"You excited for your first day?" Seungwoo said as he fixed his tie. You smiled in response to his question. You were finally starting at X1 Corp. Seungwoo stayed over last night but he would be leaving earlier as he had a meeting elsewhere. You weren't going with him to the office anyway because that would spark rumors.
"Honestly? I'm nervous." Seungwoo raised his eyebrow at your answer. He walked closer to you and leaned down.
"You'll do great." He kissed your lips softly. You sighed and hugged him. Without your heels, you were pretty short compared to him. But you weren't complaining about that. Not at all.
xxx-xxxx
"So that's your desk. Any questions?" You bit the side of your lips and shook your head. When you arrived, you met with HR first, who then brought you to the design department. There was a general manager and assistant manager. The assistant manager was the one who introduced you to the office. Mr. Seok had this annoying trait where everything that came out of his mouth seemed to be a dig.
"Ah, where did you graduate from." "That school huh?" And it went on and on.
"Do this." He said before dumping a bunch of papers on the table. "Survey regarding the new furniture designs. I want them in Excel. You know how to use that right?" He said before sitting at his desk. That's how your day went. You just sat there finishing sucky surveys while everyone side-eyed you.
xxxx-xxxx
You sighed as you dropped your bag and your coat on the floor. Having a studio apartment pays when you're super tired because you can just crash on the bed, a few steps away from the door. The doorbell rang just as you were going to fall asleep. You groaned.
"Who is it?" You said as you got up.
"It's me." You heard Seungwoos' deep voice call out. You got up and opened the door for him.
"Hey, baby." He said before kissing you. He ruffled your hair and held up a bag filled with food.
"You brought food!" You smiled up at him.
"I knew you would either eat ramyeon or not eat at all. So I brought you food." You reached up and hugged him.
"You're the best!" You nuzzled his neck. Seungwoo carefully placed the food down and grabbed your legs to wrap them around his waist.
"How was your first day?" Seungwoo asked as he sat down on the bed with you straddling him.
"It was great!" You lied through your teeth. Honestly the whole way home, you were thinking of whether to tell Seungwoo that it sucked, but you didn't want to seem whiny to him. Especially since it's his company.
"Yeah? That's good! You worked hard." Seungwoo smiled up at you. You gave a small smile in return. "Well let's eat!" He said cheerfully.
xxxx-xxxx
You had officially been working at X1 Corp for 2 weeks now and have yet to design anything. You weren't an intern so they should at least give you something small to design or let you give some input. You met the manager of the team on the 2nd day and she's this glamorous lady who everyone either fawned over or looked at with jealousy. She seemed aloof towards you and pretty much-ignored anything to do with you. All the menial work that you got was via Mr.Seok.
"Yo, Y/N. Here." Mr. Seok dumped a file on your table. "Do design for this company logo and write out the description. I want it on my desk tomorrow morning."
"In the morning sir?" You asked cause it was already 5 pm. Looks like you would need to pull an all-nighter.
"Yeah, didn't you hear me? Honestly, I don't know where you came from. Suddenly joining our team." Then he started mumbling, but you caught his words. "I wonder who's backing her." Backing as in...who did you sleep with to get this job. You schooled your expression and nodded. You had to hold it in. You wanted to say something but you couldn't. In a way, he was right. Seungwoo was the reason you were sitting here although no one knew as you both decided it was best to not say anything at the office.
"Mr. Seok!" The manager, Ms. Shin came out of the office dressed to the nines. Before she could continue though, an older woman came through the door causing everyone to stand. You stood up as well and noticed 2 men standing behind her. From the way they were dressed, you gathered they were either bodyguards or drivers.
"Ommonim!" Ms. Shin said in surprise, walking towards the woman. Her mother? You wondered. The woman smiled and hugged Ms. Shin.
"Mrs. Han! How are you?" Mr. Seok said bowing deeply to the woman. Your eyes widened as you realized the very refined woman standing in front of you was Seungwoos mother.
"I'm very well thank you. I see you are all working very hard. But it's important to go home and rest at the end of the day." She said with a smile.
"Is there a reason you're visiting us?" Mr. Seok continued.
"Ah...well, I wanted to bring Hyera out for dinner." She said pointing out to Ms. Shin.
"Ah!" He clapped his hand. "Yes yes, it's already time to leave right Ms. Shin." He said. They all laughed and Ms. Shin told Seungwoos mom to wait as she grabbed her bag. Seungwoos mom nodded and did a sweep of the room. All of you were still standing so she motioned for everyone to sit down. Her eyes zeroed in on you and she walked closer.
"You're new." She said. You quickly stood up and bowed to her.
"Yes, I just joined a couple of weeks ago. I'm Y/N." You bowed again. Mrs. Han smiled and nodded.
"I hope you like working here. My son and Seungyoun do try to make the place the best for the employees."
"It is thank you!" You quickly said. She nodded and it was at that time, that Ms. Shin came out. She looked at you with what you deciphered as disdain and turned towards Mrs. Han with a large smile. She linked her arms together with her and said, "let's go ommonim." They walked out together. You slid down into your seat. Who was Ms. Shin to Seungwoos family? Those were the thoughts in your mind. Mr. Seok cleared his throat and grabbed his bag.
"See you all tomorrow." He announced loudly. You watched as everyone grabbed their bag. Since this job seemed to be able to be done at home, and you were really hungry, you decided to go home as well.
You said goodbye to the others but like always, they half-heartedly said goodbye. Some straight-up ignored you. You didn't know what their problem was with you. It was also one of the reasons you didn't eat lunch. Cause it just seemed depressing eating by yourself and they didn't invite you to eat with them anyways. Usually, when there is a new hire, your old team would have had a dinner to welcome them. It was a good way to bond. But here they did not. You took a look at your phone just in case Seungwoo sent a message. He did say he wanted to come over since you haven't seen him for a week. He was away for business and had come back yesterday.
You smiled at the message.
"Ah, omma. You seriously are such a sneaky lady." You looked up when you heard Seungwoos' voice. There he was standing next to his mom and Ms. Shin.
"Well you're joining me, Hyera, your dad, and Hyera's parent for dinner. They haven't seen you in a long time!" His mom punched his chest playfully. You watched as Seungwoo feigned hurt but smiled widely at his mom. You knew Seungwoo loved his family. He always talked about them, but he never showed you their photos so you didn't recognize his mom. "You'll join us right?"
"Ommaaa." Seungwoo playfully whined.
"Oppa, come on. They all miss you and want to see you!" Oppa? Did Ms.Shin just call him oppa? Seungwoo didn't have any sisters as far as you knew. Maybe his cousin?
"Seungwooo." His mom pouted.
"Okay okay. Come on, let's go home first. I don't want my staff seeing how whipped I am for you eomma." He linked his arm around his mothers on one side while Ms. Shin held the other. You watched as they walked out the doors.
"Wow, Ms. Shin and Mr. Han do look good together right?" You heard one of the receptionists say as you walked by.
"Oh my gosh, yes! Mr. Han's mother really always comes and sees her. They always go out to eat and shop together. Apparently they're all family friends. So I guess she wants Mr. Han to marry Ms. Shin." The other gushed with her.
"Are they together?" You bit your lip listening to them.
"I don't know. Anyone dating in the company usually keeps it to themselves." They shrugged as they ended the conversation. So they're not cousins... Your neck started hurting as thoughts bombarded your mind.
XXX-XXXX
It was 8 pm already and you knew Seungwoo wasn't coming. You decided maybe calling him and seeing what the situation was cause he didn't cancel with you and you didn't hear him confirm that he was going for the dinner with Ms. Shin. He didn't answer your calls. Your phone beeped with a message coming through.
"Ah, i should have bought food on the way home..." You said to yourself. "Ramen it is." You started making it and grabbed your laptop to continue the work Mr.Seok gave you.
XXX-XXX
The next day, you gave Mr.Seok the file. He barely glanced at it and was on his phone while you waited there for any feedback. He looked up at you and shooed you away with his hand. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes and sat back at your table. You checked on any emails aimlessly when a voice cleared itself near the door. Everyone looked towards the door and Mr. Seok stood up immediately.
"Hello everyone. Just a reminder that, Mr.Han and Mr.Cho wanted to check in and will join in the design team meeting. Due to the fact that they have a meeting at 3pm outside, the meeting is moved up to 10am. I hope the time is sufficient for any presentation." The man bowed to Mr.Seok and left.
"Ah fuck." You heard Mr.Seok curse to himself. You looked at the screen on your company and noticed that it was 9.30 am already. "Y/N!" He called out, startling you. You stood up and walked towards his table. "You prepared this, so you present it." He tossed the file at you. "Junki, come here." He dismissed you.
"Present this?" You asked.
"Yes, did you not hear me?" He said exasperatedly.
"But sir, shouldn't you check?" You asked.
"Why? Do you not think the work is good? Then why were you hired? You're not an intern, that I need to constantly check your bloody work." He spat out. "Would you rather be getting coffee for the meeting?" You shook your head as he looked at you. "I thought so."
At 5 minutes to 10 am, you followed Ms.Shin, Mr.Seok, and the rest of the team to the giant conference room located on the executive floor. You nervously sat at the end. A man approached you and leaned down.
"Ms. Y/N. Do you have the flash for your presentation?" He smiled. You looked at his name tag. Choi Byungchan.
"Yes! Here you go." You handed it to him. "Thank you." You smiled. He nodded and went around the room to grab the other presenter drives. The door opened and everyone stood up as the execs entered. Your eyes were drawn to Seungwoo who acted indifferently but it made sense cause you were at work.
"Hello everyone. Its that time again that we want to check on each department. We have designs, marketing, and sales today." The guy next to Seungwoo spoke up. You knew he was Seungyoun as you had studied the organizational chart for X1 Corp. "Let's start with sales shall we?" The sales rep went up to the podium and started his presentation. The presentation was an eye-opener. You never realized the playful Seungwoo that you knew was such a hard ass at work. He wasn't like your old boss who shouted obscenities but more of like the disappointment radiating from him throughout was kind of scary. When it was your turn, you gulped because you were nervous. You did these presentations many times but never in a room where there were people you knew for sure wanted to see you fail. Ms.Shin tilted her head and looked at you from where she was seated next to Seungwoo. Seungwoo was looking down at the handout and then looked straight at you with his poker face on. You calmed yourself and started the presentation.
Halfway through, Seungwoo raised his hand up in stop motion. He turned to look at Ms.Shin and Mr.Seok. "Are you kidding me?" He asked them. Mr.Seok gulped.
"What's wrong sir?" Mr.Seok asked while Ms.Shin kept quiet.
"What's wrong? MayDay Corp is our long time partner, and you want to present this crap to them?" He said.
"Sir..we..." Mr.Seok said.
"Who did the designs? Who checked on it?" Seungwoo ground out getting impatient.
"Y/N did. And since it was a last-minute submission, I didn't have time to check it." Mr.Seok said.
"Why would you give a newbie a big account?" Seungwoo looked pissed at both of them. He still had not looked at you. "Are you kidding me?" Each word Seungwoo said was piercing and hurt you.
"Well, she wanted more work and we briefed her what to do. I didn't think she would do such a bad job." You bit your lip at his blatant lies about the situation.
"Just throw this crap away and if you cant do your job, then don't show it to me," Seungwoo said. "Seriously what is wrong with everyone today? All of you need to get your heads together. You're telling me because we moved the meeting a couple of hours early, you all think it's okay to show half-assed presentations? You had time to come up with all the presentations today. If you don't want to work, don't. Resign. I couldn't care. I'd rather have hard workers than incompetent people." Seungwoo finished. Seungyoun nodded along.
"I think a few hours should not have made any difference to all of you." Seungyoun took over. "We're done for the day. Fix all these and all the managers will present them at exec only meeting." Seungyoun finished. He and Seungwoo stood up to leave the room. Everyone bowed as they left. As you all walked back to the design team office, Mr.Seok let you have it.
"What the fuck was that?" He roared. "I gave you a job thinking you could do it but you do such a shit job? Seriously? Why were you hired? Who the hell gave you this job?"
"I'm sorry." You bowed. That's all you could do given your position.
"Just give me the files. I'll do them." Ms.Shin came and grabbed them. "You should just go get coffee. It looks like it'll be a long night for us because of your incompetence." She said matter of factly before disappearing into her office.
"Yeah, do that. That seems to be the only thing you're good at." Mr.Seok finished before sitting at his table angrily. You nodded and bowed. You walked out of the office with the people in there whispering behind you. You ground your nails into your palm to prevent yourself from crying.
Meanwhile, Seungwoo was in his office with Seungyoun sitting in front of him.
"Fuck." He cursed. Seungyoun looked up at him and tilted his head.
"What's up Hyung?" He asked. He kinda suspected what was on Seungwoos' mind. It's never easy having to critique your lovers' work.
"I'm sure she's beating herself up because of the presentation. Maybe I need to send her a message. Or call her I don't know." Seungwoo ran his hands through his hair.
"It's up to you Hyung. I think she'll be fine honestly." Seungyoun shrugged.
"Yeah, I might call her." He decided.
XXXXX
You waited at the counter to pick up the coffees. Your head was starting to hurt and this was a common thing that happened when your anxiety hit. Your phone rang snapping you out of your thoughts. Looking at the screen, you debated whether to answer or not. Taking a deep breath, you answered.
"Omma hi." You said.
"Hi sweetie, am i bothering you?" Your moms voice rang through.
"No, not at all." You said. Hearing your mom's voice caused you to start getting choked up. That tremor in your voice didn't escape your mom.
"What's wrong?" She asked immediately. You sighed.
"Nothing mom, I'm fine." You replied. She huffed knowing you were lying.
"Y/N. You can tell me anything you know that. What is it? The job? The boy you're seeing? What's wrong sweetheart?" She continued on. "Is your anxiety acting up?"
"I messed up..." You whispered.
"Y/N. Tell me."
"I don't think I made the right decision in working here." You said. You answered her questions and told her how you felt. At the end of it, she told you to go with what you felt was right and that both she and your dad would support you.
You put the coffee down on each table while most of them barely glanced at you.
"At least you can do something," Mr.Seok said to you. You bit the inside of your cheek to refrain from screaming obscenities at him.
When lunch came by, and you needed a moment to yourself, you decided to hang out in the bathroom. Yeah, that was the stupidest idea you've ever had. One of them anyways.
"What the heck is wrong with the new girl?" One of your co-workers said as you sat in the cubicle. You recognized her voice and instantly knew it was one of the girls that side-eyed you.
"I know right? I mean, that was a terrible presentation...So obviously Mr.Han would call her out. Oh my gosh, didn't he look so fine today!!" Another voice gushed.
"Yes, ugh, I wish we had hunks like that in our office...but theyre so far away!" The other girl replied. "Ms. Shin is so lucky!"
"Why?" You listened to them intently once Ms.Shins name was uttered.
"So I was at dinner last night, and saw Mr.Han and his family there with her and her family! They looked amazing." She gushed. "They match each other.I'm so jealous. Where can I find me a man like that?"
"Maybe the restaurant we're going today might have good looking men like that. Who knows..maybe we will see the single execs there at the group dinner!" The other girl sing songed. They giggled and left the bathroom. So there was a group dinner... and you werent invited. Great.
"I shouldn't have come here." You whispered to yourself.
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