Chereads / Bad Business: A Kickstarting Career / Chapter 10 - CHAPTER 9 : The Woman in White

Chapter 10 - CHAPTER 9 : The Woman in White

As Higuchi gave Akito a tour of the office, showing him the various rooms and introducing him to his colleagues, Akito couldn't help but feel grateful for finally landing a job, even if it was less than ideal. The promise of a promotion, however, gave him a glimmer of hope and motivation to work hard and climb the ranks.

Curious, Akito slowed down his pace and pretended to tie his shoelace, eavesdropping on their conversation. "Yeah, what's wrong with him?" his friend responded with a raised eyebrow as he sipped his coffee.

Curious, Akito slowed down his pace and pretended to tie his shoelace, eavesdropping on their conversation. "Yeah, what's wrong with him?" his friend responded with a raised eyebrow as he sipped his coffee.

"I heard that he saved Sang-Hyun's kid and that he's good with Taekwondo. What do you think?" the first man replied, a note of admiration in his voice.

His friend chuckled dismissively. "Good? Pfft, listen man. I know someone who's even more talented when it comes to Taekwondo, and that's Yuzu from the Sales Team."

Akito's ears perked up at the mention of his martial art. He had been practicing Taekwondo since he was a kid and was always looking for opportunities to hone his skills. "Are they talking about me?" he thought to himself, a smile of excitement creeping up his face.

As the two businessmen walked away, Akito couldn't help but feel curious about this Yuzu character. "A talented user of the Taekwondo Arts," he mused to himself, his mind racing with possibilities.

Perhaps he could challenge Yuzu to a friendly sparring match and see who was truly the more skilled practitioner. The thought of a worthy opponent filled him with a sense of excitement and purpose, and he walked away with a newfound confidence.

"Hey, you listenin'?" Higuchi asked, noticing that Akito's mind seemed to be wandering.

Akito jolted back to reality and quickly responded, "Oh, yeah. I'm listening."

"All right, tell me what I just said?" Higuchi quizzed Akito, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Akito hesitated for a moment, feeling embarrassed that he had been caught not paying attention. "Well, um... all right, fine. I was thinking about something, sorry," he admitted, feeling flustered.

Higuchi let out a sigh and repeated what he had just said, "All right, what I was just saying is... you need to place a 'Wet Floor' sign whenever you're mopping. It's the most important thing in this job. Secondly, do not spray chemicals on the vents. You're not that stupid, right?"

"O-oh, yeah, of course," Akito replied, feeling relieved that he had managed to remember what Higuchi had said.

Higuchi could tell that Akito was feeling nervous, so he decided to offer some words of encouragement. "Don't worry, Akito. It's your first day, and I know there's a lot to take in. Just take it one step at a time, and you'll do great."

"Thanks, Higuchi. I really appreciate it," Akito said, feeling grateful for the reassurance.

Higuchi smiled and patted Akito on the back before walking away towards the break room. "Good luck on your first day, Akito," he called out over his shoulder.

"All right, now what?" Akito thought to himself, trying to think what he should do as if he was contributing and helping the environment.

Akito carefully approached the first trashcan, noticing how full it was with garbage bags. He let out a deep sigh and muttered to himself, "Here we go."

He reached down and grabbed the first bag, making sure to grip it tightly so that none of the garbage spilled out. As he lifted it up, he felt its weight and struggled a bit to keep it steady.

"Ugh, this is heavy," he grunted, struggling to maintain his grip.

He slowly made his way over to the garbage bin outside, taking careful steps to ensure that he didn't trip or spill any of the garbage. As he reached the bin, he carefully set the bag down and let out a breath of relief.

"Okay, one down, a few more to go," he thought to himself as he made his way back to the trashcan.

As he continued to pick up the bags, he noticed a few that had started to leak or tear. He carefully maneuvered them so that the garbage stayed inside and didn't spill onto the ground.

"Phew, that was a close one," he said with a smile of satisfaction as he successfully deposited another bag into the garbage bin.

Akito was focused on completing his tasks for the day when he reached for the last garbage bag in the trashcan. Unfortunately, everything under the bag ripped and spilled all over the polished white floor, dirtying everything around him.

A woman wearing a white t-shirt and a blue cap passed by and got splattered with garbage juices. She looked at Akito in annoyance and exclaimed, "What the hell, man?!"

Akito's eyes widened in panic as he rushed toward her to help clean her up. "I'm sorry, my bad!" he said apologetically, trying to clean the debris off her shirt with a napkin.

"I just bought this shirt today, and now it's ruined because of you!" the woman sighed in frustration. She looked at Akito closely and noticed his uniform. "Oh, you must be the new guy," she said, with a hint of disdain.

Akito nodded, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. "Yes, I am. I'm still learning the ropes," he said, hoping to diffuse the situation.

"Clearly, you have a lot to learn," the woman retorted, her tone still condescending. Akito felt a bit offended by her words, but he tried to keep his cool.

He observed the woman closely and noticed her striking blue eyes. As their eyes met, his heart skipped a beat, and he felt a flutter of nervousness in his stomach.

The woman seemed to notice his reaction and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I suppose I should introduce myself to you, little Newbie," she said, her voice still dripping with condescension. "I'm Yuzu."

Akito's eyes widened with surprise at the woman's introduction. "Y-Yuzu?! I didn't expect her to be a girl!" he thought to himself. He had imagined someone much older and intimidating, but Yuzu was a young woman with a commanding presence.

As he tried to gather his thoughts, Yuzu interrupted his train of thought. "What? I got garbage on my face?" she asked, touching her face gently.

Akito quickly realized he had been staring and was embarrassed. "No, no, not at all. Sorry." he stammered, trying to recover his composure.

( Author Note : Uploads will maybe slow down since I have exams and alot of things to do on school, sorry but I will try my best to catch up with my upload schedule a.k.a Monday, Wednesday, Friday! )