After working overtime at her corporate job, Y/N goes to the gym at 2 am and runs into a man named Choso, who just moved into town with his brother Yuji.
Y/N X Choso - Slow Burn... for now. ;)
Story Cover by @ryucloudx on Twitter
I will try to p...
"Fuck me" You groan as you roll out of bed to the noise of your alarm. Your eyes were heavy, and your arms and shoulders were sore.
The last thing you wanted to do today was go to work after being there just 8 hours prior. At least it was... Thursday? Ugh. Not even Friday. Bummer.
You throw together some sort of corporate-appropriate outfit and make a quick breakfast that consists of toast and Advil.
Were you an idiot for staying out until 4? Yes. But also, what's two more hours on top of the ever so many that this corporation has drained from you? Maybe you'll call out sick tomorrow. Not today, you're already dressed and in your car.
After a 20-minute drive, you arrive at work. You take the elevator up to the 7th floor. Once you push open the door to the office, you are greeted by your manager.
"Hello Y/N"
"Hello." You reply nonchalantly
"We are starting the day out with a meeting from the higher-ups. If you would please-" He takes a second to look at the piece of paper he is holding. "Can you wait in room 314?"
"Okay..."
You walk over to the stated room. A few other coworkers are already seated in the room, murmuring amongst themselves. You don't see any of the coworkers that you converse with. After about 30 minutes, a few more people trickle in. And lastly, your manager.
He turns on the TV/computer screen in the conference room you all are seated in and once it is on, the camera of your corporation president is shown on screen.
"Hello." The President begins speaking. "I have some unfortunate news to share today."
A pit in your stomach begins to form.
"Today we unfortunately have to say goodbye to 20% of our resources. This was not an easy decision to make but if I am speaking to you now, I am sorry to say that today will be your last day."
"What..." You heard gasps and murmurs. It didn't make sense. You just, no. You ALWAYS put your everything into this company. Why you? You flash your head to your manager, who was only a viewer, he had not been fired but was only watching the chaos unfold.
He would not make eye contact with you. "Manager Ito..." You spoke. "This doesn't make sense, what about last night? I stayed late to get the landing page set up. Please look at me."
He refused to notion his glance towards you. He softly and unwaveringly said:
"It was not my decision to make."
Liar.
You felt a hitch in your throat. If you tried to speak any further you knew words would not form. Your fist clenched and your lips tightly closed. You looked down at the floor as reality started feeling distant. So many thoughts and memories swirled through your head. What will you do now? This is the only job you've had since college, will it be enough to support your resume? No, you don't even want to think about that right now. Right now you want to scream, cry, run, vomit, sleep, disappear.
You hear your former coworkers shuffling around you. Your legs feel as if they were made of cement. Your eyes are still fixated on the floor. The pattern on the carpet is odd and there's a little rip. How did that get there? You wonder. You are hyperfixing. When did it get so quiet? No. Muffled. And the corner of your eyes isn't working so well. What? How does that make sense?
↞↞↠↠
"Y/N! Y/N. There she is."
You feel a numbed sensation on your cheek and a blurred image of a familiar face way deep in your personal space.
"Take some deep breaths."
Hm? Why? You thought. I'd rather go back to sleep thank you.
"The paramedics will be here any second."
Paramedics? Why? Did someone get hurt? Ah. My hands are numb. That's annoying.
And then it clicked. Damnit. You had fainted. It had been a while since the last time you had a fainting spell. But they are never fun and damn are they ever so embarrassing.
"Am I okay?" These are the only words that seem to formulate out of your mouth. Speech is quite hard after a full body reset.
"Yes, you're fine now. You fainted from shock but you're back now. We just want the paramedics to take you to the hospital to run some tests to make sure you're good."
You notice who's talking to you now. One of your coworkers and friends, Hana. She hadn't been in the room with you during the layoffs which means she must have kept her job. You notice a few other friends standing behind her as well, they look concerned. You wonder if they also feel pity.
Soon thereafter, the paramedics arrive. They carry you on a stretcher into the ambulance. God, you wish you could just take a car. Your car even? Because now you'd have to somehow get back here and drive home after the hospital visit? Did anyone think of that inconvenience?
Once in the hospital, they run some standard tests on you such as taking your temperature, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, etc. You were tired.
After waiting in your designated room for about 20 minutes after the tests were run, a slight knock at the door was heard and a presumed doctor walked in. She had long brown hair and a mole under her right eye, as well as eye bags that indicated she was overworked.
"All your test results came back standard." She said, looking at you. "But we really won't know if there's any internal underlying issues unless you get bloodwork done."
You audibly gulp.
She continues "Bloodwork is optional, but for your safety, I highly recommend it. We can send a phlebotomist now if you choose to do so."
"I-uh. Well. I've-" You rub your eyes. "I've been-" Your voice quiets to almost a whisper "I've been known to faint during blood tests."
The doctor giggles. "Well. As I said, it's optional. There's a bed right there for you to lie down on. We wouldn't want you to faint twice in one day."
Is she teasing you? Fuck it. Fine. What's the worst that could happen? I'm already at the hospital.
"Yeah okay. I'll do it." You let out a big sigh.
"Sounds good. He will be right in."
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Art credit to Shakunetsu on X. (**This was a tough and yucky chapter 😣 There are a lot of layoffs going around in the tech industry right now so maybe some of you know how Y/N feels. My company recently had layoffs as well. But don't worry lovelies! I'll make it up to you with the next chapter. Hehe 🥰**)
