What was I thinking, ‘maybe life’s finally starting to treat me a lil better’?

Of course the not.

This ain’t some cliché- teen drama flick where bad things can be resolved simply through the ‘power of friendship and positivity’ or whatever bull-crap they spout at children. The protagonist doesn’t get to live ‘happily ever after’ that easily.

Not in real life, at least.

My brand new day started with my alarm blaring straight into my eardrums, giving me a mini heart attack while I temporarily became deaf.

Definitely not the best way to start the morning.

I groaned as I turned it off, confused to why I purposefully woke myself up at 5:30 AM.

That’s way too early for a lazy- like me to get up, the .

I still had an hour and a half of precious sleep left.

… Oh wait, I didn’t.

I was now Park Chorong’s personal assistant, not someone who has five part-time jobs.

I was now responsible to go get breakfast before I drive ourselves to the company building.

I was now panicking in my pyjamas.

I bolted out of the room with mad bed-hair, got lost within the hallways for a few seconds, before finally remembering where the bathroom truly was.

My mind was in a complete chaos as I speedily cleaned myself up, realising how I had forgotten to ask a couple of important questions a bit too late.

Regretting my decision of reaching out to Eye-Smile wasn’t helping, either.

Honestly though- where am I supposed to get my boss some breakfast?

What does she eat? Was she a picky eater?

Would she fire me for getting her something she hates?

What if she has allergies?

What if I got her something she’s allergic to and she eats it without knowing about it because I don’t even know what I’m supposed to know?

What if I accidentally kill her with food?

What if I become a murderer not from making a mother over-exhaust herself, but for making my new boss eat something she’s not supposed to eat?

I was about to dash straight out of the apartment absolutely clueless until I caught sight of a letter on the empty dining table.

It stopped me in my tracks and caught my attention because it literally had my name written on the envelope.

Seemingly a bad choice to take when time was scarce, but with my curiosity overpowering any sense of self-control, I tore it open and scanned through its content. Only two words came to my mind after I began reading it, and they were the words ‘holy ’.

Because someone somehow read my mind.

That letter answered all of the questions that I had in mind, like literally.

It wrote:

Hey Bomi!

I stopped by to drop some things for you, but you and unnie were already asleep; I was already here by the time I remembered that (normal) people weren’t usually awake at 4 in the morning, but I still gave it a shot since you did call me at five before.

Anyways, I’m assuming my unnie has given you some tasks but never elaborated enough for you to know what to do, am I right? She has actually done that to all her previous assistants, and that’s why they all quit out of pure anxiety and stress. Don’t worry though, I managed to remember her poor habit in time, and I’ve decided to help you out before you start wishing for death on the first day as our employee!

For breakfast, she usually eats a ham club sandwich with a medium-sized iced Americano. That’s for warmer days though, since she goes for large hot lattes when the weather’s colder. No sugar is required for any of her coffees as she prefers them bitter just like her soul-

Please don’t tell her I wrote that.

Like I’ve said before, I came to drop some things for you and that’s a copy of the key to the car you guys drove away in, a credit card for any work-related purchases, and this cheat sheet. Feel free to get yourself from breakfast with the company card as well, because there’s no way I’m going to let you skip the most important meal of the day. Try that and I’ll hunt you down personally.

Well, that’s it! Good luck on your first day as a personal assistant!!!

–  Jung Eunji

I swear to God, literal tears were almost squeezed out of my eyeballs.

My other boss was clearly a saint, and I’m so, so lucky to have stumbled upon her.

She has helped me with many things in such a short period of time, I must not let her down.

I’ll do whatever it takes to fulfil my role properly- even if it means to operate an expensive car with my noob- driving skills.

And mind you, I haven’t driven since forever.

Like, despite of my newly-gained determination, I was still an unexperienced driver.

I was so scared of myself, I never exceeded the speed of 30 MPH throughout my journey to the nearest café- which was coincidentally but now understandably the one where I spilt coffee all over Dolphin. I guess I’ll be reminded of that incident every single morning now.

To piss even more innocent people off, I used the exact same tortoise-like speed to return back to the apartment.

God bless them and their unfortunate souls.

May they never run into me in the mornings ever again.

Once I returned indoors, I placed our breakfast onto the dining table and checked the time.

It was already a half past six, and that wasn’t a good sign.

We have to get going soon if she ever wants to arrive at the company building in time… with my driving skills in consideration, I mean.

I do not want to start my new job off with tardiness and a pissed-off Dolphin.

I better go fetch the woman if I want to prevent that from becoming reality.

Honestly, I thought she’s the type to be up and about as soon as the sun rises, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

The apartment was still awfully silent, and that’d simply be impossible if she was truly awake. She’s way too loud for that.

She wasn’t getting herself ready in the bathroom, nor did I spot her in the study, so she must be asleep in her bedroom still.

I mean, that’s the only place left that I haven’t checked yet.

I made my way to her bedroom door and found myself merely standing in front of it.

For something as simple as giving her door a knock, it was weirdly terrifying.

I had to take a couple of deep breaths just to gather enough courage to lift up my hand- but ultimately all that effort went straight down the drain.

Because just before I was going to give it a knock, the door was swung open from the other side.

Park Chorong and I were now standing face-to-face with only a forearm’s length of space in between us.

Both of us have simultaneously buffered on the spot, and she appeared to be just as surprised as I am.

I was definitely not prepared for this to occur, and I think it’s safe to assume that she felt the same.

We did start a screaming duet, after-all. Her soprano skills never fails to impress me.

As our unexpected collaboration continued, I stepped back while raising my hands up to prove I meant no harm.

I was literally surrendering to her, yet that feisty b*tch still started swinging at me.

I was now dodging for my life.

“U-UNNIE! IT’S JUST ME!”

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

“YOUR NEW PERSONAL ASSISTANT, GODDAMN IT!”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABO…”

That thankfully helped ring a bell, and her attacks soon ceased to a halt.

I stared at her with heavy breaths and widened eyes, struggling to believe how I had just dodged death.

And that my own boss tried to assault me with punches to the face.

She seemed to have finally come back to her senses and was now staring back at me with rosy cheeks.

I can’t tell whether if that’s from embarrassment or if it’s from throwing all those punches so enthusiastically.

My vote’s on both.

“G-Good morning.” I barely choked out as she started patting on her chest, calming herself down further so I don’t have to fear for my life this early in the morning again. “I… I was just about to knock on your door. I thought you overslept or something…”

“Gosh, for a second I forgot you moved in.” she huffed weakly, “Actually, I did miss my alarm so I’ll be having my breakfast at the office. Go get the car ready and I’ll meet you downstairs in five minutes. I don’t want to be late. Getting a heart attack from you was bad enough.”

‘Well darling, you’re about to receive worse’ was what I had to desperately swallow down my throat, but in the end I didn’t say anything.

Correction: I didn’t get to say anything. Not even an ‘okay’.

Because she had pushed herself straight past me to get ready in the bathroom, acting as if ‘attempted assault’ wasn’t the first thing she tried to do ever since she woke up from her slumber.  What the frick frack snick snack diddly dack crack pack slack mack was her problem?

I managed to shake it off and focused on my proper duties instead.

I’ve only completed my first task of the morning and already I had almost died.

It wasn’t even a car accident. It was a Park-Chorong’s-Flying-Fists accident.

I grabbed our breakfast and went back down to the luxurious vehicle, entering the company address into its ever so handy GPS system.

I had definitely not paid any attention to the route like she had asked yesterday, so I’ll be relying on this until I can trust my own memory.

I’m confident that I can memorise the way to work quickly, especially if we’re going to do this every morning-

But we can most certainly skip the fist-throwing part, thank you very much.

I flinched in my seat when my boss entered the car, and I tried my best to mask away my fascination on how she managed to perfect a full-face makeup in such a short amount of time. I wouldn’t even be to fix my bed-hair properly.

I waited until the two of us were buckled up before releasing the breaks and stepping on the gas.

I gulped as soon as we were actually on the road.

This is really happening.

Our lives are in my hands, and my hands alone.

That’s too much responsibility for me to handle.

Dude, if I was going at a speed of 30 MPH before, I must be travelling at a 15 now.

Like, a jogging person would go faster than us- and that was actually proven to be true.

Someone really did run past our vehicle while the light was still green.

Look, I can’t just help it.

My boss’s presence made me feel 100 times more nervous than before, and damn was I already a nervous wreck with just some sandwiches and iced coffee next to me. Maybe I should invest in one of those cycle rickshaws and bike our asses to work instead.

At least I’m confident in my biking skills.

“Why are we imitating the speed of a sloth, Yoon Bomi?” I heard Park Chorong snap after having enough of my bullsh*t, which did absolutely nothing but increase my sense of nervousness. Thanks a lot for that, boss.

“I-I’ve told you before, how I didn’t drive much…” I tried to argue even though I knew it was useless.

This woman’s way too fierce to spare any empathy for a weakling like me.

“Yah, we’re going to be three hours late to work at this rate!”

“Pressure me any more and I’ll increase it to five.”

“Is that a threat?!”

“No, I’m just being completely honest.”

I know how she was getting worked up and all, but I’m not dumb enough to risk our safety- or my own, at least.

This was not the time to test my driving skills, nor the time for me to cave in to her temper.

This was exactly what Jung Eunji wanted me to tackle and attempt to fix for her, so Park Chorong can flaunt her authority and sass all she wants.

I’m not going to let Eye-Smile down, nor am I going to let Dolphin verbally assault me as she pleases-

Especially when she has already tried to physically assault me.

Sorry boss, but your partner has hired you an assistant with a personality just as strong as your own, so you better prepare yourself this time.

I ain’t quitting like all your previous assistants… or at least not this early into the job.

We’ll see how long I’ll last.

Ultimately, we arrived at the company building in one peace.

We were unharmed, the car was dent-free, and I didn’t cause a single accident.

Also, guess what? We’re only an hour late to work.

I consider that as a huge success.

Of course, as expected, CEO-nim was hella mad.

Like, really really mad.

When Jung Eunji said she had anger issues, she wasn’t joking.

Park Chorong had a wildfire trapped within her pupils, and she looked as if she wanted to run me over with the BMW herself.

It was the same death glare she had on when we first met in the coffee shop.

Aw, how nostalgic.

As soon as I parked the car, my boss grabbed her share of food and simply stormed away.

She was already nowhere to be seen when I exited the vehicle myself, making me wonder exactly how fast those short legs of hers can take her.

She can be Ulsan Bolt’s competitor at this point, and I swear she wouldn’t lose.

I merely let out a sigh as I retrieved my breakfast, not even bothering to rush after her.

As long as she’s within this building, I’ll figure a way to get back to her side eventually.

It’s not like she’d want to see my face right now, anyways.

I might as well help her by staying away from her.

Great, my future as her personal assistant already seems bright.

Awesome start, Yoon Bomi.

You’re killing it.

Literally.

I was munching on my sandwich when I suddenly heard my name being called from the distance.

It turned out to be the one and only Son Naeun, the apparent saviour to my horrid morning.

The sight of her beauty alone makes me feel better already.

“Good morning, Bomi-sshi.”

“Do you live in this building or something? I thought you were supposed to be asleep at this time of the day like your boss.”

“Indeed, usually I would be, but Ms. Jung had asked me for a special favour.”

“Are you going to be okay though? Running about without a wink of sleep is a bad idea, trust me. Been there, done that. Hated it.”

“I’ve fueled myself up with a cup of long black already, so please don’t worry about me. I’ll get to rest for the entire day tomorrow.”

“Well, if you say so.”

After finding me in the lobby, she brought me to the company café and found ourselves a place to sit.

She wanted me to finish my breakfast in peace and comfort before proceeding on with whatever tasks Jung Eunji had assigned her.

What a literal angel. Jung Eunji won the jackpot with this one.

With my belly full of food and a well-deserved cup of coffee in hand, I was ready to go.

Son Naeun was also ready to go after purchasing another cup of coffee from the café, and that made me slightly concerned.

Jung Eunji, you better be treating your personal assistant right.

Over-exhaust her and I’ll over-exhaust your ears with all the swear words I know.

“As you may have guessed already, I’m here to help you get started as an official employee of C&E Entertainment.” she revealed as we walked along the spacious hallways, with other passing-by employees bowing their heads to us every now and then.

It’s either the etiquette requirement of this company’s super strict, or Blank-Beauty has quite some popularity within her workspace.

I’m praying for the latter because I have no ing manners and I’m impossible to train.

“First of all, we shall go get your photos taken for your company ID. Yours will look exactly like mine, and once you receive yours, it’ll be mandatory for you to carry it on you at all times.”

“Totally understandable.”

The first stop was this photography studio that had all sorts of equipment littered around.

Green-screens, backgrounds, props, lights, and rack-full of costumes, you name it.

Son Naeun approached this dude who definitely had the hots for her, and then the dude approached me.

From what his ID displayed, he was the head photographer here.

We shook hands and whatever before his assistant popped out of nowhere and led me to the changing rooms.

They already had an outfit prepared, and it was just a chic-looking, all-black suit set.

Not bad, not bad at all.

After I suited myself up, looking like a y mother*cker and all, the guy positioned me before a plain white background.

He spent some time adjusting his camera settings and I simply sat there awkwardly while zoning out.

It was when I felt a lingering gaze on me that I snapped myself out of it, only to find Naeun being the one that’s staring.

“Do I still look like a homeless person, Naeun-sshi?” I snickered with an eyebrow raised, triggering her to giggle along.

“No, you look really great, Bomi-sshi.” she answered before she swiftly reached out a hand, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ears and adjusting the collar of my shirt for me. “You should start dressing like this more often. This style really suits you.”

I now understand why everyone seemed to like her.

I, too, have fallen for her charms and became much gayer.

The head photographer disrupted our lovely moment by asking Blank-Beauty return to back to her original spot, finally getting things going.

All I did was sit there and look directly into the camera lens, with lights flashing every time he presses the shutter.

It gave me temporary blindness and a simulation of what it’s like to have a seizure.

Luckily the shoot was simple and relatively fast to complete.

My weak could never survive as a professional model, yikes.

“All good to go!” the dude cheered as he handed me a small bag with my clothes inside. “Your ID will be printed by Thursday, so just drop by the reception to retrieve it then. I’d suggest for you to keep at attire on for the rest of the day, Bomi-yang, since first impressions matter and that outfit’s definitely going to do you some good. You get to keep them, anyways.”

“Are you sure I get to keep this?” I raised a brow in confusion, “I thought you guys reuse your clothes for other suitable photoshoots.”

“We do, but that one’s not ours. Eunji-nim prepared that for you especially, and what I just said were actually her words.”

… Did I unknowingly gain myself a boss who’s also a sugar mommy?

Why was she spoiling me like this?

What did I do to deserve this?

Was this actually just a dream?

Maybe I’m actually still asleep in my cheap- apartment.

The alarm for my bakery shift might wake me up any second now.

I better treasure this great dream before it ends, then.

“Next, we’ll need to have your fingerprint scanned and added into our security system.” my fellow personal assistant instructed while we exited the studio, leading me to another part of this gigantic building. “It’s another form of identification, plus the key into every ‘employee-only’ section of this place. However, I’d still recommend for you to memorise the numeric code just in case the system accidentally malfunctions.”

“Aye aye, captain.”

With that said, we entered this office and I had both of my index fingers scanned by this weird machine.

It only took two minutes to complete the process, and now with just a single touch, I can let myself into places.

Sweet sh*t, moving on.

The final step was surprisingly the one I thought I had to do first, and that was to fill out a bunch of information about myself.

A sh*t ton of personal information.

I can’t believe they hired me first before asking whether if I have a criminal record or not.

Thank God that mother of triplets didn’t die so I didn’t have to get arrested for murderer.

“And I believe that was all the important things you had to do today.” Naeun hummed after storing all of my documents into one file and handing it to another staff member. “You did well. Everything went incredibly smoothly.”

“Well… what now? Hunt down Park Chorong?” I asked, “I’ve actually already pissed her off with my slow- driving to work and she stormed away as soon as we got here. I don’t know if she’d want to reunite with me just yet. I don’t even know if she wants me as her assistant still.”

“That’s… very typical of Ms. Park, I guess. You’ll get used to it soon, don’t worry.”

In the end, despite of the possibility that my boss will kick me out as soon as I arrive, we decided to go up to her office.

It’s better than pissing her off even more by wasting time during working hours, I suppose.

“Is that how you and Jung Eunji cope with her temper now? Just ‘get used to it’?” I asked after she led me to the elevator, the two of us now waiting for it to arrive to our floor. “Doesn’t sound like a good way to handle things to me.”

“Well, Ms. Jung has been actively searching for solutions, but Ms. Park’s strong personality remains undefeated thus far.” Naeun sighed, “Ms. Park likes to do things her way and struggles with compromising, while Ms. Jung prefers mixing up ideas and cooperating with others.”

“I surprise myself every time I remember how they’ve established this business together.” I laughed dryly, “I can’t believe it became so successful without any casualties, either. They’re so different from one another, so how did they make things work here?”

“Trust me, there were many incidents that almost ended up in physical brawls.”

“I trust you. I was almost socked in the face just this morning.”

“Are… are you okay?” she turned to look at me with concern.

I couldn’t help but to chuckle out loud then, lifting up a hand to ruffle her silky hair playfully. “I’m here breathing and talking to you right now, aren’t I? I think I survived perfectly fine.”

We shared a moment of joyful laughter until the elevator finally arrived.

We were about to step inside until a woman was revealed from behind the automatic doors.

A tall, foreign and mature-looking woman stood before us, her eyebrows raising itself as soon as she saw Naeun.

Her gaze then landed on me, her eyes now widening to twice of its original size.

“Hul, a new date already?” was the first thing that left , shocking both Naeun and I.

I frantically glanced back and forth in between the two, unable to believe what I just heard.

Was that a joke, or was that actual sass? What if it was the latter?

Does that mean there’s people who dislike Blank-Beauty?

They actually exist???

“A new employee whom I’m assigned to take care of today.” Son Naeun corrected through her gritted teeth, her cheeks turning pink for some reasons. “Are you going to get off and let us in, or are you just going to stand there like a human roadblock?”

“Nah, I’m joining you guys. I’m too curious to leave now.” the other lady hummed joyfully before taking a step towards the side.

That allowed us to enter the elevator, but I was still in a state of utter shock.

Did she… did she imply that Son Naeun was a motherf*cking player?

Was I being played without realising it myself?

Am I already blinded by her beauty?

That’s just- it’s so…

That’s such a dope plot twist, the .

I would’ve never imagine for Blank-Beauty to be a hoe, and damn does it make things way more interes-

“Please learn to not take any of her words seriously, Bomi-sshi.” Naeun exhaled deeply while pressing for the 13^th floor, “She’s a master at spouting nonsense with a completely straight face, so a lot of people have fallen victim to her silly lies.”

Aw, so she’s not an -slaying hoe.

Oh well, she’s still dope and drop-dead gorgeous.

She wins in life either way.

“So you’re Bomi-sshi, hmm?” the other woman chimed in before I could respond to the previous sentence, “My name is Oh Hayoung, and I’m a manager here at C&E. It’s a great pleasure to meet you- though I’m rather surprised to know that we’re still hiring. I thought we had enough employees since it’s getting pretty crowded in here. The line for coffee only keeps on getting longer, too.”

Oh Hayoung, huh.

She’s an interesting one, that’s for sure.

I’ve never met someone who’s so playful towards strangers at first sight, but that might be thanks to Blank-Beauty’s presence next to me.

They seem… close.

“Um… yeah, hey. I’m Yoon Bomi and I’m Park Chorong’s new personal assistant.”

“Holy- you’ve landed yourself the toughest job of ‘em all, congrats! You’ve got some guts, and I admire that.”

“Thank… you…?” I blinked back, somewhat intimidated by her friendliness at this point.

“So far the record’s three months. Break it and I’ll reward you.”

“And what would that be…?”

“Son Naeun’s v-”

The woman was silenced before she could finish her sentence.

I knew that Blank-Beauty has speed ever since the door-opening mystery, but damn I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone slap another’s mouth shut so freakin’ fast before. I’m 87% certain that she’s an undercover ninja now.

The sight of her being a flustered mess was a treat, though.

Long-Legs was already rewarding me.

“So where are you guys going?” Oh Hayoung asked after the three of us stepped out of the elevator.

“Why are you even following us?” I saw Naeun frown, “Don’t you have better things to do?”

“Not really. My group’s enjoying their individual holidays right now, so I’m super free and super bored.”

“You still need to keep an eye on them during their breaks, you know- especially that group of yours.”

“Hey! What is that supposed to mean?!”

“I’m just saying, you wouldn’t want anything to happen to them while they’re resting.”

“Geez, don’t curse me, unnie. I’ll check up on them later, okay? I just want to relax for a bit, too!”

“Then please go relax without bugging other people. Unlike yourself, we have places to be.”

“And that’s why I’m just tagging along! Don’t mind me and focus on doing your thing, unnie.”

“… You can be such a bothersome brat sometimes, Oh Hayoung.”

“Yeah yeah, love you too, Naeun-unnie.”

Strangely, the sight of Son Naeun bickering with Oh Hayoung triggered something within me.

Having colleagues that you can argue playfully with was something I never imagined of having myself.

I mean, I never talked to any of my bakery co-workers. Hell, I think I barely even smiled at them.

We were all so busy multi-tasking, we didn’t have the time nor spare energy to be friendly.

I was mostly alone during my bartending shifts, too.

Just me, wasted people, and the gross- liquor.

The only kind of conversation I’d participate in are the ones where I convice people to stop buying drinks.

I didn’t want to witness nor clean up anyone’s puking, and I’d prevent them from regretting their life choices the next morning if I could.

Now that I’ve got to hang around my new workspace a bit more, I actually think my new job can be quite enjoyable.

The people here at C&E Entertainment seemed nice enough- except for the one I’m personally assigned to, but hey we’re going to work on it.

Apart from that, I honestly think I’m going to be alright from now on.

I mean, I survived having five part-time jobs at once, and that was basically hell on Earth.

So what else would I be bothered by?