You were having a bad day. Your sleeping form attacked the snooze button until the numbers on your clock were late enough to finally drag your tired self from the bed. You had made the mistake of staying up last night binge watching a new tv show you found. Your morning routine was done in record time, leaving your place with your hair still dripping wet onto your clean white shirt. But, it’s not like that mattered because minutes later it started pouring rain, and no you didn’t have an umbrella. And the crisp white shirt you picked for the day was now see-through.

Being forced to skip your daily trip to your favorite coffee shop left you going back to the break room all day for whatever weird coffee your coworkers had stocked up on. To add insult to injury, you gave yourself a papercut and the copier got jammed when you tried to use it. On days like these, every little thing seemed like a disaster. But small accomplishments also felt better too. You mentally patted yourself on the back for getting your work done on time while your coworkers scrambled around you.

You sat in the breakroom with the rest of your coworkers who also preferred to save their money rather than splurge on a meal out for lunch. Usually you were one of those people who brought their lunch, however in your rush that morning you didn’t have time to pack anything. So you sat at the table with a sole cup of freshly brewed coffee in between your hands, warming them up from the cold temperature your office usually kept. The smell of the drink alone was almost enough to trick your brain into a fix. You only took small sips of the liquid, not enough to taste much of it. Your tastebuds were spoiled with the cold brew you had gotten used to and the hot coffee just wasn’t cutting it.

You had only been at the job for a couple months, and you just started warming up to your coworkers. Particularly to the lunch crew who always ate in the breakroom with you. Although it was a fairly large company, the break room wasn’t very big. Each floor was dedicated to a different division so you really only saw the financial department.

Kyung Ha sat to your left, Adisa next to her then Pram and Seong ho. From your few months working there you had picked up that an easy lunch table topic to discuss was the ceo, Jung Hoseok. He was the most strict, ruthless, and unyielding man you had met, and your coworkers loved to talk shit behind his back.

The last friday of every month was always the worst. Of course your already bad day had to fall on this fated day. Each division had a monthly meeting with the boss. You division was after lunch and everyone was already fired up about it.

“I heard Jung was giving people shit this morning during the meeting.” Adisa started, unwrapping his packed sandwich.

“Great. Can’t wait.” Pram mumbled sarcastically.

“When I’m at the gym my boxing trainer tells me to imagine something that makes me angry, and I just love imagining it’s his face that I’m punching.” Kyung Ha said, talking around her salad.

When your coworkers made fun of your boss you couldn’t help but to find some relief in laughing along. It was the least you could do when he made your life more stressful than it had to be.

Though you did suppose it was his work ethic that got him where he is now, after all it was what all the magazines and news reports praised him for. From what you had read in articles before applying, Mr. Jung was a self made business man. He prided in the fact he worked from the ground up from such a young age. Yet, here he was more than successful. You thought he could afford to chill out a little now.

“No wonder his wife left him.” You heard as you zoned back into the conversation.

“His wife left him?” You asked confused. You didn’t know much about his personal life, you didn’t even know he was married in the first place.

“Yup, he stopped wearing his wedding ring ages ago.” Adisa chimed in.

“I heard she cheated on him.” Kyung Ha shrugged.

“Can’t say I blame her. Can you imagine what he’s like in bed?” Pram added and the group chuckled.

The reason your coworkers felt so confidently trash talking their boss out loud at work was because he worked on the top floor, and he rarely ever came lower.

It bothered you that because of his power over the company he felt like he could treat people however he wanted. You resented the fact your coworkers were only brave enough to talk about him behind his back. “Maybe if someone stood up to him he would back down.”

The room grew silent and you peaked up from your coffee to find every eye on you.

“Yeah, I think we all wanna keep our jobs.” Pram snorted.

Your boss stood at the front of the conference room, dressed in a pristine suit, not a wrinkle in sight. All that was missing was a tie. You weren’t sure why he never wore one. It was almost like his way of distinguishing himself from the rest. As if saying, I can afford to not wear one because I’m the boss. He left the top two buttons open. Always.

His voice was powerful as it drifted through the room. He commanded attention. Not just with his voice, but with his aura. Just by looking at him you could tell he was important. There was no denying how attractive he was. When you came for your interview you were struck with how intimidating his looks were.

“Production is down from last month. I’ve already met with sales to discuss what we could do to improve in that area, now I want you all to tell me what you think we should improve on.”

You drowned out the sound of your co-workers talking. The coffee from the break room wasn’t strong enough to keep your attention span alive. Your mind started drifting to what you would have for dinner that night. You were going to watch a movie later and you made a note to look up what movies were playing.

“Mrs. Y/Ln.” Your head darted up from your notepad at the sound of your name. Your heart beat sped up as your eyes met his and felt the weight of everyone else’s eyes on you.

You had to admit his ability to remember names was impressive.

“Yes sir?” You gulped, panicking because you weren’t paying attention.

“Do you have the statements from this month?” You silently hoped it was the first time he had asked you. You hadn’t been paying enough attention to notice the shift in conversation.

“Yes, I emailed you a copy, and I made physical copies.” You tried to mask the nervousness in your voice.

“Did you get Seo yun to look over them?”

You glanced in confusion over at your male coworker who was at the same level as you. You were already in a bad mood, but his question angered you even more.

“Why would I do that? I checked them twice like im supposed to. Why would he have to verify them, do you not think of me as capable as him?” Because I’m a woman? You implied silently.

You slowly start to regret your anger induced burst of confidence as you watch a his face shift to a deadly calm expression contrasted by the daggers his eyes were sending you. You retreated into yourself like a scolded puppy as he remprimeded you with his stare alone.

“I need the results to be examined another time, preferably by a second person, to catch anything missed. If I didn’t think you were competent enough, trust me you would not be working here. But, if you think you can do it better, why don’t you volunteer to stay overtime and review them once more, hmmmm?” He titled his head, daring you disagree.

His condescing tone made you clench your teeth, your eyes shifted down in embarrassment. You valued your job enough to swallow your anger and let out a strained, “Yes sir.”

“Good. Now, if no one else has a problem, we may proceed.”

You glared at the paper in front of you and gripped onto the pen until you could no longer feel the heat in your face.

You hated him. Never in your life had you felt hatred in your heart for someone you met, but you hated him. You cursed his name in your head as you watched the rest of your coworkers disperse, heading home for the night. You just had to open your mouth on a Friday.

The reports would take hours to go over, you’d be lucky to be home by midnight. You pull out you phone to text and reschedule plans with the guy you were currently seeing.

You met Jimin at your favorite coffee shop. Both being regulars you soon started to recognize each other. It was nothing but a quick smile to acknowledge each other until one morning he arrived before you and you learned he had payed for you drink in advance.

You looked around to thank him, but he was already walking out of the store with his order.

The next day he asked for your number and every morning after that he was already waiting at a table with both of your coffees. You would talk for as long as you could before having to dismiss yourself to work.

Jimin was cute and kind of dorky. You had gone out for the past couple of weeks and you were looking forward to tonight. Missing the date was the cherry on top of your bad day.

Jimin responded quick, and with an unusual amount of emojis. You were quick to dismiss it though, if it was the worst thing about him you would take it.