Jinsol sighed at the mountain of paperwork that lay before her. Her days were spent stressing over the fashion week. One more day, that's how much she had before the official opening, and then a whole week of running around, then another few to finalize the publications. It didn't help that this was the time to implement the new changes she'd envisioned, meaning her days were clocked with never-ending meetings with all departments.
She let another sigh, feeling tired just by thinking about it, attracting the attention of the room's other occupants. "Okay, what's with you?"
Jinsol looked up at Haneul, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You've been doing nothing but sighing for the past hour or so. It's distracting."
"You're the one hogging my office. Why are you complaining." Haneul had, for one reason or another, decided that Jinsol's office was the place for her to do her work. At that point, one could think they were co-sharing the place. "Don't you have your own office on the opposite side of the building?" She asked her, taking off her glasses and massaging her temple.
"Yours is more comfortable, " Haneul shouted back, making a show of stretching further on the couch. "By the way, when did you buy a new couch?"
"I had to. The other one was just too uncomfortable." Jinsol picked a document from the pile and started reading.
"So, you're still sleeping in your office. When was the last time you even had a proper meal?" Jinsol looked up from the paper, her ears picking up on her friend's worried tone.
"I know, I know, it's bad for me, but it's just more convenient. Just a few more weeks, and I'll be taking a good rest." She'd been working overtime, not only sleeping at the office but also staying through the weekends. And while Jinsol wasn't one to demand others to sacrifice their free time, seeing how behind on work they all worked, most had to let go of their Saturdays and pull shifts. Jiwoo, thought, had perhaps been the second most overworked person after her. Despite Jinsol's insisting she could stay home, the redhead had been with her at the premises from Monday morning through Sunday night. If Jinsol was there, so would Jiwoo. "Besides, Miss Kim makes sure I get all the needed nutrients, so you don't have to worry about me."
Jinsol regretted the words the second they left her mouth. Somehow, any time Jiwoo was brought up, a sly smirk appeared on Haneul's lips. She furrowed her brows. "What?"
"Nothing." Haneul waved her question off nonchalantly before turning her attention to the window facing the bullpen. "Isn't that Miss Park?"
Hearing the name of her number one hater -this was not an exaggeration to Jinsol- Jinsol turned to where her friend was looking, and sure enough, there stood Miss Park approaching her secretary with a steaming cup of coffee. Jinsol scoffed. "She's been bringing her coffee every day, which is stupid. Miss Kim doesn't even like coffee." As she looked away from the two women back to Haneul, Jinsol found the latter already staring at her. "What?"
"And how would you know Miss Kim's proclivity in drinks?" Her tone was suggesting. Of what? Jinsol wasn't sure. How she know Miss Kim's undying love for hot chocolate and absolute hatred for the bitter beverage? Many Sundays, stuck at the office with a broken coffee machine would reveal that kind of thing about someone. That and Miss Kim mixing up their orders a few times. Jinsol didn't think she'd ever seen her drinking anything but hot choco or the occasional tea from the breakroom.
Jinsol was ready to give Haneul a sarcastic response when a knock at her door was heard. "Come in."
Manager Wang and the bane of her existence, Miss Park, entered the room. Manager Wang took the lead, informing Jinsol that due to a gas leak at one of the venues for tomorrow's event, they had to relocate. Meaning they had to move the preinstalled photography and video equipment and renegotiate the seating arrangement. In other words, Jinsol needed to go there as a representative. She was already standing up, Jacking halfway on, when manager Wang hit her with another bombshell. "Miss Park should come with you."
Jinsol did a one-eighty, looking at manager Wang as if the woman had lost her mind. The older woman continued, undeterred. "Miss Park is head of the editing team. She'll help with renegotiating seats for our editors. Besides, Mr Choi is already at the venue helping coordinate the move." Jinsol looked like she wanted to die then and there, but without a good reason to oppose, she found herself ten minutes later exiting HM&E with Miss PArk in tow.
"We should take my car." Miss Park said, already moving towards her car. The atmosphere between them was already icy, and they hadn't even been trapped in an enclosed space yet. Jinsol sighed, following the taller woman to where she'd parked her vehicle. Jinsol moved to open the back door only to receive a look from the other woman. "I'm not a taxi. Shouldn't you sit at the front, CEO-nim?" Her tone and mannerisms leaked with passive aggressiveness. Jinsol refrained from saying something that would add more fuel to the fire and instead moved towards the passenger side and got in.
The ride to the new venue happened in complete silence. An uncomfortable, icy silence where neither woman seemed happy to be there. They both felt a matching sense of relief when they finally arrived at their destination. Jinsol was out of the car before Miss Park had even killed the ignition, leaving the executive editor to run after her. It was petty. She knew that, but Jinsol couldn't bring herself to care.
They quickly met Choi Myung-Jun and the organizers. From then on it was around exploring the venue and haggling to keep their original number of editors. Miss Park was surprisingly engaging with everyone. Building a report with the hostess and the designers. At least with those they'd secured an interview.
But whenever the two of them would find themselves alone, the air would drop to below zero. It reminded Jinsol of all the times their meeting would end up in a staring contest and the taller women finding something to nitpick about. She always did it with barely restrained animosity but just respectful enough that Jinsol couldn't quite complain about it. "I still have to make sure the cameras are charged properly. You two should head back first." Mr. Choi walked back to the main hall, leaving the two women to make the walk to the elevators.
As they waited for their ride to arrive, Jinsol couldn't but voice some of the frustration she'd been having, not just that day but ever since being put as head of the magazine. "Why do you hate me so much?" She turned to look at the taller woman.
Miss Park kept her gaze forward. "I don't hate you. I just don't like you as a person."
"What does that even mean?" Jinsol furrowed her brow. Wasn't that the same thing?
"I know that for HM&E, Atypical is nothing more than some pet projects or money grab. But for us and our readers, it's more than that." Saying that Miss Park finally turned to face her. "I know that you don't really care about the integrity of what we're doing.
At that point, Jinsol was starting to feel defensive. "What makes you think I don't care about the magazine? Who are you to say what I do or do not care about? Are you a mind reader?"
"No need, your actions speak for itself. You come here and start imposing changes against everything we've worked on. Sometimes, I wonder if you've even read our magazine."
Jinsol thought back to one of the first points of contention between them. She'd laid out a strategy involving departing from their more indie focus and covering more mainstream topics to combat their slow publication schedule. Where Atypical had primarily been a publication specialized in exploring the alternative scene. The whole cover of that year's headliners for the Seoul Fashion Week had been one of those changes implemented by Jinsol. Prior to then, while other magazines would do the expected cover, Atypical focused on the underground fashion world. "But I guess it's to be expected of people like you."
"People like me?"
"Yeah, people born with a golden spoon who think that just because they have money, they can do whatever pleases them. The chairman's daughter takes over and things she knows best. It's obvious you look down on us and our readers."
"I don't look down on anyone." Jinsol insisted.
"Really? Have you ever spent more than a minute getting to know your staff?" Jinsol's lack of response seemed to prove the other woman's point. Miss Park smiled at being proven right. Right at that moment, the elevator reached their floor. Miss Park quickly entered, followed by a musing Jinsol.
Miss Park's analysis and judgment of her character couldn't have been more wrong. Not only that, Jinsol remembered going over the employee's file, and while their family wealth wasn't of the same caliber, Miss Park grew up, by no means, underprivileged. Jinsol eyed her from head to toe, noting the designer clothes and expensive bag she wore, and almost wanted to laugh. "I think one who enjoys wealth shouldn't talk so much shit about others' status."
That elicited a turn of the head in her direction from the other woman. "What?"
Jinsol stared straight back at her. She was reminded of weeks spent going over the magazine's finances, realizing that while on the outside, Atypical seemed flourishing, the magazine had been close to bankruptcy. Getting acquired by HM&E ultimately saved a good thirty employees from unemployment. And if she didn't bring the sales up, that could still befall them. Something Miss Park didn't seem aware of. Jinsol pressed the elevator button to the ground floor before staring back at Miss Park. "You're right. I'm only here to make money. In doing so, I'm ensuring you can keep affording your Hermes bags."
Just as the words left her mouth, they'd reached the ground floor, and Jinsol stepped out. "I'll take a taxi back to the office." She threw over her shoulder at the slacked-jawed Miss Park and walked towards the exit.
On her ride back to the premises, Jinsol couldn't help but think about the taller woman's words. More specifically, about how she may have come off. When she'd joined Atypical, her focus had been on making right by everyone by making the magazine successful. She admitted that in doing so, she neglected the social aspect. Jinsol had never really been someone who could be described as social. One of the big things she liked about working abroad was that there wasn't as much of an expectation for her to form bonds with her co-workers. She never had many friends or was that good at making them. Nor did she like to mix work with private life. However, it seemed it'd been negatively received by her employees. She'd have to remedy that.
By the time she made it to the premises, all Jinsol wanted was to have some peace and relaxation, but a small horde by her office told her otherwise. As she slowly approached the crowd to see what it was all about, her face fell. Perched on her assistant's desk was her stepmother signing an autograph. "And to whom do I need to sign this?"
"It's for my mother. She's your biggest fine."
They were all foaming at the mouth as if they'd never seen a celebrity a day in their life. Jinsol pinched her temple, already feeling a headache coming. She quickly made her way through the onlooker and forced her stepmother inside her office. "What are you doing it?" She went straight to the point, not wanting for this to last longer than it had to.
"You wouldn't answer any of my calls. Your secretary told me I had to make an appointment. So I thought I'd come by."
Jinsol sighed. "Well, I didn't accept your appointment, so I think you should leave." She said curtly, walking towards her desk. Her day was progressively becoming worse. First, her discussion with Miss Park and then her stepmother. She didn't have enough caffeine in her system to deal with this.
"Your father has been asking for you. It's been a while since you last visited." Sora insisted, stepping closer to Jinsol. At least she didn't take a seat, Jinsol thought.
"Tell him I don't have time. I'm swarmed with work. You know, with the fashion week and all that."
"I'm well aware. Remember, my clothing line is hosting a showing. Which reminds me." She opened her bag and took an envelope out of it. "Here's your invitation." Jinsol eyed the invitation in disinterest. There was no way she'd step foot anywhere near anything involving the woman.
"Was that all?" She asked, making a show of grabbing something from the pile of documents and reading it before her.
Sora seemed to get the hint and laid the invitation on her desk. "I really hope you'll come by." Jinsol didn't respond, keeping up the pretense of reading. She heard the other sigh before walking out of the office. Only once she heard the door closed did she put the document down and leaned further into her chair. Her eyes fell back on the envelope. Jinsol hadn't stepped foot at the mansion since that first day back and she had no intention of doing so. She picked it up and threw it in the trash before going back to work.