“WHAT?! He does that to every female employee? And nobody could do anything about it?” I stared at Hyori in disbelief.

“Yup, especially young, innocent ones. He is after all the Managing Director’s brother in law. No one dares to tell Mr Kim about his misbehaviours.” Hyori spooned more bibimbap into added. “And mind you, he owns some shares in this company. He is one of the untouchables, other than Mr Kim, and his wife.”

“I’m not going to stay quiet for sure if he crosses my limits.” I stirred my bowl of rice aggressively.

“Woo, your rice is spilling out.” Hyori cautioned. “Look, I know it is unacceptable. Take my advice; as long as he doesn’t do anything drastic, just continue to do your work like a good employee should. There’s no point in blowing matters up and becoming famous in the office for the wrong reason.”

I was about to argue about when would it be appropriate to consider his actions as ‘DRASTIC’ when Hyori cut in, “Are you going to the year-end party this Friday?”

My mood suddenly changed for the better at the mention of a party. “Year-end party? No one has told me about it yet. Are you going?”

“Of course I am. I am asked to perform a song item tomorrow.”

“ Wow! You are a multi talented beauty!”

“Shussh..I am blushing. You will be there to give me your support, won’t you?”

“Sure, I’ll make a big poster with neon lights shouting ‘HYORI’ to prove that I am your number one fan”

“Little girl! Don’t do that! I’ll be too embarrassed to go up the stage!” she smacked my hand and we burst into laughter.

We continued to have a light hearted conversation throughout lunch, chatting about everything under the sun. By the time we went back to work, we felt like we had been friends for a decade and we agreed to meet for lunch again tomorrow.

* * * * * *

“Hi!” A young man in his early twenties suddenly stopped me in my tracks as I was making my way to the restroom. “Heard that you are the newest addition to our department. By the way, I’m Geun Suk, Jang Geun Suk”.

I looked at this man with baby soft skin and attractive facial features..another good looker! This organization seemed more like a modeling agency than an audit firm!  

“Hello, do you understand Korean?” he chided seeing that I looked stunned.

Clearing my throat, I managed to croak, ”Hi. I’m Jung So Min.”

“First job?” he tilted his head to the right as he leaned his elbow against the wall, blocking my path.

“Yes.”

“It’s nice to meet you. Is there anything about this company or about your job that you need help on?” he offered.

“No, not at the moment. Thanks. Do you happen to be my buddy?” I quizzed.

He let out a soft chuckle, “Even if I am not, I am still most willing to help you. Your buddy is now doing an overseas audit in Malaysia. He should be back the day after. In the meantime, I’ll be at your service whenever you beckon, Ma’am.”

I became aware of the compelling need for me to proceed to my next destination. “Geun Suk sunbae, it is really nice knowing you. Believe me, I really wish to chat with you longer. But, I need to take my leave now as I have something urgent to attend to.” Instinctively, I lifted his hand that was blocking my path and dashed to the restroom. I overheard him laughing heartily as the door of the restroom closed behind me. I felt immensely ashamed that the call of nature had to bring my first meeting with such an attractive guy to an abrupt and embarassing end. 

* * * * * *

“Somin, you need to consolidate this report to MIC Trading by noon,” Geun Suk shouted over from his desk. Immediately, I opened up the different reports and started to carefully vet through them before collation. For the rest of the week, I was kept busy trying to know who did what around the office, adjusting to the various IT systems and learning bits and pieces about my portfolio. My buddy, who sat directly opposite me, was supposed to return to give proper guidance on Wednesday. But I still had not detected any traces of him yet. Geun Suk sunbae informed me that he was held back due to some complications in Malaysia.

Even though Geun Suk sunbae was rather busy running his own operations, he was a real sweet man to assist me whenever I needed help. There were things that he could not help though as the scope we covered were totally different. But I did appreciate his patience in responding to my queries.  Sensing that I might not have sufficient time to have breakfast at home, since I always arrived in the nick of time, he would get me breakfast every morning. He had attempted to ask me out for lunch a few times but I declined his invitation to meet Hyori.

Upon knowing his attentive actions, Hyori could not help but teased that I had caught an admirer in such a short time frame. But she cautioned that Geun Suk sunbae had earned a reputation of a Casanova in the office, and I should be careful of his advances. I assured Hyori that I was not in the least interested in starting any romance in the workplace but deep inside, I knew that I was slightly swayed by Geun Suk sunbae’s sweetness.  

The week passed meaningfully. Without realizing how fast time flew, Friday was here. Everyone was excited about the year end dinner tonight and the mood in the office had settled into frenzy discussions of what to wear for the night, who will be crowned Ms and Mr ‘Kim & Lee of the year’. I, on the other hand, was more concerned of lagging behind in my work. I wanted to prove my worth to the company quickly but at the rate things were moving, a sense of dissatisfaction was slowly brewing within my petite body. How I wish my buddy would be back soon so that I could receive the proper mentoring. Sigh….