Song: Candy by BAEKHYUN

(March)

“Holy , I’m late!” she ran on the pedestrian on a green light, enraging the drivers of the vehicles about to speed up.

People stared at her; this careless-looking woman who was sweating as she had a hard time finding a parking spot for her car. She didn’t expect that Hongdae will be full and bustling that afternoon.

She used to have a chauffeur, but with her family’s state, they couldn’t afford one for her anymore.

Hell, she’s been jumping from one career to another the past few years, treating those low-paying jobs her hobby, a way to burn time.

But now, she needed to up her game and get an actual job.

And she feels nervous as hell.

Her aunt, who was successful due to her own efforts, said it was a temporary role and if not for this connection she wouldn’t be given this rarest opportunity.

“I’m..whew I’m here for the interview.”

The receptionist looked at her from head to toe. “Interview for what, miss?”

“Oh sorry. The temporary assistant role for the CEO?” she kept wiping the sweat on her forehead. It was a spring day, and yet it was sweltering hot because of all the running.

“Go to the 8th floor. He’s already expecting you at conference room A.”

She kept tapping her foot while observing her surroundings. It was advanced, clean and minimalist with pops of color here and there, as expected from the topmost tech company in Asia, and slowly the world.

It looked so high tech she was starting to feel intimidated.

“You’re late,” this handsome man approached her outside the conference room. “I’m Mr. Jeong.”

“I didn’t…expect you to be so young…” she said without hesitations.

He was wearing casual clothing but he looked like a Prada model or something.

“You’re twenty minutes late and my boss has a 2:30. So that only gives you ten minutes to change his mind about you.”

“Change his mind? Uhhh…what?” she was confused as the man opened the door.

He looked at his watch. “Nine minutes left.”

“Wait. Wait!” she ran towards the door and stopped when she saw her hiring manager sitting down, reviewing her biography.

He nodded towards the chair in front of him. “So this is only a temporary role as I will be sending my current assistant, Mr. Jeong, to the U.S. to undergo upper management training. Are you okay with that?”

“Definitely, young sir…” she called him the way she was advised by her aunt. Young sir.

From their distance she noticed his poreless skin and perfect features. No wonder he is called a modern-day prince. No wonder a Korean princess fell for him. And how lucky is she to have this kind of opportunity? It felt like she was at her prime.

“Why?” he asked.

“Oh you’re asking me why?”

“Isn’t that what I just said? I want to know why you applied for this job,” he never looked up to her still.

What a snob, she thought. “Simply the opportunity to work for this place is more than enough.”

“Aren’t you yearning for something more? I mean you’re in your 30s, right?”

“32, young sir.”

“Okay. But your work experience is all entry level, and you didn’t last for more than 6 months at a job. Is that the reason why this role piqued your interest? Since this is just for 3 months?”

“To be honest, young sir, I was referred to you by a relative,” of course she did not want to say her past jobs meant nothing to her, and she would jump from one to another without thinking twice. That is how she is anyways; impatient, has a short attention span, and easily gets swayed preferring one thing over another in a snap of a finger.

“Ah yeah, my wife’s OB-GYN. But you wouldn’t attend this interview without even considering where you’ll be in three months, right?”

She hesitated to answer. Admittedly, her mindset was only acing that interview, not thinking of anything else.

He heard a knocking on the door, with the gorgeous Mr. Jeong peeking in. “Your 2:30 is here.”

“Sure,” he finally looked at her.

“That’s it?” she asked