The Masked Vixen's Tales

Prologue - Before The Tales

"Greyson Choi."

The male who was named breathed heavily upon being called, prepared to listen to what his mentor had to say about his performance so far at work. Richard Klitzing can be really harsh with his words, plus, Greyson was usually the main target for his criticism. Plus, being the last person to be mentioned in his long speech does not reassure the male at all.

Along with a few other interns, Greyson served six months under Central City Zoo as assistants to the official zoologists, and today is the last day that they will be attached to the organization. A small farewell party, more of a ceremony due to the time constraint, was then being held today for memorable purposes. The directors, staffs, interns, and family members are the only guests at the ceremony, which will be ending in less than an hour. Nothing more is happening at the moment, just a review of the intern's performances.

Just the mere thought of his what his mentor may say already caused Greyson to break out in cold sweat, due to experience. Regardless, the male only wished not to be humiliated on such a meaningful day.

Richard Klitzing, the manager of the zoologists in training, sighed before giving a rare nod of approval where he stood. The older man held the microphone back near his lips, continuing his speech.

"To be frank, when Greyson Choi first arrived, I thought of him as nothing more than an ordinary, ignorant kid, that there is no way he could survive in here, but he has proved me wrong. He has shown me what I, or rather my experience in this place cannot teach. Greyson Choi proved to me that he can accomplish even in a tough environment with his passion and by working hard. His wage is minimal, but it did not affect his performance, heck, even Clyde, a gorilla that we had for years is still wary of us, but within three days of Greyson's arrival, he had earned Clyde's trust and friendship."

Greyson widen his eyes slightly as a smile too formed on his face, being both surprised and elated due to this being the first time he had heard anything remotely positive about himself from Richard Klitzing, who is rather known for his critical nature. He's always thought the man was being difficult, or targeting him because of reasons like his ethnicity, age or him just being a novice. Eventually, as time passed, he realized his mentor knew he had potential and was just pushing him to reach it. Frankly speaking, trying to meet Klitzing's expectations did gave him the motivation he needed to not be blindly passionate without learning.

"And so, I have personally recommended that Central City Zoo hire this young man, because it would be our loss if we didn't, so, Greyson, you have been chosen as the only person of this batch to join us. As for the others, fear not, you all passed your internship, and I hope that in the future, we will get to work together again." Richard Klitzing then ended his speech, before the director stepped up to add onto his words.

The other interns who were seated at the same table clapped their hands in agreement after Manager Klitzing ended his speech, everyone congratulated Greyson despite themselves not being selected, all but except one, who is pretty vocal about his dislike towards the male before now, usually in addition to Klitzing's criticism, it was indeed not easy and admirable that Greyson stayed strong through all that.

Garrett Cohen was only a year older than Greyson, a rather attractive dark-haired man, if not for his extremely dislikable personality and foul mouth, would have been likable. Greyson and Garrett attend the same classes in their current curriculum, so their feud had only been fueled even more after being placed in the same internship location due to the competitive grading system.

Garrett scoffed in response to what he had heard, crossing his arms in an obviously dissatisfied manner before shooting his mouth off, just as how he usually would before Greyson's presence.