​CHAPTER 2

Smiles and salutations in the hallways.

Coffee and elevator claustrophobia.

One sided conversations with the ever so chatty Himchan.

This was a typical morning mornings at PMO Corp but Mondays were quieter, this didn’t suit Yongguk. A new intern began in his section today, and he was going to be in-charge. Swinging open the door of IT services, the pair frowned a little. The coffee in his hand was still warm, as he set it down on his colleague’s table.

“Zelo, no more all-nighters for the this month, I can’t pay you any more for overtime”. Himchan called as he followed Yongguk in pursuit.

“Don’t worry, I got called in by upper management.” The tall blonde replied, lanky limbs stretching at angles before he collected his belongings. “I’ve clocked in my hours, thanks for the coffee though, tell the intern I said hello.”

A sudden shout followed cursing from the corner of the room. It was an understatement to say Yongguk was scared, he would never get used to Youngjae gaming. The ever sociable Daehyun strutted into work, his kittenish smile making Yongguk feel more at ease for the somewhat quiet morning, Daehyun’s loud spells would come through later. Jongup rushed in through the door in loungewear and a toothbrush in his mouth, no one was going to ask any questions about it.

Unbeknownst to the men inside, a figure breathed deeply before beginning a new page in her life today. A knock came at the door before the figure entered the room. The sudden increase of oestrogen caught everyone’s attention as the figure cleared . “Pleasure to meet you all, I’m Keithia. I hope to learn a lot form here and I hope we can work together well.”

“Hi, I’m Jongup. I’m the tester.” Keithia could tell, he had no life, no offence intended. Testing was hard. But testers persevered, the girl held respect for such men, even if they walked around the workplace with toothpaste stains down their chin and pyjamas.

“Daehyun at your service, I work with Google Go and make sure we don’t fail.” The man smiled a kittenish smile, Keithia knew people and she knew a flirt when she saw one. “That’s Youngjae, he’s in back-end dev.” The flirt pointed to a man shouting at his computer screen, the lady made a note not to mess with that person.

“Our network guy said hi. You’ll meet him tomorrow.” Jongup smiled. She thought he looked reliable and smiled in return.

A tall figure with greased hair stood up and held out his hand. “Yongguk. You’ll be working with me on front-end dev as part of your application.” The pure base of his voice was entrancing, as was the tight smile on his face. A calloused palm and a firm rip with his handshake, this person seemed dependable.

A person with sharp features and a straight face walked to his seat. “I’ll let you off on your first day but that perfume has got to go. I won’t take anything less than Jo Malone in this office.”

“Can we get started please?” she voiced to Yongguk.

“Don’t ignore your boss.” The sharp faced man spoke from his seat.

“Feeling sorry because I can’t afford some expensive perfume won’t feed me, boss. Time is money.”

Yongguk knew she would survive Himchan’s bratty behaviour, unlike most interns they had in the past. “Pull up a chair and we’ll get started,” he smiled