angel baby || seongjoong

hostility

Seonghwa sat at his desk, fingers tracing invisible patterns across the surface as he tried to block out the murmurs around him. The office was bustling as usual, phones ringing, papers shuffling, and keyboards clicking, but it felt like a cacophony of contempt in his ears.

His colleagues, the people he once thought would be his companions in this professional journey, had turned their backs on him. There was no apparent reason for their coldness, but it had become unbearable, a slow, gnawing ache that consumed him more with each passing day.

Across from him, Seonghwa could hear whispered conversations, soft enough to be indistinct but loud enough to know they were about him. Snickers followed every glance in his direction, and the weight of their stares pressed down on him like a physical force.

He tried to ignore it, tried to focus on the work in front of him, but it was impossible to forget the way they all treated him. It was as if he were some kind of inconvenience, an outcast who didn’t belong in their tightly-knit circle.

The once-friendly greetings had turned into curt nods, and the laughter they shared in the break room now excluded him entirely. Even small interactions like passing papers, asking questions about tasks were tinged with disdain. At this point, Seonghwa was wondering if the kindness they used to show him had been genuine at all.

The silent treatment was worse than outright hostility because it left Seonghwa questioning every word, every action. What had he done to deserve this?

He shook his head and tried to clear his mind. He had a mountain of papers to tend to and didn’t have the time to worry about this whole situation.

Just as he was looking through the stack of files on his desk, another stack of maybe 10 ring files landed on top of his hand. Flinching, he turned around to find another manager of his level standing behind him.

“Manager Park, here you go. Boss needs this by the end of today, by the way,” he said, a hint of mockery in his tone.

Oh. They had moved on from silent treatment to outright mockery.
Seonghwa nodded, sighing deeply. His actions did not go unnoticed by the manager who raised an eyebrow.

“What was that, Manager Park? Do you not want to do this? I can always tell Director Kim that you refused to do your work.”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to. I’ll do it,” Seonghwa said, placing some of the files on his lap to sort through.

“Thought you would,” he mocked, rolling his eyes. Seonghwa failed to miss the fact that he had 3 lackeys standing at a table near him, laughing as he walked back. He heard them clapping and high-fiving, before throwing insults at himself and walking away.

“Seonghwa hyung…” Mingi started.

“It’s fine, Mingi,” Seonghwa forced a smile onto his face.

“I’m fine,” He added.

Mingi had noticed the shift in behavior towards Seonghwa, his observant eyes catching the way the others seemed to ostracize his friend.

He wasn’t sure why the colleagues had grown so cold towards Seonghwa, but Mingi wasn’t going to stand by and let it continue unchecked. He had to do whatever he could, but was there really anything he could do?

Mingi did his best to support Seonghwa, but even he could feel the tension mounting. He’d tried to talk to their colleagues, casually bringing up Seonghwa in conversation, but their responses were dismissive.

Some claimed they were too busy to socialize, while others simply shrugged, as if Seonghwa didn’t matter at all. Mingi couldn’t understand it. Seonghwa was one of the most genuine, caring people he knew, how could anyone treat him with such cold indifference?