Joohyun had expected the team meeting to be boring. It was, at the beginning. Until Kangta, La Rouge’s CEO, calls upon Wendy to introduce herself to everyone. The blonde stands from her seat and bows.

“Hi, I’m Son Wendy and Irene’s new manager. Nice to meet you and I look forward to working with you all.”

Just as the manager is about to sit back down, someone pipes up from near the back of the room, “Weren’t you at the cafeteria just now? With the lunchboxes?”

Joohyun’s eyes land on a man near the back.  It’s one of the head managers of La Rouge’s youngest boy group. Ah, the deplorable Manager Oh. She’s heard horror stories but has never really seen them play out before.

“Yes?” Seungwan replies, the lilt in the word encouraging him to continue.

“I know you’re a woman and all, but did you really have to cook? Why ignore all the good restaurants out there?”

“Do you have an issue with that?” Seungwan replies coolly. Joohyun senses the icy edge to her voice and she shivers.

“Of course. We only feed the best to our artists after all,” Manager Oh smirks, as though he’s succeeded in drawing the younger manager into a trap, “Can you say your home-cooking is the best?”

“If that’s your only problem with my management, I have no need to address it,” Seungwan returns calmly, “If there’s nothing else, we should move along with the meeting.”

“Well, I can’t blame you, a woman, for having such strong housewife instincts,” Manager Oh leans back, his arms folded as he remarks loudly.

In a split second, Joohyun feels the air in the meeting room thicken with tension. She glances down and notices Wendy’s fists clenching by her sides. So she can be riled up too huh, the soloist notes with interest.

Seungwan takes a deep breath and exhales softly. She fixes the man with a stony stare, “I suggest you stop, Manager Oh. Because I’m not the only one you’re antagonising right now.”

The older manager seems taken aback by the fact that Seungwan knows his name. He glances around the room and realises the many glares directed at him.

“Oh, don’t be so serious, Manager Son!” He tries to laugh it off, “I’m only asking why you’re not following our management style.”

“That’s not the only thing you said,” Seungwan replies coldly.

“Yeah, I said there’s no room for your womanly sensibilities in your job as a manager here at LR,” Manager Oh sneers back, “Or do you think you know better, newbie?”

Joohyun feels an indescribable rage at the insult he’d just directed at Wendy. She looks around, realising no one is helping the blonde, their stares silently trained on the verbal altercation between Wendy and the senior member. tightens at the way Kangta, their CEO, only watches. And waits.

“Is looking after my artist’s health by preparing balanced meals a woman’s sensibility to you, Manager Oh?”

“Before I forget, you took Irene to the cafeteria where only the staff and trainees eat. Where’s your shame?” he fires back, blatantly ignoring the damning question Seungwan just posted to him.

He turns to look at Joohyun, “Our Irene only deserves the best.”

The soloist feels an uneasy shudder go down her spine when his eyes land on her. Suddenly, she finds herself shielded from his leering gaze when Wendy shifts into his line of sight, placing herself directly in between him and Joohyun.

“Irene is also an employee here, which makes her La Rouge staff,” Seungwan rebuffs him, “And before you forget, all our artists here are also human, just as all our staff and trainees are.”

Joohyun would be lying if she says she isn’t mildly amused by the sight of the small blonde manager staring down a senior staff member for his rude comments. She should’ve known by now that the newest addition to SM’s staff would’ve brought fire with her. Still, she can’t help but worry that the argument is rapidly getting out of hand.

“Tch, it seems you’re not getting my memo, Manager Son,” the man clicks his tongue, as though he’s chastising a child, “All I’m saying is that if you wanna cook so much, go be a housewife who cooks and cleans while waiting for her hubby to come home.”

That’s it. That’s just going way too far! Just as Joohyun is about to push Wendy aside and confront the rude staff member herself, she feels a hand lend on her shoulder. She turns to look at the culprit, only to realise it’s her former manager. Seohyun shakes her head and mouths to her, “Give her the space to prove herself.”

“While I find your comments rather unprofessional, let’s break them down, Manager Oh,” Seungwan begins, “One. You started by making several discriminatory statements in relation to my gender in a professional setting. You also made a pass at a female artist. I could report you to HR for that. Two, on the basis of your misogyny, you attacked my management style, which, by the way, has not violated any rule in my contract with LR. Three. You wave your seniority in my face like it’s a badge of honour when it’s clear to me, and to everyone else here, that you don’t know anything beyond the minimal requirements of your job.”

Without missing a beat, Seungwan turns to Kangta, her eyebrow raised, “Surely La Rouge holds its managerial duties in high regard, to the welfare of its artists? Is there room for an individual like Manager Oh in the management team?”

Joohyun whips her head up to look at the CEO, worried that Wendy had really done it this time. To her surprise, however, Kangta’s face hosts an impressed smile.

“No, there isn’t room.”

Like everyone else in the room, Joohyun excitedly turns to observe Manager Oh’s expression. It’s contorted from shock at the unexpected verdict from the CEO. It’s not long before the man begins grovelling in front of Kangta, “W-Wait, no, hold on, Mr. Ahn, I was just trying to say that there are no problems with the current LR management—”

“The fact that you slipped through the system into the management team is only evidence that the La Rouge management needs improvement,” Seungwan interrupts him.

“This —!” Manager Oh snarls and jabs his finger in Seungwan’s direction, calling out angrily to the CEO, “You’ll let a woman talk that way about LR?!”

“You can go ahead and sign that report to HR, Manager Son,” Kangta ignores the furious man’s display of temper, “I’ll even verify it myself.”

Realising that even the CEO isn’t going back on his decision, Manager Oh stops his desperate attempt to defend himself to scan the room for someone, anyone, to help him. But he’s only met with looks of cold disdain. Joohyun makes sure to throw one exceptionally disgusted look his way. His eyes land on the boy group he manages. Not one member looks keen to rescue him from the grave he dug for himself.

“You’re fired, Manager Oh,” Kangta leans back into his chair, “The exit’s that way.”

After the dust settles and clusters of choruses going “good riddance” around the room, everyone seems to have recovered from the unexpected result of the in-meeting disagreement between Wendy and Manager Oh, Kangta begins explaining the direction the company would be taking for the next two years. It’s no surprise that his plan detailed a radical upheaval to La Rouge’s management system, beginning with Wendy’s addition to the team. And by pairing the new manager with Joohyun, he hopes that a senior artist like herself would get to taste the changes first.