Like A Boss (REWRITING)

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Eunseo was thankful that the terrible meeting with the CEO had quickly passed by and she hadn't caught sight of him since. She was also in the midst of deciding whether she should continue to be inspired by him after that encounter with him, but she convinced herself that maybe he deserves a second chance. She did overhear that he was only stressed that day, probably still tired from the flight, so that might have led him to such a temper. Also, Seokmin said it might just be a facade.

There was word around the Avenue that Mingyu was coming back but Eunseo had no idea it would be so soon. The young CEO had decided to stay and spend time at the main branch. He was now back in his office, cleaning up the place he left in the past two years. He asked for assistance in his cleaning and Eunseo was sent to him first thing when she got to work.

"How could nobody come up here and let dust accumulate in my office? The main branch should be the cleanest out of all the branches, and that includes the CEO's office! Aigoo, how disappointing!" Mingyu kept nagging while he moved around his office.

"How could we clean the office when you left it locked for two years and brought the keys to it with you?" Eunseo mumbled.

"What? Did you say something?"

"Ah, no sir. It was nothing. It's just dusty in here."

"That's what I'm saying! How could you guys let it get dusty in here? Ah, so frustrating! My office is part of the restaurant, too!"

Eunseo rolled her eyes while her boss continued to nag about almost every little speck of dust that he sees floating in the air. They finished cleaning up Mingyu's office after an hour, the boss sending her back to her duties downstairs. She convinced herself that it wouldn't be the last he'd see of him, when she saw him coming down a little later. He stood at the dining area for some time to greet customers before he came into the kitchen to monitor his employees.

Mingyu didn't even take his lunch break and instead helped along in the kitchen, casually talking to the chefs and catching up with Chef Lee in the process. Eunseo was back to her thoughts of "maybe he's a nice guy", but it was always interfered with Mingyu calling her over and ordering her to do things that she wasn't supposed to do as a waitress.

***

The first day of Mingyu's stay in the restaurant wasn't so bad. He wasn't getting picky or having a bad temper atleast for that day. But today was one of those days that he woke up at the wrong side of the bed. He was cranky when he got to work, and Eunseo didn't like it.

She was running late to work after doing an errand for her dad when she met Mingyu on her way into the employee entrance. He wasn't looking nice as he squinted his eyes on her and crossed his arms over his broad chest. Eunseo knew he'd ask her why she was late, but would probably tell her it wasn't a valid reason. She apologized right away and bowed politely at him even before he could talk. And for the second time that week, she was sent to see him in his office.

Mingyu was seated in his swivel chair when Eunseo got inside his office. He made her sit down before he pushed a familiar handbook towards her on the table. He began telling her about tardiness and asked her to read that part of the handbook to him aloud. Still, she had no choice but listen to him nagging again like yesterday.

Seokmin asked Eunseo what trouble she got into that she was called to the CEO's office early in the morning. Eunseo told him she felt like she was sent to the Guidance Office for being 5 minutes late, and shared her annoyance towards the CEO. Seokmin chuckled and told her to just let it go because Mingyu was just that kind of person and she'd have to get used to it.

Seokmin relayed to Mingyu what he heard from Eunseo, but he shared it only to tease his friend. Even though he didn't drop any names, Mingyu was sure it was Eunseo and decided he'll pick on her a little just to let her know who's the boss.

The next day, he called Eunseo for every little thing and asked her to do the tasks that wasn't part of her job description. He even pointed out why she was doing those tasks when she doesn't have to, even though he knew he ordered her to do them.

"But you told me to-- Ugh!" Eunseo clenched her fists as she groaned in frustration.

"What? Are you complaining?" Mingyu raised his brow at her.

"No, sir. Of course not." Eunseo smiled sarcastically and let Mingyu walk away before she mumbled, "Psycho."

"What did you call me?"

"Nothing, sir. I'll get to work."

"Really?" Mingyu walked over to Eunseo with a serious look on his face, enough to put the rest of the employees in the kitchen to silence. He leaned close to Eunseo's face, towering over her, and stared into her coldly. "You're fired."

Eunseo knew what she did was wrong and that she dug her own grave when she let that word escape her lips. She walked into the locker room to pack up while she get her thoughts straight. She should have let her frustration pass so she could think clearly, but it was too late now.

Meanwhile, Mingyu dismissed everyone from work and closed up the restaurant early. He walked back into his office and sat on his boss chair with a groan. Chef Lee walked in a little later, sitting down on the couch and began giving him the talk. Mingyu hated it, he felt like Seokmin was his good conscience who doesn't stop bugging him until he does something good, but he was thankful that he was there to give him sanity. He did make it seem like he was abusing his power as CEO and got too far, but didn't Eunseo go far too?

"That may be right, she was in no position to call you that, but let's be honest -- you were being hard on her the whole day. You asked her to do things she wasn't supposed to, instead of letting her focus on her job, and turn the table like you never asked her to. Who wouldn't think you're a psycho?"

"Okay, great, now you too?" Mingyu deadpanned at his friend.

"No, but you know what I mean, right? Don't pick on the girl just because she expressed her impressions of you. Don't tell me this is what you've become in the last 2 years, Gyu."

"Ugh, it's not like I--"

"Thanks to you, a dreamer lost her job. Just because you treated her like that. Yes, you heard me, I'm giving you the pity you don't have. I'll go now, I have to drop Eunseo off at the bus stop. Close the restaurant when you leave."

"Don't tell me what to do, Seokmin."

"You're the boss, Gyu. Shouldn't you be closing your restaurant? I'm off. See you tomorrow."

"God, I hate it when he does that."

Mingyu did as he was told anyway, and closed up the restaurant on his way to his car. He tried very hard not to think about Seokmin's guilty words as he drove, and he hoped he'd sleep well that night.