“Miss Park, may I see you in my office for a second, please?”

 

Hyejin looked up from the paperwork she was looking over right into the steel gaze of her boss. A feeling gnawed at the pit of her stomach as she nodded, remaining in her seat as her boss walked away towards his office. She sighed and leaned back against the mesh of the computer chair, the wheels squeaking slightly as her weight shifted. Whenever a boss wanted to see her in their office it usually didn't turn out too well in her favor. She could count on one hand, and not even use all her fingers, all the times that it was actually for something good.

 

Pushing herself up from her chair and away from her desk, Hyejin adjusted the black pencil skirt and blouse she was wearing to make herself appear a little more presentable and made her way through the same path to his office. Once at his door, Hyejin knocked on the door frame and her boss motioned her in. “Close the door and have a seat,” he said and she did as she was told.

 

Hyejin looked around his office. She had only been in the room once before and that was on the first day on the job, barely two months prior. She crossed one leg over the over, smoothing her skirt down as she scanned across his desk. Papers, files, a couple picture frames littered the work area and as she glanced at one particular picture that she assumed was of his children, only one thought crossed her mind. He has a family too. “Miss Park,” he started again.

 

Hyejin gulped, meeting his eyes. “Yes, sir?”

 

“I'm going to cut right to the chase and I'm sorry that it's come to this, it's always hard...”

 

There it was.

 

Another job down the drain.

 

Over the past six months, she had been fired from four different jobs, all for various different reasons. One was a being a hired maid for a upper class wealthy family- doing the housework, cleaning and dusting, being a nanny to their children- and she had been 'let go' because she had called one of the kids a spoiled brat who did nothing but complain to the little girl's face. The second was at a small grocery store where she had been accused of stealing (she hadn't, it had been the teenage male clerk who felt the need to get her in trouble after she had turned him down). The one before she had been a waitress at a local cafe and everything had been going well... until she dropped a tray of food onto a booth of people. Now this one and Hyejin could only wonder what she did wrong. She wasn't good at menial tasks- or taking orders- so it shouldn't have surprised her that this would be the outcome. What did surprise her though was that she had lasted as long as she had.

 

“... to have to do this, but we're going to have to let you go.”

 

Hyejin let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and her boss must have noticed the look that had crossed her face. “You're a wonderful person, Miss Park,” he finished, “and it's nothing personal but your skills just aren't up to par. Even with training you've been having some difficulties with some of the assigned work...”

 

Which was true, she couldn't fault him on that. When she broke the copier at least three times a week and did something to her computer constantly to make it magically not work every time she turned it on, it had to be on her. But still, she was hoping that her peers and boss would over look the slight inconveniences and at least acknowledge a few of the things she at least did [i]right[/i] around the office. Hyejin could only imagine the look on her brother's and his friends faces when she told him yet again that she had been fired. She hated having to rely on him as much as she did but nothing seemed to be going in the way she wanted it.

 

“I understand, sir,” she cut him off with a bow. “I'll go gather my things.”

 

Hastily, Hyejin got up from her seat and left the office. She didn't want to stick around any longer than she had to in fear of listening to more 'it's not you but...' apologies from her now former boss. The back of her heels clicked against the tiled floor as she made her way back to her desk and her co-workers looked at her, wondering what their meeting was about and what kind of gossip they could get from it. Hyejin didn't have many personal items at work, never knowing when her last day was going to be, and she grabbed her purse, jacket, and a small picture she had brought in that was taped to her computer monitor. Without saying a word to anyone, she exited the main office's front door for the elevators, not once looking back.

 

–

 

“Harder.”

 

“I am!”

 

“No you're not. Do it harder.”

 

“ how much harder do you want me to do it?”

 

“Until I can actually ing feel something. Now shut up and do it.”

 

Jackson grunted and hit the heavy bag again, throwing his entire body into the punch. Sweat was dripping down his face and a layer of it covered his whole body. He had abandoned his shirt long ago, opting for just a pair of basketball shorts that were hanging low on his hips. He and JB had been at this for what seemed like hours, his trainer never seeming satisfied with the work he was doing. JB was behind the bag holding onto it for resistance and he didn't even seem to move with the hit.