a house made of cards, and us inside
even if you say you see the end, even if you say it’ll collapse soon

slowly, jin sat up.

he came to the realization that it was monday.

while yawning, he made his way to the bathroom. 

suddenly, the scent of something burning wafted into his nose.

he walked into the kitchen to find jimin in front of the counter with smoke coming from the toaster. 

she seemed to be panicking as she removed the burnt toast. 

"you okay there?" jin lightly chuckled.

"oh, you're awake..." jimin winced, "i was focused on the eggs and i guess i let the bread toast for too long."

"you could've just called my chef to make us breakfast." jin said.

she pouted, "but today's monday. i wanted to send you off with a homely meal." 

"i also wanted to make your lunch too," she added quietly. 

he waved his hand, "it's fine. i'll call my chef."

jin dialed his number, "is dad done eating?"

the cook responded, "yes, he finished half an hour. do you need breakfast?"

"yeah. oh, and can you make food for two? my girlfriend stayed over."

"ah, yes sir." he answered and hung up. 

jin returned his attention to jimin, who was suddenly gathering her belongings.

"what are you doing?" he asked. 

"leaving," she curtly retorted.

the next thing he knew she was out the door and already on the elevator. 

did he say something wrong?

whatever, he'd ask her later, right now he needed to get ready for work.

---

jimin was only a little pissed.

small things like this annoyed her. 

she suddenly regretted getting a desk job at jin's company. 

for the past few months, she'd been wanting to spend more time with him.

she thought about getting a job at the same place as him but worried she would hinder his work. 

she had passed the interview and submitted her resume already. 

today was her first day of her new job, but now she felt dumb.

who would change their job just to be closer to their lover?

apparently her.

the elevator landed on the first floor and jimin stepped out.

she bowed to the servants and maids.

at first, jin's victorian-like mansion intimidated her, but after a year, she'd gotten to know the staff and home well.

she immediately drove to the company.

there wasn't enough time for her to stop by her apartment to fix her makeup, but at least she didn't look like a wreck.

jimin sighed and lightly slapped herself. 

was she really gonna do this?

while groaning, she forced herself to walk inside.

the building itself was pretty tall, with 7 floors.

she went up the stairs to the fourth floor, simply to avoid meeting other people. 

she was breathing heavily by the time she reached the floor.

jimin noticed a group of people near the front desk.

she recognized a few of them from the interview and assumed they had been hired as well.

she walked towards the group and realized a couple of seniors were giving a tour of the place.

a couple of people took notice of her but ignored her. 

"if you have any questions, feel free to ask us. we hope you enjoy working here." a male senior smiled.

he surprised jimin.

it was quite rarebfor people with jobs that sit around all day to be so enthusiastic.

the group dissipated, leaving her standing there by herself. 

everyone seemed to have assigned desks, but she had no idea where to go. 

a guy holding papers walking by scolded her, "what are doing just standing there? you should get to work."

"ah, yes," she bowed to his already turned back. 

it's not like she has never done this before.

jimin had a similar job at a smaller company.

so why did everyone seem so cold?

she sighed and turned to the reception desk.

a girl sat on her phone while humming. 

"um...excuse me?" jimin tried to get her attention. 

she looked up, "do you need something?"

"is there a seating chart or something so i can know where my desk is?"

"wait, are you park jimin?" the receptionist stared at her.

"yes." she calmly responded.

"oh..." she scratched her head, "you're not in this department."

jimin tilted her head, "what?"

"actually, you were, to be exact, but it seems that one of the higher ups changed your position. were you not notified of the change?"

"i don't think so," she answered.

the receptionist looked confused, "huh...that's weird. let me check where you moved to."

she said, "it seems that you were moved to the freelance department."

"what the hell is the freelance department?" jimin blurted out and covered , "oops."

the girl softly chuckled, "you're fine. i think they're a pretty small department under the customer services. they serve coffee and food for meetings and do small things around the place like fixing lightbulbs."

jimin was shocked, "are you serious? isn't that like a janitor's job?"

"i guess you could say so. honestly i don't know much about the department itself but i think they're in one of the side buildings."

"oh, well thank you. i should get going," she glanced at the time before bowing.

jimin was frustrated.

she couldn't believe someone changed her position to some maid. 

she ran down the stairs in her high heels with her purse in her hand. 

it was already ten and she felt like quitting.

the property was quite big, with a couple tall buildings and multiple smaller ones.

she headed towards the central building, which was mainly for visitors and the highest executives, which included jin. 

remembering him just added to her pile of frustrations. 

she really didn't want to see him right now but on the small chance she did, she'd probably have to act like she didn't know him. 

jimin entered the building and recognized the receptionist - she was the daughter of one of the workers at jin's home.

she ran up to her and smiled, "unnie, how are you?"

the female grinned, "i'm great but i haven't seen you in a while. are you here to see jin?"

"oh, no, i actually started working here," jimin responded. 

"seriously?" she widened her eyes, "since when?"

jimin sheepishly replied, "today, actually."

"then why are you here? god jimin, are you skipping your first day of work?"

"of course not - apparently my department was changed and i didn't find out until now. so, do you know where the freelance department is?"

the older female was surprised, "you're in the freelance department? i'm sorry, jimin."

"what? why?" jimin tilted her head. 

"nothing, its just that a lot of people in the middle with desk jobs talk about them becuase they mostly do physical work."

jimin sighed, "it's fine. gossip is meaningless in a company as big as this. so can you tell me which building its in? i'm already really late."

her friend laughed, "sorry," and pointed to a square on a map, "it's on the outskirts of the property."

"ahh," jimin nodded, "oh, and can i keep this map?"

"you'll definitely need it, this place is huge. good luck on your first day," she waved farewell.

jimin waved back and walked out. 

luckily, the few people she had encountered so far were kind but what she had heard about the freelance department so far intimidated her.

jimin's feet were already starting to feel sore, which wasn't too surprising since she rarely wore high heels anyway

she arrived to a shabby building that was surrounded by trees and blooming flower bushes.

she could get used to the nature.

she opened the door and stepped in. 

people were running around everywhere and shouting. 

"how...chaotic," jimin muttered.

almost immediately a person took notice of her and yelled, "are you the newbie?"

he pointed to an area, "just grab a desk over there and pretend to look busy."

"ah, okay then," she said quitely.

jimin was flustered. 

was this how it was every day?

she was used to the sound of quite whispering and people typing away and loud noises often distracted her.

after thinking carefully jimin selected a desk next to a window. 

the desks were quite obviously older than the ones in the other building, but it wasnt like she had much of a preference for them anyway.

suddenly, the entire building turned silent.

"huh?" jimin looked around to see what was happening.

everyone was sitting at desks and seemed to be typing on their computers.

then, she watched as a somewhat tall man in a suit entered the building.

his blonde dyed hair immediately caught jimin's eye. 

but for some reason, everyone seemed to be ignoring him except for one man standing next to him who was frantically speaking.

she came to the realization that he must be some manager or supervisor who came to check up on the department. 

jimin started to panic.

she'd been told to make herself look busy but her desk was completely empty and she didn't know the password to the computer.

she searched through her purse, praying she had some sort of papers in it. 

for some reason, she had the company's annual report from last year, and at this point anything would do.

she began to highlight random words and wrote broken sentences in the margin. 

even without looking up, she could tell he was walking closer to her.

as she listened to their conversation, jimin was surprised by how low and rough his voice sounded.

she had the sudden urge to look up and see his face up close.

the next thing she knew, he was right next to her desk.

he looked down at her, "what are you doing?"

---

"excuse me, mr. kim," one of his assistant called.

"yes?" jin replied.

"one of the receptionists on the first floor says she needs to talk to you. she's supposedly one of your personal friends."

jin grinned, "send her in."

"its rare for you to come here during work. do you need something, hyerim?" he asked as she walked in.

she immediately began talking away, "did you know jimin got a job here. she told me today was her first day! and did you know she was first interviewed for the accounting department but got changed to the freelance department for some -"

"wait a second," jin interrupted her, "jimin got a new job in this company?"

hyerim pulled her hair in frustration, "oh my god, of course you didn't even know. she seemed a little weird today but i thought it was because we hadn't talked in a while."

"i dont understand what your point is. are you trying to brag to me that you found out that she got a new job first?"

hyerim sighed, "you blockhead, go and say hi. there's probably a reason she specifically got a job in the company that her boyfriend works at."

"i can't believe you're gonna own this huge company in a few years and here you are, not understanding the basics to a relationship." she continued. 

jin removed his suit jacket, "okay, okay, i'll go check on her."

hey, it's marina here. i know haven't updated any of my other stories in a while and creating this new one only adds to pile of unfinished works. its just that i had a random idea and while my thoughts were running wild, i decided to write them down. im planning on this story to be four chapters, no shorter and no longer. 

happy new years!!