Job Interview

TaeTeuk

SeungHo97

My warm fingertips lingered on the stainless steel handle as a deep breath escaped my lips. This is what you've been waiting for, LeeTeuk. You've waited months for this, and now you're finally here. Don't mess it up. I curled the door handle between my fingers and pulled the door back, feeling the cool air conditioning even before I've stepped inside the grand building - Kim Cooperation. Classy of her to build the whole place with glass. How her husband was spoiling her, or perhaps it was her that was spoiling her spouse? The front lobby was spacious, and  insanely tidy. I stared in awe at the enormous room.
"How may I help you?" A small voice called out from across the room, signaling for my attention. I notice a dainty blonde sitting at the front desk, watching me with caution. Making my way towards her, my heart beat begins to accelerate. This is it. "Hello, have you made an appointment for today?" The girl asks as I stop in front of her.

"U-uh, yeah." You're already stuttering and you haven't even started the interview yet, calm yourself. My watch read 6:40 pm, twenty minutes before my interview actually started. The assistant began flipping through a fairly large schedule book on her desk. Post-it's were popping out and I could tell that she was fully booked. "Perhaps Mrs. Kim hadn't penciled me in." The girl rolled her eyes at me before pressing two pages down with her right hand.

"For your information, Miss Kim does not 'pencil in' schedules. I do, and I have you right here. Mr. Park at 7:00?" Her attitude slightly relived my tensed body. Jessica, I find out to be her name, was around my age and had been working here for a few years. She stood up and smoothed out her gray pencil dress before walking around the desk. "She's in a meeting at the moment, but you can just wait outside her office." We walk in silence towards the elevators. Inside, I notice her eyes are on me. The corners of pull up, "Don't worry." Jessica soothes my worries as the elevator begins to rise, "Miss Kim is one of the kindest person I've met, you have nothing to be afraid of." How many times has she said this to worrying people in this exact elevator? We were all just heading to our inevitable doom.

"Is there anything I shouldn't mention to Mrs- I mean, Miss Kim?" I notice Jessica squirm slightly as the elevator came to a stop. 

"No, not that I know of. Except..." The petite girl stepped out of the elevator, motioning me to follow her to the end of the hall, "I've worked for Miss Kim for years now, and if there's one thing I know, she doesn't value money as much as she does for her job." The words enter my mind and I slightly nod. Jessica suddenly stops in front of a large wooden door. She gently puts her hand on my shoulder and pats it for reassurance, "Miss Kim should be finished her meeting in a while, so stay put and goo-" Before she could finish her sentence, the door opens and a gust of light perfume flows through the hallway. "Miss Kim!" A weight is lifted from my shoulder and Jessica folds her hands in front of her. It took a while for my eyes to adjust in the brightly lit room.

"Thank you for bringing Mr. Park up, Jessica." I notice her cool voice slip into the air, "My meeting ended early and they are heading down the elevator now. Be sure to say good-bye to them before they leave." Jessica mutters a 'yes' and scampers back to where she came from. I'll be sure to thank her when the interview finishes. Interview. I gulp loudly. "Coming in, Mr. Park?" The voice is already far into the room, and my feet hurriedly enters the room, shutting the door behind me. For the second time today, my mind is filled with astonishment. The outer walls of the room were replaced with glass, giving a perfect street view of Seoul. My hand rubs the back of my neck. "Feel free to take a seat while I get ready." A sense of impatience bleeds through her words. Turning back to her desk, I notice Miss Kim for the first time. Her honey gold hair is in a high pony tail, yet it is still long enough to flow down her back. I pulled the chair at the front of her desk towards me and took a seat.

"Thank you for seeing me today, Miss Kim." The woman turns, a white folder in one hand, and a clear cup in another. The smell of green tea brings me to full attention. I notice Miss Kim was young. Really young. I'm sure she was younger than me, and she was running her own business?

"Oh, Mr. Park. It is most definitely my pleasure. Besides," A smirk instantly appears on her flawless face, disappearing just as quick, "I'm sure Jessica was quite glad to be able to bring you up here." Her pitch black eyes glare down right at mine. I had no idea what she meant. Looking down from her intimidating stare, I pull my messenger bag across my lap, trying to muster up any of my dignity that was left. "You can leave that on the floor." A scowl slips by her face as she takes a seat, and I take no second to question her order. When the bag hits the floor, I sit straight and try my best to look anywhere but her eyes. "Loosen up, Mr. Park. I don't bite." She chuckles as she takes a sip of her tea and opens the folder containing all my information. "Shall we begin?"

"Yes, Miss Kim." I notice her eyes flash to mine for a brief second before looking down at the page again. Her perfectly manicured fingers clasp her cup tightly as she reads through my information.

Our interview lasts for thirty minutes. Like any other typical job interview, she asks why I'm interested in this job, and how I could be an asset to her company. She states that I would be the only male working at her building, grinning to herself as if it were a private joke. It surprised me though. Someone as powerful and confident as her, yet she had no male workers. I stayed clear of asking anything involving money, except for the salary range. Miss Kim seemed happily inclined to answer the question, as it didn't involve her dealing with her earnings. Near the end of our interview, she pauses and crosses her legs. "So, Mr. Park," She says after a minute, "Tell me something about yourself." Miss Kim pushes the folder away so she could place her cup down. "How old are you? Where you from?" Didn't it already say on the sheet?

"Well," I take a gulp again before responding, "I'm 30. turning 31 in July. I was born here in Seoul, but I lived in California since I was 5." Her eyebrow rose slightly as if she was surprised.

"A long way from home, aren't you?" This was turning out to be completely different from what I imagined.

"Yes. My father wanted me to go into the medical field but I never really was interested. So I moved back couple years ago and got a place for myself." 
"And now you're here, looking for a job." She said smugly. "If it is any consolation, I'm quite postive you will land the job." Miss Kim winks at me subtly before taking a last sip from her cup.

"Yeah, fortunately I was able to get an appointment." I grinned carefully, not being read the atmosphere. Miss Kim laughs it off and continues firing questions at me. "This is one of the strangest interviews I've been to." Not realizing what I said, I warily glance back at the woman across from me.

"Why so, Mr. Park?" Her fists grip tightly together. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" She leans forward and bores her eyes into mine.

"No, no! Of course not. Just not the typical formal appointment, that's all." I glance down at my watch, it read 7:50 pm.

"I apologize," the side of her lip slightly arches up, giving a killer smile that is hard to resist. "Something about you..." Her words cut short as she bites her lip.

"Wow, I should get going." The interview only lasted thirty minutes and I had spent the rest of the time explaining my life story to a woman I had barely just met.

"Already?" A hint of caution blends in her voice as she stands with me. She glances at the clock above the door, "You're right. Send your apologies to your girlfriend for keeping you here so late." Miss Kim beams at me, as she makes her way towards the door, me trailing along behind her.

"No worries. I had lost track of time as well." She pulls the door open for me. "And there is no girlfriend, so it's not a big deal." Why did I have to include that last part?

"Oh?" She smiles slightly before walking out with me towards the elevator. "I hope you don't mind me going down to the lobby with you, I have to talk to Jessica." Her words were quick, and smooth. I envied her confidence. We stepped into the elevator quietly. Instinctively, my finger reached to click the button for ground level. At the same time, Miss Kim had planned to do the same thing, having out fingers brush each other momentarily. My hand jolted back as a bolt of electricity ran up my arm. "My apologies." Simply nodding, I brought my hand to my pocket. The ride down was silent, we shared a few glances and smiles, but no words. Something was weird though. Maybe it was the close proximity we were forced into, or just the face of a job most likely being placed into my hands, but a weird force was pulling me towards the woman beside me. Miss Kim's breath suddenly hitched and her eyes met mine again. I could see a fire burn in her eyes. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, the elevator stopped and the doors pulled open.

 Jessica greets us at the door of the elevator, a surprised look flashes by her face. I tear my attention away from Miss Kim and walk out the elevator. "Miss Kim! What a pleasant surprise to see you downstairs." 

Not even flinching, she responds back. "Just biding Mr. Park good-bye. You can go back to your desk." Jessica looks tongue tied but she turns around and heads towards her table. I didn't dare mention what had happened in the elevator, not even knowing if she had felt the same thing. Miss Kim follows me all the way to the front door before releasing her hand from my back. "Mr. Park, if you don't mind," I take another deep breath, just as I did when I entered the building. "I am fairly interested in you. Whatever it is, I can't seem to read you." Wait, what? "You said you had no where to be, so if it is alright, would you be inclined to grab dinner with me?" The burnt coal of her eyes now burned with passion and curiosity.

"Dinner?" My jaw dropped and my mouth popped open. The Miss Kim wanted to 'grab dinner' with me? Had she felt it too?

"Yes. Dinner." She anxiously waited for my answer. I had to go home though, since I had other plans made. "If it is no trouble, that is." She tilted her head, making her seems irresistible again. A dimple appeared at the side of her cheek and she looked slightly amused. Miss Kim fixed her gaze upon mine. Might as well had withered on the floor just then.

"Miss Kim-" My head was spinning. What did she want to know about me? Was there even anything to know about me that was worth while?

"It's TaeYeon." She fired back at me, suddenly looking uncomfortable for the first time.

"TaeYeon..." I felt awkward calling her by her first name. She could be my future boss. "As lovely as dinner sounds, I do need to be somewhere." Her smile dropped but a dark expression replaced it.

"Perhaps another day, then." TaeYeon held the door open for me, "Until next time, Mr. Park." She had composed back into her professional persona and waited for me to leave the building.

"Until next time." I repeated her words and stepped out of Kim Cooperation building, heading back to my car parked in the football field of a parking lot. It took a few tries before my car roared to life. Taking one last glance at the glass building, TaeYeon was still standing at the front lobby. It wasn't so dark out, so I could still make out her expressionless face, as if she was waiting for something. moved quickly, thought I was unable to make out the words. She turned and walked back to the elevators, disappearing from my sight. My phone then beeped in the silent car, making me jump a little. It was an email.

An email specifically from Kim Cooperation:

"To: Park JungSu

​From: Kim Cooperation

Subject:  Le Comptoir - Dinner

Miss Kim would like to invite you to Le Comptoir on Saturday, June 7th at 7:30 pm sharp.

More details will be delivered upon further notice.

If you are unavailable on this date, Miss Kim would like to reschedule to whenever you are able to come.

(P.S. If you say no, chances are Miss Kim won't reschedule. So you better say yes! - Jessica)

Kim Cooperation"

Happy new years! I hope you've enjoyed your couple days of 2014. 
Planning to make a sequel to this a.s.a.p, so look forward to it.

(Apologies for our insane hiatus, as always.)