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to say she wasn't nervous would be a lie. niko felt she was bordering on the verge of panic as she rode the elevator up to the 16th floor, where all the meetings took place. at least the receptionist had been sweet—she'd even complimented niko's freshly pressed coal-gray pantsuit, courtesy of kay.
the doors dinged before opening, and niko sucked in a deep breath before stepping through. she'd been instructed to go to room 36 to meet with "mr. kim", who she assumed would be conducting the majority of the interview.
when she reached the room, niko gave two sharp knocks before poking her head into the room, careful not to chip her freshly shaped and styled nails. the room was larger than she expected it to be, large enough to fit a full conference table, along with a comfy couch set up, and a giant, wooden desk in front of the wall of windows directly across from the door.
niko clamped her open mouth shut when she spotted a man seated at the said desk, looking up at her with an amused smile. the girl instantly cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders as she stepped into the room, offering him an impressed eyebrow raise in return.
"this is quite the setup you've got," she tried, pursing her lips before fixing her jacket and taking a step toward the man. "i'm niko tsukina. here for the interview?"
the man smiled, not as intimidatingly this time. "ah, yes. kim junmyeon." he offered her his hand. "it's nice to finally meet you."
niko took his outstretched hand and gave it a firm squeeze as she shook it, showing him that she wasn't going to be a pushover. she'd dealt with his lawyers, she knew how they liked to play here. "you as well." he looked young, too young to be the ceo of, well, anything.
there was another knock on the door, and both niko and mr. kim looked up to see a head of fiery red hair. lee taeyong, the girl quickly guessed. when taeyong spotted them both, he instantly smiled and strolled right into the room as if he'd just walked in on an old friend reunion. "boss! i see you've met miss tsukina."
mr. kim chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm and released niko's hand, folding his own behind his back. "yes. and it seems you have, as well."
"not in person," the girl interrupted swiftly, lifting her chin as she scanned the bassist in person. "you're taller than i thought you'd be."
the boy's face instantly dropped, and his reaction caused mr. kim to burst into a sudden fit of laughter. "i think you'll fit right in, miss tsukina!"
"do i look short..?"
a few minutes passed before the three found themselves seated in the comfy couch area, waiting for the other members to arrive. jeno appeared a little after taeyong, introducing himself to niko, and yuta was running late. haechan wouldn't be able to make it due to a photo shoot scheduling conflict, and mark was—
"sorry, i'm late!" a frantic, familiar voice shouted. niko went frigid, frozen in place.
