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0.2

Lee Minhyuk

I let the glass door close behind me before immediately running my mouth. "Sir! You don't know what he did, he-"

"Please, Minhyuk," He said, unusually sharply. "I think you have said enough. I know some nasty things were thrown around, but violence most definitely isn't the way to deal with them."

"He outed me in front of everybody!" I pleaded, still dabbing at my bleeding lip. My boss paced his office, ultimately falling into his desk chair.

"Listen, I - I'm fully aware that you and Heonsoo clash badly, and have been bending over backwards to get him transferred elsewhere so everything can go back to normal, but there is only so much I can do. If he was to do discriminate against you, you were only to bring that up with me, not sort it out by pummelling his face." He sighed, rubbing his temples.

"You don't understand, Mr Kim. It's beyond that." I replied.
He remained silent for what felt like hours, but it was only long enough for the final rays of sunlight behind him to disappear, the sky tinged with many shades of orange, purple and blue. "What happens now?" I mumbled.

"I hate to do this, but the board already has my neck for allowing you back at work so soon, but I have no choice but to suspend you for the time being, Minhyuk. Effective immediate," Mr Kim said delicately. "I need to assure you that this is only temporary, and you can take it as a continuation of your time off-"

I jumped from my seat. "So what you're telling me is that he's the one to pull up my personal life and preferences over some stupid grudge and I'm being suspended?!"

"I'm sorry, Minhyuk. It's protocol," he said, rather quietly. "your badge, please."

For a couple of seconds, I just stared at his face in absolute bewilderment, before suddenly snapping to life & unclipping the badge from my belt, letting the metal hit the mahogany desk with a loud clatter. He then proceeded to say more but I didn't stick around to listen, leaving his office in the direction of my own.

As I put on my jacket, I felt the eyes burn into the surface of my skin but I ignored them, purely fuelled by rage. How is this fair?
As my final act of defiance, I threw my lanyard on top of the Everest-rivalling pile of cases, harshly slamming the door shut.

Outside, despite the scenic sunset, the evening sky was already covered with a thick layer of clouds, tiny raindrops falling onto the concrete. I released a deep sigh, looking at my phone and the multiple encouraging texts Kihyun had spammed me with.
I placed the device back in my pocket soon after, as it seemed that as soon as I was too far from the department to run back for an umbrella, it quickly began to rain harder.

I fell into a light jog as the station came into view, and blanked from then on until I reached my stop. Outside, the rain had intensified to what seemed like a complete downpour, the streets now lit by the streetlights.

"Why today?" I mumbled to myself, groaning as I walked under the heavy rain, to the shock of some (who were clearly sensible enough to carry an umbrella with them).
I, in this case, kept my head down, peeling off my drenched blazer before throwing it over my head as a final act of protection, which - as expected - failed miserably. The cold fabric only made me shiver more, and now that it was off, all I could do was hold on to it, as the rain now ate away at my shirt.