Boss Complex

2. The quiet type

"Have you spoken to your sister?"

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, pulling the phone away from his ear. Sitting on the top step of the emergency staircase, safe from his boss's watchful towering presence, he looks down as the backlight on his phone screen flashes with an incoming KakaoTalk message from his sister.

Spoiled Brat: I don't care what she says. I don't care what you say. I am NOT coming home.

With a long sigh he lifts the phone in place and catches the tail end of his Mother's ranting.

"Look... I haven't talked to her. Her crisis is her problem. If she doesn't want to leave America, that's not my problem." He says kindly, patient with his mother as she chews him out over something completely out of his control.

He presses his head into the white metal stairwell railing at his side and closes his eyes against the cool metal. It was nice to hear the familiar chirp of his mother's irritation despite the ring of a headache. He had been processing new information all morning at his new job and it was all a bit overwhelming. The overhead lights are all too white, the temperature too mediated making it stifling, and the silence was eerie. He works with zombies, every single one of them, zombies. How can he work with headphones on with that thought hovering in the back of his mind?

"She was supposed to be back yesterday, Baekhyun. Do you understand? Yesterday was the day her plane was supposed to land. Why is she being so difficult?"

Baekhyun smirks to himself, pulling his feet up one step to wrap his arms around his narrow knees.

"When were we ever not difficult, Mom? We've always been a handful." He reminds her, resting his delicate chin atop one khaki covered knee.

Absently, his mind goes back to the break room, the way his boss had towered over him. Mr. Park is much taller than Baekhyun, and clearly more muscular with his black button down shirt pulling over his lean muscles as he stood over him. His ears stuck out too far, and his eyes were round and dark, making him look considerably less serious than he acted. Maybe, he had been so thrown off by his age and appearance that he didn't show as much respect as he needed. Maybe he was still angry from the phone call he had just ended with his sister. Maybe he's overwhelmed with all of the work. Maybe he had just made an enemy out of his new boss on the first day.

"Mom, I can't stay on the phone all day. I'm at work, you know." He says softly.

"Baekhyun, you cannot protect her forever." His mother says.

That, Baekhyun decides, is not true. He could and he would protect his thoughtless sister for as long as he could. But today, he would not do her any favors. She was adding more stress to an already stressful day.

"I'll call you tonight as soon as I get out of here. Maybe she'll call you before then. Katalk her, she usually responds."

His mother's voice, not too terribly different than his own, but older and more feminine, seems to quiver as she speaks. It has the same rasp to it as his when he starts to laugh, the thick quality when she sings, and the gentleness when she starts to coo. It was comforting and warm.

"I'll talk to you later." He says with some finality.

It's no longer his place to shield her, and yet, he feels the weight of it beating against his spine. Ordinarily he would have been upset at her for causing so much drama but he knew that he was responsible for just as many messes and he would cause more in the future. Standing with a lazy stretch he turns himself around and starts back up the steps. Speaking of creating messes, he still wasn't cure if he'd made one with his attitude towards his current boss. It's better to nip such situations in the bud, intern or not, he can't just waltz around doing as he pleases when working in a proper company. He takes hold of the door handle and takes a deep breath, head tilted to the ceilings as he gathers the words he wants to use. Walking back into the hallway with the elevators humming as they made their way up and down their narrow paths, he decided to be as gentle and humble as possible in the way he approached the situation.