Secrets

You must be Lim Hwaseong!

The office was much smaller than he anticipated. There were only about fifteen people stationed around the room and a main office at the far end. His mind impulsively directed him towards the spacious room and the executive chair but he reminded himself that he was just a nobody here.

He turned towards the cubicles and grimaced slightly at the cramped space.

This would be his life for a few days. Just until he had enough information to determine if the new employee was a spy or not.

As he looked around he didn't notice the man approaching him from his left.

"Hi! You must be Lim Hwaseong!"

Seonghwa turned, almost in surprise at hearing the fake name as well as the lack of honorifics. He knew all of this coming in but hearing it for the first time was exhilarating.

"Yes! Good morning!" he smiled a bit too eager and bowed deeply.

"Oh you don't have to—I'm just a staff like you! Sorry I was just curious who was going to be sharing my desk corner," the man smiled shyly and Seonghwa felt his face heat up.

"Oh—of course, that's my bad. What's your name?"

"No worries! I'm Choi San! Nice to meet you! I can direct you to our corner," the man smiled with a slight bow and Seonghwa bowed back.

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

Seonghwa bashfully followed the man to the far left where three desks were arranged in a triangle. He looked back and noticed most of the desks around the room were arranged in groups of four but figured they must have had to switch up the set-up with two new employees.

So San must have been at a different table before. He felt a little bad.

"Here's our cozy corner! There's still a recruit coming tomorrow so he'll be sitting there. For today it's just you and me! I look forward to working with you!"

Seonghwa smiled but couldn't keep his eyes off of the vacant desk to his left. Kim Hongjoong—the potential spy—would be sitting right next to him? He had anticipated keeping an eye on him from afar but that wouldn't be possible anymore.

He finally smiled back at San and took a seat, setting out his laptop and a few utensils he'd brought from his own office.

As he was arranging his pens, he noticed a man had walked over to their corner and was sitting in the vacant seat, chatting with San.

He seemed to be a pretty close friend.

"Aish—what are you looking at, huh? Mind your own business newbie!"

Seonghwa was startled by the harsh tone and tried to look apologetic. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop. But to be fair, the man was sitting at the wrong desk, talking very loudly in front of him. It wasn't really his fault for listening in.

"Wooyoung be nice! He's just messing around he's not really mad at you. He just misses me."

"It's alright I shouldn't have been listening," Seonghwa said with a shy smile.

"Ya. You shouldn't have."

"Woo!" San snapped, giving him a smack on the arm.

"It's because he came here to work that we don't get to sit together so it's the least he could do to give us some privacy!"

"He's not paying attention to us, he's just trying to get settled in. Leave him alone," San said with a glare and Wooyoung sighed, backing off.

Seonghwa was relieved. He'd never really been on someone's bad side before. Everyone was annoyingly nice to him. Even when he could tell they weren't happy with his decisions.

It was a little refreshing to have someone badmouth him.

He really needed to talk to real people. He sounded pathetic. Being snapped at was exhilarating to him.

"As I was saying," Wooyoung said with a sharp glance towards Seonghwa who quickly got back to setting up his desk, "I already set up everything for tonight so all you have to do is dress up in that sexy red suit I bought you and meet me at 7."

Seonghwa's face almost went red at the conversation. They were clearly more than friends. He could see why the man was mad at their lack of privacy. He blocked out the rest of the conversation.

Finally the work day started and Wooyoung walked back to his seat, but not before receiving a playful butt squeeze from San which Seonghwa entirely pretended to miss.

They were quite bold.

The office quieted down as two tall men came out from the room on the other end. Seonghwa assumed one of them must be the manager.

"Good morning everyone."

Everyone stood to bow and Seonghwa scrambled to join them. He hadn't ever learnt true workplace etiquette so he was surprised by the quick reaction.

"We just received a new assignment from corporate to start work on the first lineup for our winter collection. I've sent the information to each of you over email so—check that if you have any questions. That's all."

The manager turned to leave until the man beside him leaned into his ear and whispered something.

"Ah—yes! I forgot. I want each group to come up with a proposal for a theme by the end of today and select 8–"

The man next to him leaned in again, coughing something under his breath.

"9! 9 different looks from the collection."

Everyone nodded and he smiled sweetly before the two returned to the large office and closed the door.

Everyone sat back down and Seonghwa followed suit. As everyone started to get to work, Seonghwa turned to San.

"So, was that the manager?"

San finished pulling up his email and turned back to Seonghwa.

"Yup. Song Mingi-nim. He's not...the brightest bulb but he tries his best. He has a kind heart. And an eye for fashion. His advisor Jung Yunho runs a lot of things behind the scenes and keeps him in check. Honestly—Yunho-nim should probably run the office but he hasn't ever challenged Mingi's position. They pretty much operate as a team."

Seonghwa nodded, attempting to follow along. He definitely noticed the distinct dynamic between the two.

"Is there anyone else in this office that I should know?"

"Hmm. Well we've actually gained a lot of new employees recently so I'm not sure even I know everyone around here, but I can tell you who I do know."

Seonghwa smiled and San began introducing them.