Jaera has to bear the stares she gets from some of the employees in the elevator and on the way to the office. Word gets around fast, and she doesn’t like it one bit. She feels utterly small in the big company. What can she do, though, as a lowly intern?

Luckily, none of her colleagues treat her differently, or show any signs of hearing rumours. Yerim is scrolling on her phone, Sooyoung is sorting out some files, and Mr Lee is on the phone when they return. Jaera lets out a huge breath at the familiarity.

“Is everyone back already?” Mr Lee asks as she and Sehun enter the office. “We have a new project from the Chungdam Sports Centre. We are set to remodel the swimming pool area, as well as the volleyball court. Our team will be taking on the swimming pool.”

Oh. Another pile of work to add on to the stress. Hopefully the fun of designing a swimming pool will act as a form of distraction.

“Is anyone here a swimmer?” Mr Lee asks. “Kim Corps usually takes in a lot of projects for stadiums and sports centres. That’s why we usually hire people with a background in sports.”

Sehun raises his hand. “I was a swimmer in university.”

“Great. You can be my assistant. Yerim, you too.”

It’s quiet for a while. Then Mr Lee clears his throat, and the team gets back to work. Progress on the covered pathway is really quick, and at this rate, they are going to be done before the week ends. Soon, the room is filled only with the noise of typing and clicking.

Mr Lee’s voice breaks the silence. “Does anyone here play volleyball?”

“I do, sir.” Jaera raises her hand.

He nods to himself. “Good, good. The team that’s taking on the volleyball court needs an extra set of hands. So you’re going to be helping out with their team on the side. Is that okay with you?”

Of course she has to agree. She just got hired. What would it look like if she was already acting high and mighty, rejecting the projects that were offered to her? “That’s fine, sir.”

“I’ll pass your contacts on to Mr Byun. He’ll tell you what to do.”

It’s quiet again, with their team leader filling in some of the gaps with small talk. Jaera finds out that other than her and Sehun having athletic backgrounds, Sooyoung has experience with basketball and Mr Lee himself used to be a runner. Yerim did gymnastics until she reached high school.

Soon, they’ve managed to complete hours of work and it’s time to head home. However, Jaera receives a text from Mr Byun, asking to meet in the lobby.

He is already waiting downstairs, smiling when he sees her. “Hi Jaera. First of all, did you drive here? This might take a while and you might need to sort out your transport.”

She drops into a bow. “Good evening, Mr Byun. No worries, I drove here. You wanted to speak to me?”

“Yes, it’s about the volleyball court.” He fishes out his tablet to show her some documents and drafts. “We’re currently discussing the flooring for the court and the client wants the cheapest option possible.”

“Is it an indoor court? If so, then we should go for synthetic flooring. It won’t be as good as the traditional hardwood floor, but it’s durable. Maintenance will be cheaper too.”

He nods. “Good, good. I’ve already sorted out the drafts for the proposals and what I need you to do is…”

Their discussion takes up to almost an hour. Many of the staff have already left the building, and Jaera can’t wait to leave too. It’s been a stressful day.

“…And I need it by the end of this week. That’s all.”

Jaera nods tiredly. “Alright, Mr Byun. I’ll email you soon.”

“You’re a hardworking kid,” he says. “You’re probably really tired from all the projects. I’ll ask your team leader to take it easy on you.”

“No, no! It’s fine.” She hurriedly shakes her head. What she needs now is a distraction from all the confusion and stress brought on by Sehun and Junmyeon. The projects are just a blessing in disguise. In fact, she managed to avoid Sehun after work because she had to meet Mr Byun. Junmyeon probably went home already too.

“Baekhyun! Where are we going for dinner?”

Okay, maybe Junmyeon didn’t go home yet.

The both of them crane their necks towards the elevator, where Junmyeon is grinning brightly. Once he actually sees her face though, his smile dims.

“Hey Junmyeon. Wait, I’m wrapping it up with Jaera. In the meantime, you can think of a place to eat.” Baekhyun waves him off before turning back to face the girl. “So, everything okay?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll have it done by this week.” Her eyes flicker to Junmyeon ever so slightly. He looks like he doesn’t even dare to take a step closer to her, but she can’t wash the image of him sleeping with his boss away.

“Want to have dinner with us?”

She’s taken aback by the sudden question. It takes her a second to react. “I couldn’t intrude…”

“Junmyeon wouldn’t mind, and you’d get to meet some of your colleagues,” he points out. Junmyeon nods in the back.

Her stomach growls, prompting her to cover it with her two hands. The men are kind enough to pretend they didn’t hear anything. However, she just can’t bear to sit through a whole meal with people she isn’t familiar with, not to mention the whole issue with Junmyeon.

“It’s alright, Mr Byun. I need to get started on my projects too so I should get home earlier. Our team needs to send in the proposal by Friday.”

“Your team is doing the swimming pool?” Junmyeon asks.

She’s flustered when she realises that he’s speaking to her. “Yeah. I’m also helping out with Mr Byun’s team for the volleyball court.”

“She’s also doing the covered pathway editing,” Baekhyun pipes up.

Junmyeon furrows his eyebrows. “That’s a lot of work for an intern.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what interns are supposed to do, right?” She blinks at him and he stops for a moment, catching the meaning behind her words. He looks kind of frustrated.

“Is that all, Mr Byun? I’ll get going now.”

“Drive safe,” Junmyeon mutters. She musters a smile and leaves the building. Now, that wasn’t so hard.

When she gets home and discovers multiple texts from Junmyeon asking to talk, she has to ignore them with all her might. She might look rude, but it was him who asked her to treat him as a friend in the first place. She’ll deal with this after all the projects are done with.

-

“Staying back again, Jaera?” Mr Lee asks, typing away on his laptop.

“Yes, sir.”

Her colleagues are packing up their stuff, ready to go home and rest. She doesn’t have the time to rest, not when she has two datelines and an almost-complete project.

Mr Lee had been pleasantly surprised when she asked him if she could continue working after hours. Usually, there would still be people in the building working overtime as well so there was no problem. All she had to do was turn the lights and air conditioning off when she was done.

It’s Thursday, and she’s almost done with the covered pathway project. The volleyball court draft was sent to Baekhyun earlier in the morning, and all she’s left with is the swimming pool. She’s aware that she was assigned with quite a menial task compared to her team members, and she’s thankful for that.

She’s developed eye bags too after working overtime every day for the past week, forcing her to use more concealer in an effort to look more presentable at work. She’s tired and a little snappy.

Everything on her mind has been work lately. Sure, it distracts her from the Sehun and Junmyeon drama, but it distracts her from so many other things too. She forgets to call her parents and if it weren’t for Sooyoung, she wouldn’t have eaten lunch either. The cafeteria food is still gross though.

One more night, she tells herself. One more night.

“Sorry I can’t accompany you for overtime,” Sooyoung apologizes as the office clears out at the end of the day. “My mum is still in the hospital.”

“You don’t have to accompany me.” Jaera is quick to admonish her friend. “I just have a lot on my plate, that’s all.”

Sooyoung pats her on the back and leaves after a quick goodbye. Slowly, the office becomes empty and the sky becomes darker. Mr Lee is the second last to shut his laptop. He looks at Ja