more? Should I break some hearts?

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Saying that Aishi and Seungcheol never got along that well is an understatement. Saying that they are mortal enemies is not an overstatement. Aishi led the design engineering team and Seungcheol led the manufacturing team. Both their companies are supposed to work in the most peaceful and prosperous collaboration, but Aishi hated Seungcheol's (SC) guts, and he hated the fact that she always had a huge stick up her nether-lands. Their days started with SC complaining about the design being too complicated, or too precise to manufacture, and ended with Aishi telling him that she wouldn't lower her standards to compensate for his lack of skills.

"Maybe, one of these days, you should come down to the plant and program the CMM machine to measure that 0.005 inch fillet that you designed?", SC complained.

"Or, maybe, one of these days, you should actually put your GD&T certification to use and understand that if the fillet is any larger, it wouldn't assembly with the nozzle.", Aishi retorted.

On a separate occasion, they argued about the trade-offs between a perfect design and labour cost.

"Aishi-nim, I know you only interact with the contour plots on your screen, but a 0.001 inch tolerance is extremely expensive to manufacture. This is a military project not a bottomless buffet."

"Choi sahab, there are actual human beings who are going to fly that plane and I am responsible for their safety. You need to improve your facility and make your boys work a tad bit harder. Don't blame me for your incompetence."

There were multiple times their bosses had to intervene to cool them down. They were extremely good at their individual jobs and passionate to support their ideas. Aishi never had to travel to Seoul to support the manufacturing, most engineers didn't do that. But, both the companies felt it was good for them to develop some team rapport so that the project went on more smoothly.

So, when Aishi found herself pinned against the wall, in her own home, by her rival, she couldn't believe her luck.

"Let. Me. Go.", Aishi hisses.

SC loosens his grip a little bit so she can turn back to face him. He still holds on to her, he is still not trusting her enough,

"What are you doing in my house?" he asks her

She is taken aback and quickly scans around the room. The bed is neatly made with bland colored sheets, the shelf is full of well organized rows of books, the laundry basket has an array of used shirts and trousers. This is not her house.

"Fuck, this is not my house!", she exclaims.

SC lets her go, takes a couple of steps away from her, and crosses his arms across his torso as he speaks,

"No shit Sherlock. When did you move to Seoul?"

"Just this morning. What block is this?" - Aishi

"B" - SC

"What's your flat number?" - Aishi

"703?" -SC

"Aah", Aishi exclaims, and sits down in the nearest chair, the one SC was working on before she ambushed him. "I moved into 704. We're neighbours? I don't know how to feel about that."

"I don't think we know each other well enough to let ourselves into the other person's home, sit on their chair, and proceed to have small talk at 9 in the night." SC says with a cold expression.

"Do you ever breathe in between sentences? You should try rapping", Aishi says while scanning the rest of the room more leisurely.

"Aren't you jet lagged and tired? Don't you have unpacking to do? Don't you have a presentation due on Monday? Why are you touching my stuff?", SC says, definitely frustrated with the new intrusion. Aishi is supposed to hate him.

"Why is she even engaging in a conversation with him? He would never talk to her if he can help it. What is she still doing in his room? Isn't she embarrassed?", he thought.

"This airplane model is pretty sweet. It's really small but the proportions are amazingly realistic. How did you make this?" Aishi asks, her eyes wide open with curiosity as she looks up to face SC who was standing across the room.

"Why do you assume that I made this? I could have bought it?" - SC asks. He has given up and realized that she would not leave him alone without finishing her little chat.

"Such a smart man you are! This airplane design is not yet released to the public, this is something you folks are still developing. It's very clear you 3D printed this. See, all these layers.", she says pointing at the miniscule lines across the model airplane.

"Yes, I printed this for calibrating our new machine in the facility. You will see it soon." -SC

"So, you can print really tiny and precise toy airplanes but you give me grief about bare minimum tolerances? -Aishi

"You want me to 3D print your brackets? Can your fragile simulation handle almost-cast-like-properties?"-SC

"No", Aishi says while starting to leave. "Anyway, I will let you go. See you at work on Monday."

"This is my house! I am letting you go." SC stresses while walking her towards the door.

Just as Aishi was about to leave, he senses that she is hesitating a little.

"Is there something you want to ask?"- SC

"Umm.. I can't read Korean and Google maps doesn't work very well here. Can I walk to the office from here or should I take a bus?"- Aishi asks. She ate up every bit of her pride while asking him for help.

SC realized that. He looked at her and felt that she seemed very different from the cold and stubborn colleague he knew. She was new to a place where she couldn't even read or write the language. More than empathy, he feared what would happen to their project if she couldn't assimilate well.

"It's a 3km walk from here. I drive to work. If you want, we can carpool." - SC suggested.

"But, I don't have a car to carpool?"-Aishi

"Let's split the fuel bill." -SC

Aishi beams at the idea in relief. "Thank you so much! It's probably only for a couple of weeks until I get used to the place."

"No worries. I leave at 8, not a minute later. We'll meet in the corridor on Monday. I really hope we don't run into each other outside of work." -SC says with an air of annoyance.

"Chill bro, I like you just as much as you like me." - Aishi smiles before leaving for her place.