It Just Happened That Way || JEONGIN from skz!

8

Yeona's POV

First day of work today! I got up early and studied the subway map for my commute, feeling more excited than anxious. For today's outfit, I wanted to be a little more professional and put together. Software engineer or not, this was a new country and a new office; I didn't know what the standard of dress code was. 

I pulled on my outfit that I set aside yesterday: a pair of dark blue straight jeans, a black tight turtleneck as an underlayer, with a white, oversized button-down to wear on top. I tucked in the button down, and left the top buttons open. On top, I had my long black overcoat, and for shoes I wore my sleek black boots. No Blundstones today. I kept my hair simple in a half-up, half-down style, and waved it a little with my straightener. Final touches? My minimal gold jewelry, of course, my gold watch from Shinola, and my large shoulder bag for work with just the essentials (water bottle, wallet, transit card, small toiletries bag). I'll bring my new laptop home in it later. 

Finally, I was ready to go to the office, so I put in my AirPods and began my commute.

In 20 minutes, I arrived, and followed the directions from my onboarding email to the front desk to get a guest badge. I got my photos taken for my real badge, which would arrive in 2 weeks (I know, it takes quite a while, but it's because the badges are holographic looking!). I was taken through a blur of places where I signed forms, got my laptop at the tech support center, and finally met my manager and team. 

My manager was a Korean man, perhaps in his mid 40s, while the rest of my team was a good mix of men and women, both Korean and not, all seemingly in their 30s. I was relieved to see that the team wasn't aggressively male dominant. My previous team had more women than men, so I was nervous to see whether I would be downgrading to the makeup of a more typical tech team. Thank god for this gender ratio.

After a long day of meeting people and onboarding meetings, I was finally done at 5 PM. My head was aching a little from the high influx of information regarding the team's tech stack, so I went to the cafeteria for dinner, slumping into a booth from the exhaustion. I haven't had to socialize with people in such a long time, damn.

Katalk! My phone buzzes to let me know I've got a new message. I take my phone out of my pocket as I take my first bite of the delicious Korean food (free, thanks to the many perks from Google).

New Message from: Jeongin

Oh! I quickly swipe to open the message.

How was your first day?? Is your manager nice? How's the food? If it's bad, let's go to a convenience store for yummy unhealthy food"

I laugh a little, reading his message. I also feel a little warm and fuzzy on the inside. Why is he texting me? In the back of my mind I think to myself, wouldn't it be funny if he liked me? I physically shake my head a little to remind myself for the hundredth time this week that this guy is an idol — he has no time for a relationship, has no time to be thinking about one, and probably isn't even allowed to be dating thanks to some unspoken rule about "Dating As An Idol."

First day was good. Everyone was really nice and welcoming, and mostly spoke English, so that was relieving. And let me tell you about how delicious the food is.... Haha sorry Jeongin. Wanna get ice cream there instead? You can eat dinner there too :)

Sent. I feel like I am able to be casual and comfortable with Jeongin because I had told myself multiple times that this would never turn into a relationship beyond a friendship, so I shouldn't set myself up for disappointment. With that mentality, it was easier to just ask him to hang out or to get ice cream.

Call! I'll be home from the studio at 7 or so. I'll text you when I get home and we can go.

Sounds good, see ya!