“Come in.”

The secretary pushed against the door and held it open for him, gesturing with a free hand for him to make his way in. His eyes focused on the silver bracelet that adorned her slender wrist as he dipped his head politely in thanks and stepped into the room. 

This is it, Lee Donghae, don’t blow this. You’re twenty-three and pretty much the only guy who hasn’t landed an office job in this damn office-run economy yet. It’s high time you made your own damn money and bought your own damn house and- seriously, what grown man still lives with his mom at the mature, independent, adult age of twenty-three? Get your own apartment and pay your own damn rent and fix those bills that you promised - you promised - mom you’d help pay off, what, six months ago? Think about your independence and think about the bills, the bills, the bills-

When he looked up, he barely had time to swallow his gasp before he found himself bowing instinctively - three times successively – with his sweaty hands pressed to his stomach, and then his mind was running wild.

Oh -

He recognised the three suited figures at a glance. The eldest who sat in the middle was Kim Heechul, CEO of Kim Corporations, to whom the business’ success could arguably be wholly credited. One of the finest strategists in his field, and ambitions as high as the profits he could rake in, he knew exactly what was worth pursuing and what wasn’t. Every business venture was all or nothing (but of course, nothing he’d pursued had ever amounted to nothing.) His hairstyle and fashion sense at formal events was also something of a legend amongst the business elitists, and compared to his great business sense, his choice in fashion was at times questionable. However, being a man of his own kind, he still donned his floral suits and pomade hairstyles with admirable confidence. At present, he wore a black fitting suit and his hair was styled in tidy, wavy locks.

The man with dark hair to his left, Kim Yesung, the most publicly known of the three siblings, and famous for a number of things, including his extensive connections that covered practically everyone there was to know in the big world of business, even people the CEO had yet to meet because he was a busy person. The second eldest was equally as capable, if not more, at securing contracts and deals than his notorious brother. Having graced every cover of every modern paper, magazine and news site of the day, he had had a free-spirited, almost child-like personality and a sense of wit that made for a character that was hard for the mass media to dislike. Whether it was the company or his own image, the man knew how to sell, and it was that outstanding marketing intellect which made him the most fitting of the three siblings to sit in the chair of the Chief Marketing Director. 

Opposite him sat Kim Ryeowook, the youngest, known to have graduated with the highest honours in his year, having studied on a full scholarship throughout all his years at the most prestigious university in the continent.  Thoroughly knowledgeable in all areas of commerce, in addition to being proficient in three foreign languages (French being widely known as his favourite) and even boasting musical talent, he was known for being the most book smart out of all the infamous Kim trio, overseeing the accounts of the business and resources in the business. Management was simple child’s play for him - rumour was his was brain was the human resource database, and that he memorised every face and skill of every employee that worked in the main headquarters – and his sweet voice and childish countenance was a contrast to the harsh judgement he handed down as the Managing Director of the business, ensuring that the company only employed the finest. Everything, in his book - both human and material resources - operated at an efficiency of at least 89%. 

And Donghae knew all of this because he’d done at least that much research, but he hadn’t thought that the three big directors would make time for him, he who had nothing but a lowly degree in marketing and finance and good work ethic, no prior working experience besides being a part time sales assistant in a sports shop, and really besides all that there was absolutely nothing particularly great to boost his CV.

Not that he hadn’t prepared for this interview – he’d done plenty of research on what kind of questions to expect and tackled them all thoroughly in his study – but he’d never felt so underprepared for anything in his whole life now that the three of the biggest business hotshots in the industry were going to judge his worth.

They initially wore welcoming smiles, which quickly morphed into confusion, and then apparent displeasure when they realised that the person they had welcomed into their private meeting room was not the person they had been expecting.

“Is this some kind of joke?” The eldest Kim’s tone was cutting and cold.

Donghae’s confusion mirrored theirs in an instant. “Sorry?”

“Told you he wouldn’t come…” Yesung mumbled. Ryeowook sighed through his nose and leaned back in his chair, looking down at the table.

“Where is he?” The CEO snapped.

Donghae felt himself warming up quickly, even with the air conditioner running quietly in the background. His gulp was too loud, his hands were clammy and cold and he was sweating from his pits.   

“Sorry, who…?”

“You know exactly who, you fool.” Kim CEO looked livid, his gaze strong enough to ignite and burn him where he stood if he could. “Where is Lee Dong Ha? Who are you? Who sent you?”

Donghae’s eyes darted between the three men - the other two now looking guarded - before deciding to focus on the ostensible leader in the centre. He cleared his throat as soundly as he could.

“My name is Lee Donghae. I got an email two days ago to come in for an interview this morning.” He introduced himself appropriately. Despite his nerves, he could still be articulate. He’d done his fair share of public speaking in the debating society in high school, which had helped a lot. “I’d applied for employment here about two weeks ago. I’m very thankful for the opportunity you’ve given for me to be here today.”

As he spoke, he noticed the youngest Kim’s eyes slowly hardening, then come alight with realisation as if a lightbulb had switched on behind his eyes. The chair scraped the floor loudly as he stood up suddenly.

“Lee Donghae, was it?”  

“Yes, that’s right.”  

The Managing Director said a few quiet words in explanation to the still annoyed CEO, words too swift and soft for Donghae to catch, before he pushed his chair in and was making his way towards the door, beckoning for Donghae to follow. The CEO’s expression was no less irritated as he slumped back in his seat, tapping his finger impatiently on the table.

“Come with me.”

Donghae barely had enough time to make a quick bow to the other two directors before following him out the room.

*

Brr brr. Brr brr. Brr brr. Brr brr. Brr-

He wasn’t picking up. The time at the top of his phone said 11:32 am.

“Eunhyuk.”

The incessant keyboard clicking noises stopped after a moment. “Mm?”

“Sekyu-hyung still hasn’t come in.”

The clacking noises proceeded. “He’s probably hungover in his bed. Or with some girl. Or both.” He finished typing and hit the Enter key hard, before wheeling himself over to the printer on the other side of his desk. “He doesn’t have anything important scheduled for this morning anyway.”

Jinwoo turned back to his desk, putting his phone away and moving his mouse around as his screen came back to life. “He’s not in a meeting, he hasn’t called in sick, but he’s not picking up. It’s almost noon.”

His younger brother was right. To Sekyu, parties were parties and work was work. Those two had no influence on each other whatsoever. He never missed a deadline, and was a responsible and a well-respected figure at the company for a good reason. But it was almost noon.

“Whatever it is, he can handle himself fine.”

He clipped the files together, saved the document on his computer before putting it to sleep. He got up and swung his jacket over his shoulder, grabbing his phone and wallet.

“I’m heading out.”

“For lunch? Already?”

He shot his younger brother a bright gummy smile. So it wasn’t a business meeting then.

“Who with?”

“Guess who finally landed a job interview.”

“… Just an interview?”

“Is that not a good enough reason to see an old friend and celebrate a little?”

His older brother chopped him lightly on the neck as he said “It really isn’t.” but then he added with a smile, “Tell him gratz for me though, hyung.”

 “Will do.”

*

Sunwoo took a deep breath in through his nose, then out, squeezing his eyes shut then opening them again. He wedged his pen into the groove between the two pages and shut the hardcover. The library was full of other students, studying for their final exams. He left his belongings on his desk and took the elevator down to the first floor, and then outside to circulate the park for fresh air.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he stopped to look at the message.

[Unknown sender]: time’s running out, kid

[Unknown sender]: what do you say? not a bad deal, right?

[Unknown sender]: you give me what i want and i can tell you what you want to know

He deleted these messages almost immediately and called the person at the top of his call log. The person on the other side of the line sounded like they’d just woken up from sleep.

“Unngh?”

Sunwoo laughed, slipped his free hand into his pocket and started taking slow steps forward again.

“Hyung,” he said, “Go home and sleep.”

“I want to. I miss my bed too.” came the reply. He could imagine Haeyoung rubbing his eyes as he yawned. “Once I’m done with this case I will.”

“Mm. Make sure you do. What case is it this time?”

“Stolen inheritance. That’s all I can tell you.” 

Sunwoo hummed in reply.

“Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah," Sunwoo replied casually, looking up at the sky. It was late afternoon, and slowly becoming darker. "Everything’s okay.”

"Hmm," Haeyoung made a noise of approval. “In that case, what are you up to these days?”

“Just studying for finals.” He crunched on the leaves in his path.

“Oh right, right.” There was the static sound of rustling paper from the other side. “Sorry, I haven’t been home much to look after you.”

“No, it’s okay, you do whatever you have to do. I can look after myself.” Sunwoo reassured. “I cook better than you anyway.

There was a snort from the other side of the line.

“Fair.”

Sunwoo swallowed.

“Have you seen Jeongsu-hyung recently, by the way?”

“Mmmmmmmm,” Haeyoung dragged on, seeming distracted. “No, I haven’t. Not for three whole weeks, now you mention it. I think he came back from Japan and then he went out again on another business trip. I can’t remember exactly where to though. That was two or three days ago.” There was a pause as Sunwoo took this in. “Why? Is there something important you need to talk to him about?”

“No. Nothing.” Sunwoo replied. “Just. You know. I miss his face and his voice sometimes.”

Haeyoung chuckled. “Yeah, me too.”

“And Dad.”

The line went silent for a few extended moments.

“Yeah.” The reply came from Haeyoung eventually. “Me too.”

*

a/n:

(missxielan)

writing the three kims was so much pain i cant even like i am not good with backstories (i am really lazy about backstories and i cannot be concise about them so there you go three big HUNK PARAGRAPHS lmao)

so yeah what goes down between wookie and hae is up to my good chingu mj now :3 i wouldve kept writing to the end of wookie-hae interview bUT WORD COUNT /yells/ i tried to make hae a little less ditzier than he came off with his eventful morning and a little more intelligent and YES YES YES I FOUND A WAY FOR EUNHAE TO BE POSSIBLE NOW MUAHAHAHAH (not an evil laugh, just triumphant)

also i kicked off the park organisations drama so yep  I M EXCITED for whats to come next xD