"How did the intern interview go, Manager?" 

"Terrible," Chou Tzuyu grumbled, running an exasperated hand through her hair, slowing her power-walk just enough for her business planning staff, Park Jihyo, to fall into step beside her as they both headed to their respective office corners.

It was safe to say that Jihyo's curiosity was more than a little piqued right then. For as long as she'd been working with (and more recently, for —but that one's a long story) Tzuyu, she could count with one hand the number of times she'd seen the girl this worked up. She knew better than to ask outright, though; she had a feeling the younger woman was already seconds away from bursting and divulging the details, herself.

And once the general manager plopped heavily on her desk chair, carelessly threw her clipboard, sending it skidding across the table, and let out a long, exhausted sigh, Jihyo knew she was right.

"One applicant was a total neat freak, the other was way too obsessed with handling artists, and the last one—" Tzuyu's sharp exhale and flared nostrils did not go unnoticed by her junior staff, (This must be the one that set her off , she thought to herself.) "The last one had the nerve to say she was a daughter of Tdoong Entertainment's CEO. Good thing Director Myoui and the other managers saw through that lie a mile away."

Jihyo blinked as she stood by, rewinding Tzuyu’s words in her head to see if she’d counted wrongly. “Wait, there were four applicants, though, right?”

“Mmm, right, right,” Tzuyu mumbled, massaging a budding ache in her temple. “We did hire one, she was the most normal of all of them. I think it was your friend, actually. Im Nayeon, right?”

Her assistant let out a relieved breath. “Yes, that’s her. I’m surprised you remember me mentioning it, though,” Jihyo added. “You don’t usually pay attention to the things I say when it’s work-related.”

She knew she was poking the bear, so to speak, but she couldn’t help it. As if Tzuyu’s recent promotion from being Jihyo’s underling to being her boss wasn’t enough, she didn’t seem to mind dumping her own workload onto the shorter girl’s every so often, telling her “You know a lot more about this than I do,” with a cheeky smile and using her damn puppy-dog eyes to her advantage every single time. And Jihyo, for her part, could never say no every single time.

Seemingly reading her mind, Tzuyu tilted her head to one side and didn’t bother hiding the teasing smirk forming on her lips. “That’s why I have you to do that for me, don’t I, Jihyo-ssi? Anyway, I’ve given the intern her first job.”

“And that is?”

“Flowers for Park Jihyo sunbae!” a loud voice cut through the normalcy of the afternoon, its owner weaving through the cubicles, carefully clutching a large bouquet of expensive flowers over her head.

“Wow, that’s the third one this week, Jihyo-nim!” Hirai Momo, the A&R department staff, exclaimed from a couple of rows away. 

“Aww, you’re so lucky!” Minatozaki Sana, the marketing staff, gushed with a wide smile and sparkles in her eyes. 

“This looks like it costs a fortune!” Kim Dahyun, Sana’s manager, commented, standing up to see the bouquet better. “Whoever gives you these things must have a lot of money to burn.”

“Yah, Im Nayeon, why did you have to announce it like that?” Jihyo said in a hushed yell, pulling the intern by the arm towards her and Tzuyu’s row of tables, leaving the others to gossip yet again about who her secret flower sender could possibly be. “And I’ll take that, thanks.” 

“Yah! Park Jihyo! Aren’t you going to congratulate me for getting in?” Nayeon answered, folding her hands in front of her chest and jutting her bottom lip out in a little pout that made her look (ridiculously) young for her age, if you asked Jihyo.

“Yeah, yeah, congrats, Nabongs, you made it,” the other girl said offhandedly, making a mental note to put the flowers into a vase when she got home. “You can celebrate later. You have your work cut out for you.” She took a seat in front of her desk, powered her computer up, and muttered glumly, “Or at least, I do.”

She heard Tzuyu clear a little from her own desk. “Speaking of work, I’m going to start teaching the intern the ropes. We should start with an office tour.”

Nayeon nodded eagerly. “Sounds good, General Manager!”

“Can you take care of things here in the meantime, Jihyo-ssi?”

“I always take care of things around here anyway.”

“Sorry, what was that?”

“Nothing! Go ahead, Manager! Leave this to me,” Jihyo said hastily, letting out a nervous chuckle and staring pointedly at her computer screen.

Tzuyu kept her eyes on Jihyo and regarded her with a stoic expression, as if daring her assistant to look her in the eye and repeat what she’d said earlier (which the manager had actually heard perf