lion heart [bbangsaz] {feat. daerin}

Finally Out

Minji

The timing of Minji's promotion couldn't have occurred at a more ideal time. Using 'ideal' relatively, of course, since she'd been hit with a double whammy of disaster.

One being the aftershock of Jake's fight. As she buffed each checkout desk of spilt glitter and the debris from shedding wreaths, his words lingered. Especially that 'penniless' remark. Damn, he'd really went in on her. While his apology that night seemed sincere, the wreckage that was her self-esteem kept her from returning home. 'Home' being used loosely.

For the other disaster, she owed a big, fat non-thank you to Chaewon, who hadn't returned her calls after her outburst. Minji would've gone further to investigate. Dropping by her and Jay's (groan) condo, or sneak-attacking Chaewon with hugs until she broke her silence. Both options worked in the past. Although, Minji was only human. She'd been made shambles of by two constants in her life.

"What's this?" Taeyeon snatched the wet rag from Minji's grip. Lifting it by the end of her pen, eyebrow raised. "This isn't your responsibility anymore, manager trainee."

Minji feigned offense. "I'm not suddenly too good to clean, miss."

"Miss? What happened to Unnie?" She smirked, "You're avoiding that stack of paperwork in the front office, aren't you?"

A promotion meant dividing time on the floor with new product booklet reading, countless meetings with higher ups, and display rearrangement based on vague schematics. Tedious, yet not unpleasant. "It's an intimidating stack."

She patted Minji on the arm, beaming. "You're doing great, Min. Keep it up."

Taeyeon, most beloved of beloved supervisors, provided sanctuary for the past week and a half (ten days since Minji and Jake's fight, ten days since Chaewon's silence started, ten days of self-pity). When she spotted Minji bawling like a toddler during her break, she offered her shoulder. A comforting arm at her waist. Minji relayed a PG-rated, still gay version of her story. Enough for the senior manager to offer a spare bedroom until Minji figured out her next steps.

A blessing, really, because she didn't point a finger at Minji, reminding her to blame herself. She'd proven herself a friend. So, Minji accompanied Taeyeon home, met her wife Tiffany, their four little dogs, and engaged in a refreshingly non-caustic dinner.

Her other form of emotional solace came from the warrior presently known as Hanni Pham. News of the fight put a fire she'd never heard in Hanni's voice. Thus, Minji accepted another person as her aide. To protect her, knowing the past and her involvement. But, as Hanni had phrased it, Minji couldn't heal herself without these trials. She also yielded several gracious apologies for her part in it all—barring the sex. "I'd never regret that, oh my god," her sexy defender murmured into the phone one night.

In a whole other phone call, she frazzled her parents with her "Jake and I are through" announcement. Normally, they stayed out of her hair, trusting Jake to be her knight in shining armor. But following a confession that gigantic, Minji had been dodging their call backs until the dust cleared. The only specific she'd left them was that she had a safe place to live.

And Hanni would've opened her apartment to Minji, she knew it. However, it felt like a weakness to add stock to her 'user' title, so she'd been quick to accept Taeyeon's generous hand.

Back to the 'ideal.' A managing position's obligations surpassed a pay raise and a better set of shirts (less polos, more emblemed button-ups!). They turned out to be useful distractions from her drama. For two days, she'd reported to off-site training seminars: attending small group sessions with similarly ranked people from other Craftie's chains, clicking through PowerPoints of common-sense solutions, and watching a crap ton of outdated simulation videos that belonged in a vintage time capsule. Taeyeon threw a her little congrats party during an early shift (cake decorated by the baking team, balloon hats, a gift card in a polka dot envelope) and it actually improved Minji's mood.