Chapter Text
“--Ms. Kim, please just reconsider. .I’ve slaved off 4 years of my life to earn a bachelor’s degree to be here!”
Minjeong hated how these situations always ended in the same scenario–with the ex-employee pleading and crying for redemption. It only shifted the atmosphere into a tense and awkward flow, which she couldn’t stand being enveloped by. She was always uneasy during the wait time of the people she summoned to her office to bid farewell, and in the presence of them it only seemed to worsen. She averted her gaze from the tear-filled eyes of the grown man who towered before her, over her desk, and to the stack of files that she needed to finish. She had more important duties to accomplish, not this mess.
Unfortunately, her secretary, who could’ve handled this for her, was absent for what Minjeong assumed were toilet duties. She vividly remembered the phone call they exchanged in the early hours of dawn.
“I MADE THE MISTAKE OF EATING CHIPOTLE FOR BREAKFAST, MINJEONG. I CAN’T MAKE IT IN TI–” A loud fart blared out of her phone speakers and the line abruptly ended.
Minjeong sat in her chair for a minute in silence, trying to process what she just heard.
Damn you, Aeri.
Clearing her throat, she stiffly patted his hand before trying to stifle a grimace when noticing the dirt that filled his fingernails. She made a mental note to clean her hands immediately after he left.
“Mr. .” She glanced at the clipboard that rested on top of her desk, scanning the bottom line of the paper that was attached to it. A list of names was written down. She chose the first her eyes landed on. “. .Mr. Fernandez, it seems like you aren’t fully assimilating what I am saying. I don’t know how to make it any clearer. As of today, you will no longer be interning for Kim Industries’.
He sniffed. “But why?”
Minjeong forced a tight-lipped smile. “Well, it has become evident that your performance for this company has dramatically reduced to an all-time low. With this internship program–which many would die for–we seek out those possessing potential and extraordinary talents so that they’ll have plentiful opportunities throughout the district. We have no choice but to let you go, for there are thousands of other students who are in line."
A loud sob howled from him, and she could hear the snot he snorted back up his nose. She nonchalantly handed him a tissue.
“T-Thank you, ma’am.”
“No problem. I’m going to need your–”
“By the way, my name is Edward,” he managed to say with wet sniffles and wiping at his eyes and nose. “Edward Sinclair.”
Her gaze hardened for a second. Oh. She let out a cough. “Right. Mr. Si–”
He blew his nose.
“Are you done?” Her patience ran thin. Instead of the gentle, comforting tone she intended, her voice came across as gruff. It was only 8:07 in the morning, and she’d been in the office since six.
He threw the tissue into the tiny garbage can beside her desk and tried to regain his composure. “Yes, ma’am. My apologies.”
“Thank you. Now, I’m going to need your I.D. badge before you go.” She extended out her hand, and the ex-intern nodded glumly before removing the lanyard around his neck and dropping it into her palm. “If you have any further questions regarding this, please contact HR. Farewell. I wish you the best, Mr. Sinclair.”
“You too.” He turned around and made his way for the door. Once he steered clear out of Minjeong’s sight with a click of the door, she immediately let out a sigh of relief and slumped into the leathered comfort of her chair. A migraine was beginning to settle at the back of her head as well as guilt panging at her chest from having to witness the intern crying. Sizzling pain nipped from inside her skull and she squeezed her eyes shut while pinching her nose bridge.
She knew work started at 8:00 A.M. sharp, but where was her coffee?
Karina Yu was trapped amidst a disaster. While on any other day she wouldn’t have spiraled into a tornado of stress and anxiety, today was different.
“Come on, come on. .” she grumbled, her chattering teeth nibbling at her fingertips. Her foot tapped the floor of the Starbucks she stood in line for. Tens of other people conversing clouded her process of thought which frustrated and overstimulated her far from comfort.
It was already 7:40 in the morning. Today was going to be her first day working as an intern under Kim Industries, and she was going to be late. She wanted to crumple down and bawl on the spot, but obviously, in a public setting, she’d only suffer from more terrors. She wanted to just run out of line and catch a taxi, but no, she couldn’t do that–because her supervisor specifically asked for ten hot coffees all ranging of different types, and if she didn’t do as she was told, she would’ve lost the little respect she already didn’t have. It was morning in the bustling area of the core and heart of New York, Manhattan, so of course, all the coffee shops would be filled to the brim! She should’ve predicted that and gone earlier, but no, she was stupid enough to do her hair instead.
Her supervisor was going to kill her. But it wasn’t like Karina wanted to do the duty for them already. She was in the middle of the line from the register, which was also at the entrance of Starbucks. A death grip squeezed her phone, which was open with the Notes app, which contained all of the orders that the supervisor demanded.
Time passed by all too slowly. It was 7:55 when she finally stumbled out of the cafe with recycled cardboard coffee holders in both hands holding steaming liquids of death whilst balancing two drinks beneath her chin. A taxi conveniently stopped beside the sidewalk and rolled down the window to reveal the driver, who looked at her and her ten coffees with concern.
“Ride?” he asked.
“Yes, please.”
Once the woman got dropped off at her destination, she paid the taxi his requested amount and grabbed the two cups of coffee from his drink holder before thanking him for the millionth time. She turned around, her knees trembling and her eyes widening at what she saw. Her jaw dropped open and her head practically stretched all the way to the sky, trying to take in how large the building was. No, buildings .
There were two fucking buildings, both of which were skyscraper height. She knew the buildings would be big, but she wasn’t aware that they’d be colossal. Not only was she already ten minutes late, but it seemed like she’ll be another ten minutes late due to riding the elevator back and forth to her department and others. Karina wanted to scream. Internally, she did, and it was blood-curdling. She memorized the layout of the building and where she needed to go, but the thing was that she thought she wouldn’t be late and that was the problem. She planned out her morning routine so meticulously only for ten coffees to shatter it into pieces.
With a groan, she carefully walked to the office tower she was already in front of. If she remembered correctly, she had to deliver nine of these coffees to the Research and Development department, which she was also under. The tenth coffee was for one of the executives. Karina wasn’t given a name, only two singular details that were, “She’s the head of the finance department. It’s in the other building from us.”
It was a long wait for the elevator to arrive to her, and an even longer wait for the machine to travel to the R&D floor which was on the twentieth. Immediately when the doors opened, her eyes caught sight of her supervisor and recognized the expression on her face. Anger. But that didn’t matter to her. Quickly, she ushered to place the coffees on the nearest table, whirled around, sputtered out her apologies and which coffees were for who, and sprinted back into the elevator before its doors could close in on her. She had the last coffee in her hand for the executive and the material of the cup was cold against her palm. She pressed the 0 button. Karina was glad that she was alone in the elevator because now she could let out a tiny squeal of frustration.
She couldn’t believe it was her first day and she was already going to be fired. It was unfamiliar to her. This sense of failure. Rarely ever in her life did she experience the feeling and now that it was submerging her every fiber of being, she so desperately wished for time travel to be real. Hell, she would’ve spent decades attempting to construct a machine to rewind this mistake just so she could die happily.
A ding rang in her ears, and the opening of the elevator doors snapped her back into reality. This purgatory of a reality. She glanced at her phone screen, and it flashed back a ‘8:19’ at her.
She hurriedly ran out of the lobby and to the other building. She told the lady at the front desk who she was looking for. Once receiving her answer was a gesture to where this executive’s office would be, Karina gave a polite nod and then bolted for the elevator that was at the end of the hallway. The doors opened graciously and she walked inside.
It took five minutes to reach the top floor and another thirty seconds for Karina to run to the executive’s door. Before her fist made contact with the wood to knock, it only pressed against air, for it opened.
“I’M SO SORRY! HERE’S YO– . . Wha. . M-Minje–” Karina couldn’t even finish her sentence. Her eyes bulged out of her sockets, and her throat ran dry.
The woman who was on the other side of the door blankly stared up at her and raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. Only a few seconds passed–agonizingly silent despite the short duration–of the executive scanning the intern’s face before reciprocating the expression. It took the same period of time to return to normal, gaze steeled back into an abysmal void.
“You. . You’re an executive?” Karina asked, her shock dissolved into exasperation. The entire train of realization communicated through her facial expressions. Currently, her eyebrows were furrowed.
Minjeong only nodded and grabbed the coffee from Karina’s hands. Their fingertips brushed against each other and the intern flinched back.
Then she just stared at Minjeong again, as if she was in denial about the whole situation. Well, because she was. Her rival who she’s competed against for years when she was in school was standing right in front of her. That same rival was the one who cursed her with embarrassment and humiliation during university for always, always ranking second behind her. And one night they shared that she’s regretted it since, but at the moment that memory was buried in the back of her mind. Only vexation occupied her countenance. How could she have forgotten? Minjeong was the granddaughter of the founder of the business. A fucking nepotism baby.
“Hello?”
When the soft-spoken, timid voice broke Karina out of her trance, she scowled.
That certainly seemed to scare Minjeong, for the woman involuntarily took a step back. She lowered her eyes from Karina’s flaming own onto the lanyard around her neck.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring any personal matters within a professional workforce, as that’d only trouble the both of us.”
Silence. Minjeong continued.
“And if you’d call me by Ms. Kim, not my first name.”
That earned a scoff from Karina, but then she realized just how immature she was being at the moment. The fire from years ago rekindled throughout her entire body and it was being released. But that needed to come to a stop. This was different. Entirely different. Minjeong wasn’t directly her boss, but she was certainly someone who could fire her on the spot. This internship was far too important for Karina to give up on childish rivalries.
“R-Right. Sorry.”
“So if you’ll excuse me.”
Minjeong walked past her, the clacking of her heels following behind and the disheveled intern who was frozen in her place. Karina swore she could’ve seen a smirk on Minjeong’s face once she left, and that only irritated her more. Her hands balled up into fists and she inhaled deeply. She needed to work. Yes, work.
Karina strided to the elevator and pressed the button to the floor where she needed to go after Minjeong did the same. They took the greatest possible distance between each other, on either side of the space. They were completely drowning in awkward silence and Karina felt like dying.
“So, you’re in the R&D department?” Minjeong tried to force out strength in her voice like any other conversation would hold, but it came out incredibly weak. Karina wouldn’t have heard it if it weren’t for the closed space they shared, her voice bouncing off the walls and into the intern’s ears.
“Yes.” A pause. “How’d you know?”
“From your badge.”
“Oh. Right.”
“Yeah.”
Once the elevator let out a ding signaling the designated stop, almost like an angel’s blessing enchanting Karina’s ears, she scampered out of there like her life depended on it. Minjeong stood alone and sipped her coffee.
“Cold,” she muttered.
Surprisingly, the day ended hastily for Karina. Despite all the scoldings she earned from her supervisor, she managed to ignore the strong emotions that dared to flood her and just focused on the work she needed to finish. Conducting research on possible contender processes that the company could utilize and writing up reports afterward summarizing her discoveries. A prototype of sorts was what she currently had on her plate, diving deep into what could be improved and how it’d either be beneficial or detrimental to the corporation.
She was alone in the office when she finished up her reports for the next two days. She stretched all of her limbs out, especially her back which ached for a bed to lay on. Unfortunately for her, what waited at her apartment was just a hard yoga mat and a blanket. It was all that she could have afforded since the rest of her expenses were paid for by the company.
New York was foreign to her. She originally lived in California, the state of golden beaches and so-called “perfect” weather beaming on all who resided there. She certainly did miss her home, but times were changing and she needed to make sacrifices if she wanted to succeed. Accepting an internship with Kim Industries was one of them. They offered her a flight to New York and discounted rent. Who could’ve rejected it?
Kim Industries was regarded as one of the most prominent businesses throughout the nation–no, the world. They were a powerhouse that possessed countless opportunities to greater paths and even fame. While originally stationed in Korea, they had decided in the last two decades to construct a building in the heart of New York in order to gain more associations and recognition from western society. It certainly worked out, for everyone who was interested in becoming a business person knew that to land a position in the company would mean being set for life.
It was half past nine in the evening after she was dropped off at her apartment complex. Resembling a zombie, she trudged to the elevator. Waited. Got in. Waited again. Then got out and to her door.
“Home sweet home,” Karina sarcastically said.
The small apartment was comforting to see, even if it’d be empty if not for the yoga mat folded on the floor alongside a blanket and pillow. A kitchen was across from it, as well as a tiny hallway leading to a bathroom. That was where she needed to go. A long, hot shower was what she needed to ease her nerves.
She just needed to survive the next few months.
Minjeong’s apartment loomed an ominous darkness, that of loneliness. Her footsteps reverberated throughout the spacious accommodation. She hung her coat and threw her keys onto the large coffee table clearly meant for more than one person to use. She flickered on the lights before her mind conjured up images of a monster dwelling in her chambers influenced by the several horror movies she’s seen.
Her reflection on the window panes offering breathtaking views of the city glared back at her. Then with a click of a button, the curtains started to close in. She headed for the couch and sunk into the cushions, throwing off her heels that formed welts on her feet. She sighed.
And she stared at the ceiling for a long time.
She couldn't get Karina off her mind since their encounter this morning. It annoyed her how someone so insignificant in her past can suddenly reappear in her life and shake the foundation of her day. But, she was lying to herself when she tried to convince her brain that Karina was “insignificant.” That woman was not insignificant in any way to her.
That one night.
A bright red blush painted over her cheeks and she rolled over so that she’d be laying on her stomach. She squealed into the pillows, muffled, but the rustle of her feet swinging up and down and kicking the arm of the couch was as clear as day. She was embarrassed for even reminiscing about the memory despite being by herself and maniacally laughed like a madman.
She lifted herself off of the couch and sat upright, sighing.
“No,” she announced to herself. “Nope. I can’t act this way.”
Minjeong was a woman in her twenties–she was twenty-two, specifically–so she couldn’t be acting like a teenager going wild. She needed to be professional. It wasn’t like they’d be running into each other anymore. There were thousands of employees who bustled throughout the building, accounting for their departments. R&D was in the building across from Minjeong’s, so she wouldn’t have Karina on her mind anymore.
She ignored the tinge of disappointment that was elicited from delving into those thoughts and walked to the bathroom to wash up.