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Review responses:
ladyluck1668 - Thank you! Think of it this way—the banquet guests already noticed that their stuff is stolen, and there happens to be fake security guards trying to (unmistakenly) kill/kidnap Alice. She's giving Shun a second chance :)) You won't physically see Hydron that much because that would overshadow Shurisu's place and purpose in the company, but still keep your eyes peeled!
cherry-tree-of-life - And considering that Alice has so many different jobs right now, she definitely has no time to babysit Hydron. The only person that she can leave unattended is Shun (and you'll see why toward the end of the chapter).
MagicxMusicxMelody - The problem is there are a bunch of shareholders who are old-timers and will side with Zenoheld no matter what. Zenoheld's reasons for holding his ground in the company will be explained in this chapter, although it's from Alice's POV.
CookieDecor22 - Thanks for the clarification! As much as I would like to portray more action scenes, they occupy a LOT of word count and are difficult to write without sounding repetitive. I wouldn't say that Alice assigned Shun to be on call, but one you're on Alice's side, then there's no leaving XD. More info about Alice's family feud is in this chapter!
-x-
Me: How is it July 1st already?! We're already starting the second half of 2023!
Runo: It will be 2024 before you know it.
Me: I had a wonderful time off last week for Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu in Chinese/Dan'o in Korean). This time of the year is when peak summer season finally starts! (whatever "midsummer" means) That also means increased risk for wildfires too. I hope everyone living in affected areas stay safe and healthy!
Dan: By the way, Alice should hire more employees so that there will be sufficient coverage when the time comes for everyone's summer vacations.
Alice: I'm working on it...!
Me: Since when did Dan care so much about hiring new team members?
Runo: Ever since payroll forgot to issue him a paycheck.
Me: Having PAID time off is a very important benefit for everyone in the labor force... That, plus PAID sick days too. Anyway, I don't own anything that this story is based on!
Chapter 3: Deciding Who to Trust
xXx
Shortly after Shun arrived inside the main lobby of Testarossa Electronics, Alice exited the elevator at the same time and saw her guest. "Perfect timing! I'll show you around right now."
"Why did you pick Saturday out of all days?"
"Saturday isn't a business day, so I can focus on your onboarding instead of work. Last time, you told me you researched and discovered that I'm interim CEO here. What else did you find online after that?"
"You guys specialize in manufacturing phones, tablets, laptops, and a variety of other electronics."
"That's literally what our website says, but I'll give you credit anyway. This building has three floors and is extremely energy efficient. We have energy-saving electrical sockets, proper insulation, rainwater collection, solar panels, and more. My late grandfather, Michael Gehabich, started the company from scratch and grew it to where it is today."
"You said 'late' grandfather?"
"He actually retired first, and I've been interim CEO since, but he passed away recently. I just came back from bereavement leave and still have a lot to catch up on."
"How did ownership pass from him to you? Why not your parents first?"
"Because they passed away when I was still young. I told you about the birthstones on my bracelet, right?"
"Oh...so that's who you were talking about."
The pair took the elevator to the second floor, where an amethyst-eyed blond was waiting on the other side of the elevator doors. "What are you doing here, Chris? I didn't know you were working today."
"I requested next Wednesday off and offered to work today, remember? Anyway, who's the new guy?" After a long silence, Chris gasped loudly. "You hired a new team member without telling us? That's no different than—"
"Chris, relax! This is Shun, our new receptionist. I can finally send Soon back to HR now. Shun, this is my cousin Chris. She's on the design team with me."
"Receptionist, huh?" The amethyst-eyed employee stared at the visitor for a long time before speaking again. "Welcome to the company, then! My tip for you is to always be aware of your physical surroundings and your computer screens. A lot of people enter and exit this building, and email plus instant messaging are extremely crucial methods of communication here. Other than that, I have complete confidence in Alice's choice of new hires...unlike someone we know."
"We'll talk about that another time. I need to finish giving him a tour of the building."
As Alice walked down another hallway, Shun asked, "Who was she talking about? You expedited the onboarding process for someone else too? And how exactly did you get your cousin to work here?"
"Just to be clear, I didn't do anything for that other person she's talking about. That other person just forced themselves into this company without properly consulting with me. There really wasn't anything I can do about it, so don't ask. As for Chris, she's from my mother's side and worked extremely hard to earn this position without my assistance. Also, I tell everyone that you're just a receptionist, but you'll be responsible for a lot more than just watching the front desk."
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you making me work beyond the job description? You said I would be compensated appropriately."
"And you will, but as Chris said, you need to interact with the people in this building and check your emails plus instant messages timely as well. You won't be involved in any work that my teams and committees perform. That's beyond your skill set."
"What about HR? Are you sure that they won't ask any questions?"
"Soon expedited everything. I'll review the offer letter and send you a copy before I leave. She's more than happy to return to HR instead of working at the front desk full time. I already have a reasonable hourly rate in mind, plus you'll get occasional bonuses as well, depending on how the rest of the company performs."
"So, receptionists also earn bonuses for something that they have no direct impact on or benefit from? What kind of logic is that? Won't that cost you?"
"You probably think I'm rich, which is partly true. My exceptional budgeting skills and relationship with the accounting department has minimized our costs significantly without compromising employee health and product quality. I'd say I'm frugal, to be precise. Also, you're overthinking about the bonus. To be fair, what you'd get is only a fraction of what the rest of the team will get."
"What happened to your previous receptionist?"
"She got promoted to another position in the company, but that's old news that took place when my grandfather was still here. Let me show you the real surprise." From her coat pocket, Alice took out a keychain full of silver keys. "You don't live nearby, right?"
"Not at all."
"Perfect! Take these keys. The house address is on the tag. You can stay there while you work for me so that you won't have to commute as far."
"Wait...you're giving me keys and full access to a house? With nothing in return?"
"I wouldn't say 'nothing'. I own that property and actually live next door, which is why I have the right to let you stay temporarily. It only takes me twenty minutes to walk to work, which is about five minutes of driving. I'll let you pick your own method of transportation."
"So, you own your house and the house next door that you're giving me access to... I thought you said you were frugal."
"That's how my grandfather accumulated enough savings to afford to two properties that are fortunately right next to each other!"
"And you're not afraid that I'll steal everything inside the house?"
"There's nothing valuable, actually. I was originally renting that other house off, but the family moved out, so it's been empty for a while. Now I'm letting you stay rent-free, on the account that you work for me as a receptionist."
"How would you know whether I'll move in or not? What if I have family at home and would rather commute due to family obligations?"
"The fact that you're asking me that already gave your family situation away. I'm not mandating you to stay at my other property every day, but it will cut your commute time. Again, you decide how you come to work."
Shun spun the keys around his finger slowly before ultimately catching it. "I don't know...what will your neighbors and coworkers think?"
"They'll think that I found a new renter who wanted a fresh start, which is how you ended up as the building receptionist. But you must still be confused and surprised as to why I'm doing this, right?"
"Absolutely."
"I don't enforce probationary periods for receptionists. You're welcome to work here indefinitely until you find something that you think is much better for your personal and professional wellbeing. I don't want you getting anxiety over whether you'll still be safe and sound the next day or not."
"That's really depressing..."
"And that's just how I think. Anyway, I'm done with today's tour and need to talk to some people. You're free to check out the house and rearrange the furniture as needed. Would you like me to show you the way out?"
"I'm fine."
"Great! See you on Monday!"
Shun excused himself out of the building and arrived at the address written on the keychain tag. Alice is right. It took me only sixteen minutes to walk here, but I left my motorcycle in the parking garage. Looks like her house is on the street corner, which makes my temporary house her only adjacent neighbor. He unlocked the front doors and observed every single room. Thankfully, I don't see any cameras. Maybe she wasn't kidding about previously renting this place out. This house is empty and very clean, as if waiting for someone new to move in.
Back in the living room, there was a landline phone on a corner table that caught his attention. I almost forgot about a very important task to complete... Just exactly how I'll put this whole situation into words is beyond me. Shun took out his phone and made a call while pacing throughout the house again. "Grandpa, are you home? Listen, I need to tell you something important..."
-x-x-x-x-x-
On Monday morning in Alice's meeting room, her first task of the day was introducing Shun to her team. "I'm glad to announce that I've found a new, permanent receptionist now! Everyone, this is Shun. Once he's fully oriented, then I'll send Soon back to HR. In fact, she should be coming anytime soon to pick him up."
Before anyone could say anything to Shun, Hydron raised his hand and asked, "When did this happen? How come you didn't tell anyone that you found a new receptionist?"
"And how come you didn't tell anyone that you would be at our meeting today?" Dan interrogated in return. All eyes now glared at the lavender-eyed intern.
The interim CEO cleared her throat. "Hydron, why does it matter to you who I hire? Shun's just a receptionist, and you're just an intern. I would appreciate it if you didn't interrupt me when I'm leading a team meeting."
"I would never have let him inside this room no matter how desperately he or his dad begged," Runo whispered.
Soon after, Soon knocked on the door before stepping inside. "I apologize for being late! Today's Monday, and I had to answer several emails and phone calls."
"No worries. Since you're here, Shun is all yours now." Alice escorted her new receptionist into the hallway and quietly warned, "Keep your eyes on Hydron."
Her tone changed so quickly. Is Hydron the person that she and Chris weren't happy to talk about on Saturday? But he's just an intern...whatever that means. Unsure how to react, he simply answered, "Will do."
Back inside the meeting room, the redhead faced her second cousin with her phone in her hand, "According to your training schedule, you're due for a meeting with accounting right now, Hydron."
"I am? Well, pardon me then."
Once he was out of the room, Alice locked the doors and turned on her laptop at the podium. "Anyway, let's go back to work. If you look at the screen, you'll see that I have a new project planned. I found a new collaborator who's very interested, but she also said she wants to see Hydron's ideas in addition to what I have drafted."
"I don't know who your new collaborator is, but how does she know about Hydron already?" Chris asked. "He's just a fresh grad with an MBA who probably hasn't even worked his first formal job yet!"
"I know how you feel, but there's nothing I can do about Uncle Zenoheld influencing all the other shareholders and spreading news with outsiders. I'm not even sure if Hydron is aware of this, but since my new collaborator already knows about him, I can't just exclude him. I know you're all upset that he was placed into the company without any screening, but I'm also interested in seeing what he has to offer, since he's never done anything before."
"Fine, I'll reach out to Hydron and explain," the bluenette offered. "Who's your collaborator? When does she want to meet us?"
"I just messaged you all the date and time. She wants to see us, plus people from other departments, so I think I'll reserve the grand conference room."
"Alright then. I'll run downstairs to the front desk, if you don't mind."
"Go ahead. I'm almost done with my presentation and will update you later."
As Alice continued her meeting, Runo stopped by the front desk and saw Shun by himself. "I'm Runo, nice to meet you! Sorry that we didn't get to introduce ourselves to you earlier. As you saw, that was quite an unexpected interruption... Anyway, where's Soon? Did she leave you by yourself already?"
"She's in a meeting with her HR coworkers, but she'll be back. Do you need her for something?"
"Maybe...or I can ask you instead! But I'm also curious as to where Alice found you. The company hasn't hired anyone new in over a year."
"Uh..." What did Alice say she'd tell her coworkers again? "I recently began renting house that she owns, and she offered me this job position to help me settle in, since I'm new to the area," he lied. "I'm surprised that a large company isn't actively hiring."
"We are, but Alice and her grandfather have high standards. We've had many new contractors, interns, and externs within the past year, but none of those people stayed to become formal employees on payroll. I know Alice doesn't enforce probationary periods for receptionists and other clerical positions, so you're definitely a new employee."
"What about that other guy that she called 'just an intern'? None of you looked like you wanted him at that meeting."
"Well...that's Hydron, but I'd rather call him 'he-who-must-not-be-named'. Don't worry about him for now. If everything goes right—or wrong, depending on where you look from—then he won't bother you at all. Anyway, I wanted to ask you to block off a time slot for us on our calendars. Is that too complicated for you?"
"I can do it. What do you need?"
"We'll need to use the grand conference room for a huge upcoming meeting." The bluenette held out her phone, in which the raven-haired receptionist successfully booked the meeting at the specified date, time, and location. "Can you also book the meeting for the rest of my team? That would Alice, Baron, Chris, Dan—"
"I heard my name!" The brunet suddenly walked over to the front desk as well. "Hey man, I'm Dan! Nice to see a new coworker around here. What are you guys doing again?"
"Booking a meeting on the company calendar," Shun replied. "I think I selected the right people, even though you guys couldn't formally yourselves to me earlier. Anything else I can help you with?"
"Wow, you sure learned the system pretty quickly!" Dan praised. "Even I still don't know how to use share mode or whatever it's called. I attend just whatever meetings I see on my calendar. Alice definitely hired the right guy."
"Is Alice's meeting over already?" Runo asked.
"We just finished, but I forgot something in my car, so I'll be back."
"Dan, you're always forgetting things. Anyway, I hope you see you around more often, Shun!"
As if I can go anywhere. You guys don't know anything. The raven-haired receptionist then saw Alice and Chris exit the elevator and prepare to leave the building. I saw them together at the banquet before Alice got separated and almost kidnapped by the fake security guards. These two cousins are practically inseparable. But where are they going? It's too early for lunch.
At the end of the workday, Shun was cleaning his workstation when Hydron suddenly appeared and rested his arms on the counter. "I don't think I've formally introduced myself."
"Your name is Hydron. Alice called you out this morning. Is there anything extremely urgent I can help you with? It's the end of the day already."
"Not an urgent task, but I'm very curious as to how and why Alice suddenly decided to hire a new employee, even if just to cover the front desk."
"Maybe she was desperate to send Soon back to HR where Soon needs to be."
Zenoheld entered the lobby from another hallway and snapped his fingers. "Son, it's time to go home. Stop wasting your time with the new receptionist."
"And that is all you'll ever be, Shun," the blond intern taunted before leaving.
The raven-haired receptionist gripped the computer mouse tightly as he scowled at the father and son that just left the building. Alice exited the elevator shortly after and saw Shun still at his desk. "What are you still doing here? You can clock out and go home now."
"You need to manage your employees better," was his candid response.
The redhead looked outside the glass doors and saw Zenoheld and Hydron turn at the street corner into the parking garage. "I told you to keep your eyes on Hydron. Don't let one person ruin your impression of everyone else, although he might as well be two people since his father is a helicopter parent. What else would you like to tell me?"
"I met Runo and Dan earlier. They seem nice. Runo made it clear that she doesn't like Hydron either. What exactly should I watch out for?"
"I figured that you'll need to know eventually. In that case, don't clock out yet." Alice walked around and took a seat on the empty chair next to Shun. "I told you that my grandfather started this company several years ago from scratch. His immediate team included some friends, classmates, and his brother. As the years passed, my father also joined and stayed with the team until he and my mother passed away in a car accident."
"How does Hydron relate to this?"
"My grandfather's brother—meaning my great-uncle—couldn't quite catch up to the rest of the team, so he somewhat resigned and decided to become a shareholder instead. When he passed away, he gave ownership of those shares to his son Zenoheld, and you already know by now that his son is Hydron."
"Wait...you're all related?"
"Zenoheld is technically my first cousin once removed, but I call him 'Uncle Zenoheld' out of respect, since he's my father's first cousin. Therefore, Hydron and I are second cousins."
"And Chris is your cousin from your mother's side?"
"That's right. Again, Chris worked hard during her college and internship days to get here. On the other hand, Uncle Zenoheld convinced other shareholders to place Hydron here after he just earned his MBA this past summer. That's why I gave him a six-month probationary period. My team and I need all the time available to train and evaluate him."
"Are you sure he's not just rude because that's how you treat him?"
"You think I'm being harsh? You have no idea how they treated me ever since my parents died. Grandfather always had my back, and I never make a critical mistake ever since I started working here. In fact, Uncle Zenoheld is just a shareholder and not even a formal employee. Hydron won't survive if he doesn't learn and gain experience now. That's why I put him on probation first."
"Sorry... I had no idea."
"You're not wrong in calling me harsh, but that's how this business works. Who can I trust? Who will you trust? You were there with me against the fake security guards at the banquet. You should definitely keep your eyes on more than just Hydron since you're new to the company."
"So, you're still implying that the main reason you hired me is because I saved you from being kidnapped that night?"
"Kind of...but the key traits I saw in you were your acuity and self-sufficiency." As the sun descended closer to the horizon, the glaring rays reflected into the lobby. "Would you like a ride back to your new house?"
"How did you know I walked to work today? And you drove to work today instead of walking?"
"I didn't see your motorcycle in the parking garage, and I needed my car to meet a collaborator off-site today with Chris. Speaking of Chris, she just exited the elevator."
As Alice ran over to talk to her younger cousin, Shun clocked out and restarted his computer. I should never have gotten involved with Alice's rich people problems to begin with.
Personal Commentary:
- If you read my profile page, then you probably noticed that I gave a huge spoiler away about what happens to Shun's grandfather in the future... That was actually based on what happened in the original drama Full Sun, so I have no idea how it will plan on in this story.
- It was quite fun writing the scene where Alice's design team was literally interrogating what Hydron was doing here!
- I hope I explained Alice's family tree more clearly toward the end of this chapter compared to the first chapter! Also, there's another story on this website that featured Alice and Shun being neighbors, so I borrowed inspiration from there.
-x-
Dan: Hey Shun, how does it feel to live rent free in a new house?
Shun: That's none of your business.
Me: If I were Alice, then the trade off for letting him live "rent free" would be to take the expenses out from salary paychecks... That's sounds fair, right? Next chapter will feature Mira! Alice needs all the help she can get to teach Hydron a huge life lesson! Assuming he has a brain to absorb OR present anything, of course...
Runo: If you ask me, his whole life is a joke.
Chris: Ooohhh shots fired!
Me: In addition to Mira, there will be other family feud misunderstandings, because there's no escaping family drama in this story! Leave a review on the way out! Poll results are published, for those who are shocked to hear (or don't believe) that there's a tie for first place :')
𝄞 Su Ruiqi - 'Artemis' 𝄞