Jaehyun stretched and groaned. How was it only Tuesday? It felt like weeks since he had arrived in Seoul, yet it was only his second day at work. More coffee runs, laundry pickups and proof-readings. Great.

To Jaehyun’s surprise, his second day wasn’t as terrible as the first. He was introduced to the other two trainees that morning as the entire department gathered in the conference room.

‘Hi, I’m Doyoung,’ a rather distinct-looking boy introduced himself, clasping Jaehyun’s hand for a gruff handshake. The man couldn’t have been much older than Jaehyun himself and much like all the other trainees he had known, Doyoung seemed to come from a wealthy background – watches, leather Oxfords and tortoiseshell specs.

‘I’m Chittaphon Leechaiyakul,’ the other said, and Jaehyun found himself instinctively repeating the few syllables he could remember. Chitta-something. Lee-ah-por-. Dammit, what was it again? The man seemed to find it amusing and added, ‘Just call me Ten.’ Jaehyun returned a meek smile. At least this colleague of his felt more humanly.

The tasks Jaehyun were given today were less tedious than the last. At least it involved a bit of lawyering, bits and pieces he had acquired from law school put to good use. It was as if he had proved himself worthy the day before that they could finally trust him enough to hand him case files and draft correspondences. The sad jobs were left to Ten who was obviously struggling with the coffee order. Doyoung, on the other hand, was probably the son of the branch manager or something, Jaehyun thought, because his cubicle was evidently larger than the other two. It was also fully-equipped, phone lines and functional computers (a gleaming Mac too, instead of a run-down old Microsoft like the one Jaehyun had). Another one of those kids.

By the end of the day, Jaehyun had developed a soft spot for Ten. Despite the other being years older, Jaehyun couldn’t help but sympathise because he, too, had borne the brunt of everyone’s unwanted attention, he had once been the errand boy too.

Jaehyun and Ten had bonded over coffee that afternoon, or rather, coffee-distributing.

‘Sir, here’s your grande, iced latte with soy milk,’ Ten recited, putting down a cup on their supervisor’s desk.

‘Donald, the decaf, latte with extra shot, low-fat milk you ordered.’

It was as if this were the first challenge they were given to test their memory, Jaehyun mused.

Jaehyun had politely declined when Ten went around earlier to ask for coffee orders. One less order, one less chore for the poor guy, Jaehyun thought. He would run down to pick up his own cup later.

‘Hey, Jaehyun, not sure what you wanted so I got you an Americano,’ Ten was finished with his coffee duties. He thumped the cup a bit too forcefully on Jaehyun’s desk, liquid sloshing over the brim, leaving puddles of sad beverage on Jaehyun’s case files.

‘!’ Ten cursed, fetching towels from the pantry in a hurry.

‘Hey no, no, thanks for the coffee. And don’t fret, I was just about to shred these files anyway. Gordon said he didn’t need them anymore.’

‘Phew,’ Ten sighed, his tensed shoulders relaxing and leaned on Jaehyun’s desk panting.

‘How’s your first day been?’ Jaehyun enquired, taking a sip from the cup.

‘What do you think?’ Ten rolled his eyes. So the boy did have some sass hidden under that mask of obedience.

Jaehyun learned that Ten was also an expat and that he had arrived in Korea just a day ago from Thailand. A fresh graduate like himself but two years older, Ten had rented a cheap place in Myeongdong that he shared with a college kid. We should hang out sometime, Ten suggested, and for once, Jaehyun felt like he had met someone from the firm he could actually befriend.

It was 7:30pm and the lights were beginning to flicker shut, yet Jaehyun was still loaded with files to be