Fight the Alchemy || KTH FF

Green & Neon Glitches

⋆.˚Ayun˚.⋆

Damn it.





Why did the neckline have to look like a butcher's apron?





I glared at the design spread across my desk, trying to resist the urge to crumple it into a ball and hurl it at someone.





My fingers twitched, hovering over the sketch.





If only it wasn't from one of my best designers, it would be halfway to the trash by now.





"Jiwon" I called out, not bothering to mask the irritation in my voice.





Jiwon one of my junior designers rushed over, a mix of nervousness and determination in her eyes. "Yes, Director Hae?"





"Does this look like something Kim Ji-hyun would wear on stage?" I thrust the sketch at her, raising an eyebrow.





Her eyes widened as she took in the design, and she blinked rapidly, clearly trying to come up with a diplomatic response. Poor girl.





"I... I think it needs some adjustments," she stammered. I snorted. "Adjustments? Honey, it needs a miracle."





I leaned back in my chair, massaging my temples. "Try and make it work."





Jiwon nodded furiously, clutching the sketch like it might catch fire. "I'll fix it, Director."





My team was good, but sometimes... Sometimes they made me want to drown myself in a vat of red wine.





Or maybe just drown them instead.





"Pull yourself together, Min Ayun." I muttered, already turning my attention to the next disaster waiting in my inbox. A photoshoot, a workshop, and...





Crap.





"Not that shade of green," I growled for what felt like the hundredth time, gesturing at a particularly garish swatch.




"We're not dressing forest elves."





Seulgi one of the interns looked up, her face a mix of exhaustion and exasperation. "But it's a trend—"





"Trend?" I snapped, "If I wanted trendy, I'd just slap a 'limited edition' sticker on a piece of polyester and call it a day."





Minji one of my lead designers stifled a laugh, clearly on my side but trying not to get caught in the crossfire.





I could see the frustration in her eyes too, and it didn't help that every time I thought we were making progress, something else would derail us.





"This," I jabbed a finger at the particularly offensive shade of neon pink on the mood board, "is not going to work. Unless our target audience is a pack of highlighter-happy teenagers."





Jung-woon, my other lead designer, winced but nodded. "We can tone it down, maybe go with the blush option?"





I rolled my eyes, half-amused, half-annoyed.





"Blush. Neon. At this point, it's all the same. Make it work, or I'm ripping up the entire board." At this point I don't know how I'm gonna make this work.





Jae-Hoon, our fabric specialist, chimed in from the other side of the room. "We've got the materials, but we're missing the—"





"Missing the point?" I cut him off, rubbing my temples.





"Look, we don't need something that says 'I ran out of ideas.' Let's regroup, take five, and figure this out. I need to see more cohesion. And for fuck's sake, less neon."





I was tired.





Exhausted.





Every detail, every stitch, and seam needed to be perfect, and all I had in front of me was a pile of maybes.





Then, right as I was about to suggest we set the entire collection on fire and start over, my phone buzzed.





The screen lit up with "Husband❤️"





A small smile tugged at my lips as I picked up the phone, expecting the usual check-in.





 Yoongi and I were in sync, like two gears turning in the same machine.





"Hey," I answered, trying to sound a little less homicidal than I felt.





"Ayun." His voice was as smooth as ever like that last sip of whiskey on a bad day, but there was a pause, a hesitation that immediately put me on alert.





"What's up? You sound weird," I said, flipping through the swatches absentmindedly.





"Nothing serious, How is it going?" He asks.





I rolled my eyes, remembering the disaster unfolding in every corner of the studio.





"Just living the dream," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.





He chuckled but a pause of half a minute followed right after until he cleared his throat and started again.





"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something." He muttered.





"Shoot," I say, already feeling my patience thinning.





"The gala. This weekend."





My hand almost slipped, and the phone nearly followed.





The gala? This weekend? The same weekend I needed to finalize the designs?





Fuck.





"Ayun." His voice calm, too calm. "You still there?"





I blinked, forcing myself to focus. "Yeah, sorry. Just... we've got a massive deadline, and now this?"





"I know, I know. But it'll be fine. We'll get through it together, okay?"





He was trying to soothe me, but all I could think about was the mountain of work waiting for me and how I was supposed to smile and make small talk with the who's who of Seoul's elite while my team scrambled to finish a collection that was nowhere near done.





I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Fine. But I'm working overnight tonight. We need to get this under control."





"Just don't kill anyone in the process." he teased.





"No promises."





After hanging up, I let out a long breath and turned to my team, who were watching me with a mix of curiosity and dread.





"Alright, listen up. I've just been reminded that I have to attend a gala this weekend, so we'll have to stay late tonight. This collection isn't going to finish itself."





Groans echoed through the room. "Oh, come on," I said, with a wry smile. "It'll be fun. Think of it as a team bonding experience." I know I sounded unreasonable but do I have a choice?





Jae-Hoon raised an eyebrow. "A bonding experience?"





"Yeah," I said, grabbing a stack of sketches and handing them to him while putting on a sarcastic smile.





"You, me, coffee, and endless rolls of fabric. How does that sound?"





He chuckled and Minji rolled her eyes, but I could see the reluctant grin on her face. "Fine, fine. We'll stay late."





Soo-Jin and Joon exchanged glances, but no one complained.





Though I heard a low "not signed up for this." from Seulgi. but I declared,





"Complaints will be filed with the Department of 'Welcome to the Real World'. Now let's get back to work." Putting an end to the discussion.