Shit. "Um...well, I just..." God, she was so dumb.
"You may go home, Hwang Minji. You've worked hard enough, you're free to leave now. However, I will not change my mind- your friends will be removed from the committee." He shook his head, walking away to his desk at the front of the class.
Feeling defeated and exhausted, she obeyed. Minji pulled herself together and stepped out of the class, pondering how she was going to tell her friends the bad news.
And dreading their imminent reactions.
------------
The drive home was as miserable as could be. She couldn't stop thinking about how she accidentally snitched on her friends. It felt like a dream; It all went so fast, she couldn't process it.
"God, I'm so dumb!" She mentally kicked herself, gripping her car wheel tightly. It was a wonder she didn't swerve her Porsche right off the road by how absentminded she was being in that moment.
Soon, she finally made it to the multi-storied apartment complex where she lived. Parking her car in the reserved parking lot, she dragged her exhausted self through the complex's entrance, right after scanning her card on the security lock. The doormen, security guards and concierge all greeted her warmly but she just smiled in response, too tired to talk. She dragged herself into an elevator, tapping on the correct button to her floor. Suddenly, elevator music filled the air. People typically hate elevator music, but Minji welcomed it- it was soothing to her ears. The elevator halted with a ping and she dragged her self out. Going down her floor's hall, she finally reached her apartment suite. Scanning her card and tapping a code into the keypad on her door, she kicked it open and dragged herself into her home sweet home.
Faceplanting into her bed, she kicked of her Red-bottom heels and clapped her hands for the bedroom lights to go off. Sighing, she let the sounds of traffic going on outside her window lull her to sleep and...
Riiiiing.
What the hell?
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.
Minji groaned. Of course, the universe letting her get some peace and sleep was too good to be true. Reaching for her phone, she answered the call- it was her uncle.
"Hello?" She mumbled.
"Hello dear, how have you been?" He asked. It was definitely her uncle; Minji could recognize that snippy tone anywhere.
"Fine." she gritted. "And you?" It had been literally four months since her uncle and her aunt, Hwang Hyun Ki, and Hwang Jiuen, had bothered calling.
There was a pause. "Perfect darling, absolutely perfect. And the business is going spectacularly, in case you were wondering. Our stocks have never been more successful, all thanks to your aunt's and my supervision...actually, never mind all that. You probably don't get a thing about stocks in that head of yours," He joked, yet there was venom in his tone. As usual.
Minji's uncle and aunt were in control of TitaniumShield Inc, the billion-dollar high-security data protection company her mom had created along with her dad before they died. Though her uncle and aunt were set to take over the business in her parents' will, Minji still had half-ownership and was next in line to be CEO- so they never hesitated to make her feel too inadequate for the position and further exclude her from the company. It really got on Minji's nerves how annoyingly spiteful they both were; she wondered how her mom could stand her siblings when she was alive.
"Anyway," her uncle cleared his throat. "I just wanted to check in on you, see how you're doing. Also, I..."
There was another pause. Jeez, what was his deal?
"I saw the distasteful video of you, all over the internet. I hope you're okay..."
Wait...
"What?" Minji scrunched up her eyebrows. What the hell was he talking about? "Which video, what are you talking about?"
There was a laugh from the other end of the call. Minji instantly knew it belonged to her aunt.
"Oh, you didn't know dear? About the video! Here, I'll text you the online link. It really is unfortunate, isn't it? How people could be so cruel to post something so embarrassing," her aunt purred consolingly. Yet Minji could practically hear her smirking. "But I suppose it wouldn't exist in the first place if you hadn't been so careless and disregarding of our family's image to go out drinking so heavily, now would it?"
Minji's stomach churned while her heart dropped. "W-what..."
"You know, you don't sound too good dear. This is probably a lot to take in! So will you be able to make it for the shareholders meeting on Friday? I wouldn't want to overwhelm you further...maybe you shouldn't come," her uncle suggested. "Let uncle and aunty handle all this boring stuff just as usual; we have it all under control. You just kick back, relax and have fun...maybe go out partying again!"
Minji's tongue felt heavy. How she managed a response was nothing short of a miracle. "I am in line to be CEO, I have to show up to that meeting. It's also my duty to be involved in our company," she gritted out. "I won't let my parents down,"
"You are right sweetie; it is your duty as the next in line to be CEO!" her aunt cooed. "After their passing, you've had so much duty placed on your young incompetent shoulders. But thankfully we're here to carry most of the load for you, right? I mean, where would you and the company be without us? Probably bankrupt. You poor thing,"
Minji gritted her teeth. "Aunty and uncle, thank you for all you've done for my parents' company- but I will be showing up to the shareholders meeting. Nothing will stop me from going, not even my personal... 'issues'."
"Well then..." her aunt started, sounding disappointed. "If you insist. Anyway, goodnight. Try not to think about that simply shameful video."
After they cut the call, Minji swiped over to her text messages and had never tapped on a link to a video so fast. Up popped the site and she gulped, dreading what she was about to see.
"Oh god, oh god-"
She tapped the video's play button and watched her own self appear on her screen, in a dimly lit expensive-looking room surrounded by a crowd. Someone had filmed what had happened at the party last night. There was a loud bang sound and she screamed. A guy...no... Mr.Butt-grabber from the other night tried to calm her down.
Then she threw up all over him. He looked absolutely stricken, just before she did it a second time; all over the front of his leather jacket, again.
There was laughter and chatter from the crowd around them.
"Oh god...oh god!" It was even worse than she expected. How could she have been so stupid and careless in public? Especially with her family's reputation on the line?
She checked the video's view count and nearly passed out- it was already past two million views.
Once the video ended, she realized she was shaking. Tears were already pooling in her eyes. So of course there was nothing else to do but curl up in a ball on her bed and cry her self to sleep.