Here I Lie // ATEEZ ✔

- 1 -

He slams down the phone after having another row with his colleague, grumbling as he slots back the handset into the cradle. He does not even bother to make sure it is put in correctly, leaving his assistant - the black-haired boy named Park Seonghwa - fumbling to make sure the call has indeed been cut off. His assistant grapples with the twisted cord before he presses the handset onto the switch hook, sighing in relief almost too loudly. The latter snaps out of his trance when he calls him over, the impatience in his voice making his poor assistant almost tripping over the carpet trying to come over to him as quickly as he could.

His assistant is only 8 months into the job, but from all the files he has handled for the past months, he could be considered a senior in the office. But still, that was because he kept making his assistant do the jobs even when he was not supposed to. This Park Seonghwa is diligent and focused, and he might or might not have taken advantage of it a little bit too much.

He leans back in his chair, studying his assistant standing in front of his glass desk, almost snorting at the fact that the latter looks scared; hands slightly trembling and eyes unfocused. He gestures for him to put down the files he has been holding onto his desk. He complies, making sure that the files are arranged neatly, in fear of being the victim of his next outburst.

He swears he can see his assistant flinch when he starts talking. "That damn Kwon Hyunbin does not know what to do even when I laid out a whole plan in front of him. That guy is unnecessarily tall as a lamp post but he doesn't even know how to do his job properly. Watch me ask him to photocopy a piece of paper and he would go out and fax the damn piece to a random computer."

His assistant does not give a reply, but merely dips his head low for a few seconds. He doesn't know whether he is agreeing to what he's saying, or he is simply being a nice guy and appearing polite. It doesn't matter, as long as he doesn't go against him. He's the boss, in this department at least.

"So, Park Seonghwa," he takes a look at his assistant, "Do I have any meetings scheduled for today?"

"Ah, yes," he snaps open the only file he's holding currently before tracing a finger on the daily schedule, "You have a meeting that is scheduled in about 5 minutes. It's a meeting with the director of operations."

He blinks his eyes, trying to make sure that he's hearing it correctly. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't there yesterday."

Seonghwa scratches his head before sheepishly saying, "Well, yes, it wasn't here yesterday, but it was suddenly labeled as an emergency meeting. The director wants to conduct a meeting with all of the heads of departments at 3 p.m. sharp today. No excuses."

"So you're saying all these other snobbish heads are going to be there? What is Jeong Yunho thinking, trying to gather everyone in one room when he knows that things are not going well in the company? Stocks are dropping, the employee turnover rate is high yet here he is trying to conduct a meeting. The next thing you know the departments are going to point fingers at each other, trying to put the blame on anyone but themselves."

His assistant is about to reply that it is essentially the purpose of conducting a meeting, but goes against it when he sees that the anger still hasn't left his eyes. It's no use trying to correct someone who thinks so highly of himself.

"He doesn't really give the exact purpose of the meeting, but he only said it was an urgent one. He wants everyone to be present, so that he can discuss with everyone on where the company is heading towards."

"It's heading into a ditch, that's where it is. Discuss, my ass."

"Sir, I'm sorry but language. The company does not tolerate that," Seonghwa says, but still with a slight tremor in his voice.