Bad Timing

Chapter 3

Jihyo was so done. Since she was promoted, her work became a nightmare. She was now the only woman in charge of a department in the company, being also the youngest among all. The leaders of each section were mostly old men that stubbornly rejected all new views, specially from a woman.

This season was particularly demanding as big projects for the company were coming. Jihyo, as the head of the design team, had to do meetings with the rest of the leaders to discuss how to approach these new challenges but it normally ended in disagreements and no job done. But Jihyo loved challenges and she wouldn’t give up, not without fighting at least.

Being the only woman in a male centric company was hard but as she was an outstanding employee, she won the respect of the company’s chief himself: Mr. Kim. The elder was a charismatic and fair boss, who made decisions based on the team achievements not his personal beliefs. Mr. Kim was kind and encouraging, always telling her that when he founded the company he also had struggled to keep it alive. His words gave her strength and Jihyo was glad he was the boss.

Mr. Kim had 2 sons that worked at the company: the elder, Donghee, was a vicious man. He was always late to the meetings, was rude to others and had the fame of fooling around with the women employees. If he wasn’t the son of the boss, he surely be fired already. Jihyo wished it, as he gave a bad reputation to the company but also because he harassed her subordinates, specially Sana.

Sana was the top designer of Jihyo’s team and openly gay, all the company knew it and Mr. Kim personally made a statement regarding the issue: no harassment would be tolerated or else they’ll be fired. Being the boss’ son made Donghee immune to the rule as no one dare to speak against him. Jihyo hated not being able of protecting Sana of the homophobic slurs but the latter dismissed ot as he said he was costumed by now.

In the other hand, the younger son, Dahyun, was the opposite. The man was like a breath of fresh air to the company. Not only his views but his character were bright. He was diligent and polite and even having a top position on the company he remained humble. He was very helpful and also compassionate. He tried his best to support Jihyo during meetings, complementing her ideas and take it them further. They were a good team and were cordial with one another. Jihyo respected him for all the effort he did to compensate the failures of his older brother. 

A year had passed since her promotion and being part of the top was taking its toll: she was overworked, stressed all the time and tired. Her mood swings were more frequent and she barely had energy to stay awake when coming home. Fortunately, Momo was very understanding. He shared the sentiment as when the football season was on, he also had the same symptoms. Now that the season was over, he could relax a bit at home and help to do the chores and keep the place in line. Jihyo was glad to have a partner that supported her dream of being a businesswoman; not many guys saw that with good eyes but Momo was very encouraging and proud of her and her achievements. She was really lucky.

Today, after a long day at work, Jihyo and Sana decided to relax a bit before heading home so they went to Jeongyeon’s restaurant. It was a small business but quite popular among the city. Jeongyeon inherited it when his father passed away, and now, along his mother and sisters, he ran the place. It was usual for them to hang around there now as it was the only way they could see each other during the week. Jeongyeon was a hardworking man before but now that a baby was coming he worked extra hard, especially now that he was the breadwinner. The Yoo couple decided they wouldn’t take any risks, not after Nayeon fainted during one her classes. Nayeon took an early maternity leave from his teacher’s job and stayed at home.

-Nice to see you here, guys- Seoyeon, Jeongyeon’s older sister said
-Hello, unnie- Jihyo said-  could you bring us the usual?
-Of course, see you in a minute

Sana and Jihyo relaxed a bit, chatting and laughing while waiting for the food to arrive. Seoyeon came after a couple minutes and gave them their beverages. She said they were a bit busy at the moment and that their order would be in a while. They were fine with it as they knew Jeongyeon and his mother were the only chefs and were doing their best to complete the orders. Sana encouraged Seoyeon with a loud cheer that made some of the commensals look at them. Jihyo was embarrassed but Seoyeon laughed heartily at it. One guy from another table keep glancing at them after it, Sana noticed. The guy was quite attractive and totally his type so he sent him some signals to see if he was interested in him too. The man looked at Sana and smiled at him from time to time, giving the Japanese a green light to go on.

-Jihyo, look over there –Sana said, pointing at the guy from the other table- isn’t he cute?
-Oh, my God, Sana! –Jihyo exclaimed- Are you gonna ditch me? for real?
-It’s Friday, Jihyo. -replied Sana while winking- I want to have some fun.
-Gross –Jihyo said while sipping her beverage

Sana then excused himself and followed the guy to the restaurant’s bathroom. Jihyo wasn’t impressed. Sana was handsome and he regularly had encounters with random guys. Since their youth, Jihyo got aware that gay people was everywhere: Some guys were really obvious with their mannerisms, the way they spoke or some gestures they did while others were more reserved and stereotypically manly. Having Sana as her best friend made her more open to the topic as he had dated different kind of men, sadly, it never worked in the end. After a torrid heartbreak, Sana decided not to commit again and just enjoy whatever he got from his encounters.

Jihyo checked her cellphone and read Momo’s messages: he missed her. Jihyo sent a message back telling him she won’t take long and she would bring food. Momo replied with a smiley face, telling her to be careful when going home. Jihyo informed Sana was with her so he didn’t need to worry. The conversation was so smooth she didn’t notice Sana wasn’t there yet. Seoyeon brought the food and asked Sana’s whereabouts when suddenly a loud crash was heard.

The pair looked for the origin and noticed it was coming from the male’s restroom. Jihyo’s heart sank, knowing that Sana was definitely in trouble. She hurried up to the scene just to watch how a pair of men were in the middle of a fist fight: it was the guy from the other table and a short, blond guy. Sana was in there, visibly shaken and with a bruised lip. Jihyo was furious but she couldn’t do much so she took Sana out and made her way into the back of the restaurant to put Sana safe. Seoyeon called the police who promptly arrived and ended the fight. People in the place was scared and Jeongyeon, seeing Sana so vulnerable was raging. He couldn’t focus again in his job so they closed the restaurant and went to the police station. The ones involved in the ruckus were interrogated and Jihyo and Jeongyeon wait for Sana at the station. Momo arrived promptly after hearing the news, he was also visibly mad at the situation.

-Where are they? -Momo asked, annoyed
-They’re still in there –pointed Jeongyeon- we are waiting
-What happened? –Momo asked worried- Is Sana alright?
-We aren’t sure what happened but it seems like someone attacked them
-Gosh –exclaimed Momo exasperated- I swear if Sana has a broken bone or something those guys are gonna meet me
-Momo, calm down –Jihyo expressed while holding his hand- let’s not make things more complicated

The interrogation lasted an hour or so and the involved were finally released. Sana went straight to Jihyo’s arms and muffled a cry while Jeongyeon and Momo looked at him heartbroken, hurt at the sight. Sana was a nice guy; he didn’t deserve the hate people gave him for his orientation. Police officers look at them with distaste and scowled when Momo hugged him next. Jeongyeon remained silent as he saw his former clients, all bruised and with dried blood stains on their clothes, coming out the interrogation room. The taller guy had a black eye and was scrunching while walking to his cell, as he was imprisoned. Seemed like he had it worse as the short guy looked just fine. The latter was apparently waiting for someone, just chilling outside the station. Momo was still mad at the situation as it wasn’t cleared yet. He confronted the short man, gripping him by the collar until Sana stopped him from hurting the man.

-Momo, stop! -Sana pleaded- leave him alone
- Ugh, didn’t he hurt you? - asked him the athlete
-No, no! - Sana said in a hurry- he helped me

Momo let go of him and sighed deeply. He tried to calm down so he went back to Jihyo ‘side, controlling his temper. Jihyo held his hand to comfort him before going straight to the young man, who was now chatting with Sana.

- I’m so sorry for my fiance's attitude- Jihyo said while bowing-  please forgive him
-Don’t worry- said the short man while fixing his clothes- I’m costumed to get misunderstood
-What is your name? -Jeongyeon asked
- Me? –replied the guy, smirking- I’m Son Chaeyoung