And this is why I hate you

3.

KSJ

soft morning light filtered through the slightly dirty windows, illuminating the office in a dreamy, magical light, shading the many plants in different tones of green.

I inhaled deeply, staring over the space and the few people that were already here and working away. Most of them were the early risers that would leave the office earlier. Some of them were the late-night type of people who would finish their tasks, pack up and go home pretty soon.

I found it important that everyone could work at the time that worked best for them. Nothing is more unproductive than being forced to work at a time when you and your brain simply cannot function.

"I'm leaving for home then, Jin-Hyung" Chris grinned, placing some files on my desk, knocking on it.

His eyebags got more prominent over the last week. "Yeah," I nodded and then couldn't help and add a "make sure to get enough rest!" although I knew he tried to but could not since he had chronic insomnia and was a master at staying awake for several consecutive days.

"Sure," he winked, waved, and then turned around, shouldering his bag, leaving the office just as Jungkook entered.

The boy took on to be early, trying to do everything right, not yet fully grasping that I was not offended if he would come whenever he felt fit enough to work, as long as he met the required hours at the end of the month and was there for meetings.

Looking rather serious, the young man marched through the rows of tables, moving towards his own tidy desk in the middle of the room.

With a swift motion, I took the pile of papers where Chris had left them and placed them right in front of me. I then took my sweet time, trying to figure out which pen I wanted to use, taking another sip of coffee before I started to skim over the documents.

Chris had worked on an overview of complaints from employees. The section here in the headquarters. The company was huge and oversaw many stores, factories, and branches so this type of work never ended, and we retorted to part it into different sections.

I knew that people got quite angry because their complaints were not answered, but it wasn't because we did not want to. Instead, there were so many of them that we were constantly running behind.

This definitely had to change if I wanted to get promoted.

I sighed.

Most of the complaints were the usual ones, about working hours, failing or broken equipment, or the occasional raffle between colleagues.

Inhaling deeply, I unclasped a marker and color-coded the different kinds of issues, grouping them into categories to create a better overview. We really needed to get ahead of all the equipment issues here. I would have to talk with Song about that, and unfortunately, Namjoon. Hopefully, one of his underlings would come to the meeting. Hopefully, the head of the department is too busy making up some numbers.

"Hyung!" A somewhat panicked, quiet yell reached my ears just as I circled a particularly urgent issue.

My gaze lifted, trying to make out who was distressed. The sun still filtered unbothered through the office, dipping everything in golden light. It wandered already so far that it touched the top of my shoe. It made me smile.

"Seokjin-Hyung," another muffled cry.

This time it was easier to locate. It came from Jungkook, who rather helplessly stared at his computer, seemingly frozen in place.

I quickly got up, ready to fix any issue, knowing very well that I was terrible with electronics and that I would need tech support if it would be anything other than turning the computer on and off to fix the problem.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to radiate a warm and cheerful, reassuring presence.

I could see Jungkooks delicate Adam's apple jump up and down before my eyes laid on the computer. Noticing his pencil holder in Onigiri design.

Nothing seemed to be wrong until I saw the millions of windows that opened themselves continuously.

Complaint after complaint was flooding poor Jungkooks desktop, and it did not take long before I heard gasps and curses from all the other workers who seemed to experience the same phenomena.

"How is this possible?" I breathed out, leaning close to the computer as if this would solve the problem and scare the virtual windows away.

If it worked, I would even scream at them. But unfortunately, that never helped.

"Could it be a crux in the software?" I asked into the room but was only met by helpless glances.

"Call tech support to make sure that nothing is wrong," I calmly instructed Hyunjin, who scrambled to reach for the phone.

The windows kept appearing, and everyone sat immobilized and unproductive at their desks by now, resigned and almost hypnotized, watching the windows pop up.

It was the software that sent complaints to us—the urgent kinds.

But there was no way that there would be so many of them. Not at once. Not at this speed. Something had to be wrong.

The Tech guy was rather surprised as he appeared annoyed about thirty minutes later.

"I have no idea why your computers are flooded with complaints, but I am very sure there is nothing wrong with the device or the software. It seems like someone has quite a lot of issues." He shrugged and packed his things, looking somewhat relieved that he did not have to deal with the issue anymore.

"Good luck!" He cheered, then left our office.

"This is ridiculous," Hyunjin mumbled, leaning back in his chair, his hands covering his face.

I wanted to agree, but I had no words left in me. I just stared at Jungkooks computer, watching as more and more and even more windows full of complaints popped up. I felt helpless. I felt like crying. It wasn't like we had not already had enough work to do. It was not like I had not pulled several all-nighters this month already.

Trying to suppress my desperation, I closed my eyes again, my fingernails digging once again into my hands, forming tiny, perfect crescents in their flesh. I allowed myself three deep breaths until I forced my eyes back open, scanning the entire room.

"Call everyone, please. We need all manpower we can get our hands on, to resolve this mess."

They all sprang into action without any further ado, calling their desk neighbors.

This felt like an apocalypse.

And it felt like drowning. But instead of trying desperately to get onto the arch to sail to safety, I felt like throwing myself into the flood.

As I marched back to my place, I felt Jungkooks gaze on my back. For his sake, I straightened up, trying to seem reassured.

"Do not worry. We will figure it out in no time!" I cheerfully stated into the room and was met with kindly smiling faces before I sat myself down and hid my face behind my computer, tiredly opening and closing one of my highlighters repeatedly.