"What in the hell happened?!" The CEO's loud, booming voice echoed inside the company's Security Surveillance Room, the place where his secretary told him to go to when he was still parked in front of the cemetery.
Hana flinched, immediately recognizing the rage on his voice that held too much anger. The other employees in the room had also flinched, gazing their eyes downwards as if some sort of furious God had emerged before them.
Hana bit her lip before speaking, his eyes fixated on the tiled floor, "S-sir, someone infiltrated your room hours ago, whom I believed had took a picture on your desk and spread it on the Internet, hence the a-article that I sent you." Her voice had kept on wavering as she stumbled upon her own words, feelings little with her boss' piercing gaze.
Chanyeol's eyebrows knitted together, piecing the facts that his secretary told him.
"How did someone get inside my office?" He said, his voice lowering down though it still held the authority that it always held.
Hana bit her lip harder, a metallic taste invading her taste buds. She gulped audibly before speaking, "I'm sorry, sir." It was a mere, simple apology, her head bowed down and her eyes closed. She knew that she was dead. She'd definitely be losing her job later.
"I went away for a couple of hours and this happens? This is why I don't hire incompetent beings in my company!" He hollered.
The CEO sighed, exhasperated, massaging his temples from the headache that was coming. "Show me the surveillance cameras on the top floor. Now," he ordered, his voice holding no emotion whatsoever, except an eerie feeling that a person would be able to feel upon hearing his words. "We'll talk later, Ms. Choi."
Hana sighed deeply and stood upright from the bow that she had given the latter.
The other employees who were watching the scene had immediately scampered into their stations, pushing buttons and adjusting the controls to play the scenes that the cameras had managed to capture at the time of the scene. Chanyeol watched closely as the employees did their job.
The first screen on the surveillance monitor had showed; the time read 3:15 P.M.
He watched as he walked out of his office, his secretary on the side of the doorway bowing at his backside as he walked away. His secretary then stood upright and went to her desk, fixing papers and whatnot and arranging her belongings. He then watched as Hana took her phone from her blazers and seemingly text someone from the way she tapped her fingers on the screen in a fast pace.
He pressed the fast forward button on the controls himself, his eyes focused on the monitor.
He then removed his fingers from the button, and soon enough, the video played in a moderate speed. His eyes trailed as a woman, who he recognized as Lee Soeun, emerged from the scene. He watched as his secretary opened the door to his office and let the both of them in.
"Show me the surveillance inside my office," he barked at the employee who was seated near him, to which the latter had immediately nodded his head, obeying.
The image from the second monitor beside the first one changed, showing the scene that happened inside his office at the same time frame that the first monitor showed. He saw how Lee Soeun wandered around his office, her movements showing him how fascinated she was. His brows knitted together and glared at the screen, his rage building up upon the realization that this own secretary had let an employee inside his office.
Hana backed away from her position and leaned her back on the wall beside the doorway, feeling queasy.
She felt guilty and worried – guilty because she knew that it was wrong to let a mere unauthorized employee in her boss' office, much less someone who was clearly not allowed to enter the top floor, and worried because she was now a hundred percent sure that she'd be losing her job.
"Miss Choi, what is the meaning of this?" Chanyeol asked his employee, his teeth clenching as he prevented himself from screaming.
Hana's lips quivered. "I-I'm sorry, sir. I-It's my fault. I shouldn't have let my friend up in your office," she explained, blaming the fault on herself as she didn't want her friend to get involved. After all, she would likely lose her job today, so at the very least, she decided to save her friend's job.
It was a mistake that she knew herself was wrong from the very beginning, too. As a secretary who her boss had relied to for administrative support, she knew that she was done for. After all, reliability is the name of the game when you're a secretary. Whether you are secretary to a single boss or to a team, you'll be indispensable to them as you help ease their workload by providing support and helping them organize their time.
It didn't look so though because of the mistake that she did.
Friend. That word had made Chanyeol freeze.
His mind wandered as to when he last had a friend. Not once did his friends stuck to his side after those two days that ruined his life. First and foremost, his mother, who he had treasured, was not only the woman who brought him to this world but was his best friend as well. But she left him. His friends inside and outside the company had avoided him as well, as they were afraid of his sudden change in personality.
Despite his cold exterior, his heard had broken apart. After all, there was nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship, yet he had none – his traitor friends had proven that point.
He broke his line of thoughts and brought his gaze back at the monitor, his mind telling him not to believe and to believe his secretary at the same time. He knew that it wasn't enough proof that she had took a picture from the picture frame on his desk too. Yesterday, he had happened to open his desk's drawer and saw that picture frame. He remembered how he grazed his fingertips on the frame then brought the frame on his desk, facing down.
He remembered how he left the office then.
The morning after, he entered his office with her secretary inside, wiping his desk. He remembered how she looked, her eyes glinting as if she was a deer caught in the headlights, yet her hands held a handkerchief that she apparently used to wipe his desk clean.
He knew better then, and he knew that she had done something she probably didn't want anyone to know, but instead of suspecting her of any mischief, he simply waved the topic off and proceeded to work, as he believed that it was probably nothing major as she had done her job pretty well the past few days.
Realization took over his eyes as he pushed the replay button on the controls and waited impatiently until the scene from before he had arrived on his office emerged. He pressed play and watched, his arms crossed at his chest. A deep frown soon took over his features as he watched Hana lift the picture up from the desk. He paused the video and slapped his hands on the controls.
"In my office. Now!" He barked, storming out of the room and heading towards his private elevator. The employees outside the room who had head his uproar had jumped up, surprised.
Hana flinched, and walked out of the room, bowing his head down. She felt eyes on her, her own eyes stinging with unbound tears. The gazes that the employees gave her made her feel as if she was sympathized at, which was right. Most of the employees shook their heads, knowing how the scene would end up: Hana would packing her things sooner or later. Two or three employees even gave her a pat on the shoulder as if telling her to be strong, but she couldn't.
How could she?
She didn't lift her head up, not even when she had entered Park Chanyeol's office. There he was, sitting on his desk with a very pissed off expression on his face. "Why did you do it?"
It was a pretty straight-forward question from the CEO, as Hana had expected.
"I'm sorry, sir."
It was a pretty straight-forward answer that Hana had decided to reply at the latter too, but it sounded more like she was admitting what she had done, as if she had done the deed herself when she didn't. Chanyeol took it as a sign off admittance, and proceeding into saying those two words that he had been seemingly accustomed to.
"I guess it's settled, then. You're fired."
Hana could only nod her head; not even once did he lift her head up properly and look directly at her boss. That is, until her boss brought it down to her. She looked up and fixed her gaze directly at the latter, which surprised him and even herself from her audacity to look straight at the latter's eyes.
"Thank you for the opportunity you gave me. To be honest, I didn't expect to work with a high-paying job readily. More so, I didn't expect to work alongside a CEO himself. Thank you for the experience and the time that you patiently gave me. I will forever treasure them," she bowed once again before continuing.
She smiled as she continued speaking, "Before I exit this office, I would like to tell you something that my professor had once told me. 'Creating a better world requires teamwork, partnerships, and collaboration, as we need an entire army of companies to work together to build a better world within the next few decades. This means corporations must embrace the benefits of cooperating with one another.' " (Quote by Simon Mainwiring)
She continued, "Please spare my friend. She didn't do anything wrong. I let her in as you were gone, and I wanted her to see where I worked. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience that I had caused. Thank you for everything sir, and may your company prosper even more in the future."
With a final bow, she exited his office with a soft, gentle close of the door and headed towards her desk.
She took a box from under her desk – something that she had found from the very first day as if it had prepared itself for that day, seemingly mocking her. She took her personal belongings in her box, which had been only quite a few as she didn't bother to either decorate nor bring a lot of things, seeing as how the desk had already been supplied with the necessary materials from the start. With a final smile, she took her bag and slung it on her shoulder, held the light-weighted box within her arms, and headed towards to elevators.
She felt satisfied.
* * * * *
Chanyeol slammed his hands on his desk, outraged. As soon as he registered his secretary's final words, he felt nothing but anger. How can she just talk to him like a teacher lecturing her student? How can she look straight in his eyes and talk to him as if he was the one that did something wrong? On the other hand, he did feel as if her words had stung him straight to his heart. He felt as if she told him nothing but the truth, that it was his fault how his employees were demotivated.
The phone placed a top of his desk rang, breaking his line of thought. He quickly picked it up after sighing.
"What?" He bluntly said, knowing that it was probably some news regarding the article released just an hour ago.
"S-Sir, a lot of cameramen and reporters had arrived thirty minutes ago, demanding for you. W-What should we do with them?" The man from the other side said, his voice lurking fright. Chanyeol recognized it as the receptionist from the lobby.
Chanyeol hissed, "Shouldn't that be obvious? Contract the security department and tell them to handle those reporters. Tell them that I'd be suing them if they don't leave! I want them gone and away by the next thirty minutes. If not, you're fired. Got it?!" He barked, veins popping on the side of his neck upon his outburst.
"Yes, s-sir!" The man said.
Chanyeol couldn't help but recall Hana words before he left. He threatened to fire his employee yet again. He realized how he didn't believe in motivation ever since mishaps happened in his life. He only believed in getting a team prepared so they'd know how to operate by themselves with the necessary skills and confidence that they have as they step in their stations and be prepared for work. He simply didn't care for motivation till then.
Being blinded by work, he only cared for the end results. He wanted everything to end perfectly.
Hana's words had seemed to awaken a part of him inside. At that moment, he realized that there was always the motivation of wanting to win. Everybody has that, but a champion needs, in his attitude, a motivation above and beyond winning.
He shook his head and frowned, his mind telling him that Hana was now brain-washing him. He proceeded to getting the work Jongin gave him instead and drown himself from work that night to get his mind off things. He read through the documents and frowned.
He dialed Joonmyun's secretary from his office phone. "Tell Joonmyun to come to my office. Now."
* * * * *
Hana's lips curved upwards as he saw an article online pertaining to PCY Corporation's stocks. It had been increasing since the article was issued. He must be happy, she thought. She had been unemployed since Chanyeol had fired her, and by now, it had already been a week since then. She had kept on monitoring the company's stocks for days now, wondering how the company was affected by the recent issue. She couldn't help but wonder whether he hired another secretary or not, but then again, it wasn't something that she should ponder on.
He should've been. After all, he's Park Chanyeol, she thought.
She closed her laptop and placed it in her bed, before standing up and fixing her clothes neatly. She had prepared herself exactly an hour ago, as she had a job interview at nine o'clock in the morning. By now, it was only eight o'clock, so she still had another hour to prepare.
Apparently, she had woke up earlier than expected, so she fixed herself up early as well and decided to waste some of her time into browsing through the internet, which then resulted into checking PCY Corporation's stocks.
She made sure that she looked as presentable as she possibly could before fetching her phone that was charging. She plugged it off and turned her phone's screen on, soon realizing that she didn't receive any reply from the message that she had sent in the morning.
She had been sending messages to her friend, Soeun, starting from she went home after she got fired. She sent her messages asking if she had kept her job, and how the company had been functioning after the article uprooted. She didn't receive any feedback though, but that didn't stop her from sending more texts.
"Lee, why aren't you replying to my messages? Please reply back ASAP, okay?" She sent another message before heading off outside.
She passed by Jiyeon's door, hearing moaning noises inside and immediately she scrunched up her nose.
A few days prior to losing her job, she had begun to notice how Jiyeon would bring men to their apartment during early mornings. She would hear noises from her room most of the time, so she began to sleep with earbuds on her ears, playing loud and rowdy songs that helped her block those noises, but prevented her from her sleep.
She noticed a stack of envelopes lying on the ground that the mailman had probably pushed from under the door. She browsed through them, seeing a couple of envelopes asking for utility payments – electricity and water bills. She stopped as she came upon an envelope with a PCY Corporation's seal behind.
She scoffed as she read through the papers inside the envelope. She had to talk to him.
Inside was a copy of her contract, with one sentence highlighted. Another paper was a letter addressed to her by the CEO himself, demanding her to pay ₩10,000,000 for damages due from the article that was released in a month prior, or else, he would sue her.
She felt enraged. Not only did she lose her job, but she also had to pay ten million won.
For God's sake, she felt belittled.
Yes, it was her fault as she didn't defend herself from the accusation, but that was because she thought that her job was the only thing on the line, and she wasn't in her right mind then. She wanted her friend unharmed from the issue, too. Apparently, she thought wrong. She should've thought of herself as well.