Sunflower Vol.6

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“Is the espresso shot dead? How long did you let it sit before you poured it over the ice?” You asked the barista who was neck deep in orders for the early morning rush. The lobby was filled with employees from all departments of the company trying to get their lattes and black coffees before clocking in and you were holding every single one of them up. She looked at you with eyes like daggers yet a smile was plastered on her face like the customer service pro she was trained to be.

“I can assure you ma’am, I just sat it down to grab the items for the Americano. The shot didn’t die.”

“Listen.” You huffed. “I’m not trying to make your life even worse right now but I’ll be in deep shit if I take my boss an Americano with bitter-ass espresso. Trust me. He’s a real piece of fucking work.”

“I understand. But we are very busy and I assure you-“

“You don’t understand. It’s the boss. As in, the big boss.” You told her, your eyes wide with desperation as you silently begged the company barista to understand what you were saying without outright saying his name.

“Are you buying for the ceo?” She asked you with her voice low enough for only you two to hear, her facade dropping slightly and slight terror in the back of her tone.

“Yes.” You nodded. “Mr. Min.”

“My coworker spelled his name wrong once on his cup and an hour later she was walked out and fired.” She whispered, eyes drifting from you for a minute as she relived the memory.

“So you understand why this is important?”

“I’ll pre-make the cup of ice water for his Americano and re-brew the espresso shots.” She nodded once, finally understanding my irritating persistence for perfection and poured the liquid of the first drink down the sink. “This would have cost you and me our heads.”

“Thank you.” You smiled and waited as patiently as your anxiety would allow for her to remake the perfect Americano. A few moments later you were rushing as quick as your heels would allow to the elevators, cup of coffee and straw in your hand clutched tight like your life depended on it. You crowded inside with everybody else and tapped your foot impatiently as you waited for the doors to open on each floor. The journey to the top seemed almost never ending. You anxiously checked and rechecked the time on your phone as minutes flew by until you reached your floor. You jogged down the tiled hall until you reached halfway down, taking a deep breath to steady yourself and straighten your clothing, before calmly walking down the rest of the walkway to Mr. Min’s office.

You knocked twice then entered, just like he had instructed, and forced a smile as you walked in with his perfect iced Americano. He glanced up at you once and then at the drink before looking away again, focusing on his work. He tapped the wood of his desk three times with his fingers to let you know where to put the cup and you placed it gently, wishing you could slam it down hard and splash the dark liquid all over his rude face and designer suit.

“I had them remake the shots and watched them pour it right after to make sure they weren’t old. It shouldn’t be bitter.” You told him the story of your efforts but you got nothing but a small little hum of acknowledgment. Mr. Min reached out and took a sip of the coffee and placed it back down again while you stood there waiting.

“It’s a bit watered down. You took too long to bring it up. Some of the ice melted.”

You wanted to scream at him. Rip his throat out. Who the fuck did he think he is? Who the fuck did he think you were? Superwoman? You stood there glaring at him as he watched the screen where he was studying some sort of report. A graph with numbers too small for you to see where you stood.

“I came as fast as I could given the circumstances.” You told him, your voice a bit too flat to be considered lighthearted. The CEO tensed at his seat, pushing his tongue in his cheek and looking up at you. You held his eye contact fearlessly and continued. “Most of the company is starting their day right now. So the majority of the employees were there ordering-“

“Why are you boring me with this?” He cut you off, his voice stern and curt.

“I’m not trying to bore you. I’m trying to explain why it took so long for me to bring you the coffee.” You huffed, not backing down from him. “I made sure was as perfect as it could be, by the way. It doesn’t help that there’s only one elevator that goes to this floor and everybody decided to take it at the same time.”

Mr. Min huffed out a sigh and continued to stare at you, words failing him. You crossed your arms and looked right back, eyes flickering down to the coffee you had jumped hurdles to get for him. You watched as the condensation dripped down on the freshly polished wood which only made you even more irritated.

“It will continue to get watered down if you don’t drink it.” You mutter under your breath which made Min Yoongi snag the cup off the surface and take another drink.

“Thank you for the coffee.” He finally told you, eyes staring daggers into you but choosing to stay silent regarding your forwardness. You nodded once and turned to leave quickly while you were still with a job but was stopped before you could reach the handle. “Wait.”

“Yes, Mr. Min?” You mumbled, slowly turning around to look at him again. Your heart was beating out of your chest as you waited for him to let you have it. Instead, he opened one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a folder, opening it and placing a document on his desk along with a pen.

“I need you to read this and sign if you agree to it.” He said, clearing his throat once as if he felt a bit awkward. “It’s a contract outlining specific parts of your temporarily employment. I know we talked about day to day stuff but there’s other things involved like potentially picking up my dry cleaning and having to take it to my house. Making sure you know you’ll be responsible for any damages or stolen property if found liable. Disclosure about company access to cameras and your company issued phone and computer. A strict anti-fraternization policy. And a portion that is a NDA. Non Disclosure Agreement. You won’t be able to discuss the work you do here with anybody. Including those you’re close to in the company.”

Anti-fraternization? The nerve of this guy to think anyone directly employed by him would want to fuck him. You could hardly stand being in the same room with the guy for more than 2 minutes let alone imagine being intimate. Could he be intimate with somebody? Maybe not. Maybe that’s why he was so horrible. He hadn’t gotten laid in a while. A long while.

“Seems pretty straight forward.” You mumbled, walking over and grabbing the pen to sign your name.

“You’re not going to read it thoroughly?” He asked surprised.

“No.” You rolled your eyes and looked up at him. “This is temporary. I plan to clock in and clock out. Do whatever you need me to do when you ask me to do it. I don’t plan to talk to anyone about it, even Namjoon, which I think you’re hinting at. And I already assumed my company devices would be monitored. Going to your house to drop off dry cleaning is a bit strange though. But, for the pay, I’ll do whatever you want.”

He was speechless again, using his hand to gesture you to continue and you signed your life away. He took the document back from you and put it back in his desk for safe keeping. At least until he saw his layers next.

“Is there anything else?” You asked him, hoping you would finally be set free for the day.

“I-uh, sent over my schedule for the week to get you started. All schedules after that you will be responsible for keeping track of and documenting. Your company card is in the drawer of your desk. Don’t lose it and save all receipts. Only use it for company purchases, of course.” He told you, shaking his head as if to shake out the stupidity of a previous employee who probably didn’t think to follow these rules. “I have a luncheon at 1:00 this afternoon with the heads of the Japan branch, Jeon Jungkook and Kim Seokjin. I’ll email over their preferred food options. And mine-“

“Steak. Medium rare. No sides.” You told him while smirking.

“Yes.” It was his turn to roll his eyes now. “You can go back to your desk now.”

“Yes, sir.” You said overly sweetly and slipped out of the room just in time to hear the notification for his email to you.

Kim Seokjin liked fresh sashimi and Jeon Jungkook liked steak or fresh pasta, the word ‘fresh’ in italics for emphasis for both suggestions. You groaned a bit trying to figure out how you could keep sashimi cold while also grabbing hot steak and pasta but started your search for the perfect restaurants. Luckily you found some not far from each other a few miles away due to your work building being conveniently placed in the middle of the busy city where everything was.

One Italian restaurant was world-renowned for their homemade pasta, a 10oz ribeye steak on their menu as well. It was perfect. Not as easy to find was the fresh sashimi you had to research for, the restaurant only making itself known to you by searching the ‘street view’ on google while figuring out directions for the Italian restaurant. Exclusive, private, and hard to get into according to multiple google searches and Reddit posts.

“Hello, thank you for calling Kizuna. How may I help you?” The female voice on the other end greeted you on the phone.

“Um, hi. I’m calling in hopes I can place a pick up order at 12:30pm this afternoon?” You asked her, your voice high pitched and unrecognizable to yourself.

“I’m so sorry ma’am but we don’t offer carry out. We only offer dine-in.” She apologized but you could almost hear her rolling her eyes on the other end behind her customer service voice. “I can make you a reservation? Our next opening is… four months from now on the 7th.”

Your jaw dropped, completely shocked and you started to nervously tap your foot as you thought about what else you could do. Where you could go. Instead, you made sure to exercise all your options. And, in this case, names.

“I’m sorry, I have to apologize. I forgot to mention this is for a very important.. client. Would that change anything?” You asked her with your voice hopeful. You heard her sigh on the other end before answering.

“Is that so? And what is the name of this person?”

“Min Yoongi. CEO of GeniusLab INC.”

There was silence on the other end for a moment before a bit of rustling then, moments later, another person was on the other end.

“Hello, this is Marcus, the owner of Kizuna. I am told you’re calling to place an order for the Min Yoongi?” The excitement in his voice made you irritated but you forced yourself to smile through the receiver.

“Yes. The very one. I can bring his business card for proof if you’d like.”

“No, no! I- we believe you. I just wanted to make sure my hostess wasn’t hearing things. Anything you like! I can get him in today-“ He stuttered.

“Oh? She must not have told you we aren’t looking to dine in today. We’re looking to have your food at one of his luncheons. Is it possible to get the food to go?” You pressed him.

“I see.. oh. I’m sorry. We just don’t offer-“

“Ah, okay. Mr. Min will be very disappointed.” You sighed dramatically for extra effect. “He was really hoping to try your famous sashimi. Maybe next time, if he still wants to come that is..”

“We will make it work! I’ll- I’ll send my staff to go get a cooler right away for the transit. You said sashimi? What kind? Oh, I’ll just do a whole platter of all we have to offer. Yes! That’s what I’ll do..” Marcus started to mutter to himself while you smiled, knowing you were going to knock this luncheon out of the park.

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A few hours later you were in the conference room setting up the plates of food. The sashimi for Mr. Kim was still cold, decorated beautifully on the plates they gave you in wrapped in cellophane. Real glass plates! They told you it was an honor for Mr. Min to take them which made you want to smash them on the floor. Especially when they insisted to comp you the entire meal.

“Just seeing the company card is enough payment for us!” The manager told you, his excitement making you nauseous as he handed you over $200 worth of premium seafood.

You sat Yoongi’s steak at the head of the table, still hot and pouring juices. It looked sad on the plate with nothing accompanying it. And finally, for Mr. Jeon, you couldn’t decide what to get so, you got him both. A giant, juicy, steak and a fresh bowl of carbonara pasta that was still steaming. You placed down rolled fabric napkins and utensils and poured them ice water in overly fancy glasses. As you were finishing up, the door opened and Mr. Min, along with the two other men, walked inside and you had to stop yourself from dropping your jaw on the floor.

“Ah! Hello. Who is this?” The tall one with kind eyes and very outgoing personality greeted you, his face was model-like with hair styled in an almost boyish bowl cut. Mr. Min looked at you with squinted eyes, obviously upset you were still in the room when they got in but you ignored him and extended your hand out to shake the gentleman’s hand.

“Hello, I’m y/n. I’m Mr. Min’s new assistant.” You introduced yourself pleasantly. You heard the CEO mumble the word ‘temporary’ which had your smile tightening on your face but both guests seem to ignore him.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kim Seokjin, one of the chairman’s and managers of the Japan branch. And this is my co-chair, Jeon Jungkook.”

You turned to shake the others hand and was almost knocked to your feet by his tattooed knuckles and very obvious arm of sleeved tattoos that was cut off by a way-too-tight button up that had its sleeves rolled to his elbows. When you eyes met his he smirked at you, obviously catching you checking him out, and you smiled back sheepishly.

“It’s nice to meet you. I like your outfit.” He told you, his voice almost gravely as his eyes raked you up and down. Thank god you chose to wear the too short skirt.

“If we’re finished with the formalities I’d like to start our meeting-“

“Ah, Min. This was supposed to be a luncheon. Let’s eat first.” Mr. Kim told him casually, patting him on the shoulder and walking over to the table. “Sashimi! Amazing. Where did you get this from?”

“I got it from Kizuna.” You told him and watched as his eyes lit up.

“Kizuna? Isn’t that place super exclusive?” Mr. Jeon asked in surprise.

“Yes. Very.” You giggled. “It was like pulling teeth trying to get them to do the order for me but, I never settle for anything less than the best.”

“And how did you manage to do that?” Mr. Min asked you in a low voice. You weren’t sure if it was approval or skepticism.

“I may have name-dropped you.” You shrugged and the two others laughed.

“Sometimes it really does come down to who you know.” Mr. Jeon told you and took a look at his plate. “Carbonara is one of my favorites. How did you know? And you got me a steak as well?”

“I did my best guess. I find most decent people like a good carbonara. But, if you found yourself to be non-decent, I had a steak as a backup.” You joked flirtatiously which had Mr. Jeon rightfully blushing while Mr. Min was seething in the corner.

“Only a steak for you again Min? Don’t you want some variety?” Seokjin asked after taking a bite of one of his pieces of fish. The CEO grumbled and didn’t reply, cutting into the meat and making sure it was cooked to temp. Thankfully he had no complaints.

About the steak.

“Where is the wine?” He asked you with irritation settled deep in his tone.

“I’m sorry? I wasn’t aware wine was requested.” You felt yourself go a bit clammy, your heart picking up pace.

“How are we supposed to enjoy our food without a wine pairing?” He looked at you with angry eyes and the other two men shared a glance before Seokjin came to your rescue.

“Min! Give her a break. She’s new, right?” He said lightheartedly and turned to you. “When did you start this position?”

“This morning.” You mumbled.

“Min, come on.” Jungkook groaned. “You’re being too hard on the girl.”

You didn’t know what was making you more nervous. The fact that Mr. Min’s expression did not change and now his designer shoe was tapping against the floors in irritation, or the fact that these two men were pushing him in your favor.

“Thank you for the food.” He finally told you in a monotone voice. “You may be excused now.”

“Next time I’ll make sure you all have a wine pairing. I apologize for the mistake.” You said so low it was almost not audible.

“That’s quite alright. I need to cut back on drinking anyways, I’m too old to be having a glass at every meal.” Seokjin smiled and put you at ease then turned back to Mr. Min who hadn’t taken a single bite from his plate. “So, let’s talk business then shall we?”

“I thought you wanted to eat.” He snapped.

“We can eat and talk! We’re friends here. We can look past talking with our mouths full.” He said, taking another bite of his food before continuing. “So, these products we’re developing are quite something but how do we market them?”

You took that as your chance to exit and slipped out the door quietly while your pulse thrummed loudly in your ears. You took a shaky deep breath to try and calm yourself and headed back to your desk to work on organizing Mr. Mins upcoming weekly affairs. The CEO had finished with his luncheon not long after and came trudging into his office, slamming the door behind him. You rolled your eyes, ignoring him, and tried carrying on with your day. Time passed quickly as you locked in to your work and soon it was time to go and grab his 3:00 coffee.

“Mr. Min?” You called through the door and knocked twice before entering but found he was not at his desk like usual. Instead, he was brooding off to the side while staring aimlessly out of the window.

‘Dramatic fucker.’ You thought to yourself and placed the coffee on his desk. You turned to walk away as you tried to make your exit without any interaction but unfortunately, the efforts failed.

“Never embarrass me at my own company, in front of my colleagues, ever again.” He told you with a stern voice, still looking out the window.

“Embarrass you?” You stopped dead in your tracks and turned around to gape at him. “And how exactly did I do that? By bringing the perfect meal? Because I forgot the wine you failed to mention I needed?”

“You came into that conference room completely unprepared and made a scene!” He finally turned to look at you, his teeth gritted as he raised his voice. “Flirting with my fucking branch managers and bragging about name dropping me? Do you have no shame?”

“Flirting?” You threw your head back and laughed and slowly walked in his direction as you verbally fought back. “Please. I was just being polite. I know you’re not familiar with the concept but it works. And name dropping is the only way I got the perfect meal for Mr. Kim-“

Mr. Min suddenly turned to you and charged, making you back up into his wooden desk. His hand grabbed your chin and lifted it to his face to look at him while the other landed on the wood next to you. His body pressed you hard against the sturdy piece of furniture and the hand holding your chin brought your face mere inches from his. You tried to move your head but it was no use, his hold was too firm.

“Why must you challenge me in everything?” He growled at you and you felt frozen, eye wide as you took in how close he was. You swear he could probably hear your heart start to beat quicker. “Has nobody taught you manners? Maybe I should.”

You don’t know what it was. Maybe it was just being so close to the man and being reminded how undeniably hot he really was face to face. Maybe it was the way he was man-handling you, regardless of the fact it was absolutely out of line. You didn’t have time in the moment to analyze why the tension suddenly seemed a bit too hot. All you could focus on was his lips and how close they suddenly were to you. The feeling of his warm breath against your face that smelled of mint gum.

“Then teach me.” You whispered to him while looking up through your lashes, his breath catching in his throat at your words and seemingly bringing him back to reality. He pushed away from you and released your jaw from his large hand and stepped back quickly. Both of you stared at each other in a bit of shock, taking shallow breaths to steady yourselves from the hot moment. For once, you saw a man that always looked cold and strong suddenly look terrified.

“Mr. Min, you don’t have to-“

“Get out of the office and go home.” He told you suddenly, squaring his shoulders and composing himself.

“What? I don’t understand.” Your brows pushed together in confusion as you straightened out your work clothes. “It okay. We can talk about-“

“I said get the fuck out of my office and go home!” His voice echoed through the office, making you flinch. Without warning or ability to control it, you felt tears well up in your eyes and your throat start to get tight. “Go home and work the rest of your shift remotely. Now.”

Mr. Min stepped away and sat back down at his desk without another word while you stayed frozen in shock. It took a moment for you to move and feeling the tears start to stream down your cheeks quickly made you realize you had moments to get out before you broke down.

“Yes, sir.” You whispered, your throat aching from trying to hold back a sob. Without looking back at him once more, you walked quickly out of the room slamming the door shut behind. With shaky hands you gathered your purse off your chair and ran, leaving your work phone and laptop behind.

‘I’m sorry Namjoon.’ You thought to yourself as you finally let yourself start to cry as the doors to the elevator closed behind you. There was no way you could return tomorrow, not after this.

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