[Series]A Fragile Heart - The Sequel, Chapter 2
Author : freedomthisway
Rating : PG-13 for now.
Character/Pairing : Eunhyuk, Kangin, Leeteuk, Heechul, Junsu, Sungmin, minor appearance of Siwon, Jang Woo Hyuk, Lee Soo Man, and others/KangHyuk (main), a little bit of KangMin.
Word Count : words for this chapter
Genre : angst, maybe a bit of crack, and then angst again/Office AU
Prologue Summary : It’s the sequel of Betrayal. You need to read that prequel first in order to make sense of this whole series.
In this series, Hyukjae’s story continues. With Junsu behind his back, he’s back to square one as he’s trying to conquer new city, new challenge, and new people, while licking up his wounded heart. Haunted by his past, Hyukjae never wants to deal with anything love-related anymore, but then Kangin is there: a stubborn and pushy and handsome bastard. And he’s Hyukjae’s new boss.
Author’s Note : Posted this in a hurry. Got to do house chores. So I will be back to reply comments on previous chapter and catch up on my friends page later.
The awesome renichifreak beta-ed this chapter. Thank you, Carey~! xD
The office had been buzzing and bustling by the time Hyukjae enters it in strides. Rushing, unconsciously matching his pace with everybody else, Hyukjae fixes his grip on the previously prepared meeting materials that Jung Su had assigned him to do last week and jogs towards his cubicle.
He is 15 minutes late so he isn’t the least bit surprised when he sees Jung Su is there already, looking annoyed as usual.
“God, you’re such a snail,” he says as the answer of Hyukjae’s greeting and points at the materials in Hyukjae's hands. “I assume those materials are ready, Hyukjae-sshi?”
Hyukjae nods, trying to catch his breath, and places the papers into Jung Soo’s waiting hands. The older man flips through the pages quickly, nodding here and there before finally muttering, “Average, but I think this will do.”
Hyukjae holds the urge to roll his eyes as Jung Su turns back and walks towards the meeting room, signaling Hyukjae to follow.
Almost everybody invited to the meeting is already sitting at their assigned seats when Hyukjae enters the room after Jung Su. Hyukjae notices with relief that their honored guests have yet to arrive as the seats in front are still empty.
Jung Su told him to sit beside Jang Woo Hyuk, the infamous playboy, and Head of Marketing. Beside the man is a grinning Junsu, who despite being a major klutz, is actually Head of Accounting. Ever since Hyukjae had known him, Junsu had been famous for being a math nerd, aside from his reputation for having bad taste in woman. Hyukjae grins back a little before bowing a bit towards Woo Hyuk, taking his seat.
Jung Su sits in the chair to Hyukjae’s left and starts chatting with his best friend, Kim Heechul, the scary and wicked Head of Finances. Thank God Hyukjae has been succeeded to stay away from the man’s path all this time. Dealing with him won’t be pretty and Hyukjae has had enough traumas with office scandal without having Kim Heechul as his enemy. Rumor even has it that Jung Su learned all his sinister remarks from him.
If all the horrible comments Hyukjae had heard from Jung Su’s mouth can be made as measurement, Hyukjae really doesn’t want to know how Heechul is better than Jung Soo in that respect.
Hyukjae covers his yawn with one hand. He only slept for three hours last night and this morning he is damn sleepy as hell. This meeting won’t be different from any other meeting anyway where his existence won’t be acknowledged and his opinion won’t be heard. He pretends to rummage through the materials in front of him while making mental notes to keep himself awake about tons of things waiting for him to be done when this stupid meeting ends.
Ten minutes passed and Hyukjae still hasn’t seen signs of their guests arriving. He doesn’t dare look left so he glances to his right and can see Junsu involved in a heated conversation with Woo Hyuk --probably asking for some how-to-get-girls-easily tips from the older man. Rolling his eyes, Hyukjae puts his head down and close his eyes. The loud buzz of everyone’s chatting in the room keeps him from the idea of stealing some nap time, however.
Hyukjae sighs and makes a move to rise from his seat. He needs to wash his face or else he’ll start sleep walking any minute, but stops as the door is suddenly opened and three men enter the meeting room. Their steps are full of confidence and the authoritative aura they bring makes the room quiet instantly.
Here are the grand guests, Hyukjae assumes and sits back.
Of the three men now sitting in their respective seats, Hyukjae can easily recognizes two of them. One is Lee Soo Man, the Commissioner and owner of SM. Ltd. Another one is Lee Sung Min, Soo Man’s only son who is also the CEO of SM. Ltd.
The third guy, though, makes Hyukjae wonder because he only has seen him this once. The guy is tall and kind of huge, compared to Hyukjae’s lanky body and he is fucking handsome, in a very different way from handsome people Hyukjae has noticed in this meeting room.
He’s not soft (like Lee Sung Min), or dorky (like Junsu), or wild (like Woo Hyuk), and definitely not pretty (like Heechul or Jung Su).
He is manly.
This guy is so manly that even if he decides to jump on the big meeting table right this second and starts to pound his chest like some territorial gorilla, Hyukjae thinks it’d suits him --and the rest of the people here-- just fine.
His hair is cut short and professional but with style Hyukjae knows you can only get from an expensive hair salon. It makes him looks neat but edgy.
His eyes are sharp as he is scanning the entire room, silently observing each person. When his gaze lands and lingers on Hyukjae for a minute longer than it did on the rest, somehow those penetrating eyes make him freeze, and instead of bowing a bit like he should have done in this kind of situation, Hyukjae finds himself blushing to the roots of his hair and he feels the need to put his head down in order to hide that shameful reaction.
But Hyukjae doesn’t miss the amused looks on the man’s face after having seen his reaction and it annoys him a bit. He is already 26 years old this year, for God's sake, yet he still acts like a fucking teenager. Hyukjae wants to slap himself right at this moment if he could because really, Lee Hyukjae. You don’t need this, ever again. So get a grip and get it now.
Hyukjae takes a deep breath before lifting his face again, only to realize that the meeting has been started. Everyone’s gaze is focused on the talking Lee Soo Man, including that man’s.
"I’m Kim Youngwoon. But all of you can call me Kangin. I am SM Hong Kong’s Operational Manager. It’s such a pleasure to meet all of you here," is what the mysterious man says after Lee Soo Man introduces him, his eyes sweeping the room with a smile on his lips.
When Hyukjae notices Kangin just looks at him blankly for half a second before moving to the others, he suddenly feels like the stupidest man on earth.
Hyukjae forces himself to concentrate on listening to Lee Soo Man’s opening speech with the phrase I don’t need this ever again echoing over and over in his head.
---00o00---
The meeting has been over for thirty minutes, but Hyukjae still can’t erase the awed expression he has on his face. Even Jung Su’s hateful glares as he nagged him about his deadline after dropping a new pile of paperwork on his desk don’t make him stop feeling so dumbfounded, because that meeting back there: was amazing.
They were in the middle of a heated debate about the best way to overcome problems that keep arising inside the company. It happened right after the presentation from the last department, HRD.
Jung Su, clutching the meeting materials in his hand, explained the plans and programs stated inside it. Hyukjae chose that time to scribble random things on his agenda. Anything to keep his mind off what Jung Su was talking about, because while it’s true that Hyukjae was the one who typed and prepared the materials, the whole thing inside it was purely Jung Su’s ideas. Those plans and programs weren’t that different from the last programs he set up: another employee cut, and some crap about how larger funds for the HRD Department could afford his plan of creating better (and more expensive) vacancies advertisement in order to catch the attention of more qualified job seekers.
“Qualified job seekers nowadays know how to increase bargain power for themselves. Obviously, they will look for vacancies in qualified companies. And it’s not a secret that the better the ads, the better the company’s qualification. And that’s the base of my plan,” Jung Su said and Hyukjae held back the urge to groan, because though those were true, it wouldn’t fit to be implemented in the company’s current situation.
And right after Jung Su’s explanation ended, all hells broke loose.
Junsu was cornering Heechul for supporting Jung Su’s ridiculous idea because as Head of Finance, he should’ve known better. Woo Hyuk countered Jung Su, saying that even if they got qualified newbies in their hands, it didn’t mean that it would solve the problem because SM. Ltd had company culture and operational procedures so unique and complicated that even the most talented person would need months to adapt to them, and he had gotten sick of having to work with the clumsy and inexperienced newbies Jung Su had put under him. Mr. Choi, with Head of Operational Department and some others backing him up in the background, was far too busy explaining to Lee Soo Man about how he had tried his best to deal with all the problems but it wasn’t his fault when they all just kept coming. Lee Sung Min was ignoring all the arguments taking place in the room and instead concentrated on reading the company’s reports and statistics on the table in front of him, while Kangin was just sitting there, listening and observing.
It was a mess.
Hyukjae couldn’t stop fidgeting because he suddenly realized that Kangin was staring at him. He had tried to ignore it but it’s pretty hard to not feel restless when someone’s eyes were boring a hole into you.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Hyukjae could see Kangin finally take his eyes off him and lean to whisper in Lee Sung Min’s ear. Sung Min then looked up from the reports and stared at Hyukjae too, before smiling amusedly and nodding.
Hyukjae had already prepared to stand up and excuse himself to the bathroom because suddenly he felt nervousness tickling his stomach. But Kangin chose that time to finally speak.
“Gentlemen, please,” he said in a casual but authoritative voice, causing the whole room to suddenly go quiet.
Everyone was leaned back in their own seats and focused their attentions on Kangin. With a smile, Kangin stared at Hyukjae again, leading everyone else in the room to do the same.
Hyukjae could feel hotness burn his cheeks.
“You there, what’s your name?” Kangin asked him, voice deep and serious though Hyukjae swore he could hear a tinge of amusement in it.
Hyukjae licked his bottom lip nervously, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, as he answered Kangin’s question. “I’m Lee Hyukjae.” He glanced at Jung Su before continuing. ”I’m the HRD Head’s assistant.”
Kangin leaned forward in his seat, hands folded on the table. “Lee Hyukjae-sshi, I see that you’ve been quiet since the meeting was started. As Park Jung Su-sshi’s assistant, I believe you must have had some suggestions for our company’s improvement stored inside your head. Would you mind sharing them with us?” His eyebrows lifted up for a second after he said those words and Hyukjae couldn’t help but feel challenged.
He could feel Jung Su glaring beside him, sending silent threats regarding whether or not he dared to take that challenge. Kangin still looked at him like that, and so did the rest of the people in the room and Hyukjae was thrilled.
It was the first time for him to be asked --formally asked-- for an opinion ever since he worked in this company and suddenly he was filled with bubbling excitement.
Park Jung Su’s wrath be damned.
So the next thirty minutes were filled with Hyukjae spouting his repressed ideas that he had always thought could bring great and positive changes for the company, starting from suggestion for Need Analysis followed by a thorough Performance Appraisal, strings of recommended training for employees, some low budget-Employee Retention Programs he had been cooking up for some times, basically everything he had had in mind for months ever since the first time he had to tell an employee that he was cut off from his job in the company.
The whole time, none of the others said a word but Kangin. He asked questions here and there and Hyukjae answered, strangely felt thrums of satisfaction rippling his skin when he saw Kangin nodding as he agreed to Hyukjae and felt his blood pump harder as he wracked his brains when he saw Kangin frown at several chinks in his solid ideas.
Kangin was sharp and he knew exactly what he was talking about. By the time Hyukjae finally finished, Hyukjae found his heartbeat racing madly and he had to take a deep breath to make sure he wasn’t going to hyperventilate.
The room finally buzzed again in reaction of Hyukjae’s presentation, though not so crowded and loudly this time, while Kangin looked like he was having a serious conversation with Sung Min and his father.
Hyukjae was in too much of a trance to do anything aside from laying his back on his seat, eyes watching everything happening around him unfocusedly.
It was not that Hyukjae had never done something like this before: talking in public, spouting his best ideas for the improvement of the company where he works. He had gotten used to it, actually.
It was just that after that incident, Hyukjae had also gotten himself used to being in the background, because suddenly nobody, aside from Junsu, wanted anything from him professionally.
Therefore, to be acknowledged by people again, to be given a chance to prove to himself that he is and hestill can be professional once more: it felt so damn good.
Lee Soo Man cleared his throat and everybody went quiet once more. Standing, he thanked and appreciated all the suggestions coming from everybody, but he would need more time to think things through before coming up with a decision on what would be done with the company.
And that is how Hyukjae ends up gaping inside his cubicle, still somewhat thrilled by the rush he felt back in the meeting room. If he didn’t realize his position, he would have gone to Kangin and personally thanked him for giving him such a chance and trust that even his own supervisor won’t give.
But that man is SM Central’s manager, after all. It won’t be weird if he acts dismissively towards Hyukjae, even after what happened in the meeting room.
Hyukjae wasn’t ready to break the bubble of excitement he hadn’t felt for a long time.
TBC
PS: Again, sorry for the lame HRD and office thingy probing. I just dug it out of my own experience. ^^;
Rating : PG-13 for now.
Character/Pairing : Eunhyuk, Kangin, Leeteuk, Heechul, Junsu, Sungmin, minor appearance of Siwon, Jang Woo Hyuk, Lee Soo Man, and others/KangHyuk (main), a little bit of KangMin.
Word Count : words for this chapter
Genre : angst, maybe a bit of crack, and then angst again/Office AU
Prologue Summary : It’s the sequel of Betrayal. You need to read that prequel first in order to make sense of this whole series.
In this series, Hyukjae’s story continues. With Junsu behind his back, he’s back to square one as he’s trying to conquer new city, new challenge, and new people, while licking up his wounded heart. Haunted by his past, Hyukjae never wants to deal with anything love-related anymore, but then Kangin is there: a stubborn and pushy and handsome bastard. And he’s Hyukjae’s new boss.
Author’s Note : Posted this in a hurry. Got to do house chores. So I will be back to reply comments on previous chapter and catch up on my friends page later.
The awesome renichifreak beta-ed this chapter. Thank you, Carey~! xD
The office had been buzzing and bustling by the time Hyukjae enters it in strides. Rushing, unconsciously matching his pace with everybody else, Hyukjae fixes his grip on the previously prepared meeting materials that Jung Su had assigned him to do last week and jogs towards his cubicle.
He is 15 minutes late so he isn’t the least bit surprised when he sees Jung Su is there already, looking annoyed as usual.
“God, you’re such a snail,” he says as the answer of Hyukjae’s greeting and points at the materials in Hyukjae's hands. “I assume those materials are ready, Hyukjae-sshi?”
Hyukjae nods, trying to catch his breath, and places the papers into Jung Soo’s waiting hands. The older man flips through the pages quickly, nodding here and there before finally muttering, “Average, but I think this will do.”
Hyukjae holds the urge to roll his eyes as Jung Su turns back and walks towards the meeting room, signaling Hyukjae to follow.
Almost everybody invited to the meeting is already sitting at their assigned seats when Hyukjae enters the room after Jung Su. Hyukjae notices with relief that their honored guests have yet to arrive as the seats in front are still empty.
Jung Su told him to sit beside Jang Woo Hyuk, the infamous playboy, and Head of Marketing. Beside the man is a grinning Junsu, who despite being a major klutz, is actually Head of Accounting. Ever since Hyukjae had known him, Junsu had been famous for being a math nerd, aside from his reputation for having bad taste in woman. Hyukjae grins back a little before bowing a bit towards Woo Hyuk, taking his seat.
Jung Su sits in the chair to Hyukjae’s left and starts chatting with his best friend, Kim Heechul, the scary and wicked Head of Finances. Thank God Hyukjae has been succeeded to stay away from the man’s path all this time. Dealing with him won’t be pretty and Hyukjae has had enough traumas with office scandal without having Kim Heechul as his enemy. Rumor even has it that Jung Su learned all his sinister remarks from him.
If all the horrible comments Hyukjae had heard from Jung Su’s mouth can be made as measurement, Hyukjae really doesn’t want to know how Heechul is better than Jung Soo in that respect.
Hyukjae covers his yawn with one hand. He only slept for three hours last night and this morning he is damn sleepy as hell. This meeting won’t be different from any other meeting anyway where his existence won’t be acknowledged and his opinion won’t be heard. He pretends to rummage through the materials in front of him while making mental notes to keep himself awake about tons of things waiting for him to be done when this stupid meeting ends.
Ten minutes passed and Hyukjae still hasn’t seen signs of their guests arriving. He doesn’t dare look left so he glances to his right and can see Junsu involved in a heated conversation with Woo Hyuk --probably asking for some how-to-get-girls-easily tips from the older man. Rolling his eyes, Hyukjae puts his head down and close his eyes. The loud buzz of everyone’s chatting in the room keeps him from the idea of stealing some nap time, however.
Hyukjae sighs and makes a move to rise from his seat. He needs to wash his face or else he’ll start sleep walking any minute, but stops as the door is suddenly opened and three men enter the meeting room. Their steps are full of confidence and the authoritative aura they bring makes the room quiet instantly.
Here are the grand guests, Hyukjae assumes and sits back.
Of the three men now sitting in their respective seats, Hyukjae can easily recognizes two of them. One is Lee Soo Man, the Commissioner and owner of SM. Ltd. Another one is Lee Sung Min, Soo Man’s only son who is also the CEO of SM. Ltd.
The third guy, though, makes Hyukjae wonder because he only has seen him this once. The guy is tall and kind of huge, compared to Hyukjae’s lanky body and he is fucking handsome, in a very different way from handsome people Hyukjae has noticed in this meeting room.
He’s not soft (like Lee Sung Min), or dorky (like Junsu), or wild (like Woo Hyuk), and definitely not pretty (like Heechul or Jung Su).
He is manly.
This guy is so manly that even if he decides to jump on the big meeting table right this second and starts to pound his chest like some territorial gorilla, Hyukjae thinks it’d suits him --and the rest of the people here-- just fine.
His hair is cut short and professional but with style Hyukjae knows you can only get from an expensive hair salon. It makes him looks neat but edgy.
His eyes are sharp as he is scanning the entire room, silently observing each person. When his gaze lands and lingers on Hyukjae for a minute longer than it did on the rest, somehow those penetrating eyes make him freeze, and instead of bowing a bit like he should have done in this kind of situation, Hyukjae finds himself blushing to the roots of his hair and he feels the need to put his head down in order to hide that shameful reaction.
But Hyukjae doesn’t miss the amused looks on the man’s face after having seen his reaction and it annoys him a bit. He is already 26 years old this year, for God's sake, yet he still acts like a fucking teenager. Hyukjae wants to slap himself right at this moment if he could because really, Lee Hyukjae. You don’t need this, ever again. So get a grip and get it now.
Hyukjae takes a deep breath before lifting his face again, only to realize that the meeting has been started. Everyone’s gaze is focused on the talking Lee Soo Man, including that man’s.
"I’m Kim Youngwoon. But all of you can call me Kangin. I am SM Hong Kong’s Operational Manager. It’s such a pleasure to meet all of you here," is what the mysterious man says after Lee Soo Man introduces him, his eyes sweeping the room with a smile on his lips.
When Hyukjae notices Kangin just looks at him blankly for half a second before moving to the others, he suddenly feels like the stupidest man on earth.
Hyukjae forces himself to concentrate on listening to Lee Soo Man’s opening speech with the phrase I don’t need this ever again echoing over and over in his head.
---00o00---
The meeting has been over for thirty minutes, but Hyukjae still can’t erase the awed expression he has on his face. Even Jung Su’s hateful glares as he nagged him about his deadline after dropping a new pile of paperwork on his desk don’t make him stop feeling so dumbfounded, because that meeting back there: was amazing.
They were in the middle of a heated debate about the best way to overcome problems that keep arising inside the company. It happened right after the presentation from the last department, HRD.
Jung Su, clutching the meeting materials in his hand, explained the plans and programs stated inside it. Hyukjae chose that time to scribble random things on his agenda. Anything to keep his mind off what Jung Su was talking about, because while it’s true that Hyukjae was the one who typed and prepared the materials, the whole thing inside it was purely Jung Su’s ideas. Those plans and programs weren’t that different from the last programs he set up: another employee cut, and some crap about how larger funds for the HRD Department could afford his plan of creating better (and more expensive) vacancies advertisement in order to catch the attention of more qualified job seekers.
“Qualified job seekers nowadays know how to increase bargain power for themselves. Obviously, they will look for vacancies in qualified companies. And it’s not a secret that the better the ads, the better the company’s qualification. And that’s the base of my plan,” Jung Su said and Hyukjae held back the urge to groan, because though those were true, it wouldn’t fit to be implemented in the company’s current situation.
And right after Jung Su’s explanation ended, all hells broke loose.
Junsu was cornering Heechul for supporting Jung Su’s ridiculous idea because as Head of Finance, he should’ve known better. Woo Hyuk countered Jung Su, saying that even if they got qualified newbies in their hands, it didn’t mean that it would solve the problem because SM. Ltd had company culture and operational procedures so unique and complicated that even the most talented person would need months to adapt to them, and he had gotten sick of having to work with the clumsy and inexperienced newbies Jung Su had put under him. Mr. Choi, with Head of Operational Department and some others backing him up in the background, was far too busy explaining to Lee Soo Man about how he had tried his best to deal with all the problems but it wasn’t his fault when they all just kept coming. Lee Sung Min was ignoring all the arguments taking place in the room and instead concentrated on reading the company’s reports and statistics on the table in front of him, while Kangin was just sitting there, listening and observing.
It was a mess.
Hyukjae couldn’t stop fidgeting because he suddenly realized that Kangin was staring at him. He had tried to ignore it but it’s pretty hard to not feel restless when someone’s eyes were boring a hole into you.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Hyukjae could see Kangin finally take his eyes off him and lean to whisper in Lee Sung Min’s ear. Sung Min then looked up from the reports and stared at Hyukjae too, before smiling amusedly and nodding.
Hyukjae had already prepared to stand up and excuse himself to the bathroom because suddenly he felt nervousness tickling his stomach. But Kangin chose that time to finally speak.
“Gentlemen, please,” he said in a casual but authoritative voice, causing the whole room to suddenly go quiet.
Everyone was leaned back in their own seats and focused their attentions on Kangin. With a smile, Kangin stared at Hyukjae again, leading everyone else in the room to do the same.
Hyukjae could feel hotness burn his cheeks.
“You there, what’s your name?” Kangin asked him, voice deep and serious though Hyukjae swore he could hear a tinge of amusement in it.
Hyukjae licked his bottom lip nervously, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, as he answered Kangin’s question. “I’m Lee Hyukjae.” He glanced at Jung Su before continuing. ”I’m the HRD Head’s assistant.”
Kangin leaned forward in his seat, hands folded on the table. “Lee Hyukjae-sshi, I see that you’ve been quiet since the meeting was started. As Park Jung Su-sshi’s assistant, I believe you must have had some suggestions for our company’s improvement stored inside your head. Would you mind sharing them with us?” His eyebrows lifted up for a second after he said those words and Hyukjae couldn’t help but feel challenged.
He could feel Jung Su glaring beside him, sending silent threats regarding whether or not he dared to take that challenge. Kangin still looked at him like that, and so did the rest of the people in the room and Hyukjae was thrilled.
It was the first time for him to be asked --formally asked-- for an opinion ever since he worked in this company and suddenly he was filled with bubbling excitement.
Park Jung Su’s wrath be damned.
So the next thirty minutes were filled with Hyukjae spouting his repressed ideas that he had always thought could bring great and positive changes for the company, starting from suggestion for Need Analysis followed by a thorough Performance Appraisal, strings of recommended training for employees, some low budget-Employee Retention Programs he had been cooking up for some times, basically everything he had had in mind for months ever since the first time he had to tell an employee that he was cut off from his job in the company.
The whole time, none of the others said a word but Kangin. He asked questions here and there and Hyukjae answered, strangely felt thrums of satisfaction rippling his skin when he saw Kangin nodding as he agreed to Hyukjae and felt his blood pump harder as he wracked his brains when he saw Kangin frown at several chinks in his solid ideas.
Kangin was sharp and he knew exactly what he was talking about. By the time Hyukjae finally finished, Hyukjae found his heartbeat racing madly and he had to take a deep breath to make sure he wasn’t going to hyperventilate.
The room finally buzzed again in reaction of Hyukjae’s presentation, though not so crowded and loudly this time, while Kangin looked like he was having a serious conversation with Sung Min and his father.
Hyukjae was in too much of a trance to do anything aside from laying his back on his seat, eyes watching everything happening around him unfocusedly.
It was not that Hyukjae had never done something like this before: talking in public, spouting his best ideas for the improvement of the company where he works. He had gotten used to it, actually.
It was just that after that incident, Hyukjae had also gotten himself used to being in the background, because suddenly nobody, aside from Junsu, wanted anything from him professionally.
Therefore, to be acknowledged by people again, to be given a chance to prove to himself that he is and hestill can be professional once more: it felt so damn good.
Lee Soo Man cleared his throat and everybody went quiet once more. Standing, he thanked and appreciated all the suggestions coming from everybody, but he would need more time to think things through before coming up with a decision on what would be done with the company.
And that is how Hyukjae ends up gaping inside his cubicle, still somewhat thrilled by the rush he felt back in the meeting room. If he didn’t realize his position, he would have gone to Kangin and personally thanked him for giving him such a chance and trust that even his own supervisor won’t give.
But that man is SM Central’s manager, after all. It won’t be weird if he acts dismissively towards Hyukjae, even after what happened in the meeting room.
Hyukjae wasn’t ready to break the bubble of excitement he hadn’t felt for a long time.
TBC
PS: Again, sorry for the lame HRD and office thingy probing. I just dug it out of my own experience. ^^;