“I already got my 13th month pay,” Seungwan says non-chalantly as she presses ‘Americano’ on the coffee machine and fills the company name-inscribed tumbler she got on her first day with it to get her through the rest of her shift or at least through the rest of the incoming interrogation by the HR specialist.

“This is too concise,” Rosé counters, holding up a hard copy of the resignation letter Seungwan CCed to her department, which practically states nothing but what Seungwan just said.

“I’ll send another one, peppered with BS this time,” Seungwan grabs her now filled tumbler and heads to the corner most table in the break room, with Rosé following her.

“I don’t know what you wrote to your first three employers, but YG isn’t gonna let you out with this… non-bull.  You’re one of our top agents.”

“It’s not a breach of contract to quit after the contract ends, Rosie.”

“Your pay here’s almost twice as high as what CUBE, JYP, and RBW offered.”

“I know.”

“And you usually have the weekends off.”    

“Yes.”

“And the night diff pay is insane.”

“True.”

“The higher-ups aren’t so bad.”

“Debatable.”

“Okay, I’ll take that.  How about the friends you’ve made here?”

“What is this, high school?”

“No.  This is reality.  I know this isn’t what we had in mind when were kids, but no matter how unglamorous this industry is, we can actually build a career here.  A stable one. A good enough one.”

“Fine,” Seungwan lets out an irritated sigh.  “I’ll think about it.”

Joohyun’s 15-minute break is cut shorter.  She should be enjoying a free cup of hot chocolate from the drink vending machine at the pantry.  Instead, she finds herself in one of SM’s mini conference rooms, seated across her TL, fiddling with the drawstring of her company-issued hoodie.

Taeyeon hands her a detailed list of her would-be job duties.

“Pay is more than twice as high as your current salary, but of course it’s more hours, more responsibilities.”

“Don’t you have anyone else in mind?”

Taeyeon chuckles.  “You do know that they know that the company just posted the announcement on the board for show, right?”

In all honesty, Joohyun does. Her topping the monthly performance assessment 22 times in a row says it all.  But maybe, getting things the proper way is a kink.  “Don’t get me wrong. I really appreciate this offer, but I think my colleagues deserve a fair chance.”

“I think your colleagues would rather not waste their time,” her TL smiles.  “Come on, Joohyun. This promotion is long overdue.  I know it.  You know it.  Everyone knows it.”

“Can I… think about it?”