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CHAPTER 4
"Beginning" Arc
EP: FINAL
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5th floor, HYBE Cafeteria.
"Can you believe it? It was just a goddamn suggestion! And she went on a witch hunt on my first board meeting... just because she's still salty that I called her out on her mistake in front of the *President the day before. Does that make sense to you?"
Beomgyu poured out all the indignation he had been bottling up since morning to his only trusted friend in this cruel world- Choi Soobin.
"As much as I love being your counsellor, my dude, I suggest you pipe it down a little. Eyes and ears are everywhere. We could get snitched." Soobin peered around warily. The two of them were sitting side by side on a bench near a glass window and a bit far away from the cafeteria table - as the bluerette made his own break time - an hour after the latest of Beomgyu's chain of unfortunate events took place.
"Sorry," the noirette mumbled half-heartedly. He already had a plan to drag Soobin to the nearest grill after work anyway, might as well blow off his steam with some booze while he vents on Soobin about the demon that took the form of his sister accusing him of "conflict of interest" when all he did was advising an unconventional policy to change the Tokyo branch's management for the better.
Grimacing, the newly assigned team head proceeded about the incident that happened not long ago. "What's even worse is, I got physically assaulted by a lowlife right after I got here."
"Well, what did you say or do to them first?" Soobin raised a discerning brow, knowing it wouldn't make sense to be attacked for no reason unless Beomgyu couldn't keep his shitty mouth shut, which was possibly the case.
"His eyes were on his stupid phone before he bumped into me and I spilt my coffee over him, by accident though. So I told him off and he was salty about it - as to how short people should be, but he was way too dramatic - said I ruined his day and then stepped on my foot." The deputy head almost spat out the almond milk he was drinking, before cackling up like a dolphin practising his vocals.
"Really, Soobin? You're laughing at your friend's pain now?"
"I'm- sorry- that's sad- and funny at the same time- can't even-" The taller male couldn't even finish his sentence as he broke into a fit of laughter mixed with coughs.
"Ahem- sorry. So, that's why you told me to pick you up. Man, that must've hurt."
"No shit, Soobin, my foot definitely didn't hurt after being crushed and twisted in the same spot." Amused at his friend's sarcasm, the bluerette sported a sad - not genuinely - laughter before continuing the conversation.
"As far as I could tell, you've been dealing with a lot of salty(?) people. All I could say is that our team may not be the best place for you to shine, but at least you have a friend to vent your issues out." The taller male placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "So, hang in there, my dude. By the way, I can arrange an after-work dinner if you wanna get to know my tea-"
"Thanks but I'll pass. I'm barely holding up with all of this right now. I want to get things done quickly so I can rest." Soobin nodded understandingly.
"Makes sense. Oh and treat that foot well when you get home. I'd be lying if it's not funny that our new Head Manager, the Choi Beomgyu, got his foot crushed on his first day here by a- Ow!" Before Soobin could even utter the rest of his sentence, Beomgyu whacked the back of his neck.
"Say one more word and I'll sack you." The team leader hissed, hand still raised in the air as Soobin rubbed his whacked nape.
"Mean~" The bluerette got up to throw his emptied carton to a nearby trash can and wiped his mouth with the tissue in his hands.
"I'm done. Let's get back to the office. Do you want me to be your human crutch? Or prefer to limp on your own to the elevator?"
"No thanks, I'll suffer on my own," Beomgyu waved his friend off since he wanted to at least maintain his image, as if there was any but even so.
"Kay. Suit yourself, Mr Team Head."
The two of them took the elevator to 11F where Marketing Department was and went back inside their office.
Beomgyu went straight to his designated workspace since he don't have to work in a cubicle or roundtables like the rest of the employees. He passed the transparent partition and settled on the chair. Soobin followed and stood across him behind the desk on which the offending nameplate that read Beomgyu Choi - Head of Marketing 1 stood offensively in the place of Branch Manager (Tokyo).
"Where do I start?" The noirette intertwined his hands and rested them on the desk, getting to his professional stance immediately.
"An interview was supposed to be conducted but postponed due to an error. Our HQ has recently opened for urgent recruits. So you get to decide who is eligible for the blank positions in our team - which are 'project intern' and 'assistant manager' by the way - by going through these candidate resumes Mr. Min from HR picked for you..." The bluerette gestured at the stack of paper laid neatly on the edge of the table.
"...pick out a few you like, then I'll report back to HR to reach out to them for an in-person screening. And there's a general staff meeting in thirty minutes and the team will help you catch up with our current workload. That's all for now."
"All right, thanks. I'll call you if I need assistance." The deputy head dismissed himself and went back to his cubicle, as well as the team leader fixated his focus on the papers.
Beomgyu skimmed through the papers to read the potential employees' resumes with one hand propping up his chin. His mind wandering to places, mainly rethinking his life decision of how he ended up in this mess.
A marketing team in HQ was on the verge of falling apart and needed efficient management and thus, Beomgyu was transferred - was all a facade known by most employees here. When in truth, a particular clique of higher-ups that was on the same page as the Managing Director was responsible for this.
They were the ones who thrived on his 'indirect' demotion because from their perspective, he was a huge, audacious obstruction in climbing to the top of the ladder. The bad guy who came back from London just so he could get under their skin every so often, yes, that's what he was to them.
Little did they know, the way Beomgyu dealt with them was just his way to get the upperhand and not to come off as 'weak' so that he could hide his secret well.
The secret that would drag him down to rock bottom once unveiled. Even his father dearest would never let it happen when his son had just gained fame for leading the launch of a new product from scratch to success.
The only problem, and perhaps the biggest threat for his career, was Choi Sookyung. That demonic Managing Director. The crème de la crème of snobs, and his sister who would go to any length to blow his cover but failed every time by a whisker because Beomgyu was "a sleek prick" as she deemed.
He knew better than to take shit from that spawn of Satan after all those years of-
"Huh?"
Weeding through the uninteresting pages on and on, his hands stopped at one particular resume with a familiar face printed on the top left corner, and his drifting mind was snapped back to present.
"Kang... Tae... hyun...?" Beomgyu's frown deepened as he read the name out loud. His brain got worked up when he finally connected the dots.
"What the-? Isn't it that jerk?" His boredom flew out of the window as he speed-read the application form, scoffing at every line.
"Tch! 'Applied for internship'? Wonderful. 'BA in Marketing from Dongjak Community College', well, nice to know this guy couldn't get any more cheaper."
Beomgyu stretched out his hand to throw the paper onto the rejection pile. But a light bulb lit up in his head and caused him to retract his hand, a devilish smirk creeping up his lips.
"On second thought, let's make things more interesting~ Why don't I show you how karma can be a bitch, bambi."
❥•°❀°•༢
Hyewoon came back from the mart with a handful of groceries - canned/dried food, sanitary napkins, toothbrush, shampoo, etc., mostly hygiene products enough for another whole year of college.
She learned it the hard way, that she should never use brand-less foreign products, especially the ones sold in the reject shop. She broke out into a rash when she used that damned scented shower cream, and it was the purest form of chaos she'd ever experienced during the severe heatwave last year. She also made a mental note to buy some binders and file cases once she got there because they'd take so much space in the bag that she couldn't even squeeze in her make-up & skincare, which are much necessities for fighting against the sun.
One thing Hyewoon was thankful for getting into KQ was the long summer vacation its students get. Thanks to that she could go back to Korea and have her own family time, even if it's just for a week or two. It's not like she could stay there and celebrate Christmas and New Year all by herself in that crap of on-campus hostels anyway.
For the time being, she seemed to be the first one to return home as there were no shoes at the doorstep. Hyewoon went straight to the kitchen to place some of the groceries that she bought for dinner on the kitchen island (which is, a fancier word for the square wooden table that's also used for dining).
By the time she finished unpacking and filling the fridge with uncooked meat and vegs in plastic wraps, her phone rang loudly, breaking the lonely silence. She smiled at the contact name and answered.
"Fliss, mate! Anything new?"
"Guess what, hon! Just found a real beaut for ya!" Seoyun sounded extra bubbly, if that's even possible, than it was in their conversation this morning.
"Really? Where? How?" And the excitement was contagious through the line.
"Just like you said, a lot better than those on-campus rubbish - I reckon as the cheapest one in town! - Only two blocks away from the cafe you work at. Anddd the best part is, you get a whole ass house with just a fraction of the hostel rent!"
"No way!! Is it like, a house? Not a unit, or a room?"
"Yuh, mate! A bloody house! And bonus: it's double-storeyed!" Seoyun squealed.
"That's sweet! But uhhh... what's the catch? I mean, it can't be that cheap unless it's haunted or some bad shit happened in there, right?" Her bestie cackled up at her dubious question.
"You can't believe your luck, can ya?"
"I'd be winning a lottery if that mean bitch 'Fate' had ever did justice to me," Hyewoon admitted truthfully and received a fit of giggles from the other side.
"Oh, Hazie~ I know it sounds sus. But you know who I am! Felicity, the one and only, would never fail her homeland bestie - oh that rhymes! - with an unreliable source. That's a true blue quality of mine you can count on!"
Hyewoon's lips curled into a motherly smile as she could picture the shorter female doing a proud, elegant spin at the other end. Yep. That's her typical, hyper Seoyun on her third shot of Americano venti~
"So tell me, Ms Flissy-never-fails-her-bestie, what was the reliable source that you deemed about?"
"I asked my brother's boyfriend! He's one of the most promising agents in Brisbane, and he's in charge of the babe I'm talking about. Said it's just been built for like, a year(?) I guess... Whatever. You can just talk to him directly for the details. I'll give you his number."
Hyewoon, in panic, held a hand in the air. "Hold the number! Can you be a bit more elaborate? I don't wanna be awkward with anyone, just in case, you know."
"Kay. Wait, I have the info righttt here... ah, yes! Almost forgot! There is one condition on the agreement paper though, which is-" Seoyun's voice was cut off by some noise similar to a car honk from the background.
"Oh! Lauren's fezza* is pulling over. Sorry, mate. Gotta blast! You can just contact agent Kim if you wanna take the whole thing further. I already told him about you."
"Felicity, hold o-"
"There! I just sent the number. Check your inbox. Bye, Hazie! See ya in two weeks! Good luck! Yeet!" *beep*
"What the?" Hyewoon stared at the blackening phone screen, puzzled, before it lit up with a loud 'ding' that nearly made her jump and bump into the sharp edge of the countertop.
~You have a new message!~ was what the floating notification read before she tapped on it.
"'Treasure Real Estate'? Now, where have I heard of this name before?"
*click*
The sound of the front door unlocking coincided with the imaginary light bulb that lit up inside her head as she recalled something from her freshman year.
Treasure Real Estate - those were the very words written on the sign of that one grand building she would always see every time she rushed down the Main Road to her evening shift just after waking from a nap in the library where she was supposed to complete her assignment.
Content with her memory, she almost forgot to greet her brother. Almost.
"Welcome back! How did- Oh lord! What is THAT? What happened? Who did that to you?" Hyewoon's eyes grew wide when she saw Taehyun soaked in something brown and pulling a gloomy face, probably much gloomier than what the July-August sky looks like before a typhoon comes.
"Don't. Even. Ask." After uttering three words in a lifeless tone, her brother dragged his feet toward his room and slammed his door shut, leaving Hyewoon confused.
She swore that twot smelled like coffee when he passed through her.
Oh sky daddy, why is everyone being so mysterious today?
Dizzy from all the frustrations, the first one being the so-called cheap house of which many details were yet to be told - damn Fliss for the cliffhanger - her finger lingered near the phone number marked in blue letters in the message.
Should I??
Truth to be told, if she were to continue staying at those hostels of which the rent alone was a total bloodsucker, her wallet would be weeping for sure, and don't even get her started about utility bills. Apparently, either a loan or a liveable place with low costs could save her unless she wanted to lay her back on mother nature when night falls.
Then again, Hyewoon feared taking a loan when Yeosang already set the precedent for the downside to it.
That house Seoyun found for her could do the job, though she was a bit wary of some odd term in the contract that Seoyun hinted.
"Only one way to find out." Hyewoon mentally prepared herself and opened a new conversation with the number of the agent from Treasure Real Estate.
ꔛ♡
After angrily dumping his stained blazer and shirt on the floor, Taehyun may or may not have kicked the heap of clothes three to four times.
"Can't believe I had to run into a petty asshole at this time. His attitude doesn't match his manhwa love-interest face at all!" he mumbled and rolled his eyes for the nth time. Right at the moment, his phone buzzed with a notification.
Taehyun did not know whether to be relieved or dissatisfied after reading the email from HYBE. He made it to the lineup for the in-person interview. He could say that Yeonjun's plan worked like a charm. Though bad news was, it was postponed till next week Monday.
Taehyun exhaled miserably, collecting himself together, and went to his wardrobe drawer to get his stress relief material.
"Guess it's time to change my hair again."
~ End of "Beginning" Arc ~
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I know 'noirette' is supposed to describe a black-haired pretty woman, but heck, we break gender norms in this damned book ^~^
End-notes:
*President or Daepyo (대표) - no, it ain't Head of All the States, it's actually a corporate title for the representative head of the company
*fezza slang. - Ferrari
*In business, a "conflict of interest" arises when a person chooses personal gain over duties to their employer, or to an organization in which they are a stakeholder, or exploits their position for personal gain in some way. Basically, it's the idea of doing something (not so good) with the power of your position for your own good.