Momo stands outside the Tech Solutions building for a good five minutes, taking a deep breath and checking her outfit and her hair and—oh gosh did she forget to bring her temporary ID on her very first day? She panics and her hand wanders frantically inside her bag; fortunately she finds it there and wears it around her neck.

“You got this, Momo,” she tells herself. “You got this.”

This isn’t Momo’s first job; she was part of a company but resigned months later when she realized that she wasn’t really learning anything new. That and the pay couldn’t compensate her anymore; her sister Hana had moved back to their hometown in Japan for business, so Momo was stuck in Korea at an apartment for two, but with a payroll for one. Roommate hunting gave Momo the chance to reunite with her high school best friend, a fellow Japanese girl named Sana, who works at Tech Solutions, Momo’s dream company. When Sana told her they had an opening, she signed up immediately and got the position.

That’s why Momo makes an extra effort to look presentable on her first day—she plans on staying in the company for a long time. When she enters the building she texts Kim Jisoo, head of the HR Department, who immediately invites her to the office.

“Hey Momo,” she says when Momo enters the room and takes a seat. “Feeling nervous?”

“Kind of, yeah,” Momo admits.

“Well, don’t worry, we at Tech Solutions are friendly people. Actually your team is one of the most playful, child-like group of engineers in the company.” Jisoo pauses to chuckle. “They’re the complete opposite when it comes to work, of course.” This statement from Jisoo washes away a lot of Momo’s nervousness.

“Oh,” Jisoo continues, “here’s the most immature, fakest maknae now.” She lifts her head up, and Momo turns around to see a tall woman with long, brown hair, with a smile that confidently shows her bunny teeth.

“Nayeon, this is Hirai Momo, the newest addition to your team,” says Jisoo. “Why don’t you take her on a tour so she can at least meet the Engineering Department?”

“Anything that’ll take me off work? Sure!” Nayeon chides, earning a glare from Jisoo. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Come on Momo, let’s go.”

Momo stands up to join her new colleague, turning to Jisoo who waves her off as she makes her way through the door.

“Have fun, Momo!”

As Nayeon leads Momo to an elevator that’ll take them three floors above HR, she asks her standard questions like what company she came from, and why she applied at the company. Momo answers her honestly, that she wants more hands-on experience with hardware, and she wasn’t really getting that at her old job. She also mentions that she heard about the opening through Sana, her roommate and best friend.

“So, did she try to have with you yet?” Nayeon asks Momo, catching her off-guard.

“Uhh… What?” Momo says, laughing nervously.

“Don’t you know? Minatozaki’s like the resident Casanova here,” Nayeon explains as they step out of the elevator. “Whenever there’s a new girl in any—and I do mean any department, she gets to sleep with them. It’s no joke. I’m so glad I worked here before she did and found the love of my life.”

Momo smiles in earnest, seeing the affectionate way Nayeon said her last statement. More importantly, though, Momo makes a mental note to ask Sana about being the company’s “resident Casanova” later.

“Speak of the devil, and she shall arrive,” Nayeon grumbles, and when Momo turns to where Nayeon is looking she sees a very familiar face running towards her.

“Momo-chaaaaaaaaaaaaan!” Sana screams when they collide, giving her a tight, welcome hug. “Welcome to your first day of work!”

“Yeah, thanks,” replies Momo, pulling Sana away from her. “You left the apartment without me.”

“Oh, sorry about that Momo, I had something else to attend to this morning.”

“Something?” Nayeon scoffs. “Don’t you mean someone?”

Sana turns to Nayeon with a smirk on her face. “Oh, Nayeon, you should have seen her earlier. Her body, the way she shivered under my touch, her screams, her face when she came—”

“Sana!” Nayeon yells, covering her ears with her hands. “Why the hell do you think you can tell those stuff to me?”

“What?” Sana asks innocently. “I know you and Jeongyeon do it all the time so you can relate.”

“Do not compare yourself and your conquests to me and Jeongyeon. We’re different.”

“How so?”

“We only have with each other, while you sleep with a different girl every night—”

“Ahem.”

Nayeon stops when she hears Momo cough, uncomfortable now. “Oh, sorry Momo.” Nayeon glares at Sana. “You see what you did to the newbie?” The bunny-looking girl shakes her head and sighs. “Anyway, I still have to take Momo on a tour. Where are your teammates?”

“Follow me to the Applications Team’s cave.” Sana leads the two to an area full of people intently looking at their computers—a sight that Momo’s excited to get used to seeing.

“These are Chaeyoung and Dahyun,” Sana says, gesturing to two girls who seem to be having a discussion in front of a computer screen—one with a dirty blonde hair and the other’s skin as white as porcelain. Chaeyoung and Dahyun turn around.

“Hi!” Chaeyoung says. “I’m Chaeyoung.” She offers her hand to Momo.

The other girl does the same. “I’m Dahyun.”

“Momo-chan,” Sana starts, “Dahyun here is my college best friend.” She puts an arm around Dahyun’s shoulder.

“Uh-huh, and did you try sleeping with her, too?” Momo teases. She notices a light blush form on Dahyun’s cheek.

“With Sana?” Dahyun scoffs. “Never in a million years.”

“You hurt me, Dahyun-ah,” Sana whines.

“Yah, unnie,” says Dahyun, “aren’t you supposed to introduce Miss Momo here to the rest of the team?”

“Yes, and please let us get back to our jobs,” Chaeyoung mutters. “We’re very busy people, you know.”

“Fine.” Sana scoffs. “Anyway,” she says turning back to Momo and Nayeon. Sana introduces Momo to the team’s boss, Kim Chungha, as well as the other members of the team—Chan, Felix, and Wendy. After a few minutes of small talk Sana bids goodbye to Momo and wishes her luck as she and Nayeon leave for the next part of the “tour.”

When Momo and Nayeon are outside their area, Sana turns to Dahyun and Chaeyoung. “Okay, I know you’re not really working. Just ask me what you want to ask.”

“Is she your conquest now?” It’s Chaeyoung who asks. Sana replies with a chuckle.

“No, Momo’s my best friend. We know too much to look at each other the other way. Just like Dahyunnie here.”

Meanwhile, Nayeon leads Momo into a different but same-looking area as earlier—only each person has two screens this time and the atmosphere is somehow calmer than the one they visited earlier.

“Yes, the Design Team is much more behaved than the kids at the Applications Team,” says Nayeon, as if she can hear Momo’s thoughts. “Actually, it’s mainly Sana who causes all the ruckus.”

“Um, this may come off as an offensive question, but I have to know. Do you have some sort of grudge against Sana?” Momo asks.

“Oh, that? No,” Nayeon replies, shaking her head. “We’re just used to being like that with each other. I mean, yeah, I question her morality from time to time, but she’s very valuable to her team. Her out-of-this-world ideas are actually well-received by the clients.”

“Oh.” Momo nods. “That’s good.”

“Hey Tzuyu, have you seen Jeongyeon around?”

“No,” a woman who’s probably Tzuyu answers Nayeon. Momo could tell she isn’t Korean, but she does notice her stunning facial features even though she’s keeping a straight face. “I think she’s in a meeting so you can go away and have your y time with her later.”

Nayeon groans and smacks Tzuyu by the shoulder. “I just want her to meet the newest member of the Engineering Department but I guess we’ll have to wait next time.”

“And is this beautiful dame the one you speak of?” asks a man’s voice, which makes Momo turn around. He looks much older than her or Nayeon or anyone else she’s seen in the office, Momo notices. Before he could make his way towards her Nayeon slaps him and he retreats.

“No Heechul, you can’t flirt with Momo,” Nayeon warns him.

“But why not?” Heechul whines.

“Because you have Sohee waiting for you?” Nayeon reminds him. “Go flirt with girls your age, old man.”

“No fair.” Heechul sighs. “Sohee is at the other company, and I’m stuck here with women 10 years younger than me!”

“Jeongyeon told me she offered you a promotion but you refused. They have more older women up there,” says Nayeon, pertaining to the upper floor.

“Eh.” Heechul shrugs. “If I get promoted I’d just look after people and that’s not the way I roll. I prefer to be hands-on, if you know what I mean.”

Nayeon rolls her eyes at the comment. “I don’t, and I don’t want to. You know what, Heechul? Why don’t you just go back to work and let me and Momo continue in peace?”

“Okay, whatever,” Heechul sighs. “Nice meeting you, Momo. I’m actually harmless.”

“Don’t listen to him. He’s like Sana but doesn’t actually get any girls.”

“Ya, Im Nayeon!!”

Nayeon steers Momo away from Heechul to introduce her to the rest of the team. “Let’s see…” Nayeon hums. She points to two empty desks. “I guess Irene didn’t show up today. And Mina, where is she?”

“Excuse me,” a soft-spoken female voice says behind them, making Nayeon and Momo instinctively part and make way for her. When Momo turns around, she didn’t expect to see such a beautiful angel, and all Momo could ask Nayeon is,

“Who’s she?”

“That’s Myoui Mina,” Nayeon responds, giggling. “Your reaction is the best one so far.”

Momo tilts her head to the side in her confusion. “Eh?”

“All the newbies stop and stare at either Mina or Tzuyu when they first see them. And I can’t blame them, honestly. I had a crush on Mina, too.”

“Oh.” Momo feels kinda stupid now. Of course everyone would notice this Mina girl.

“But it didn’t last long because Mina doesn’t talk to anyone.”

“She doesn’t?”

Nayeon nods in response. “She’s a genius so she always finishes her work early, but she also leaves early and doesn’t interact with us mortals.”

“Nayeon honey, are you talking about your Angels vs. Demons mobile game again?”

Momo turns around to see a woman with short blonde hair in a pantsuit. By the way she just called Nayeon “honey,” Momo figures she must be Jeongyeon, leader of the Design Team.

Nayeon turns around and a wide smile spreads across her face. “No, Jeong, I was touring the newbie here.”

“Oh, hi.” Jeongyeon turns to Momo and extends her arm. “I’m Jeongyeon, leader of the best team in the Engineering Department.” Jeongyeon smiles confidently.

“You mean second best,” Nayeon corrects her. “Momo here belongs to the Testing Team with me and the rest of the gang.”

“Just because you have a different room all for yourselves doesn’t mean you’re superior.” Jeongyeon scoffs. “Without our team’s designs, what would you even be testing, huh?”

“Whatever.” It’s Nayeon’s turn to scoff this time. Her tone becomes deadly when she speaks again. “Do you want me to call off moving in together?”

Jeongyeon sighs and wraps her arms around Nayeon. “Come on, Nabongs. I was just kidding. You’re superior to me. You have a hold over me.”

“Yuck!” Tzuyu snorts. “Would you please take this ugliness elsewhere?”

Jeongyeon chuckles and steps away from Nayeon. “Yeah, you girls better go to work. Show Momo your fancy room.”

Nayeon rolls her eyes at Jeongyeon.

“We have a fancy room?” Momo repeats when they’re out of sight from Jeongyeon.

“Yeah, it’s on one end of this floor,” answers Nayeon. “Since we’re the Testing Team we need the right equipment to test the designs, hence the room.”

Just a few minutes later, Momo sees a room with glass walls—so they could still be seen by everyone—and she could see people in lab coats with laptops or notebooks—taking data, Momo guesses.

“So Momo,” Nayeon starts, “are you ready to meet your new team?”

Momo nods excitedly in response. “I sure am.”

“Rosé!” Nayeon calls out when they enter the room. Seconds later, a woman with long orange hair walks towards them.

“Hey, Nayeon. Is this the newest addition to our team?”

“Yes, this is Hirai Momo. Momo, this is Park Rosé, our boss.”

“Well, temporary boss,” Rosé corrects her. “Just until the real one comes back.”

“But you’ve been here ever since I arrived,” says Nayeon. “Is this real boss you speak of actually real?”

Rosé chuckles at Nayeon. “Yes, she is. I can’t say why at the moment, but let’s say we’re hoping that she return soon.” The temporary boss smiles at the two employees. “Anyway, Momo, the Testing Team is divided into two sections: Design Verification and Failure Analysis. In Design Verification, we apply the specs that the customer gave before designing. Failure Analysis, on the other hand, is where we test the actual limits of the chip. These data are then given to the Applications Team so that they can make a datasheet for it.”

“What if the chip doesn’t work?” Momo asks.

Rosé smiles at the newcomer’s eagerness. “That’s a good question, Momo. You may realize that there are a lot of reasons why a certain chip doesn’t work. It may be because of the fabrication. For Design Verification you test 80% of the chips, and make a histogram of which ones work and which do not. We accept the fact that fabrication couldn’t be a perfect process, so we can only set a certain acceptable yield to say that the design indeed works. If it doesn’t reach that yield, well, all we could do is tell the Design Team and they would have to fix some areas of it.”

Momo nods slowly as she takes in all this information.

“For now, actually, you’ll work in Design Verification, but let me introduce you to the team first.” Rosé calls everyone in the room, and soon enough people were gathered around her and Momo. “Guys, this is Momo. She’s a member of our family now.”

Momo can’t help but smile. She really is excited to work and grow with this newfound family.

She learns the names of her workmates—Jihyo, DK, Seungkwan, and Know—whose real name, Momo learns later in the day, is Minho.

“I don’t want to be just another Lee Minho in this world,” Know tells her proudly, much like a kid.

For the rest of the day Momo learns the ropes of Design Verification and is later on assigned to help Jihyo with her project. Momo doesn’t realize time passing until the clock strikes at 5 PM, signaling the end of their shift.

“Let’s continue tomorrow,” Jihyo tells her.

“But there’s only like 10 left.”

“Hey Momo, stop being such a workaholic on your very first day,” Nayeon chimes in. “You can finish that early in the morning.”

“But…”

“Come on, Nabongs,” says Jihyo. “Let’s not ruin the newbie’s enthusiasm. This is good, actually. I can stay behind too—”

“No, no, I’ll be fine,” Momo insists. “I wanna try on my own, you know?”

Jihyo hums and thinks for a while. “Well, alright,” she finally agrees. “You won’t blow anything up, right?”

Momo nods with a chuckle.

“Momo, when you’re done, you can catch up with us at the Cheer Up Pub,” says Nayeon. “I’ll text you the details.”

“Sure.”

“See you later!”

Momo works on the ten remaining chips for an hour and finishes testing them. After filing the data, she gathers her things and books an Uber to the address that Nayeon sent her. She opens the door to exit the room and walks towards the elevator. She waits for a few minutes until the elevator reaches her floor, and when she comes inside she sees a familiar woman running towards her.

Myoui Mina.

Momo gulps when Mina faces the elevator door and can’t see her. She doesn’t know exactly why this girl makes her nervous. She figures it’s the calm yet elegant aura Mina exudes around her.

Nonetheless, Momo wants to make an impression and get to know everyone in the department.

“Hi Mina, you probably don’t know me, but I’m Momo from the Testing Team.”

Mina slightly turns her head towards her, giving Momo a tiny bit of hope—until Mina turns away after a split second.

“Oh. Hi,” is all Mina says.

Momo doesn’t know why, but she suddenly feels the urge to invite Mina to the pub that Nayeon told her about.

“Listen, Nayeon told me about this pub—”

“No thanks,” Mina cuts her off, and the elevator dings and opens to the ground floor. “Goodbye.”

So much for making an impression.

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A/N: This chapter is long but it's mainly just to introduce the characters. Not sure if each chapter (episode) is gonna be this long haha. See ya! Let me know what you think in the comments!