House Of Cards

Apologies and Conspiracies

Mr. Wi takes a step back from the podium, allowing his uncle to take the microphone again. The older man tries to nonchalantly lower the microphone as best as he could. My eyes fall back to the ground as he speaks.

"Please treat my nephew kindly. I assure you, QuikChat is in good hands now. Thank you."

Mr. Choi steps away to regroup with his entourage of security guards. The room is filled with loud chatter now, I look up towards the front of the room and meet the eyes of Wi Hajoon, the new CEO. I'm quick to look away, hoping that the three seconds of eye contact isn't enough to lose my job.

They leave the room, leaving all of us employees in a tense silence. I step outside and wait in the hall for Dohyun. Neither of us care too much for gossiping with the others.

"That's not what I was expecting," says Dohyun.

The two of us start walking to his office, other employees finally flowing out of the meeting room.

"What are you gonna do now? You were always Mr. Choi's favorite."

He shrugs, "I'm sure the new CEO won't be too bad."

"I don't know, he kinda seems off," I say.

We enter his office, and he closes the door behind me. "Should you really be saying that so freely?"

"I'm most likely going to be fired anyway, so what does it matter?" I ask, sitting down.

Dohyun sits in front of me, "What did you do?"

I roll my eyes and lean forward to fix his crooked glasses. It's a habit I've developed over the years.

"I accidentally ran into him before the meeting, Mrs. Cho wasn't particularly happy about it."

"I imagine he wasn't either, but that's not enough to fire someone over. Especially since it happened before he was given the CEO title."

I nod, thinking about the embarrassing encounter. Dohyun's right. It isn't something worth firing me over. However, we know nothing about Mr. Wi.

"I should head back to my broom closet," I say, standing up.

Dohyun rolls his eyes, "Have fun, Harriet Potter."

He returns to typing on his keyboard while I leave. My heels click against the white tiled floor, the mind-numbing sound barely reaching my ears as the usual sound of office banter takes over. You would think a company this big would be super quiet, and normally it is, but the entire building is full of anxious whispers.

"Ah, there you are, Miss (L/n). I've been looking everywhere for you," Mrs. Cho says as I step into the break room.

I bow, "Sorry, Mrs. Cho. What can I do for you?"

"You can start by writing your apology to Mr. Wi. It was embarrassing enough that you ran into him, but making eye contact during a meeting is incredibly unprofessional."

She grabs my arm and drags me out. Her tight grip on me wrinkles my sleeve. She pulls me to a stop, not too far from where we just were.

"Mr. Wi, i apologize for interrupting your tour, but Miss (L/n) would like to apologize for earlier."

She lets go of my arm, bumping her elbow into my ribs. I keep my eyes down and bow, focusing on the polished designer shoes in front of me. "Mr. Wi, I would like to sincerely apologize for my behavior this morning."

"Show more respect, bow deeper," Mrs. Cho mutters.

The surrounding employees stop to watch us, and my ears burn in embarrassment. I let out a sigh, preparing to kneel down to bow.