Stargazer

Accretion.

Accretion: the process in which solids agglomerate to form larger and larger objects and eventually planets are produced.

"Taehyung, how is the project coming along?" Mr. Cho asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee next to me in the breakroom.

"It's on-track to make it to the deadline," I responded with a small smile. "Maybe even before the deadline if we all keep working hard."

My boss clapped me on the shoulder. "I'm glad to have you on this, Taehyung. Keep up the good work!"

"Thank you, sir."

I sighed, feeling the tension release from my shoulders once he stepped out of the breakroom. I checked my watch, seeing that I had ten more minutes before our morning meeting starts, so I pulled out my phone, smiling instantly at the name on the screen.

Jungkook: Good morning, Tae! I hope you have a fantastic day! Do awesome things.☺️

I typed out a reply before grabbing my coffee and walking down the hall to the conference room.

•••

During the meeting, I felt my phone vibrate multiple times, making it difficult to focus on the discussion, as the team of editors were talking about corrections.

"Misspelling the main character's name throughout most of the book is a huge problem!" Lisa spoke loudly, clearly annoyed at the mistake.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "As if you've never made a mistake, Lisa."

"Hey," Jisoo started. "Don't go bringing up past mistakes. We're discussing this issue."

I pinched the bridge of my nose with a huff before standing up, drawing the attention of the whole conference room.

"You guys, are we seriously arguing about this?" I sighed. "Nobody is in trouble, and no, we should not be placing blame. Instead, we just need to work as a team to get this story re-edited and to the publisher on time. I will be assigning each of you part of the story to correct this mistake, please be diligent." As I spoke, I circled around the table, arms crossed behind my back.

"As if we'd listen to the person who got Seo fired," Daniel scoffed quietly, arms crossed over his chest.

I paused my monologue, making my way back to the head of the table. "Everyone is dismissed," I announced, then made eye contact with one person. "Except Mr. Kang. Stay behind for a minute."

A few quiet snickers escaped mouths as the rest of the editing team exited the conference room.

Daniel swallowed and got out of his seat, walking up to me. "Yes, Mr. Kim?"

I looked down at the male, who was a mere one inch shorter than me, down the bridge of my nose. With narrowed eyes, I saw his mouth twitch from nerves, making me clear my throat.

"Do you have a problem you'd like to discuss with me, Daniel?"

The male shook his head immediately.

I sighed, relaxing my muscles and sitting down in my chair, motioning for him to sit in the chair next to mine. "Look, I'm not here to grill you or give you shit, I just honestly want to know."

Daniel pursed his lips and nodded. "I just think it's unfair how some of us have worked here longer and you got Seo's job. Hell, I thought Seo was a hell of a boss so I don't even understand why he was fired."

"That's a fair point," I acknowledged, knowing that's the first thing to do in a situation like this. "Mr. Seo was dishonest about the work he put in. I didn't realize to what extent until I got his job. Many of the stories I know were edited by you, or Lisa, or Jisoo, were claimed by him. It was his name with the letter of approval, not anyone else's. I helped Mr. Cho find this out so I think that level of trust lead to me getting the job. It had nothing to do with experience or ability. Many of you deserved this job above me."

Daniel gave me a soft smile. "Taehyung, I genuinely appreciate your honest." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry I was being a dick, I just get really nervous around authority figures. Plus, I'm the one who made the mistake in the book, and I didn't want to accept that such a big screw up was my fault."

"Like I said, there is no blame. We are a team here. Just please, next time be a bit more thorough." I stood up, straightening my trousers and buttoning my suit jacket. "Let's get back to work, shall we?"

Daniel nodded, excusing himself and walking back out to the bullpen where is desk is.

I chuckled, pulling out my phone and seeing a string of text messages from an unknown number.

Unknown: You'll pay for this, Kim.

Unknown: Don't get too comfortable in that chair of yours.

Unknown: Just you wait until my plan is set in motion.

With a frown, I pocketed my phone, returning to my office to an inbox full of emails.