8

"Welcome to the team, Miss Yoo."

"Oh, no. Mirae is just fine. Call me Mirae."

I think the biggest reward that a corporate slave can receive—besides a bigger paycheck—is someone to share the workload. We were always working two people's jobs in a single man's paycheck. So it was water in the desert to be supplied with reinforcements.

This is exactly what happened with Yoo Mirae's entry to the team.

Mr Min had broken the news of her arrival to me a week ago, between all his Cirqs about work he should have done himself. So when she introduced herself to me in the hallway, I lost several pieces of my mind.

Her excitement to work made me feel a bit guilty, knowing the pile of dog dump waiting for her in the back. But then again—meh. Where the fuck was charity going to get me in an office? Always somewhere fuckable.

As a good assistant manager, I centred her before everyone at the team meeting.

My mouth crafted the most professionally warm smile I could, "Give us a brief introduction about yourself, Mirae."

Mirae nodded, her bob of auburn waves stiff as a stone. Mirae was definitely older than me, but younger than a lot of people in the team.

She turned to the hawk-eyed people around the table. Waiting to devour, if you will.

Mirae was pretty. The kind of pretty that wasn't out there but enough to get Jimin's attention. With her honey waves chopped into a neat bob and her honey coloured lenses, she was every bit the fresh-employee-material she could get.

A+ for dressing well, too. She wore a blush pencil skirt that I was dying to know more about. Her white top looked expensive, too. But most importantly, she had the will and energy to learn, which would soon be fucked up by salaried slavery. That was the cycle of capitalist life.

Mirae stepped forward, her doe eyes quick to scan the room, "Hello, everyone. I am Yoo Mirae. I was recruited through a campus placement at my college. I major in Financial Statistics and Research. And...I am very excited to work with this team and this company."

There were claps.

"Hi Mirae." Sohyun greeted.

"Yo: from Seokjin and me." Hoseok passed a salute.

"Hey—"

"Hello Mirae." Seulgi cut in, "Welcome to the team."

"—yeah—that," Jimin fretted, trying to get a chuckle, but nothing happened. He stared at a brick wall. The brick wall was me. His eyes landed on me, and the grin faded.

"You start something, and I will ask Mr Min to step in, Jimin." My lips stretched, eyes squinting.

He sulked. I let him. I couldn't give two shits. Not everything was a dating site, Jimin. Somebody tell him that!

I turned to the rest, "Mr Min decided to leave the task of deciding her role to me. She will work on the reopened tasks." My eyes flashed to Jimin's inquisitive head, "I will mentor her myself."

He groaned like a cupboard, earning a few giggles around the table and a confused smile from Mirae.

Hoseok passed his water bottle to Jimin, "Here. You'll need some."

"What about when you attend your meetings? Will she accompany you then?" Namjoon raised a brow.

No, Brow Champion Number Two. That won't happen.

I shook my head, "Don't worry. I will assign her enough tasks. If need be, she will accompany me."

Namjoon nodded, obviously unsatisfied.

Believe it or not, this was a very strategic decision. I didn't trust anyone in the team to mentor her correctly. All of them were one step away from an HR intervention. They could do worse; demotivate her or fill her with spite for me.

Jimin was going to ensconce in the romantic arc. Seokjin would kill her will to work before she even realised her potential. Namjoon would probably use her to lead a riot against my government. Hoseok and she would be a daily episode of Just For Laughs Gags. Sohyun and Seulgi would cast a daily soap with her where I was the disappearing character.

So I chose the only person who could be trusted. Me. Overconfident, I know. But my antennas told me this was right. Besides, I was a lonely bitch in my seat with no one to talk to. I could use some company.

And I did that. I designated her a seat beside my desk.

"Miss Kang...?" Mirae turned in her chair to look at me, hesitant. "Are my tasks going to be different from the team?"

"No." I opened my laptop, clearing the dump of unattended emails. "I will personally make sure you learn the right things. The team is piled with other tasks. And Mirae—" I flashed her a pleasant smile, "Please reach out to me if you need anything."

She nodded obediently but soon shied away from speaking more. Of course, that's how everyone is. This is how I was at the beginning of my job. Quiet, unsure all the time, and frustrated if I knew enough. But time flies. Wait—what the fuck? Why was I speaking like an eighty-year-old? I'm twenty-four! What do I even know?

"Okay. We have very little time to catch up because I have a meeting to attend from 9 AM to 10 AM." I sulked in my chest. "But don't worry, we will catch up better when I'm back. Right now, I need you to go through the system's guide. Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded.

"Cirq me as soon as you need my help." I further added, gathering my things and fixing my hair as I dreaded what was to come.

"Miss Kang...?"

"Yes?" I turned.

"I need to fill my water bottle. Can you show me the way?" She held her pink bottle up. For a second, hearts popped around her head like Cupids when she smiled with that ridiculously cute bottle.

"Sure. Follow me, it's on my way to the elevator." I smiled.

Mirae grabbed her bottle to her chest and jogged behind me. I led her around the cubicles, introducing her to a few people who stopped to greet me and ones I had to stop and greet.

"It's like being married to a gangster." Mirae giggled behind me once we crossed the hedge of all the people we could interact with. "Being introduced to everyone around you."

I blinked, my mouth curling. That was a unique analogy—married to a gangster.

"I'm still not gangster enough. You should see Mr Min's aura."

"To me, Miss Manager is."

"Miss Assistant Manager, Mirae." I pointed out, turning towards the pantry where the water filters were located.

I had barely entered the place when my body sensed the omen.

Lo and behold.

Jeon Jungkook stood next to the coffee machine with his used coffee cup. He tossed it into the bucket of soapy water as cerulean as his coat.

Why was this man drinking coffee here? They had a pantry on the third floor, too!

Criminal.

My hand shook as I tore it through my tendrils, about to look away. But the fuckery of my life is it's perfect timing in making things worse. His eyes snapped to me. A second of surprise. Then—an evil smile. Something of a winning face. I felt like I was caught red-handed committing a crime or the like.

"Miss Kang, you're going to be late for your training."

Yes. This is what he said. Out of all the things he could have—he chooses to come in like he was featuring with Miley Cyrus.

Mirae tucked herself beside me, blinking.

"Good morning, Mr Jeon," I flashed him a glare, my words seething as they cut, "This is Yoo Mirae. She joined our team today as an Analyst."

Jungkook followed my hand to where it pointed, and then back at me.

"Mirae," I turned to her, "This is the Head of Cybersecurity. His office is on the third floor. I can't think of any reason why he must be here. A meeting, right, Mr Jeon?"

Jungkook bowed short at her, but the mischief was still alive in his face. Mirae's jaw dropped, turning red in the split of that second.

"You're quite an insightful person, Miss Kang." He smirked, his evil eyes glinting. "I'm sure that Miss Yoo will be favoured to have your cyber insights in her mentorship."

What?

"Of course." I pressed my lips together to smile.

"I have an elevator to catch," Jungkook said. He whisked past me.

"I have to catch it too, Mirae." I smiled at her, remembering the time. "You can go back inside."

She nodded, still struggling to take her eyes off the sharp man as he sliced through the air.

Canon event.

I hurried after Jungkook, trying to match his pace, but Daddy Long Legs was walking like he had springs in his knees.

The elevator doors opened, and I pranced forward, only to step on the back of his feet. His shiny black shoe squeaked and flew out of the elevator, but he had already stepped into the elevator.

What the heck.

"What the—" he went stumbling inside and rammed into the sonorous walls, his hands flailing to catch himself.

Pfft—

"I'm so sorry! Let me get it for you!" I gasped and spun to retrieve it.

The laptop almost slipped out of my grip, but I managed to catch the shoe in the hook of my finger while balancing other things in the crook of my arm.

I whirled, my hair splattered all over my face.

Jungkook tried to cut in through the doors, but all I heard was a loud metal thunk as the slabs shut.

"Fuck!"

His scream echoed inside, and the floor numbers began changing. I flinched.

What the fuck just happened?

My jaw dropped at the shoe in my hand and then at the elevator.

God damn it! Why the hell was I the lady who lived in a shoe?

I stood there, watching the other elevator doors around, as the floor number blinked at me. The sleek leather dangled in my hand, awkward. A few people walking past me glanced at the shoe in my hand.

I blinked, then looked at the thing.

Oh.

Sleek leather, glossy and obsidian. Minimal stitching. It looked brand new, polished and clean. So clean that I could almost see my face reflected on it. Was this a sign that he was about to step on me? Shut the fuck up, Haerin, please. The shoe wasn't extravagant, but fucking expensive. I could see it. The insoles even had branding. Like, real cursive branding. French.

My eyes fell on the beige pumps on my feet. Not cheap, but definitely not expensive. Just survivable. The seams were coming off, and the tip of my heel was a little worn now. I had been debating whether it was time to throw it away. But seeing this leather relic in my hand, I could finally let it go.

Why did this Jeon Jungkook need to have such a godly level of expensive shoes? This wasn't a fashion-centred job either. Deliberate. This had to be one of those tricks to get him what he wanted. Like a power play, maybe. Hah. Like I cared what brand he wore. What did it even matter if all he wanted to do with those shoes was kick others?

The door pinged, announcing the return to the fifth floor.

I straightened, huddling to hide the shoe behind me.

The door slid open. Jeon Jungkook stood by the wall, hands folded at his chest. One shoe on, the other sock feet sitting on the flat of his shoe.

He looked like he could kill me. Fortunately, there was no one else in the elevator to see this nuisance.

My face burned. I dashed in, throwing it at his feet.

"Here! I'm so sorry." I rambled on, falling on my knees to help him get into the footwear.  "Your shoe just flipped out! I didn't expect—"

"Miss Kang, what are you—"

Our conversation was interrupted. I didn't know who, but random suited men climbed in with us.

I only understood when one of them coughed. Then, cleared his throat.

I stumbled up to my feet when I realised how indecent that must have looked. Me on my knees before a guy in an elevator? Cinderella in recreation; that's what it must have looked like. Why the hell was this happening with me?

Right. I'm the final boss of all bad timings. Makes sense.

Jungkook didn't say anything. He slipped on his shoe quietly. I was backed into a corner by my shame.

When the third floor arrived, we stepped outside. I knew that his blaster gun was ready to strike me down. It was just a matter of waiting for it to happen.

His back was to me, shoulders stiff. I didn't want to step on him again and roll into a stack of hay. Thus, I slowed down and kept up right behind him.

"You move too fast for someone who is always late."

There we go.

My eyes flashed angrily at him, "I'm not always late, Mr Jeon. That's taking it too far, I'd say."

"You're always late, Miss Kang." He smirked, his head facing ahead. "In the one week you've been here, you've barged in on those uncomfortable heels, in what, more than three times? That is more than the working days in a week."

The back of his head looked perfect for a slap.

"No offence, Mr Jeon, but I am occupied with other matters, too. Yet, I don't think I have let that impact any part of the training. Mr Park would also agree."

"Impact how? By failing the assessment? Or by stepping on my shoe?" He smiled at me and opened the door to his cabin, urging me to step in first.

I rolled my eyes, letting out an aggravated sigh.

"And now what? Giving me an attitude I didn't ask for? You're very giving for someone taking my time, Miss Kang." He didn't even wait and flew inside, taking his coat off. As if telling me off was a routine chore. A chore.

A fire crackled in my chest. That shoe. I should have hurled it at his head.

"What?" My mouth parted. "Attitude? Is that what standing up to you means?"

"Standing up to me?" His eyes narrowed. He leaned back in his bossy chair, sizing me up like I was a skittle. "Standing up to what exactly, Miss Kang? To the fact that there are rumours that I fancy you? Or the fact that your manager seems least interested in the mistake you made because he wants his production requirements fulfilled? And then, I get you rolling your eyes at me like that?"

"Are you scolding me right now?" I gaped. "Just because I stepped on your shoe?"

He threw his head back. Then, laughed.

Not the erratic and happy kind. His laugh had an edge to it. Amused, and maybe half annoyed—trying-to-be-the-boss-of-me type.

"Scolding you?" He tilted his head. "Don't flatter yourself, Miss Kang. When I scold someone, they don't roll their eyes. They apologise."

This was it. This man was overstepping lines now. The same lines he smoked before opening his mouth to me, probably.

"So you're not scolding me. What exactly is this, then?"

"You just stepped on the wrong foot today." He shrugged.

Hah. I pushed my hip out, tapping my shoe to quiet the panic rising in my gut. "Maybe next time, walk with more awareness. For someone in cybersecurity, your fuse seems shockingly easy to trip, Mr Jeon."

He laughed again, "Fuse? This is cybersecurity, not a hardware store."

Oh no. This fucking felony of the century was here trying to teach me cybersecurity and hardware.

My grip tightened on the laptop against my chest, toes pressing inside my shoe.

"Does cybersecurity work without hardware help, Mr Jeon?" I politely stabbed my way in, "Or are you that proud to not recognise the others helping you keep your job?"

He stalled, an eyebrow raised now.

I stabbed my heel into the carpet beneath me, trying to rethink whether what I had said could cost me my job. No. It didn't matter. He had taken it far on his own.

"You're surprisingly sharp-tongued for someone so young."

"What does that even mean?"

"Excuse me," There was a knock on the door.

Jungkook's open mouth flapped shut.

Park Bo Gum entered, eyes flying around the room to catch the atmosphere. It was terrible.

The tension sizzled at him like a snake's hiss.

"We are due for a meeting, you are included in, Miss Kang." He said, and a barbed wire snapped in my brain.

Meeting. Yeah, right. Jeon Jungkook had piled my schedule with stupid meetings all over my day. No way. I couldn't let him get away with it.

I stretched my lips at Park Bo Gum, "Thanks, but is Mr Jeon joining the meeting?"

His eyes darted to Jungkook, confused. "U—Um...I don't think so. Are you, Director Jeon?"

"Those meetings are meant for you, Miss Kang." Jungkook deadpanned, his face a stone relic I had vowed to break.

My eyes flashed to him, an impervious smile hanging from my lips, "I will not attend any meetings that you are not a part of, too, Mr Jeon."

His brows drew closer, jaw another tick away from breaking. "Those meetings are for you, Miss Kang."

Oh look. How professional. Nothing like a few seconds ago when he was crying about my attitude like a bitch!

"I need your company. As the training head, I think your presence is valuable too."

"Miss Kang—"

"Please." I cut in, and I swear I saw smoke coming out of his ears.

Right back at you.

If he wants to waste my time in meetings that could have been emails, he wastes it with me.

Jeon Jungkook helped me realise how much I hated him. He was about to see it happen. He was about to see me turn into a dragon and burn his eyebrows off.