I like being busy. Having tons of things to do keeps my mind occupied, away from destructive thoughts.

It’s been a week since my father got sick with flu, and people are already creating rumors about my father dying from some unknown terminal disease. I guess it is how others keep themselves busy –by talking and concerning themselves about other people’s lives.

Just like how I keep myself busy with working.

I was the one handling my father’s paperwork for the mean time, and instead of being annoyed with additional work, I was thankful for it. Tomorrow he’ll be back to work and I’ll be left to focus on my own, as a project manager. Having this position is a huge feat for a 25 year old and I know that I earned and worked for it.

☼

I looked at the clock on my coffee table as I sat up.

5:43 am. Tuesday morning.

Good. I still have more than enough time to prepare for my meeting today.

I fell asleep on my couch again, still in the clothes when I worked out last night. It’s part of my everyday routine. A routine I have managed to maintain for years.

My bed has been untouched for days already. Surely enough, exhaustion from the past week has really helped me get to sleep fairly quicker these days.

My agenda today is to prepare my new team for the project given to me. Then, tomorrow I’ll be going ahead of them to Busan –where the site is– to prepare for the team’s accommodation. We’ll be working at the Highland Builder’s office –let’s say JK-Highland now that we’ve merged and all– in Busan, staying there for the whole duration of the project. They could always go home at weekends, it’s their own decision.

Preparing is a good habit; it can save some trouble and unnecessary problems. This is my first project as a project manager and I don’t want anything to go off course.

I quickly reached for my laptop sitting beside the clock on my coffee table. Opening it, I rechecked the presentation about the whole plan, and the distribution of work for the whole team. Looking at the list of the team, I realized that each member is all coming from our side of the merge, JK with the exception of Joy.

I sighed as I thought of the many problems that might arise because of this situation. There may have been instances when I found myself directing my frustrations at her.

You can’t blame me. The woman is literally living her life as Jennie.

Jennie, my childhood friend –the only person who believed in me– has been practically erased from her family’s memories.

I know how Joy’s just caught in all these circumstances –getting all the benefits which comes along– but she is the sole reminder of how unfair the world is to Jennie while she’s getting all of the good in it.

I only said yes because it was Uncle Suro who insisted on Joy joining the team. I don’t really doubt Joy’s capability. She’s capable of her job. I know that fact. But I don’t really think that having a decent QA inspector is the main reason for transferring her in this project. I don’t care if Kim Suro doesn’t trust me yet in my new position. I just hope that it doesn’t come to a point where he’ll have to make her fake daughter spy on me about how I work.

I stopped myself from brooding over the subject, setting aside the laptop I closed, and stood up to get ready to go work.

☼

As I pulled over in the office’s parking lot, I looked at the time in my car’s dashboard.  I was still a little over an hour early for work –just the right amount of time to settle in my new office here in Seoul. Turning the engine off, picking my messenger bag right by the passenger seat, I stretched myself out of my car. After making sure my car was locked, I picked up my feet and started walking to the direction of the elevator when I saw the rear of a familiar royal blue sedan car – it was the Audi car that Uncle Suro picked along with me as a gift for Jennie’s 16th birthday, the birthday she never got to experience. Uncle Suro never threw the car away. Instead, she gave it to Joy for her 21st birthday. I remembered how angry I was when I learned of it, but it’s all in the past. I don’t want to dwell with that unnecessary emotion anymore.

I paced my steps faster but still in a quiet way. And getting closer to the car, I stopped in my tracks as I saw a brunette woman sitting by the hood, fidgeting with her phone. It was Joy –with a new hair color. She looked the