Jinsol came out of her office ten minutes later, eyes still boring into Jiwoo as if she would pounce on her at any moment, but instead, she motioned for her to come inside. Jiwoo threw Sooyoung a last pleading look before following the other woman inside.
By the time she made it in, Jinsol leaned back against her desk. Still staring daggers at her, she pointed to one of the chairs. At least HAneul was in the room to assuage some of her worries about her potential murder.
Finally, her new boss let out a sigh and massaged her temples. It was obvious to all that she wasn't happy about whatever would happen next. She reached for the giant folder lying beside her and handed it to Jiwoo.
"You'll find the minimum of what you need to know to do your job in that folder. I want you to have it memorized by tonight. You're on a one-month trial period, and I expect a flawless job from you, nothing less."
Jiwoo nodded her head. She could see at the grimace on her face that she wasn't doing it from the kindness of her heart. She could tell just by how she spoke to her that this would be a difficult gig. It was only the second time they met, but Jinsol already hated her guts. A sentiment they at least shared.
She was almost convinced that the woman was trying to scare her off. But the girl wasn't one to back off easily. She promised herself not to give up under any circumstances. "Your workplace would be the desk in front of my office. Good, now, I'd like you to send my coat to the dry cleaners and bring me a new cup of coffee since you spilled the last one. You have fifteen minutes." Jiwoo already regretted her words.
Jinsol gave her her coat and told her where she was to take it. The laundry was six blocks away. Carrying it with her, Jiwoo hurried out of the room. She could faintly hear Haneul scolding Jinsol as the door closed behind her. It was meager consolation for the redhead.
She noticed the desk on her way out and placed the folder on top of it. The place had begun to fill up. There were more people than when he arrived. Sooyoung, who still stood where she'd left her, noticing that she was no longer held captive inside the other woman's office, approached Jiwoo.
"How did it go in there?" Jiwoo could see that Sooyoung was worried about her. And that fact didn't leave her indifferent. She could only let out a sigh as an answer. She would have loved to just stay with her and complain all about how awful Jinsol was, but she still had a mission to fulfill. And something told her that Jinsol would only use her being late as an excuse to terrorize her even more.
Jiwoo promised she'd tell Sooyoung all about it as she hurried out of the premises.
The first thing in order was to bring the coat to the dry cleaner. Jiwoo basically ran to the place. What a scene must it have been for the poor receptionist. It isn't every day that you witness someone burst through your shop panting while attempting to speak incomprehensively. The woman looked scared of her. Nonetheless, Jiwoo was given a receipt and jetton to return later.
She still had a coffee to look for. She headed to the nearest coffee shop. Thankfully, the line was short, and it soon was her turn to order. Only then did Jiwoo realize two crucial things: one, she had no idea what kind of drink her boss liked, and two, Jinsol hadn't handed her any money.
Was she supposed to pay for it with her own money? The barista looked at her expectedly while the redhead was having a mental breakdown. In the end, she settled on something she thought would suit her boss the most: an extra-tight black coffee without sugar.
Jiwoo herself didn't like coffee. On the off chance she had a cup, it would always be drowned in milk. Her friend would ask her why she worked in a coffee, to begin with, if things like the smell were enough to bother her. But she did enjoy serving people, and the ones she worked at tended to pay well.
But she knew that there was a very peculiar kind of client that ordered thigh-black coffee. A lot of them were the type to see themselves above adding flavor or milk. Jinsol strikes her as exactly that type of individual.
Thinking about it, Jiwoo realized Jinsol hadn't mentioned her cracked phone. Perhaps she had yet to notice? Regardless, Jiwoo wasn't going to complain.
After paying for the drink, Jiwoo sprinted to the magazine's office. She literally ran to Jinsol's office, not bothering to knock before entering. Jinsol was in the middle of a conversation when she abruptly placed the cup of coffee on her desk.
"Here's...Your.....coffee." Jiwoo was out of breath. She was starting to regret passing out on that gym membership Gayeon had offered her.
Jinsol's look still held some animosity. The older woman checked her watch. "You're 5 minutes late." She didn't even thank her. Jinsol brought the still-steaming cup of coffee to her lip. No sooner had the liquid touched her tongue than Jinsol was spitting it out.
Haneul couldn't contain a little laugh. Even Jiwoo found the situation quite amusing. Jinsol did not seem to agree with them. "What the heck is this?"
Seeing her struggle so much with the beverage made Jiwoo's day. But not wanting to let that on, she put on her most innocent face and spoke in an oblivious tone. "This is the coffee you asked for. Extra tight black coffee. Since you didn't give me any directive, I thought this was how you liked it. Is it not to your convenience?"
Jinsol stared at her. Jiwoo was pretty sure that if it hadn't been for Haneul's presence, she probably would have been dead by now. However, she quickly recovered her composure. "No, it's fine. You can leave now."
Jiwoo wanted nothing more than to leave that room, but something popped into her mind. "Uhm, what about the coffee? I mean, I bought it with my own money so-"
A mischievous smile settled on her boss' lips. Jiwoo didn't like it. Jinsol leaned comfortably in her chair before looking at the redhead from top to bottom. "Well, see this as a meager compensation for the damage caused earlier."
Jiwoo wished she could have erased that smile from those lips. Unfortunately, attacking her boss on her first day didn't quite seem like a good idea, no matter how much she wanted to. Especially if she wanted to keep her brand new job.
So, the young woman swallowed her pride and walked out of the office. She could feel Jinsol's satisfied look on her. It was only once out of the place that she released the pressure on her fists. Jiwoo searched for a sign of Sooyoung but couldn't find her friend anywhere.
Dejected, she plopped down at her desk and begrudgingly opened the folder. There were at least 500 pages filled with information about HM&E, Atypical, a description of her work, Jinsol's schedules, and some mild information about her. Only the essential. Nothing about possible hobbies, pets, or favorite food. The redhead sighed. It promised to be a very long day.