Jihoon could just tell that today was going to be a good day.

 

Unlike most days, he’d gotten out of bed that morning with a smile on his face and positive energy radiating throughout his body from head to toe. It wasn’t often that Jihoon got this excited about something. Well, at least something that wasn’t related to food because he very much enjoyed eating, thank you. 

 

Jihoon had gotten ready for work in the usual fashion, only maybe he took a little bit longer to make sure he looked especially put together today, given that it was an important occasion and all. His black hair was neatly combed back, short bangs pushed off of his forehead with a little bit of hair gel. He’d picked out his favorite gray suit, pairing it with a white shirt and navy blue bow tie. Sure, the suit pants were just a bit too long for his shorter legs, but it was still the best one he had and Jihoon had no choice but to make do with it. 

 

Once he was dressed and had deemed the attire presentable enough, Jihoon takes one last look in the mirror, straightens his glasses, and grabs his bag before leaving the apartment. 

 

He made the short walk to the bus stop and sat down on the bench, put in his earbuds, and hit shuffle on his favorite playlist. Jihoon didn’t always listen to music before work, but today he felt like he could use the distraction. Maybe what he felt wasn’t exactly excitement, but nervousness. Nervous excitement, maybe? Jihoon was definitely excited, but the fear that things may not turn out in his favor was definitely there in the back of his mind and it had him just the slightest bit on edge.

 

Jihoon tries his best to push those thoughts out of his mind because if he dwelled on them too much he was bound to go into panic mode. He couldn’t let that happen, not today anyway. The amount of hard work he’d put into making sure that things turned out in his favor was something he was way too proud of, no way was he going to let anything negative his subconscious tried to tell him take root. 

 

He kept reminding himself of this from the time he stepped onto the bus until the time he was pressing the button to let him off. Luckily, he was able to keep up with his unusually cheery attitude and even hummed along to the music playing through the earbuds while he made the short walk from the bus stop he was let off at to his workplace. Jihoon quickly stops the music and takes out his earbuds to put them back in his bag when he reaches the front of the building, taking a deep breath before walking up the steps and through the door. 

 

Mrs. Choi, the front desk receptionist, gives her usual upbeat greeting when Jihoon walks past. On a normal day, Jihoon would have only politely bowed his head to acknowledge her, maybe throwing in the occasional quiet ‘hello’ when he was feeling generous. So needless to say, it catches Mrs. Choi off guard when Jihoon greets her back with the same enthusiasm that she had this time.  

 

That kind of reaction seemed to be an ongoing trend with his coworkers today.

 

Jihoon had greeted everyone on the elevator with a big smile, something very out of character for him, and that could be seen by the way all of their eyes widened in surprise. The same thing happens again when he says hello to the people who sat at the desks surrounding his own. Some of them share a look with each other, secretly wondering if the man was ill or something else of the sort. 

 

Jihoon notices the exchange, but pays it no mind. Sure, he may have felt a little bit guilty that he typically seemed so cold in the way he acted that even a basic greeting made them all react like that. It wasn’t ever Jihoon’s intention, really. He just preferred to come to work and get the things that needed to be done completed and perfected in a timely manner, and that didn’t leave much room to chat and make friends. Jihoon didn’t think work and friendship mixed well together anyway, so despite how badly his co-workers might think of him, Jihoon made it a point to keep work life 100% about work.   

 

Jihoon kept that in mind when he heard whispers coming from a couple desks over, deciding to ignore it and start up his computer instead. He checks the time on his watch - 8:25 - and since he still had a few minutes left before they’d get called for the morning meeting, Jihoon takes all his folders out of his bag and gets his desk set up for the day. It didn’t take him long so Jihoon uses the last 2 minutes that he had left to make sure he was mentally prepared for the meeting, as if he hadn’t prepared for it all week.

 

What was so special about this meeting that it had him this excited, yet so concerned?

 

Well, the team leader of the company’s Product Design and Management division, Mr. Kim, was retiring. One of the main components of today’s meeting would be announcing who would take over the role once Mr. Kim stepped down next month, and Jihoon wanted it badly. He’d applied for the position and considering how fantastic his job performance and work ethic was, Jihoon more or less considered himself a shoe-in. 

 

He wasn’t normally this confident, but Jihoon knew he deserved this title so he couldn’t help it.

 

When the two minutes pass, Jihoon is up and out of his chair before anyone else. He adjusts his bowtie, picks up the folder with his newest product performance evaluation, and walks toward the meeting room as soon as Mr. Kim calls for them. Jihoon takes a seat in his usual spot at the table that took up the majority of the room, setting down his folder and folding his hands on top of it. 

 

The rest of the team files into the room short after and Mr. Kim starts the meeting once everyone has taken their seats. The first part goes by the same as their usual Friday meetings did, which consisted of sharing their weekly findings and evaluations for test runs of the company’s newest products. Jihoon volunteers to present his report first, not leaving out a single detail, and then listens intently when his co-workers follow suit with their own reports.

 

After everyone had finished, there’s a soft knock on the door and Mr. Kim stands when the newcomer enters the room. Jihoon and his co-workers were very much confused at the sudden entrance of someone they’d never seen before, but they all stood and bowed politely after their team leader did the same thing. Their meetings usually never got interrupted so it left the whole room wondering what was going on.

 

The man who had entered looked to be about Jihoon’s age, only taller. His features were sharp, with small eyes, and a defined jawline that any man would be jealous of. He wore a dark gray suit jacket with pants that weren’t exactly the same color, and quite frankly he didn’t really look like he wanted to be there that much.

 

The most striking thing about him though, was his hair. It was a platinum blonde color with the slightest silver tint to it, something Jihoon thought was weird since he’d yet to see a man come in to work with dyed hair in the whole two years that he’d worked there. The man had it parted neatly, but it somehow still managed to look messy and gave him an overall uninterested, unprofessional appearance.

 

He slowly walked across the room to take the only open spot left at the table and he flops down onto the chair without much grace. Everyone takes that as their queue to sit again as well and they wait for Mr. Kim to say something when he stays standing. Their leader clears his throat and takes a deep breath before speaking to make sure he can get through what he needs to say.

 

“Now, as you all know by now I will be retiring at the end of this month,” Mr. Kim says, walking back and forth beside the table in an almost robotic way. “I know there are several of you who’d like the opportunity to fill my position once I leave, and I for one think any one of you would do an amazing job as our division’s new team leader.”

 

Mr. Kim makes direct eye contact with Jihoon while he says that, leaving Jihoon anxious. He really hoped that his name would be called, more than anything. The excited feeling he’d had earlier fades completely into nerves and he starts fidgeting with his fingers without even noticing.

 

“However, at this month’s board meeting our President revealed that he had a very special person in mind for the job, and we all came to an agreement. As much as I hate to leave this wonderful company behind, I truly believe that this individual will take great care of your team and that the Product Design and Management division of S.V.T Enterprises will have so much success with him in charge,” Mr. Kim continues, taking in another deep breath before delivering the last line of his speech. “Everyone, please join me in welcoming Kwon Soonyoung, your new team leader.”

 

It takes everything in Jihoon to keep his jaw from dropping open in shock when the man who’d just entered the room stands and shakes Mr. Kim’s hand.

 

“Hello, my name is Kwon Soonyoung,” the man introduced himself in a tone of voice that made it once again clear how much he didn’t want to be there. “As your new team leader, I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that we all work together seamlessly and have as much success as possible in our role at S.V.T Enterprises. Thank you very much for your time today.”

 

The man bows his head before sitting back down and Jihoon was absolutely dumbfounded.

 

It honestly didn’t seem real. Jihoon had never even seen the man before so he had to be new to the company, what did he do to deserve the role of team leader? Just by the looks on his co-workers faces, Jihoon could tell they were feeling the same way.

 

Of course Jihoon would say he was the most deserving of the position because he had faith in his work abilities, but he’d much rather it have gone to someone already on the team than a complete outsider. Did all the time and effort they had put into the company mean nothing to their President? Surely this had to be some kind of joke.

 

“Thank you for that, Mr. Kwon,” Mr. Kim says, standing once again. “Alright,that will be everything for this morning’s meeting, you’ve all done well this week. You may go back to your tasks now, I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.”

 

Wait, so it wasn’t a joke? 

 

Mr. Kim gathered all the reports that he’d been given, the usual signal that the meeting was completely over, and compiled them into his folders. All of his co-workers exchanged looks that seemed to ask ‘what the heck just happened?’ before they all eventually get out of their seats and return to work. Jihoon was the only one who hadn’t moved yet. 

 

And Kwon Soonyoung? He hadn’t moved either, but that was because he was too busy tapping away on his phone. 

 

Jihoon was furious, and rightfully so. The mental preparation he’d tried to do before the meeting was no match for the bomb that got dropped on them all, and then to see this man playing around with his phone like they weren’t even at work? The audacity of him was shocking to Jihoon, but he bit his tongue. Lashing out wasn’t going to change anything. 

 

“The meeting is over, you can go now Mr. Lee,” Mr. Kim informs him. 

 

Jihoon had been so caught up in his anger at the man sitting at the other end of the table that he didn’t realize he still hadn’t made any move to leave the room. Soonyoung, who’d also looked up when Mr. Kim spoke, catches Jihoon mid-glare. The eyebrow raise and smirk that Jihoon gets in response is infuriating.

 

Sure, they’d only just met, but Jihoon could already tell how much he was going to hate Kwon Soonyoung.