Untitled, 2018

Chapter 31: Meet the Boys

"Can you love someone from a distance?" I was stirred awake when I heard the voice loud and clear in my ear, and immediately tried to sit up straight. Oh shit. Mateo looked at me and grinned, rolling his eyes. I had started nodding off.
We were sitting in the viewing room during a string of never-ending interviews behind one of those legit movie-style one-way mirrors. In the actual interrogation room sat Dr. Wang and a new interviewee - a middle-aged woman who seemed very troubled and pained in the subject of love... as most people were!! I yawned. What a predictable mess. I didn't understand why it was such a topic of pain for everyone. Weren't these people in love ever happy in their situations? I was settling into my chair and about to doze off again... I probably did, but it felt only like a second before I woke up to a different voice.

"Only a fool doesn't know when to give up, and we're all fools when we're in love. That's how you know when it's real."
Yo that's so deep. I looked up at the one-way mirror to see a new interviewee staring right at me, as if he could see me through the mirror. All too familiar- goatee and disheveled hair included. But this time the old man doppelgänger had a pair of khakis and a button up half sleeve shirt, looking very domestic American.
I froze for a second and blinked a couple of times. Mateo was tapping my shoulder with his knuckles. "Wake up. Kang just texted you." I sat up straight in my chair and checked my texts. I looked up to see the interviewee was still the same middle-aged woman. I'm goin crazy.

I walked out of the room towards the office spaces in a different wing, where Kang and Hanna were working on a report. Kang saw me and exclaimed in Korean, "Oh you're here! We need you to script something for us... also I need to talk to you for a second." Oh my god he's going to fire me and give me no letters of recommendation and send me back to my college campus by the end of the week disgraced.
If you couldn't tell, for the last month I was a little more paranoid and a lot more careful about anything I did at work—I couldn't allow myself any more "incidents". I constantly felt awkward around Kang; he probably hated me, and I felt really guilty. I avoided the man if I could. No use crying over spilt milk now, especially when you spill it on your keyboard. Useless. But on the plus side, he had started talking to me in Korean, especially when we were alone or with Hanna, to help me get better at it, I guessed.

Hanna took the papers and walked out of the room conveniently, leaving Kang and me alone. "Riti, we need you to make us our custom database navigator that's not too complex but would be a big fix for a long time. You might get to work on other stuff if you're done soon with it."
I let out the breath I was holding, looking at the ground. Not firing me.
"Maybe some creative directing with our documentary... maybe all of it." My eyebrows twitched upward. "Are- are you sure you want me to handle all that?"
He stayed quiet for a second too long and I looked up at him. He looked a little sad as he looked away. But his voice didn't betray the slip on his face. "Well of course Hanna and Mateo will help out! Don't feel overwhelmed." He then turned his back to me and continued typing quickly on the computer, stopping only when I left the room; I could hear him stop. Awkward. But moments after I stepped outside the door, I heard quick footsteps and the door behind me fling open again. "Riti! They're a week earlier than expected! We need to leave, now!"
"Huh?"
"Come!"
I followed him, grabbing the camera equipment bag quickly, as he speed-walked down the stairs and to his beat-up car. Without a word, we were on our way to a big building. I only realized once we got close, but the front said "BigHit Entertainment", and immediately my attitude changed. I half jumped in my seat before checking my outfit (TRASH) and pulling the mirror down to check my face (TRASH). It was a lot colder these days, so I bundled up a lot more than usual.
"They changed buildings recently, it's bigger now." Kang casually mentioned.

I looked at him pointedly to let him know he was telling me this too late, and groaned at the fact that I had no makeup on. Begrudgingly, I got out of the car.