Youngjae's uncle had asked Go Hwan Jin to employ his nephew so he would be able to officially promote Hei-Ryung and her writing, and yet it seemed that, thus far, he had done nothing but make copies and buy coffee. The latter of these two highly unglamorous tasks was what Youngjae was, for the moment, accomplishing. Though not without a fair deal of complaining.

     "If any members of the board took me seriously up until this point, they've probably all respect now. I'm not even the nephew of the CEO come to learn the ropes anymore- I'm practically just another intern." As he muttered to himself, he shot a particularly nasty look at, coincidentally enough, a passing intern. Startled, the intern hurried past and left Youngjae on his own again. "Buying coffee, running copies, comparing lip stick colors." This was a particularly sore spot for Youngjae, because although two of these mentioned tasks could be considered part of the job, he highly doubted that giving female employees fashion advice was mentioned anywhere in the description. He couldn't complain, though. Hwan Jin was looking for every excuse he could find to fire Youngjae and get what he perceived as "The Nuisance" out of his department, and Ji Suk had insisted that Youngjae bear with it no matter what. Himchan was the only one willing to listen to his problems, but the company's senior editor didn't hold the power necessary to fix anything. Not that Himchan hadn't tried politely discussing things with Hwan Jin in an attempt to reach a reasonable resolution.

     Naturally, that had not gone over well. In fact, the only thing that came of it was Youngjae's realization that Hwan Jin was a man of honesty and, perhaps, didn't even understand the meaning of the world "hyperbole". The moment he had seen Himchan on the Marketing floor, he had grabbed the nearest stapler and proceeded to take aim at Himchan's head. That had been the end of any attempts to directly interfere on Youngjae's behalf, though Himchan was always willing to listen and offer advice to the distraught new employee.

     "There's only so many times I can hear about the best ways to carry coffee before I go crazy, though. And you would think that they would make better use of the CEO's son." Carefully using his foot to push open the door, Youngjae was about to head into the main office when Hwan Jin suddenly appeared in front of him, a looming mass of disapproving supervisor.

     "You should be grateful you have a job at all." Youngjae winced at the chill in Hwan Jin's voice as the elder held the door open for him. "There are a lot of people who would kill for the opportunity to be where you are, and yet here you are ready to throw it all away. What did you expect when you showed up at the company? That you would be handed a free pass to whichever position you wanted? That you wouldn't have to work for anything?" Youngjae could feel the heat rising, but he kept his mouth shut. The last thing he needed was to blow up at Hwan Jin. "If you're going to quit, then just do it already. I'm sure your uncle will find another job for you somewhere."

     "I'm not going to quit, sir." Youngjae stormed past Hwan Jin, and the moment he rounded the corner he heard the door close. Expelling the breath he had been holding, Youngjae leaned against the wall and tried not to panic. His phrasing had been very polite, but the way he had spoken to Hwan Jin... and then to just walk right past him like that! Groaning, Youngjae rubbed his temples with his free hand and silently prayed that he wouldn't find a pink slip on his desk- which was more of a folding card table with a name placard made of paper, at the moment- or, perhaps worse, wouldn't be assailed by flying staplers.

     Hwan Jin had been telling the truth when he said that Ji Suk would always be able to find his nephew another job- the man owned the company after all- but he wouldn't be able to hide the fact that Youngjae had so quickly been fired by his employer. The board members would definitely look down on this, and it would be even worse if rumors started up about Hwan Jin's opinion of Youngjae. "Park Bi Dul has probably never gotten a poor evaluation. I'm sure he burns them or something," Youngjae thought, gathering himself together before he continued into the main office.

     Unlike the editorial department, where everyone skulked into their own offices and left the doors shut most of the time, the marketing department was laid out so that all the employees spent the majority of their time in the same space. A small cluster of cubicles belonging to the most sedentary employees sat in the middle of the room and acted as the department hub. Forming a sort of wall around the cubicle dwellers were long, wooden tables that could potentially be folded and transported to other areas of the room but were so awkward to move that the practicality of their portable nature was nonexistent; for the most part, the tables remained where they sat as permanent landmarks in the office's environment.

     Any other space in the office was filled with filing cabinets, white boards, and those employees who spent the majority of the time milling about looking busy; Youngjae had never been told what their purpose in the room was, but he assumed it was something important because of the way they bustled about and knocked aside anyone or anything that got in their way. Currently, that included an unfortunate box of papers that had been already been shoved aside by an impatient high-heel clad foot, and Youngjae. Stumbling desperately out of the way, he only barely managed to avoid being a victim of one of the marketing departments all too common accidents. Though she didn't even make an attempt at apologizing- nobody apologized for normal day-to-day activities, even if that included barreling people over- the woman who brushed past Youngjae did manage to acknowledge his impressive ability to avoid imminent doom with a curt nod and grunt. Considering the environment he had been placed into, Youngjae supposed that would have to work.

     "You can put the coffee on that table over there. Everyone will pick it up on their own time," the voice appeared out of nowhere, startling Youngjae. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you'd seen me!" A hand shot out to snatch away the coffee from Youngjae, thus preventing it from spilling, and another grabbed his arm to steady him. "I guess you haven't gotten used to this place yet," the man who had caught Youngjae chuckled as he rested the coffee on the aforementioned table. Immediately a swarm of employees descended upon the steaming beverages. Still holding Youngjae's arm, the man hurried him out of the swarm's way.

     Raising his eyebrows, Youngjae watched the marketing staff completely ignore the rest of the employees as they fought for a drink. The only time they'd acknowledge the person they were elbowing in the side was when said person attempted to claim the coffee they had their eyes on and they needed to defend it. "What is wrong with these people?" He mumbled incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief. The stark contrast between the marketing and editorial departments was incredible.

     "You'll get used to it eventually." Youngjae had almost forgotten that he wasn't alone. Sheepishly, he turned to face his fellow employee, but before he could apologize the man cut him off. "Kim Dong Min," he introduced, extending a hand to Youngjae. Hesitantly, Youngjae shook it. "I'm working on organizing a book signing event right now. If you aren't busy making copies, would you mind helping me out a bit?" Hooking a thumb over his shoulder, Dong Min nodded toward one of the cubicles that was, for a rare moment, empty. Apparently, it belonged to Dong Min.

     Glancing around to make sure Hwan Jin wouldn't materialize out of nowhere and dump a mountain of paperwork on him, Youngjae contemplated the offer. It most likely wasn't related to Hei-Ryung, considering how disastrous her previous event had been, but it couldn't hurt to learn how these things were planned. "I'd be happy to assist you in any way possible!"

     That had been a mistake. Rather than "assisting", Youngjae had been sat down at the cubicle, handed a list of phone numbers that went on for pages- the label at the top declared it was a list of all the book stores in Seoul- and told to start calling from the top. Then, Dong Min had vanished. Scoffing, Youngjae placed a small x beside yet another number. He was only two-thirds of the way through the first page and already bored out of his mind, not to mention annoyed by how flippantly the majority of the stores behaved. Some hadn't even bothered listening, simply hanging up the moment they heard the name of the company calling.

     "Is it because of Hei-Ryung?" He thought, starting to dial the next number on the page. The disastrous signing at Kyobo had been rather public, after all, and it wasn't as though the papers tried to keep quiet about Nalgae being the company behind it. Word had most definitely gotten out to the other stores in the area that taking on an event from Nalgae held the potential for taking on a risk that might not pay off, and not many places were willing to do that. "I'm starting to understand why the share holders wanted her out." Finishing dialing, Youngjae leaned back in his seat and waited for someone on the other end to pick up.

     It took six rings, but eventually the phone was answered.

     "Hello? Young Poong book store."

     Taking in a deep breath, Youngjae hoped that this store would accept. After the store's establishment, they had quickly become one of Kyobo's top competitors and, according to the general public, the business' biggest rival. If anyone would be looking to show up the disaster of Hei-Ryung's signing event, it would be Yong Poong.

     "This is Yoo Youngjae calling for Nalgae Publishing Company." The line hadn't gone dead yet; a good sign. "We were wondering if you would be interested in hosting a book signing event sometime next month..."

     Twenty-five minutes and one desperate search for Dong Min later, the event's venue was secured and Youngjae was sent on his way with a pat on the back and a cold cup of coffee. Then, Youngjae was brought over to a table that had been pressed against one of the office walls and covered in a thick layer of colorful poster proofs. At least this time he wasn't left to his own devices, and instead worked alongside the other employees who had been put in charge of sorting through the papers and looking for errors; though, as he looked around, Youngjae noticed that the majority of those working alongside him were interns who looked just as confused as himself. Exactly what the official marketing employees did was a mystery to Youngjae, unless they were hired to sit around and micromanage the lives of those beneath them on the totem pole.

     When an error was found, unluckily enough by Youngjae, he had to record exactly what was wrong with the poster, stick his report and the proof into a file folder, and take it down four floors to the design department so it could be fixed before the real posters were printed and distributed. Sighing, Youngjae collected the folder and his cold coffee and marched out the door, ignoring the sympathetic looks the two interns were giving him as he passed. They were all on the same boat, but at the moment he wasn't very interested in sharing.

     At least he was actually working now, though. Youngjae imagined it had something to do with the fact that Hwan Jin had been out of the office all day, doing who knows what, and so hadn't been around to demand Youngjae buy unnecessary amounts of coffee or copy papers that would then prove to be useless. As tedious as the day had been, it had at least been something he could take to the board as proof that he understood how this aspect of the company worked. Perhaps he could even make some suggestions on how to improve the department.

     "For starters, employees must do actual work instead of speed-walking laps around the office in an attempt to look busy. Including the department head, who should be expected to do just as much work as any of the other employees." Youngjae pressed the elevator call button, then took a sip of his coffee. It was disgusting but it was also the only coffee he had seen in a few days- Daehyun had informed him that the Melody Cafe's barista had caught a cold and yet still insisted on showing up to work everyday, so Youngjae had avoided the place. Rather than finding another place to buy coffee from in the mean time, he had abstained from the caffeinated beverage altogether. Now, he was desperate for even this icy sludge.

     "Instead of wandering around the building doing nothing, the department head should be forced to stay in the office and make himself useful..." Youngjae trailed off mind-complaint when the doors opened and he was unexpectedly faced, once again, with Hwan Jin. "Hello, sir!" He immediately chimed, knowing that it was too late now to turn and make a run for it. Hwan Jin could easily tell that Youngjae had been standing there waiting for the elevator; leaving now would be too obvious. So, preparing himself for the verbal attack that was certain to come, Youngjae shuffled into the elevator and sent up a quiet prayer that the trip would be fast.

     As the doors closed, Youngjae pressed the button for the floor he needed and noticed that the floor beneath it was already lit. Which meant that he would be spending all four floors with Hwan Jin.

     "Why don't you just keep working for the marketing department and gradually work your way up like everyone else? Why try to do it all at once and make it more difficult for yourself?" Hwan Jin was the first to break the silence, though he didn't bother looking at Youngjae as he spoke. Rather, he very busily started flipping through the papers in the green folder her held at a rate too fast to actually be reading anything. Those employed by the marketing department truly had a gift for looking busy. "You're young, after all. It isn't as though you're in any rush."

     "Youth isn't the only measure of time in a person's life. Circumstances outside of my age prevent me from taking any slower routes." Youngjae surprised even himself with that. It sounded more like something Hei-Ryung, who took pride in her excellent vocabulary and way with words, would say. Maybe the girl was rubbing off on him a bit. Beside him, Hwan Jin sighed and went quiet for a moment.

     "Mr. Goo is full of himself, which makes him a pain in the but someone you can easily schmooze. If you humble yourself before his all mighty presence and acknowledge that you are unworthy of his time, he's likely to listen to anything you say without thinking about it much. He's not stupid, just disgustingly arrogant." Youngjae hazarded a look at Hwan Jin, trying to figure out what had caused the man to suddenly start talking about the board members, but the marking department's head was now busy looking at the time. "Mr. Nam is business-oriented, so you're going to have to talk numbers with him. They don't have to be real numbers, though. The man doesn't pay much attention to the company, so he's easily impressed by whatever people tell him. Just stay within a realistic amount and he'll be happy to support you. Mr. Smith would like everyone to think he's a foreigner, but it's no secret that the only time he's spent overseas was a year during high school. He won't admit that his English is awful, so if you tell him all about what lovely weather we're having this morning and you're the biggest fool I've ever met and sound important while doing it then he'll be bound to agree with you; he doesn't want anyone thinking he didn't understand." Youngjae didn't quite understand what Hwan Jin had said when he slipped into English, but he understood the point he was trying to make and so nodded along all the same.

     Glancing at Youngjae from the corner of his eye, Hwan Jin rolled his eyes. "If you don't understand, don't pretend you do. It's better to look a fool once than to remain a fool indefinitely." Youngjae straightened a little and nodded again. "And don't just follow everything I say because I sound like I know what I'm talking about. I've only met these men at a meeting here or there. Your uncle would know more about them than I do." With a gentle bump, the elevator reached Youngjae's floor and came to a stop.

     "I still think you should do things the normal way, but if you're going to insist on cheating your way through than you should cheat well. Nobody likes someone who half-asses their way through life." And with these parting words, Hwan Jin nudged Youngjae off the elevator. As soon as he was clear of the doors, Youngjae turned and bowed politely to the department head.

     "Thank you. I'll take your advice and apply it in the best way I can-"

     "You don't talk like that all the time, do you?" Hwan Jin interrupted, brushing a loose strand of hair from his forehead.

     "Well, no," Youngjae admitted, straightening up again.

     "Then cut it out with me. Just say your point and move on. You've seen how busy the marketing department is; we don't have time for flowery words. That's what the editors do." As the elevator doors closed, Youngjae remained unsure if Hwan Jin had warmed up to him or not. The man certainly seemed to be more... civil, toward Youngjae, and there may have even been a hint of humor in his voice at the end there, but Youngjae couldn't be certain. After all, he had been convinced that Hwan Jin was only joking when he threatened Himchan, and yet Youngjae had watched Hwan Jin attempt to murder Himchan with a stapler.

     At the very least, Youngjae hoped this meant he wouldn't be copying any more useless flyers for take out restaraunts.

Author's Note:

It's never a good sign when the writer is bored with their own writing... I'm sorry if this chapter was really dull, but I felt it was needed to explain what's going on with Youngjae right now... Hopefully the next chapter will be more interesting...

On a brighter note, I've got up to Chapter 40 planned and some pretty big things will be happening! I'm kind of hesitant about it, though, because it means we're reaching a turning point in the story and that means it will be getting that much closer to ending... TT^TT  I don't think I'm quite ready to stop with DDTTD...