Boss - Kang Daniel

2 - Zoo

On my first day in the company, I was prepared to be sneered at by my new coworkers. Why? Because one, I got hired to work directly under the owner of the company, despite being a fresh grad. And two, that particular owner insisted that he'd drive me home on the day of the interview, and he did. It seems like he'd do everything to get what he wants. Maybe that's how he can be successful at such a young age.

"I knew it," I said in my mind when I saw everybody was staring at me as soon as I set foot in the office.

Actually I'm used to that kind of situation, because for some reason, it happened to me, a lot. When I was in high school, my classmates hated me because I was always the first one in class. Some of them even spread rumors that I had an affair with one of the teachers who adored me. Then in college, my theater club members singled me out because I always got the lead role and they thought that I seduced my Professor who had a say in casting to get the role.

The ones who adored me were all married men, but I swear I was never involved romantically with them. I knew their wives well too, and they also treated me nicely. The only special treatment that I got from them was they spend more time to teach me, because they said that I worked hard and talented, nothing else.

But what's the point of explaining all that? I tried, but I failed miserably. The rumors were spread like wildfire and got out of hand as soon as I opened my mouth to explain. So now I'm already used to let people say whatever they want about me. Because people see what they wanna see, no matter how hard you try to convince them otherwise. It's sad, but that's just the truth.

I shook my head to braze myself then went to my assigned desk. The office was really nice and spacious. In my column there were about 5 people, including me. They're really friendly, except for the one who sat beside me, her name is Angelina. But for some reason, I knew that we'd be close friends. She looked somehow cold outside, but I noticed that she's discreetly a caring person.

Not long after that, everybody went to a meeting room for a weekly operational meeting with the owner. The only department that wasn't in that meeting was the finance department, which hadn't stopped taking glances at me since I came in.

"If I'm in the corporate finance department, then why do I sit in the operation column? What are my job des...?" I wondered until,

"Miss (y/n), come with me," my boss, the owner, Kang Daniel, suddenly called me and signaled me to follow him.

He's heading to the meeting room, that's already filled with people. Then he asked me to sit beside him, which of course causing people to stare.

"I don't have time to care about what people think about me. I'm gonna proof that I deserve to be in this position, with my competence," I reminded myself in my mind.

After he introduced me to the rest of the meeting members, they started the meeting. I tried my best to digest as much as I could as I scribbled on my notes. But they used a lot of unfamiliar terms, like TI SO TO, which I had no idea what they meant. I only know T.I. the rapper, and I knew there's this dish called Soto, which is a chicken soup. But I was pretty sure that they weren't talking about any of that.

"Don't worry. I'll explain it to you later. Just listen and familiarize yourself with it, okay?" the boss whispered suddenly.

"Damn. How does he know that my mind is about to explode?" I wondered in my mind.

I mumbled "thank you" to him, then refocused on sucking everything that happened in the meeting like a sponge.

After the meeting, the boss asked me to follow him to his office. I unconsciously sighed deeply when we got there.

"That bad, huh?" he asked.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Sir," I stuttered as I slapped my mouth lightly and he chuckled.

"It's okay. Sit down. You can relax here. I'm sorry that I suddenly put you in that meeting. I just thought that it'll be easier for me to explain about our business and your role if you attended that meeting," he said and I nodded.

He explained about what's going on in the meeting earlier, including the unfamiliar terms which apparently means Transfer In, Sales Order, and Transfer Out, used to indicate the process of getting a product from our warehouse to our customer once there's a purchase. He then continued to explain about his core and side businesses, as well as some new business opportunities that he had in his pipeline, and what I had to do with them. So my main role was to assist him in analyzing current operations and new business development.

"I don't expect you to understand them right away. Just try to digest what I just told you, and read these files. Take your time, and feel free to ask me if you have any questions," he said and I nodded before I thanked him then excused myself.

"(y/n)," he called me when I was about to open the door.

"Did he just call me by name?" I wondered in my mind. "Yes Sir?" I asked as I turned around.

I didn't mind being called by name, but I wasn't gonna do the same to him. He's my boss after all.

"Let's have a lunch together, today," he said.

"WHAT? Is he out of his mind? Doesn't he notice how many eyes have been sneering at me already because of what happened? And now, what? Lunch? Together? I'm pretty sure tomorrow I'll get a death threat on my desk from one of my coworkers, because they think that I'm flirting with my boss," I ranted in my mind. "Hmmm. I don't think that's a good idea, Sir," I refused politely.

"Why? It's just a lunch. You need to eat too, right?" he convinced.

"I don't know, Sir. It's just ...," I paused as I was about to say "inappropriate", but I realized that there's nothing inappropriate about having lunch together with my boss. It's just that I didn't wanna make things worse.

"I don't like to eat by myself, and my friends are all busy today," he said pouted.

Did he just pout, again? He's unbelievable. That pout was also what made me gave in when he insisted to drive me home that day. We only met twice, but he already knows how to make me say yes. I can't say no when I feel bad.

"This is bad, he's good," I said in my mind. "Alright. I'll have lunch with you," I gave in.

"Yeay! Alright. Meet me at the parking lot at noon. Or do you want me to pick you in your column?" he asked.

"No no no. Please don't do that, Sir. I'll meet you at the parking lot," I said totally freaking out.

"Alright. I'll see you soon. Solid work today by the way," he said as he smiled.

"What is going on here? No, (y/n), don't think too much. It's just a lunch. I'm here to work. Let's be professional," I reminded myself as I went to my desk.