Chapter Eleven

Mr. Kim closed the door behind me, which caused me to hold my breath. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. So, I remained standing in the middle of the room. There was nothing to hear around us but silence.
And of course, the sound of how hard my heart pounded onto my chest.
I did my very best to keep myself standing up. By the manner of how hard my heart beated, it was enough to make me dizzy. And it didn't help that I returned to panic mode. Breathing became a struggle once again. I looked all over the room in an attempt to distract myself from… well, myself.
Without looking, Mr. Nam finally broke the agonizing silence as he said, "Please take a seat, Miss Ryuk." He briefly gestured to the chair across him before he flipped onto the next page.
I bowed briefly before I walked towards the empty chair. I sat down and settled my tablet on my lap. I held onto it as I looked around the room once again. I thought that once I sat down, I would be able to calm down, even just for a little bit. But my expectations failed me.
To be right in front of Mr. Nam put me in even more panic. I wanted to take deep breaths. But I held it in because I feared that it would come out as shaky. So, I ignored what I wanted to do and proceeded to look around the room.
Slowly, my eyes travelled from the gray blinds that covered the window, to the plant in front of it and onto the gray, carpeted floor. Then, my gaze crawled along the carpet until it reached Mr. Nam's desk. And suddenly, my eyes landed and locked onto his.
I wanted to look away but something abouy him kept me from doing so. I carefully examined his features. His beautiful brown hair, his fair skin and the serious expression on his face. Without a shred of a doubt, this man wasn't short of being handsome. At the same time, he felt, somehow, familiar to me. I couldn't tell why I felt that way towards him. But something inside me was implicating that this person was familiar.
That feeling was so strong that the longer I stared at him, I somehow felt calmer by the second. But I immediately panicked when he looked up from what he was reading and caught me staring. My eyes widened as our eyes met.
"Is there something on my face, Miss Ryuk?" Mr. Nam asked as he raised his brows.
I blinked quickly as I shook my head. "No, Mr. Nam. You look fine. I mean, there's nothing on your face," I stammered. I looked down onto my tablet as my cheeks burned slowly.
I saw him chuckle from the corner of my eye as he put down the contract. He then said, "Don't feel bad about yourself. I'm used to people staring at me." I slowly looked back at him and he continued, "I admit, it's a bit annoying but over time, I got used to it." He then put his hande on the table and intertwined them.
He smiled for a moment and asked, "May I know why you were staring at me?"
My eyes widened as I avoided his stare. Stuttering, I replied, "Please, don't pay any mind to it, Mr. Nam. I was only looking around your office when I stared." I turned to him and bowed my head twice as I added, "I am very sorry for that, Mr. Nam. That was truly disrespectful of me." I kepy my head down after.
"Really, Miss Ryuk, there's no need to apologize. Please, calm down," he quickly answered.
With caution, I looked back at him. I would still look away from time to time. But who wouldn't stare at him? This man was extremely gorgeous! Even a person who didn't have motives such as Minju would find him attractive.
He continued, "You don't need to feel guilty about anything. I called for you because I wanted to ask about your experience with us so far. I looked at my calendar and if my calculation is correct, you've been here for a week. Am I right?
"Yes, Mr. Nam," I nodded.
"How's everything so far? I hope you don't feel swamped with the current workload that you're having," he said.
I shook my head and replied, "I have no problem with my current workload, Mr. Nam. I don't mind the work as this is what I was given to do. Also, should I experience more calls in the future, I won't mind it as well."
He nodded. "Truth be told, I actually told Hyeongu to ease yoy in with the workload. The amount of work that you are doing right now is only around twenty-five percent of the original work that secretaries do here," he explained. "But after I reviewed your college background, as well as working experience, I thought it would be best to add workload onto you gradually. And I hope that you don't mind that your work will be a bit more hectic than your previous days."
"Like what I said earlier, Mr. Nam, I really won't mind. This may be the first office job I've ever done. But I'm more than willing to learn the ropes and persevere to be the best secretary this company has ever seen," I answered with a smile.
Mr. Nam grinned proudly as he nodded for a moment. "That's good to hear." He moved closer and lowered his voice, "How about your officemates? Have they been nicer to you?"
My eyes widened. I pressed my lips together as I hesitated to answer.
But I guess Mr. Nam immediately noticed it because he immediately said, "Hyeongu told me everything that's happened on your first day here. So far, I haven't heard any reoccuring incidents in the office after that." He continued, "However, there might be outside instances that Hyeongu's not aware of. Are there any?"
I looked directly at him as I didn't know how to answer that. Should I tell everything or sugarcoat most of it?
Mr. Nam's brows a little as he asked again, "Miss Ryuk, is anyone bothering you outside the production floor? Outside the office, even?"
It seemed that there was no way out of this topic. I took a deep breath in and started, "Nothing happens outside the office, Mr. Nam. I already figured out a way to avoid those kinds of scenarios. However, I can't say the same when I'm inside the building."
"Do tell me more."
I sighed and shrugged. "It cannot be helped that there will be some people on the floor that will bother me outside the production floor. And I've gotten used to it. As long as they're not touching me, I can beat with it."
He sighed as he pressed his lips together. He looked down at his intertwined hands and asked, "Is it Minju?" He looked back at me.
With a firm smile, I nodded.
Mr. Nam sighed as he laid back on his chair. He looked up at the ceiling, frustrated. He swung the chair slowly as he remailed silent for quite some time. "Honestly, I don't know what to do with her anymore," he said with his eyes still glued to the ceiling. He sat up properly and returned to his desk. He continued, "I already reprimanded her so many times. And she still doesn't learn. As much as I want to remove her from this company, I can't at the moment."
He added, "His father is one of the biggest investors in this company. And part of our deal was to allow his daughter to work under my care. Miss Chun's work ethic is… lacking, to put it simply. And everything she does goes against the grain of our values. The only thing that keeps her from doing anything extreme is her family's reputation. Her working here was worded in a way that Miss Chun wanted to be like how the normal folks are: working their asses off. However, that couldn't be farther from the truth.
"I already informed her father about this matter. And he said that he already scolded her for doing such things. But it seems like she doesn't listen to anyone, even her father. So, I'm cornered because in a businessman's perspective, nothing's personal. Everything's strictly business," he continued. "However, that goes against everything that I uphold in my company. Sooner or later, I'll find a way to get rid of her. But I do hope that you understand where I'm coming from."
I nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, Mr. Nam. I know how it feels," I replied. "I know what it's like to be drawn unlikely cards in life. To go along with what's given to us. And to bear with what we have while we wait for the next step. On the contrary, I'm grateful to have you as my boss because you treat your employees well. It's to be expected that in every workplace, there will always be someone who makes things difficult for everybody else. But I only reminf myself that I have Mr. Kim, Soyoung and you, Mr. Nam, to look after me and my best interest."
A grin slowly crept onto his face as he was seemingly satisfied with my words. He then said, "Thank you for being such an understanding employee. Our company is very blessed to have you onboard. Just remember: if your officemates offended you in any wah, shape or form, you must not hesitate. Either you tell Hyeongu or you come straight to me. Is that clear?"
I nodded. But in the back of my mind, I was hesitant to do that. Like I said, I didn't want to be that employee who would always tell on my co-workers' inadequacy in the workplace. If I did that, I would be called as a suck-up. They might say that I was doing it for the reason that I wanted to climb up the corporate ladder. And if false accusations weren't enough, I could be bullied every day.
Minju was already making things difficult for me. I wouldn't want to know the full extent of her actions, all because I would always run my mouth whenever we had a displeading encounter. Each time that I would have a conversation with her would always leave a bad taste in my mouth. I didn't need morr reasons for her to make everything worse than it already was.
"I'm glad that we came to an understanding, Miss Ryuk. Next week, I might add a bit more to your workload. If that's okay with you," he said.
I shook my head and replied, "I don't mind at all, Mr. Nam."
He nodded. "Very well, then. You may leave."
I stood, gave my bow and headed to the door.
"Uh, Miss Ryuk?" Mr. Nam called before I could fully reach the door. I turned around and he asked, "Just out of curiousity, why were you staring at me a while ago?"