What Am I to You?

The Acquisition

Taehyung was grateful for his promotion at work. He now had a team of three direct reports, which was new for him and a great responsibility. He worked well with the people he oversaw, and over the past few months, he and his small team of marketing specialists had improved company metrics and forecasts.

Taehyung had heard talk that made him nervous, though. His boss hasn't spoken of it to him yet, but Taehyung heard another department discussing their company being acquired. If an acquisition took place, Taehyung could be demoted and take a pay cut, or worse, lose his job altogether, depending on the other company's plans.

Taehyung did his best to keep worries at bay, but most nights after work, he found himself drinking lately. He either drank at home alone or went to a bar and people watched. There was a fear eating away at him that he didn't want to acknowledge.

It was late and it was raining. Taehyung needed to stop for the day and go home. When he came out of his office, he was surprised to see Somin was still there, too.

"Somin, I didn't know you were still here. Why don't you head home? That's what I'm doing."

She looked up at him. Somin was beautiful, but there was worry in her eyes.

"Taehyung, do you think the acquisition will go through?" she asked.

Taehyung sighed. "So you've heard about it too. No one has spoken to me about it. I'm not sure I'm even supposed to know. How did you find out?"

"Max had me run a report for some special meeting. I went to his office to ask a question and overheard him on the phone. I came back here to my desk and just emailed my question instead. But he sounded upset. Should I be looking for a new job?" Somin looked to Taehyung.

"Ah... I really don't know. It's Friday. How about I talk to Max first thing on Monday? I'm not sure why we're being kept in the dark about this."

"I might know why," Somin said. Taehyung waited for her to say more, but she didn't.

"Care to explain?" Taehyung pushed.

"All I know is, once acquired, they could clean house. The other company just wants our clients. It's only a matter of time until we lose them anyway since we don't have the people necessary to keep up with their goals."

"So it was an acquisition or go for broke. And they promote me without saying anything?" Taehyung swiped a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs back.

"Might not be the worst idea to start looking at new jobs. Just in case," Somin said.

"Yeah, seems like it. Let's lock up and get out of here," Taehyung said.

He set the alarm for their office suite, and the two of them went their separate ways.

. . . . . . . . . .

Taehyung woke up Saturday and checked his phone. It was 7:00am and there was a chance of rain. Opening his blinds, he saw it was already pouring outside and groaned.

With the anxiety and stress he was feeling, he needed to go for a run and burn some of that energy off. Taehyung had been hoping to get outside, but it wasn't quite warm enough to run in the rain, and he didn't want to risk getting sick.

After downing a protein shake and a small piece of fruit, Taehyung grabbed his gym bag, his jacket, and left his apartment.

. . . . . . . . . .

Taehyung changed into shorts and an old t-shirt at the back of the men's locker room. The last thing he grabbed was his earbuds before putting his lock on the peeling locker and heading for the door. Coming around the corner from the section of lockers he was using, Taehyung collided with another guy.