Day 9 - 12:15 PM
Zai woke up with a shout at the sound of her phone ringing incessantly. There was a short scramble to keep her chair from falling over, and then a squawk of pain as her back protested being suddenly jostled from its position of being arched over the table all night.
"Ow ow ow ow ow...bad idea." Gingerly clutching her shoulder with one hand, Zai tried to rub the tiredness from her eyes with the other, only to feel indents from the keys on her cheek as she brushed her hair away.
"Ok, I am never doing that again." Slowly standing up, she reached for her phone and unlocked it as she made her way to the kitchen. Might as well start on lunch since she was awake.
The first thing she noticed upon opening her phone, was that it was officially Day Nine. Which meant she only had the rest of today to prepare for the events that would be happening tomorrow. The second thing she noticed was that there were too many missed calls and texts from both Jaehee and Zen for her to count. She was just about to try and call Zen and Jaehee one after the other before she realized that, no, that was horribly inefficient. Instead, she sent them both a text explaining that she had been working late last night, and therefore had overslept due to exhaustion.
She knew that if she said nothing else afterward, she'd get a multitude of texts asking her if she had eaten breakfast, or if she'd slept well. So she followed up with a message asking the two of them if they could meet with her today. Zai started cooking and tried to ignore the stiff feeling in her chest that only increased as she thought about how it might very well be the last time she got to be with them in person.
Day 9 - 12:46 PM
Zai has joined the chat room.
/ Zai: Hi everyone! /
/ ZEN: Hey Babe! /
/ Jaehee Kang: Zai! You have eaten today, right? /
/ Zai: Yeah, I just finished eating. /
/ Jaehee Kang: That is good ^^ A healthy meal is always a must for the start of your day. /
/ Zai: Says the woman whose most important meal of the day is Coffee. /
/ ZEN: lololol she's got you there, Jaehee. /
/ Zai: I'm not forgetting your bad habit of having mostly liquid lunches too, Zen. /
/ ZEN: Aahh, not even my gorgeousness protects me from my love's scathing remarks! /
/ Jaehee Kang: Oh hush. You should accept some criticism once in a while. /
Zai smiled fondly at her phone's screen as she watched the chat fill with Jaehee and Zen's playful bantering.
/ Zai: Are you two free to meet up sometime today? /
/ Jaehee Kang: I will have to check my schedule. /
/ Jaehee Kang: But there is a good chance I can make some time after I get off of work. /
/ ZEN: I don't have anything to do. /
/ ZEN: Until the scandal with Echo Girl is cleared up I probably won't be getting any new jobs;; /
/ Zai: Ok! Jaehee, call me when you're free? /
/ Jaehee Kang: Certainly. /
/ Jaehee Kang: Also, Zen... /
/ ZEN: Yeah? /
/ Jaehee Kang: For once..it might be beneficial to take up an offer from Mr. Han. /
/ ZEN: What?! No way I'll ever work for that jerk. /
/ ZEN: I'd rather suffer on my own than try to get popular with his help. /
/ Zai: Zen... /
/ Zai: Maybe it's not all that bad? /
/ Zai: Consider it as you helping him instead of the other way around. /
/ ZEN: Hmm... /
/ ZEN: I don't know, I still don't like it. /
/ Jaehee Kang: Won't you have to take jobs for people you don't like anyways? /
/ Jaehee Kang: Think of it as practice for more difficult situations. /
/ ZEN: Well when you put it like that. /
/ ZEN: I'm still not sure, but I won't rule it out until I'm completely certain. /
/ Zai: That's fine! As long as you give it a chance. /
/ Jaehee Kang: Yes! You can't dismiss potential offers before giving them some thought. /
/ ZEN: Haha, you two really care that much about my career, huh? /
/ Zai: Of course! Your happiness is related to your job, so we want you to be successful! /
/ Jaehee Kang: Indeed. If you stopped acting, I doubt that you'd be as content. /
/ ZEN: You guys...thanks so much. /
/ ZEN: Sometimes I forget that there are people who aren't just my fans rooting for me. /
/ ZEN: But you two know that acting means a lot more to me than just as a job. /
/ Zai: We're here for you, Zenny! /
/ Jaehee Kang: Seconded ^^ /
The conversation continued for a little while before Jaehee had to get back to work, and Zen had decided to at least call Jumin to ask him about the potential job offer. Zai bid them farewell before leaning back in her seat and contemplating just what she had to do today to ensure that tomorrow would be a success. Pressing her hands against her eyes until she saw lights, she wondered just how she was going to pull this off.
Thinking back to all the times that Unknown had broken into the apartment, she sighed and got up to retrieve her jacket and car keys from the bedroom. She was going to need some sturdy rope.
Day 9 - 02:33 PM
POV: Jaehee Mode
Jaehee huffed as she submitted her final document for the moment. She'd been working almost constantly for the past two days after returning to work from her visit to Zen's house. Just the thought of that night immediately sent her head into a spin. How had she gotten so lucky in life? Then another text from Jum- Mr. Han lit up her phone, telling her that there was another project he needed her help on.
Taking a deep breath, she counted to ten before releasing it as to not let her emotions take control as she sent a reply to her boss explaining that she simply had too much work to focus on at the moment to take on yet another task. She knew he was spending time with V up in his penthouse suite and had to play host, but there was no reason he had to foist off all his duties on her. She contributed so much to this company that she might as well have been running it herself. But as she had been told several times before, her role was as an assistant, and never anything greater.
Staring at the screen which mocked her pain as it highlighted all the emails and paperwork she'd yet to finish, Jaehee let out a ragged sigh of exhaustion. She bent down in her chair to reach for her briefcase before picking it up and setting it in her lap. Inside, buried under a multitude of business papers and coffee receipts, was a folder full of things that she hadn't dared touch before today.
Inside the older was a letter of resignation. She'd filled it to completion months ago but had never mustered up the courage to submit it. What did she even have outside of her job? Her dream had been to open a cafe, but she'd told herself that it would never happen. However, that was before her current circumstances.
Thinking about Zai and Zen, their blinding smiles and supportive personalities, Jaehee was filled with both love and energy. Those two believed in her enough to take a leap of faith and pour their feelings out for her, someone who had solely worked for others her entire life. They loved and supported her regardless of her status as a mere assistant, and encouraged her to do things for herself. Truly, she was a blessed individual to have them in her life.
Heart steeled, Jaehee stood up from her chair and clutched the form like a lifeline as she made her way to the Human Resources department to make her decision official. If everything went smoothly, she'd finally be the boss of herself before the end of the day.
It hadn't even been thirty minutes since the paperwork was submitted before Jaehee's phone was blowing up with messages from Jumin. He'd never be Mr. Han to her again, and the thought made her giddy with joy. As soon as she'd gotten back to her (soon to be vacant) office to finish up the last piles of work that she was supposed to complete before being released, she signed on to RFA app.
Jaehee Kang has joined the chat room.
/ Zai: OMG /
/ Zai: Jaehee what did you do?! /
/ Zai: Jumin has been losing it completely. /
/ Jumin Han: I have not been 'losing it completely'. /
/ Jumin Han: I am understandably distressed at the news which was just delivered to me. /
/ Zai: Which you still won't tell me about... /
/ Jaehee Kang: I resigned from my job. /
/ Zai: OMG! THAT'S SO...
/ Zai: ashfhksgkfasf! /
/ Zai: JAEHEE I'M SO PROUD OF YOU! /
/ Zai: Have you told Zen yet!? /
/ Jaehee Kang: No, I just returned to my office to finish my work;; /
/ Jaehee Kang: I was going to tell you both later, but I figured I might as well while I'm here. /
/ Zai: Congratulations! This is so great! /
/ Zai: I'm going to go call Zenny now ^^ /
/ Zai: We'll pick someplace really nice to celebrate with you tonight, Jaehee! /
/ Jaehee Kang: Alright ^^ /
Zai has left the chat room.
/ Jumin Han: Unbelievable. /
/ Jumin Han: Why did she congratulate you? /
/ Jumin Han: This is an outrage. /
/ Jaehee Kang: What is so outrageous about it? /
/ Jumin Han: Why are you leaving? /
/ Jumin Han: What could you possibly gain from resigning from your position? /
/ Jaehee Kang: My independence and peace of mind. /
/ Jumin Han: I don't see why you can't have those while working with C&R International. /
/ Jaehee Kang: That is precisely why I am leaving the company. /
/ Jaehee Kang: You have never truly understood me as a person, Jumin. /
/ Jaehee Kang: In fact, I hope that once I am out of your employ, we can be better friends through the RFA. /
/ Jumin Han: ... It seems there is much I have left to learn about you, Jaehee. /
/ Jaehee Kang: ^^ /
/ Jumin Han: I must tell V the news. /
/ Jumin Han: I entrust that you will finish your remaining work with the same outstanding quality you've kept up for your job so far? /
Jaehee was momentarily stunned, her fingers hovering over the phone's keyboard as she acknowledged the fact that Jumin had actually paid her an honest compliment. Even if it was related to her proficiency in filling out forms and replying to emails.
/ Jaehee Kang: Of course, I'd expect nothing less of myself, even if I am departing from your workforce. /
/ Jumin Han: Then I shall depart. /
/ Jumin Han: My apologies, Jaehee. /
/ Jumin Han: I...did not mean to let things get so far out of hand. /
/ Jumin Han: C&R International will do its best to recover from the loss of its most efficient employee. /
Jumin Han has left the chat room.
/ Jaehee Kang: At least he is being honest with himself about the situation. /
Jaehee Kang has left the chat.