A couple of days passed and Min-jae's new online friend never came back online. Min-jae had finally reached level 30. He was just over halfway to maximum level. He'd completed many dungeons, many quests and obtained somewhat acceptable gear to be allowed entry to parties.
Being a DPS, it was a struggle to get into most parties so it could take him hours to get into a group for a specific dungeon.
His friend never came back online after that fateful day, so he's now outlevelled him. He wondered for a moment if the guy on the other side was alive or if he quit.
But for now, Min-jae stood up from his desk and stretched. He was due back at work tomorrow after taking sick leave. Anxiety started welling up in his chest, forming a pool of dread. He couldn't imagine what sort of projects were stacked up awaiting him to fail. His cold had finally started to subside, but the headache and throat pain still remained.
He glanced at the small trash can next to his desk. It was full of mostly used tissues, ready meals and fast food delivered over the past week. It was about time for him to go outside, get some fresh air and stock up on supplies. He was starting to feel a bit depressed from staying inside and eating nothing but unhealthy food.
He locked his desktop and slipped on his coat. 'The snow's almost melted,' he noted as he stepped outside of the building. Only a thin layer of snow littered with footsteps coated the pavement. Min-jae's bare hands were dug into his pockets.
Automatic doors slid open and Min-jae stepped through. He grabbed a basket and threw in multiple packs of ramyeon and ready meals.
"Is that what you eat every day?" A judgemental voice sounded behind him.
Min-jae jumped out of his skin and dropped a packet of cone-shaped corn snacks. Whipped around quickly, Min-jae came face to face with Jun-ho whose face held a disapproving look. He looked even more sleep deprived than normal.
Min-jae's hand awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Ah yeah, cheap snacks is all I need to keep going." His tongue slipped and he stammered for a moment. "G-good evening boss." He forgot to be polite.
His boss was in a full length coat, with a black scarf
"Good evening. Have you recovered?" Min-jae noticed he glanced at his arm while he spoke. Jun-ho's eyes sharpened when he saw the bandage had been removed, and a few sniffles escaped Min-jae during the conversation.
"Yes, sir." He tried to dodge Jun-ho's gaze.
"You're obviously not taking care of yourself, eat well." He put some vegetables and some cold medicine in Min-jae's basket. It was obvious that Min-jae had lost weight. He was already quite thin, a bit more so than the average male of his age and height. But he wasn't skin and bones.
They went to checkout, Min-jae first who stood to the side and waited for his supervisor to finish. They made small talk, mostly about how busy work has been and if Min-jae was well enough to return to work. When leaving the store, Jun-ho looked like he had words lingering on his lips.
"Oi – Min~" They were both interrupted by a new hollering as another tall man approached.
"Min?" Jun-ho mimicked, he was equally as surprised as Min-jae whose face twisted.
He forced a smile and lifted a hand in a polite wave, the mask of courtesy barely hiding his unease. His facade wavered.
"Jung Dae-hyun," Min-jae said flatly.
Jung Dae-hyun is a tall man, not quite taller than Jun-ho, but certainly towering over Min-jae. Dae-hyun has dark red hair, long but tied up at the back in a half-up/half-down style.
"You don't need to be so polite, Min," He wrapped an arm around his shoulder and putting him in a half-assed, playful headlock. "You know what to call me."
Jun-ho watched without intervention but he could see that his subordinate looked uncomfortable. It wasn't his place to get involved, and he was curious to see what would happen.
Min-jae was starting to get impatient and tried to pry Dae-hyun's hands off him, but the grip tightened.
"Ack- H-hyung… please," his words were choked out. From an onlooker's perspective, it looked like two playful lads who hadn't seen each other in a while.
And that's only half right.
"That's better," Dae-hyun was beaming and laughing like a child and let go. "Did you miss me?"
Min-jae kept his eyes averted from both males in his circle. He didn't humour him with a response and his false smile faltered for a moment.
"I'm Lee Jun-ho," the supervisor introduced himself to break the awkward tension. "I'm his boss." He pointed to Min-jae who was still recovering from being almost strangled.
From Jun-ho's perspective, it looked like Dae-hyun hadn't even clocked onto the fact that he was stood there. It was as if Min-jae was all-consuming, and only his attention was focused on him.
"So you also work at BYC Publishing? I actually start working there tomorrow as the new Project Manager. I look forward to working with you."
"Ah, yes," Jun-ho politely returned. So this guy was going to be working with them from now on? He supposed that's why he showed up now, it wasn't difficult to figure out that he's probably moved to the area.
"I've heard a lot about the capable workers at the company, and all of the upcoming work during the busy period…" his words trailed off in Min-jae's mind. A dull buzzing could be heard instead as he zoned out.
"Wait so-" Min-jae was about to start, interrupting him.
"Yes, Min, that means from tomorrow I'm also going to be your boss. But don't worry, I'll still let you call me hyung outside of work." The wink that Dae-hyun sent to Min-jae gave him chills. He internally freaked out.
'What the hell is wrong with this guy?'
"How do you two know each other?" Jun-ho asked.
Dae-hyun simply smiled. He put another hand resting on Min-jae's shoulder and turned to lock eyes with him to prompt a response. If Min-jae didn't say something, he definitely would.
"He was my upperclassman at university. He used to tutor me, privately…" Min-jae blurted out that last bit.
"Tutor you?" Jun-ho thought for a moment. "He didn't do very well." Well, his kindness was short-lived. There it goes. Another word dagger, right into his heart and his pride.
"I apologise for any trouble Min has caused." There it was, 'Min' again. That nickname made Min-jae feel sick to his stomach. His chest felt heavy and tight every time that name leaves Dae-hyun.
Dae-hyun bowed apologetically, but it was obvious that it wasn't sincere.
"Starting from tomorrow, I promise to do a better job with him." The hand on Min-jae's shoulder tightened, each finger pressing in like hidden claws. He bit down on his lip, forcing a strained smile to smother the flinch. He fought against his instinct to flinch.
"It's getting late, let me walk you home Min-jae."
Jun-ho saw Dae-hyun whisper something else into his subordinate's ear.
Panic rose in his chest. "No, thank you. I'll be leaving now." Min-jae pulled his shoulder free from the death grip and quickly shuffled home. That was close.
Min-jae had already left the scene, he isn't sure what happened between his boss and Dae-hyun after that but surely it would've just been awkward goodbyes. He almost ran away, but didn't want to raise suspicion. He couldn't get very far without needing to stop for a breath; it was cold and he hadn't fully recovered yet.
He'd finally arrived home. His shoulder hurt, but after checking it, there were no cuts. It was too early to tell, but it's likely that it would bruise.
All his food was stored away in their appropriate place. He'd taken cold medication and a couple of minutes to sit down and breathe. He was going to be fine. He was older and different now, same with Dae-hyun. Working together would be fine. It could even be fun?
Min-jae has been told over and over again that he tends to overreact in certain situations. He has problems with anxiety and his fight or flight response is triggered at nearly every problem.
Although, now he felt a bit drowsy. Was it the medicine?
…
An alarm blared in the distance, getting closer and closer. Min-jae's eyes opened with resistance. Grunting, he rolled over to reach his alarm clock… attempt 1: missed. Attempt 2: success.
He enjoyed a moment of peace.
But it didn't last long when he remembered he was back at work today. He had to make himself look somewhat presentable and after looking at himself in the mirror, he wasn't doing a great job of that so far. After a quick shower and some form of maintenance on his hair (that felt almost matted), he was halfway there.
Buttoning up his shirt, he paused as he reached the top few buttons. The bruises on his shoulder stood strong. They were a fresh red, each one marking where his superior had touched. He pressed a finger to the bruise and his face turned pale. It was a fresh reminder of the pain he'd caused him, old wounds coming back with each splash of red.
He finished getting ready, suited up in his standard white shirt, but today decided on grey pants with a brown belt, rather than his usual black. It was unclear whether the cold medicine had worked or not, but he was starting to feel better. However, the pounding in his head was persistent.
He glanced at his clock. 'The new project manager will be starting today.' He thought for a moment that maybe he should start looking for a new job, but he wasn't sure he could handle the financial stress at the moment.
Min-jae didn't even realise, he was already outside of work. Time moved too quickly today, it was even more evident as he was thirty minutes early. The snow had melted away and the only reminder of the cold weather was the slight chill that brushed past his cheeks and lingering puddles near drains.
His standard ritual for going to work was to take a deep breath, walk in, and breathe out.
"Could you at least pretend to care about this job?" A voice behind him made him almost choke on his own breath. He flinched.
Lee Jun-ho walked past him at a brisk pace, brushing against his shoulder.
"Good morning! Uh-" He trailed off seeing Jun-ho walk away, a hand waved while he walked as if to calm his peer.
It wasn't the first face he was hoping to see today, but it still wasn't the worst.
He shuffled inside and set his bag down, removed his coat and the scarf he found that miraculously turned up on the couch. It was a gift from an old friend, he felt bad for misplacing it so often.
Looks like his deskmate Cha Dae-won hadn't arrived yet.
Setting himself down at his position, there was a stack of papers on his desk along with a sticky note on top.
"Choi Manuscript. Scan and send it back today. All the heavy lifting is done."
Underneath that was another bunch of papers with its own note. Then under that was another… and another…
Well, that was his week sorted for him. He reached over the large stack to reach his mouse and keyboard. He wanted to quickly check his emails before he could start the day, reply to his colleagues, clients and any relevant vendors. Before any sort of shitstorm kicks off, he needed to apologise for his absence and deal with everything swiftly.
"You know, it's easier if you actually did the work first instead of working around it." His boss came back into view. "Starting today, I'm sitting in Mr. Cha's spot to supervise you further. You've missed three deadlines, and have a stack of work to catch up on. I expect you to stay behind every day this week to catch up on it."
There was no hint of concern in his voice. Jun-ho picked up the stack that Min-jae was clambering over.
"Do your eyes not work or do I need to show you how to scan?"
That remark earned a few laughs from unnamed voices in the office.
"I'll get on it now, boss." Min-jae's cheeks were flush red from embarrassment. Stumbling to the scanner, he grabbed the top batch of work and ran it through the feeder. As he waited for it to finish, another body walked through the door. Not the office entrance, of course, but the door that splits the building and separates the workers from the more administrative workers.
The new arrival had a familiar dark red hair that made Min-jae stiffen. It was as if his entire body just locked up. Entering the room with him was one of the HR representatives, a blonde woman who emigrated from… somewhere in Scandinavia. Min-jae couldn't quite remember exactly.
They were laughing together, she was clearly smitten with his performance.
"Good morning," Dae-hyun, his new colleague and one of his supervisors, had an annoyingly chipper look on his face. He gave a short bow, then stole a glance at Min-jae.
The scanner had finished. Min-jae picked up his scans, perked up and gave a short bow in return. "Good morning," he greeted in return.
Dae-hyun turned to look at the rest of the team when Lee Jun-ho stood up to introduce the newcomer.
"Ah, you finally showed up." There it was – the pissy, angry response. The condescension. Weirdly enough, Min-jae felt more at ease when he wasn't the target of abuse. "Listen up, everyone. Please welcome our new Project Manager, Jung Dae-hyun. He's here on contract for six months for consultation work."
A sea of humble greetings and fake pleasantries were exchanged to greet the supervisor. Min-jae, now sat back at his desk, immersed himself in his work while everyone else made small talk with the distraction of the office. Jun-ho followed suit and tried to discuss the stack of work with his subordinate. He noticed Min-jae flinching at every word he spoke.
It annoyed him, really. Any time Jun-ho tried to have a work discussion with Min-jae, he would always close himself off and zone out. He was spineless, always distracted and could never ask for help.
"Are you listening?" Jun-ho barked. "I know your friend is here now, but you still work at the company and you need to focus up. You missed a lot of work last week and I worked tirelessly to correct your mistakes. Do you know how many pissed off calls I took because of you?"
"Wow, is that how you talk to your team? No wonder Min looks terrified of you," the red-haired blur came into focus.
There was faint chattering in the background as he sounded out "Min." Gossip.
"Go easy on him." Dae-hyun's words sounded somewhat threatening whilst sporting a bright beam on his face. Dae-hyun was of the same rank as Jun-ho, so he was able to drop some of the polite language. "He's fresh."
"Nepotism?" One of the words heard from his colleagues. "Favouritism," was another word that could be heard amongst the whispers. He couldn't help but feel shame. None of it was true.