An August Wedding

Ch. 29 - Wake Up Call

The department heads were the exception as they saw how hard you worked to keep things running smoothly. Whether or not the boss was there, you were always going all in and that spoke to them.

Heechul led the way up to the conference room where the other department heads were already gathered.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," you said as you settled in next to Amber. Heechul took his place at the podium.

"All right. Obviously, we're missing our director, but I'm sure we can muddle through one meeting without him."

A few chuckles escaped at the joke. You spent the next two hours doing your best to hash out departmental concerns amongst yourselves. This meeting was long overdue and it was the first time in a while that all of you had been in the office at once. You had to see what you needed to be improving on within in your departments and as a team. 

IT was going to be sending out phishing and scam email training again as they'd found a concerning amount of risky bugs in computers when running cleanups. Each head was going to have to make sure their department completed it.

One of the shipping department's conveyors was wearing down and it was causing some backups in shipping. They were going to be prioritizing expedited orders and then others were just going to have to be sent when they could. Sungjin sent you an apologetic glance at that.

You shrugged it off; dealing with complaints was part of your job. Amber had a thousand ideas for new marketing strategies but she was waiting for budget approval to see what she could manage. Jackson was still scrounging up new sales clients and pitching ideas of what they could offer to keep new customers coming back again. HR was concerned about the potential of employee dating. Again. All of you tried to ignore the same speech you'd heard dozens of times before. 

Finally, it was over and you all broke off back to your separate departments. You were nearing your office when Namjoon suddenly caught your arm.

"Not so fast. It's lunchtime."

"Joon, I have a lot to do--"

"And you need energy to do it. Go on, the office won't burn down without you."

And before you could protest, he'd turned you around and started herding you to the elevator again. Jin was already waiting for you in the lobby, talking animatedly to Sun about something. Food no doubt.

Without even saying where you were going, Jin led you outside to the car and started driving. He seemed sure of where he was going, and his smile only got larger the closer you got to your destination.

Eventually, he stopped the car. "Recognize this place?" he asked through the rear-view mirror. You glanced out the window and frowned thoughtfully. You were sure you'd never been here.

"No?"

"Well, come inside and I'm sure you will." You turned around to see that he was already getting out.

The minute you stepped inside, the smell of cooking food hit your nose and you realized you were really hungry. You glanced around for any sign of something familiar and came up short. The light tan walls, the dark brown tables and chairs, the layout with a small bar in the back. None of it was looking familiar.

"Are you sure--?"

"Hi, can I help you?" a familiar voice asked. You locked eyes with none other than Mina.

"Mina! Is...this your family's restaurant?"

She beamed. "Yes! I've been wondering when you'd stop by."

"I've been meaning to, really."

She waved your apologies aside and led you over to a table in the back. "Can I recommend a few things to get you started?"