Tally Marks- soulmate au

Chapter Four: Balance

Junhui sauntered over to where Anne was seated at her desk. He took a seat in the leather chair on the opposite side of her desk. She refused to meet his eye as she continued rummaging through the many papers that were sprawled across her desk. Her brown hair was pulled up into a neat bun but the creases in her forehead expressed her stress.

"What's wrong?" Junhui asked inquizetly.

She lifted her head and looked at Junhui. "We're going to have to make a few unexpected cuts around here."

Junhui's head cocked to the side as he asked, "Why, what for?"

"I just got the results back from last months revenue intake. Now, it wouldn't be so bad if we don't compare to the last three months, but unfortunately, each month it's been getting worse and worse. I looked through all the numbers and determined that there's two separate department's of my company that are causing this major decrease in revenue. The only way to fix this is to let some people go, or soon we won't be able to afford to keep them on."

Junhui sat and proceed this new information for a moment. "Alright, well what department are we taking cuts from."

"The productions department."

That's Seungcheol's department. "O-oh. Well, you said there are two departments?"

"Yea, well, it's more of the fact that we can't fire the entire productions department, so we'll also be taking cuts from the newest department. We shouldn't have even hired new people." Anne went back to scouring through the many forms on her desk.

"But they just started today, they haven't done anything to harm the company."Jun argued back. He couldn't let her fire them. Wonwoo was so excited about starting and actually having a stable job.

"Yea, they haven't harmed the company, yet. How would it look if we just hired a new department while we are losing money. The investors aren't going to be happy if they have to pay more money to a company that might start failing."

"But they-"

Anne abruptly stopped flipping through sheets and looked at Jun."Look, I'm not asking for your input. I need you to compile a list of possible individuals to fire. Then you must fire them."

"Well, what if instead, we demote people instead of firing them. Then wait a few months, look at the changes in revenue intake and see how things go from there."

"Demoting them won't do anything. They are still bad apples, and nobody wants to keep a bad apple."

Jun was running out of ideas,"Fine, but can we at least leave the new department out of this, they haven't done anything wrong."

"Like I said, they haven't done anything wrong, yet." she said, emphasizing the 'yet'.

"Okay well then how about we leave them alone for a few months, see what happens. If something does go wrong, then we can go about this, but they really haven't done anything wrong."

"Fine. But we still need to go through and fire some of the productions department."

Jun sighed, "Alright, I'll get on that list."

So, he did. He left the office and went about collecting that list. He spent hours sorting and compiling that list. Questioning people, and trying to make sure none of them worried about why he was doing this. He felt really bad for all the people he would have to fire. He even had to question Seungcheol, which, by the way, was far beyond awkward. He didn't really know how to address his friend and having to ask questions to make sure he was doing his job right was definitely not how he wanted to spend his day. He had gotten so carried away with it all, that when he returned to his office, Anne was already gone and off for her lunch break. Junhui slumped back into his chair behind his desk and dropped the stack of papers he had gathered into a pile on his desk. His eyes closed for a moment as he relaxed into this moment of solitude. However, that moment was quickly ruined by a knock on his door. He let out a groan and opened his eyes before telling the person to come in. But that feeling of exhaustion was gone in a second when Wonwoo walked through his door.

"Hey," The tall man greeted as he stepped through the door, "We're still going out for lunch right?"

Junhui just smiled and hummed while nodding his head. He got out of his seat and grabbed his coat and hat before walking out the door with Wonwoo. The two immediately started up a conversation and Junhui's worries were quickly subsided into a small locked room in his mind. They walked down the hall and towards the elevator, as they normally did, and left for their favorite lunchtime diner.

After they ordered their usual foods and settled into their normal habits of talking, Junhui began to rant about how he barely talked her out of firing Wonwoo's department and how painstakingly awkward it had been to question all of those people.

"I had to question Seungcheol about his work ethic. It was so awkward. I couldn't even find it me to act like we were friends and do it casually. We were both so stiff and aware. God, it was awful."

Wonwoo chuckled at how whiney Junhui was being. He let the older man rant on and on about Anne and her new cutbacks at work. As he ranted his hands flew around the table in big exaggerated movements. "I mean, she could have at least thought this through. She said it herself, why hire new people when you're already losing money, and yet she did it anyway. I know you're all excited about your new job, but she is the only one to blame for this."

"Junnie," Wonwoo grabbed ahold of Junhui's wrists to prevent him from knocking anything over. "Calm down. I'm sure things will work themselves out, but right now, we are out at lunch, just the two of us. No Anne, and you don't have to fire anyone right now. So, you don't have to worry."

Junhui sighed and relaxed his body into his seat. "I know, she just frustrates me."

Their food came and Wonwoo awkwardly removed his hands from Junhui's wrist and the two began to eat. It was silent for a moment, but only a moment. A moment of thoughts. A moment of quiet. A moment of each other, just being together. That was probably the moment that they both realized, they didn't always need to talk to each other for the other to understand. Because right after that moment, Wonwoo said the perfect words that were needed to calm Junhui's rapid mind.

"If life was perfect, there would be no point in living. There would be nothing to strive for. No reason to get out of bed in the mornings.You need to have balance, there will be good things and there will be bad things. Having these struggles, these passions, they make life worth living after they're all said and done... And when you finally meet your soulmate, you can tell her all about how these struggles were worth it. Because all this lead you to her."

He started out so passionate, but as he kept going on, kept talking, Wonwoo's tone became more diluted and depressed. He realized that he could never pursue Junhui, because everyone has soulmates and the likelihood of them being together was slim to none. This realization hit him like truck. He hadn't realized that these feelings that had built up in the past few months were destined to harm him. A small frown found it's way onto both of their faces as the thought of them not being soulmates crossed their minds. They refused to look at each other as they lost themselves in their own thoughts.

Junhui's head looked down at his lap as he mumbled out "What makes you think it's a 'her'?"

Wonwoo looked up at him. "What?"

Junhui's eyes caught Wonwoo's as they stared at each other. "What makes you think my soulmate is a female?"

Wonwoo blinked a few times then stuttered a bit. "Wha- well- I mean- I just assumed-"

"What makes you think I haven't found my soulmate yet?" Junhui asked.

"Well, I mean, you haven't met any new people, or at least, not that I know of." Wonwoo replied, a bit shyly.

"I've met you." Junhui said with a light blush upon his cheeks. The two once again made eye contact. Neither saying a word. And Junhui thought back to what Wonwoo had said earlier.

You need to have balance, there will be good things and there will be bad things.

Wonwoo was definitely one of the good things in his life.

(1445 words)