Breathe, stand up straight, and be confident.

That became her mantra; the one she repeated to herself again and again as she entered the building, papers ready in hand for her interview. She quickly found the elevator and stepped in along with two other people, and pressed “8”. She watched as the polished doors closed slowly, tapping her fingers on the folder she holds close to her chest as she waited.

~

“Where’s my drink!” he yelled out of frustration, barging out the door from the meeting room. It has been another dissatisfying meeting, the magazine being at number two, the spot no less than being last place in Kim Jong Kook’s book. He stomped on his way to his office as the employees from the meeting room finally came out, heads down and shoulders slumped.

His editor-in-chief and best friend, Ha Dong Hoon, threatened to quit if Kim Jong Kook doesn’t “change his attitude.” A yelling match soon ensued and Dong Hoon walked out of the room. The employees were all speechless, which isn’t exactly new since Kim Jong Kook had always been like that for many years. But since Haha threatened to quit, they too, soon began leaving the room. Only two people were left out of the eight when their meeting began.

~

Ji Hyo looked around the hallway on the way to the office where her interview will be held. She saw the different magazine covers that were previously published, some past spreads that were scattered skillfully on the boards, and the finally, the company logo. She smiled, repeating her catchphrase from earlier once again.

She approached the woman behind the desk and told her her name. She was told to take a seat on one of the chairs across the room. She breathed, pepping herself up for the interview.

~

He rested his head on his hands, thinking about what happened in the meeting room. So what, if Dong Hoon quits? he told himself. He’s the one who’s acting up.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts of Dong Hoon. He reached for the stack of papers on his desk, convinced that those are more important than his best friend’s outburst. Jong Kook scanned the papers one by one, meticulously reading the print, when his secretary knocked on his door.

“Come in,” he called out.

His secretary, Jo Min Hee, walked in, carrying another folder. “Mr. Kim, I need your signatures for these.”

He nodded and quickly signed them. He looked up at her and gives her back the folder. As she was about to leave, he asked her, “Has Dong Hoon come back?”

She told him no, and excused herself.

He takes the phone near his computer and looked up his recent calls, which has his best friend’s number. He also noticed Ji Hyo’s number, wondering how her interview turned out.

~

On her way to the bus stop, she couldn't help but hit herself on the head for messing up her interview. She was so sure she left a bad impression-- maybe she was way too confident or way too animated? Either way, she knew that the person who interviewed her was not as impressed as she thought.

She hopped in the bus and sat on the farthest seat in the back. She put her head against the window and observesdthe streets as the sky gets darker. It had been a bad day, and the weather seems to agree with her.

She heard her phone ringing, and she quickly took it out of her bag. It was a call from Kim Jong Kook.

“Hello?” she answered.

"Ms. Song? Hi, this is Kim Jong Kook.”

“Why’d you call?” she asked him, watching the raindrops fall on the bus’ window.

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Uh, I was just curious about your interview. How did that go?”

“It was terrible. Just… absolutely horrible,” she sighed.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he paused. “But just so you know, the offer’s still up. Would you like to work in my company, Ms. Song?”