Boss Complex

34. Absense

Chanyeol stands up and taps the paperwork in front of him with a long sigh, looking out over the group of men gathered in the business meeting with a strict expression.

"You all should want the senior leaderships, our VPs, Me, to be the customers at a fancy restaurant. Do you understand? We just need to be brought the delicious 5 star meals. We shouldn't know or hear the chaos in the kitchen because it would be uncomfortable. We're looking at a merger. That means that we're paying upfront and it will hopefully pay us back and double in time. But that also means cutting out anything expendable. Let's not be the ones with expendable departments."

He stands to his fullest and points with his Mont Blanc pen at each of the men he's talking directly to and then collectively.

"Clean it up. Get to loose ends and tie them down. Because we're not holding back for downsizing areas. If you do your job well, take a look around and make sure that the people around you are pulling their weight too. Give me a reason to say that we're keeping departments because they're crucial to our success. Because expendables are going to be out. When we go over the numbers next month, when we look at Byun's numbers, give me a reason to say 'Hey, the key to our success is the efficiency of our employees.' And let me have paperwork on hand to prove it."

The men gathered around him nervously jot notes and Chanyeol takes his seat again at the head.

"Costs for new employees, training delay in production, departmental expansion... we're absorbing it on our end. Make it count. We're down to the wire. I want cuts, people. Real cuts in our staff. We don't need people here who don't value their jobs. I want lists of names and numbers and justification for keeping these guys around, because we need to be prepared. So make it happen. If we cut out individuals who are dragging us down, we can potentially save entire departments that are doing what they're supposed to. Do you understand? I want full mock-ups by Friday close of Business. And that's close of business for you, not close of business for me. 5 PM sharp. Treat this like your quarterly report and give it to me straight. No exceptions."

He glances at his wrist where his watch is still absent and sighs.

"Adjourned." He says with some finality and stands once more, gathering his things.

It's not that he hasn't tried to get a new watch. He called the ryokan in Japan and they stated that they had it safely tucked away for him to pick up. They offered to send it to him but he didn't want to risk it being lost in the mail. And other wrist watches simply don't feel the same. It's not the same weight or texture as his gold cartier. And somehow the cartier was warmer on his skin, the metal of other watches, never seems to warm to the right temperature to just be forgotten, to be an extension of him without sweat or being bulky. He passes through the dining hall as he walks back to their department and becomes increasingly more aware of the department coming up to his left as he nears his office. Kim Joonmyeon's department. He fixes his tie and hair instinctively and clears his throat as he rounds the corner and sees Tao standing up, presenting a diagram to a coworker, but behind him, the intern's desk remains untouched.

Baekhyun still hasn't returned to work or to his home after a week, and Chanyeol would be lying if he said he wasn't going crazy from missing the man. Every day he glances restlessly at the abandoned desk. He knew that it hurt when he ended things with Baekhyun, but he has no choice. Baekhyun doesn't see his elderly father crying over his desk with a glass of scotch after dinner at night, recounting his failures as a leader of a company. Chanyeol is the one that Mr. Byun lectures about his shortcomings and how Park can avoid such fatal mistakes. He's never had a fully grown man beg him not to run his company further into the ground to spare his family further embarrassment. He doesn't have to go home and lie to a woman who is a constant reminder in all that she does of the man that he's in love with and their brief but perfect life together.