얼음꽃 (Frost Flower)

Chapter Thirteen

“The next meeting with the board should be in a couple of weeks so let’s step it up a little. Things are gonna be hectic for a bit so let’s support one another and do this together, yes?” Yoona clapped her hands together and put on the brightest smile she could manage in the hopes of lifting the team’s spirits. Everybody had been looking rather listless that morning. Well, almost everybody.

“Yes! We can do this! Hwaiting, guys!” A voice rang out from among the group, one which caused Kai to slam a palm against his forehead loudly as he released a sigh. Luhan nudged him in the ribs, shooting him a stare that seemed to say “Don’t be rude”.

“I think she’s high on something.” Hyoyeon muttered loud enough for Sooyoung and Sunny to hear, and the two chuckled accordingly.

Noticing their hostility towards the new girl, Yoona persuaded, “Come on, guys. I think we all have something to learn from Hyomin. That’s the kind of spirit we want around here, alright?”

When the group barely responded, she added, “Yah, if I don’t get an appropriate reaction, we’re staying here for lunch.”

Everybody seemed to perk up at the mentioning of food, and Kai was the first to go, “Alright! Let’s do this as a team!” The rest nodded in agreement as zestfully as they could, hoping it would temporarily mask whatever animosity they had against the poor intern.

“Great! Have a good lunch; I’ll see you guys after.”

In a second, the group of five scrambled to their feet and shuffled out through the door at breakneck speed. It was painfully apparent that they were doing all they could to avoid Hyomin like the plague.

There was nothing really bad about the new girl, except maybe the passion she had for her work, which was not supposed to be an awful thing, really. Yoona understood that it might be difficult for some people to accept that level of energy in the workplace but she also felt sorry for the girl.

“How’re you coping so far? Are you enjoying yourself?”

It seemed like she was because her face lit up at the question, “Definitely! Things are actually way better than I expected them to be! Hope I’ll get the opportunity to join the company permanently!”

“That’s really good to hear, Hyomin. Keep up the good work. Where do you usually go for lunch, though? I don’t think I’ve seen you at the cafeteria.”

“I mostly just pack my food and have it in the pantry! It’s quieter there and I usually catch up on some reading! I recently borrowed this rather interesting book and I can’t seem to put it down!”

“Wow… I had no idea people still read actual books these days… you know what, why don’t I buy you lunch today? Just take it as a bonding session… would be nice to get to know you better…” Yoona suggested, not wanting the girl to have any reason to feel left out. Lunching without a companion was not nice, at least not to Yoona.

“R-really? That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me since I got here!” The girl hugged a stack of files close to her chest, beaming widely.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

---

“Omo, the food here isn’t bad at all… we should really come out more often for lunch. I’m so bored of the cafeteria menu.” Tiffany popped another piece of grilled fish into her mouth and chewed away gratefully.

“Yeah, we should…” The woman seated across her nodded somewhat absentmindedly as she poked at her food.

“We could get Yoona to tag along. It’ll be fun.” Though Tiffany knew she was not supposed to be interfering with the development of their relationship, she thought it appropriate to help Yoona out as and when she could since she was Taeyeon’s closest friend.