after hours | jungri

1

it was the first day of the second week of kim yerim's internship at jeon co. she had just bought an iced choco, from the café directly opposite the large company building, and was inevitably running late. quickening her steps, her petite stature managed to swiftly move past the masses of people moving along the bustling streets of gangnam — that is, until she found herself colliding with a strong, rock-hard chest.

'fuck', the man hissed with obvious annoyance. yerim noticed the lid of her drink flying off, and a wave of iced choco landing on the man's pristine white shirt.

'i'm so sorry!' yerim apologised, without even looking up at him. she tried to step aside to continue on her path to the company but the man in front of her stepped to the side also, blocking her from advancing any further.

she finally looked up at him and was pleasantly surprised at the handsome face she was met with. the man smirked, knowing fully well that his charming visuals must have shocked her. he was also pleasantly surprised at the sweet, pretty face below him, yet more astonished at the blazing-red cascade of waves that flowed down the top of her head.

'you know you'll have to pay for this to be dry cleaned?' the man pressed, but the annoyance first present in his voice had appeared to dissipate.

'yes, sure, b-but i'm really running late right now...' she bit her lip with anxiousness. it was only her second week, how could she already rock up late? this was not a good situation right now.

the man looked down at the large brown stain painted on his shirt. he brought his finger to his shirt and slid it over the stain, before bringing it to his mouth and licking the tip of his finger. 'what is this? chocolate milkshake?' he questioned with a mocking undertone.

'here, i'm so sorry. good day!' yerim said, shoving ₩30,000 towards the man's hand and walking past him. she began to half-run to the company right in front of her, chucking the untouched drink in a litter bin outside the entrance doors.

she dashed in to the revolving doors and headed straight to the elevator. once inside, she took her phone out and checked the time: 07:04am, she was 4 minutes late. 'shit, shit, shit... i hope she isn't mad...' yerim thought, tapping her right heel on the floor as she waited for the elevator to reach the 3rd level.

after what seemed like an eternity, the elevator doors finally opened at level 3 and yerim zoomed out, speed walking to meeting room #11, where she was met with the woman she was paired with for this week of her internship.

'i'm so so sorry for being late! i got caught up outside.' yerim bowed to the senior apologetically.

'it's fine, only 5 minutes.' the woman said, looking at her watch. 'if i were you, i wouldn't let it happen again though.'

'yes, sorry. i won't let it happen again.' yerim nodded and bowed again. 'my name is kim yerim. 22, from seoul.' she said, extending her hand.

the woman smiled, shaking yerim's hand. 'i'm kang jieun. nice to meet you.'

—

the rest of yerim's day proceeded smoothly. she was shown around more of the grand company, as well as the inner-workings of level 3. jeon co. was one of the nation's leading game companies, and the main company building consisted of 10 levels: level 1 was where most new employees started out, dealing with the more trivial tasks of the company. importance of tasks and teams increased up until level 9, where the head managers and directors worked. level 10 belonged only to the chairman of the company, his son — the vice-president, and their secretaries.