On-Way Passage || ᴠᴍɪɴ

Extra 4

Once Taehyung left, Jimin's grandpa inquired, "What's your relationship with that alpha colleague of yours?"

Laying on the sofa, Jimin dully drawled, "He's just a coworker."

Grandpa Park put on his reading glasses and sat down next to Jimin, sorting vegetables as he watched TV. "He came here looking for you yesterday and came again today. Does he have any... intentions towards you?"

Jimin's gaze shifted from his phone screen to his grandpa. The old man's glasses hung loosely on the tip of his nose, as if they were about to fall off at any moment. "I'm a beta. What kind of 'intentions' could he have towards me?" Thinking of work, Jimin felt slightly annoyed.

Grandpa Park gave him a look through his glasses, then laughed wordlessly.

Unsatisfied, Jimin added, "I'm going to get a girlfriend. It's best if she's a beta."

He spent a week at home resting, and as expected, in that one week, not one soul asked him why he wasn't coming to work.

Jimin had already come to accept things. If worst comes to worst, he could just quit—his resignation letter was still safely tucked inside his drawer anyway.

On the day Jimin returned to the lab, he saw no sign of Hongyu. At the same time, he received a call from the human resources department informing him that the company's higher-ups had passed a decision to appoint Jimin as the manager of the first R&D department, and that his presence at HQ was expected to deal with the formalities.

Jimin was completely taken aback, surprised at the fact that Taehyung would act so quickly. He turned to look at his coworkers as he stood next to his desk, but no one was paying attention to him—evidently no one was aware of his promotion.

The news of Jimin's promotion didn't spread throughout the company until he rushed to the headquarters to complete the formalities.

The floor where the human resources department was located had a large open terrace that served as a lounge, with a variety of green plants and sofas strewn about. During working hours, the area was usually deserted, but it was there that Jimin ran into Daniel.

Daniel appeared overjoyed. He strode towards Jimin, clasped his hands, and said, "Congratulations!"

Jimin simply smiled and said, "Thank you," unable to formulate an appropriate response.

"Why didn't you spill a word about your promotion when I last saw you?" Daniel continued. "We meet again—and suddenly you're Manager Park now!"

"You can still call me Jimin," said Jimin.

A hesitant look crossed Daniel's face then, and after a moment, he lowered his voice and asked, "Is it true that Mr Jo applied for a position in Yoongi's new lab?"

The information was an instant shock as Jimin had heard nothing of the sort. Suddenly feeling complicated, he wondered if the reason Taehyung was so firm in offering to promote him to department manager was solely because he was already aware of Hongyu's transfer.

"The first R&D department is also struggling now... and the company, with its future business focus, will definitely invest its efforts and capital into the new lab," Daniel continued. "Making you department manager looks like a promotion on the surface, but aren't they actually just having you take over that nightmarish mess? Why don't you follow in Mr Jo's footsteps and try to get transferred to Yoongi's side?"

Jimin remained silent, but his ears pricked up at the distant sound of footsteps, and when he looked up, he was greeted by the sight of Taehyung walking towards where he and Daniel were standing.