hole-and-corner

Chapter 1. An End to her Mundane Daily Life

The girl stood along a busy street on a definitely busy time of the day. People are walking around, bumping into each other occasionally, yet they proceeded walking at their own pace going to their separate destinations. All of a sudden, she felt lost in her sea of thoughts. The noise on the street slowly subsided, at least on her ears, as the chattering around her suddenly sounded like waves -- small waves softly clashing into the rocks. When she was younger, she used to often sneak into the nearby seaside, walking along the shore and watching the footprints get washed away by the waves amused her, making her remember that everything on this world is transient…

As if waking up from a dream in broad daylight, she was startled when someone lightly bumped into her. The person apologized because for not looking and so she did, as she was clearly standing on the way. It wasn't a rare occasion when she suddenly thinks about her younger days on her hometown. She missed her old home in China, her friends back there and, of course, her parents. She knew that things wouldn't go back to the way it was before but sometimes she just feels this sudden rush of nostalgia and it's not like she didn't like remembering it, but it surely makes her feel a bit lonely every time... and today is not the right time to feel like that.

Gathering her thoughts back, Handong took a deep breath as she stared at the exterior of the building. Finally, she took her first step, and another, and another… until the weight on her feet felt a bit lighter with each step. Feeling nervous on her first day at work is normal, but she wants to look confident in front of her new colleagues. It was as if a switch got triggered when she appeared in front of the reception desk, her smile automatically appeared and the receptionist asked her a few questions and gave her the guidelines for the new employee orientation.

Studio Polaris. The name has a nice ring to it. It was a fairly new digital advertising company but it doesn't matter that much to Handong. She wanted to work as soon as possible and there is this fierce competition when applying to bigger companies and being someone from a different race isn't really considered an advantage plus she graduated from a small university in the suburbs which clearly gives the other applicants a better shot on more well-known, established companies. Surely, working on a smaller company would help hone her skills as the whole company has just been beginning to grow, along with its workers.

She arrived at the orientation room shortly and there were already around thirteen people waiting in the room. She sat beside a purple-haired girl which immediately gave her a bright smile as soon as she got seated. The girl handed out her hand for a handshake and cheerfully said, "Hi there! I'm Lee Gahyeon!"

She lightly shook the other's hand and gave a slightly awkward smile while saying her name. "I'm Han Dong. Pleased to meet you-"

Their conversation was then interrupted when the facilitator greeted the newbies and started speaking, marking the start of the orientation. Handong was seriously paying attention to the speaker while Gahyeon was trying her best to stop herself from yawning. Her eyes looked droopy as if it would totally close in a second or two. Handong held back a chuckle when she saw this but then immediately went back into focusing on the speaker.

The orientation finally ended after a few more hours of Gahyeon trying her best not to fall asleep. Finally, letting out an uninterrupted yawn, she stretched out her arms and stood up, heading towards the door when suddenly two ladies entered the conference room. Gahyeon stopped on her tracks and had her eyes fixed on the black-haired woman who just entered the room. She had this bright smile on her face as she roamed her eyes around the room. She also has this kind of commanding aura that, without even saying a word, everyone in the room automatically settled back on their seats. Walking behind her was a shorter girl with mid-length dark brown hair. Contrary to the taller girl, she had this stern face and her sharp eyes surveyed the room quickly.

The tall girl stood in the front and started speaking, introducing herself as Kim Minji, the CEO of the company, and welcomed the employees warmly. She then handed the microphone to her subordinate which she introduced as her assistant. The assistant took t