It had to be a blessing.

Walking into the doors of Velvet & Co, Wendy first noticed the chic interiors. It wasn’t like the usual company buildings she had went to for the past few weeks. She guessed it was to be expected since Velvet & Co were a pretty huge thing in the fashion industry lately.

The girl walked along the beautiful corridor, adorned with plenty of awards and accolades they’ve received in a short amount of time. She gulped nervously upon seeing the reception counter, not because it was time to say hello, but rather at the gorgeous young woman behind it. Wendy noted her hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail, and the yellows in her blouse seemed to really bring out the colour in her eyes. Her eyes darted to the nametag, and Wendy gave an awkward smile.

Were all receptionists this pretty?

“Good Morning.” She greeted the pretty receptionist. “My name is Wendy Son and I’m here for an interview with Mr. Park.”

“Oh, yes!” The woman named Seulgi chirped brightly. “Miss Son. We’ve been expecting you. Mr. Park is currently in a meeting but he will attend to you once he’s done. Would you mind waiting for about ten minutes or so?”

“Oh. It’s no problem at all. I’ll just…” Her eyes darted to some empty seats nearby. “I’ll take a seat over there.”

When she had finally settled down, Wendy realised how silent the whole atmosphere was. She glanced nervously to the clock above the reception counter only to find that it was a little after 10am. She wondered if the rest of the staff were held back in a meeting as well. As if she could read her mind, the woman called Seulgi interrupted her thoughts.

“To be honest, we don’t have much staffs here in this building.” She smiled sheepishly towards Wendy. “This is actually our main headquarters and only the executives’ work here. The rest are all working in our Gangnam branch.”

“Wow.” This was definitely news. This place was much, much more posh than Wendy had first thought.

“Don’t be so nervous.” The former laughed. “Oh, I’m Kang Seulgi by the way. You can just call me Seulgi.”

“Nice to meet you.” Wendy smiled back.

Strange. The woman’s laughter had miraculously eased her tension away.

“What are you applying for?” Seulgi asked her. “We haven’t had an interview in ages. You must be a pretty great person if they called you for an interview here.”

Wendy noted that it wasn’t the laughter that relaxed her, but it was more of the woman’s personality. She was definitely bubbly and easy to talk to.

“Actually, I applied to be Mr. Park’s personal assistant. I’ve just finished university, so I was hoping I’d gained some experience.”

She thought she saw the woman’s eyes twitched for a while but it must have been her imagination, for Seulgi was still smiling brightly towards her.

“I see.” She nodded her head attentively. “We’re probably about the same age then. I’ve started working here recently too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Seulgi grinned. “I’m kind of new. I’ve only started working here 6 months ago. Oh, we’ll talk later.”

On cue, the telephone at the counter rang and Seulgi had answered it immediately. Wendy couldn’t really hear what the other was saying on the phone but she guessed it must have been her interviewer. When Seulgi finally hung up, the girl pointed to a room on the second floor.

“See that room over there? The second last one?” Seulgi pointed upwards. “Just take the middle stairs and head there. Mr. Park will see you now.”

“O-Oh!” Wendy hurriedly stood up. “Thank you! I’ll get going now.”

She fumbled towards the middle stairs, which was definitely not easy to miss. The whole stairs was draped in a crimson coloured carpet, making the already lush atmosphere more luxurious. She cursed herself, wondering why she had decided to wear the highest of heels today. It didn’t help that her pencil skirt was a little too tight, but this was not the time to be complaining.

Wendy in her complains and headed straight towards the room. When she had knocked twice, she heard a fresh and friendly voice asking her to come in. She opened the door slightly and right behind a desk stood a handsome young man. She noted the guy couldn’t possibly be in his thirties, for he looked far too young than what she first imagined. Wendy remembered that he was the Senior Executive Director, for that was what he signed off as in his email when he contacted her.

“Miss Son.” He shook her hands firmly before pointing to the seat before her. “Please have a seat.”

She took in his youthful appearance, and marvelled at how handsome his face really was up close. He had a really friendly vibe to him as well, for he soon started to clasp his hands together in delight.

“I’ve received your application and I have to say, you remind me so much of myself.” Mr. Park grinned widely. “I graduated from the same university as you too. Same major in fact.”

“That’s really great.” She tried answering in an upbeat manner, but the man caught on to her nervousness.

“Interview jitters?” He chuckled before extending his hands towards her again. “Let’s start over again. Good afternoon, Wendy.”

His actions took her by surprise, but she shook his hands again anyway. This time, it wasn’t a firm grip but he had squeezed her hand as though in reassurance. She smiled a little at his gesture, all the while thinking that he was a really sweet person to be caring about an interviewee’s feelings like her.

“Good afternoon.” It surprised her how calm her voice had finally sounded.

“You can just call me Jinyoung.” He winked. “Don’t be too nervous. Treat this… like a chit chat session.”

“O-Oh. Right.”

“Anyway, where was I?” Jinyoung frowned dramatically. “Oh, right. We graduated from the same university. But of course, I graduated 3 years earlier.”

Ah-ha! That must have been why he looked so young, Wendy thought to herself. The guy really was not as old as he was first thought to be.

 “To be honest, I do have something to confess.” His frown was a real one this time round. “I’m not actually looking for a personal assistant at the moment.”

Wendy felt her heart drop. To think that she came all the way here to be told that they weren’t actually looking for new staffs!

“However,” His gaze pierced through hers. “The President is looking for a personal assistant. He has tasked me to find one for him, and after looking through your application, I came to the conclusion that you’re a perfect fit.”

“The President?”

“Yes, of course, you’ve probably heard of him?” Jinyoung looked on inquisitively.

She nodded her head at his question. The real question was; who hasn’t heard of the famous Mr. Tuan? He was the founder of Velvet & Co and was even named the best young entrepreneur last year. His existence was like a wildfire. Everyone and anyone has heard of him, but the man was basically shrouded in mystery,

He has not once accepted his own awards, and has not once been seen in public. No media could paint a picture to his face and even gossip outlets had zero clues on what he really looked like. Of course, with such mysteriousness lays a bag full of rumours. An arrogant man, the media had painted him.

Wendy thought like that too for was there really any legit reason to why he doesn’t appear in these public events? She did consider it a little rude, but she reserved her judgement because the truth was that she did know nothing of the guy at all.

She would never confess it out loud, but a part of the reason she applied to Velvet & Co was to see what type of a man this Mr. Tuan really was in the first place. Could you blame a girl for being curious?

Wendy had seen an opportunity, and she had taken it.

“Here comes the big problem.” Jinyoung bit his lips in contemplation. “Our President isn’t exactly the friendliest of people, so it will be difficult to work under him. I promise you though, he’s a really nice guy once you get to know him.”

“Erm…”

“I know, I know.” He raised his hands dramatically. “You’re probably wondering why I’m persuading you to take the job instead of the other way round. Trust me, one need to be persuaded to work under him.”

“Erm…”

The conversation stilled as the door slammed open. Startled, she glanced towards the door’s direction. Standing there was another handsome young man, and his eyes glinted mischievously.

“Jinyoung.” The man chuckled. “I could hear you from outside. What’s this about persuasion, again?”

She blinked her eyes repeatedly, wondering if this was the famous Mr. Tuan.

“Sorry, gorgeous.” The man winked at her and she blushed profusely. “I’m not Mark.”

Was Mark Mr. Tuan’s first name, then?

“Yugyeom.” Jinyoung sighed. “Come in and close that door behind you.”

Surprisingly, the man complied and took a seat right next to Wendy. She noticed he eyed her from head to toe, which made her a tad uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat, her eyes glancing towards the other man’s direction instead.

“Yugyeom, don’t look at our potential employee like that.” Jinyoung frowned. “You’re making her uncomfortable.”

“But she’s so cute!”

Wendy noted to herself to stay the hell away from this particular guy if she ever started working in this company.

“Anyway, Wendy. Meet Yugyeom.” Jinyoung introduced the two. “He’s the team leader.”

“Erm, nice to meet you.” Wendy greeted half-heartedly, to which Jinyoung laughed.

“Yeah, she definitely doesn’t like you.”

Yugyeom rolled his eyes before turning back towards the other man’s direction. “So, what’s this about persuasion? I don’t think Mark will be happy to hear you talking like that about him.”

“But it’s the truth.” Jinyoung pouted, and for a moment, Wendy had felt out of place. “He really is difficult to get along with. Might as well give the poor girl an idea of what she’s getting into.”

“He’s not that bad… really.” Yugyeom muttered but there seemed to be hesitation in his voice. “He’s just….”

“Anyway!” Jinyoung clasped his hands together again. “Wendy, you’re hired for the job and you’ll start tomorrow, okay?”

“W-What?”

“Mr. Tuan will further brief you on your duties and responsibilities himself.”

“That is if she accepts the job in the first place.” Yugyeom snickered.

“You will, won’t you?” Jinyoung practically pleaded with her. “Come on. This is a rare opportunity to work with one of the best fashion companies out there. And you’ll be working directly under the creative genius himself! You wouldn’t pass this up, would you?”

Everything seemed to move too fast, but Wendy nodded her head anyway. It was true; a chance to work under an up and coming fashion company like Velvet & Co was rare to begin with. Besides, how difficult can a person really be, right?

“We don’t have much staffs here in the building,” Yugyeom warned her. “So you’ll be seeing the same old faces very often. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Wendy nodded her head again; but wait. Was that pity in his eyes?

Yugyeom grinned before slapping her on her back.

“Great decision there, girlie!”

“It’s Wendy.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He winked before exiting the room. “See you tomorrow, new girl.”

When Wendy had turned to face her interviewer, the man only smiled at her.

“Thank you, for accepting the job.” Jinyoung muttered sincerely. “It’s going to be tough from now on, so if you need anything, you can come to me.”

She nodded her head at his words again.

“We also have more male staffs here, to be honest with you. In fact, Seulgi has been our only female employee in this building so far.” He pondered thoughtfully. “But I’m sure you and Seulgi will get along just fine. If you need anything, you can go to her as well.”

“Ah, yes, of course. Thank you.”

When Wendy finally left the room, she saw Seulgi giving her a quick thumbs up. She smiled at the gesture and felt a new life coming towards her. It scared to think that she’ll be working directly under the President of the company, but Wendy was never one to back away from challenges. In fact, she had hoped for tomorrow to come sooner so that she’ll get the introductions done and over with; and finally start on her new job.

Wendy grinned, before taking out her phone to leave a call to her best friend.

“Jackson?” She excitedly said. “I got the job!”

--

“Do you really think she would last?” Yugyeom raised an eyebrow.

“Of course she will.” Seulgi scoffed. “Never underestimate a woman’s willpower.”

“Like you can talk.” He retorted.

“Guys, come on.” Jinyoung took a sip of his coffee. “Let’s just watch this unfold, shall we?”

Footsteps thudded down the stairs, and the three scrambled to head back to their own positions.

“Yugyeom, Jinyoung.” The man frowned. “My office, now.”

The two men gulped before reluctantly treading after the said man.

“Psst.” Jinyoung whispered to Seulgi. “You can have my coffee.”

“Oh, and Seulgi?” The said man talked without looking back. “Throw away that coffee, will you?”

“Y-Yes Mr. Tuan!”

a/n there is no Markdy interaction yet in the first chapter but there definitely will be in the next one! (: 

guess the other gotvelvet couple, maybe? :D