AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart
Chapter 41
by LoveCR2
edited by All-About-AAE
"Let's make this clear, Sun-Mi... disappointing your colleagues the first day won't look good." -- Son Mi-Ra
MBS LONDON, MORNING...
Leaving Chief Kim's office, with an exultant spring in her step, Sun-Mi is met in the corridor by his secretary...
"Your desk is this way, in the back of the office, Correspondent Jin," she directs Sun-Mi, wasting no time to lead the way.
The bustling news office is a cacophony of conversations in English and Korean, ringing phones, and the mechanical racket of running faxes and copiers. The room is divided by low partitions into spaces with four desks each, with a row small glass-walled conference rooms along one wall.
The secretary points to the empty chair in a quad in the last row. "That's your desk," she tells Sun-Mi crisply. "Let me know if you need anything."
"Thanks," Sun-Mi nods, and walks over to her new desk as the secretary leaves to return to her post.
The three current occupants of Sun-Mi's 'quad' turn in their swivel chairs as she approaches, but don't bother to stand.
Sun-Mi bows and formally introduces herself, "I'm Jin Sun-Mi from the Seoul office, Batch 27. I'll do my best to work hard. Please guide me along in the future, Seniors."
The two men seated across the quad glance at each other briefly, sharing amused expressions as if exchanging a private joke. The third occupant of the quad, an attractive woman in her early thirties, wearing a short, figure-skimming tweed suit, scrutinizes Sun-Mi as if eyeing a potential rival.
"I'm Baek Shin-Cho," the elder of the group, a bland-faced man with close-cropped graying hair, rumpled suit, and a tie that extends over a generous paunch, speaks up first. "Welcome to the London Bureau."
"Pleased to meet you," Sun-Mi replies with a formal bow.
The other man, wiry and in his 40's, dressed in a natty suit, sporting a thin mustache on his upper lip and looking like an older version of Kim Byung-Hun, appraises Sun-Mi's figure with a transparent leer... "Jang Hon-Yong," he tersely gives his name.
Maintaining a frozen smile, Sun-Mi bows perfunctorily but says nothing to signal her instant dislike.
As the Junior of the three, the woman introduces herself last, "Hi, I'm Son Mi-Ran, Batch 24."
"Very pleased to meet you," Sun-Mi replies warmly as she bows, recalling that Joo-Hee was also in Batch 24. "You're friends with Yoo Joo-Hee?" she ventures a guess. "She's my Senior in Seoul."
Mi-Ran frowns. "Yes, I know Yoo Joo-Hee, but we were never that close..."
Sun-Mi figures there must be some unresolved matters between the two women, and lets the subject drop.
Hon-Yon smiles, showing two even rows of teeth -- like a wolf preparing to devour his prey... "Ms Jin, let me buy you a drink after work, and we can get to know each other better," he hits on Sun-Mi.
"No thanks, I already have a date for this evening," she declines frostily, grateful for Min-Cho's offer to pick her up, so it's not a lie.
"Don't mind the bastard, he's all bark, no bite," Mi-Ran encourages Sun-Mi, expressing her opinion bluntly.
"No need to be a bitch in front of our new colleague," Hon-Yong retorts.
Shin-Cho chuckles at his colleagues' testy exchange, "As you can see, Ms. Jin, we're all one happy family here. Please, have a seat..." he closes the introductions.
With that, the two men return to their work, and Sun-Mi takes her seat next to Mi-Ran, regarding her new situation with some apprehension. While the Announcer 1 Team in Seoul had its rivalries and petty disputes, generally the atmosphere remained civil.
Mi-Ran turns to Sun-Mi, "I was the Special Correspondent three years ago, so they asked me to help you fit in," she explains.
"Thanks, I appreciate that," Sun-Mi smiles, happy she might make a friend with this Senior.
"Let's get started right away," Mi-Ran takes the lead.
Sun-Mi opens the folder she'd received from Chief Kim. "These are my first assignments," she enthusiastically shows Mi-Ran. "But I have some questions."
"Of course," Mi-Ran replies, seemingly disinterested in the assignments, "but first, I have something else for you to do."
She hands Sun-Mi a sheet of paper with two dozen names printed on it. Sun-Mi notices that next to each name, coffee or tea preferences are handwritten in.
"This is a list of the staff in our office," Mi-Ran tells her. "Study it carefully."
Puzzled, Sun-Mi asks, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Now that you're here, I'm not the Junior anymore," Mi-Ran replies with a slight smirk. "You'll find the break room down the hall. Personal mugs are marked and kept on the open shelves, otherwise use those in the cupboard. Have fresh brewed coffee ready in the morning when the office opens, and after closing, collect the cups back and wash them, and restock supplies from the basement store room."
Sun-Mi can't believe what she is hearing. "But... what about my real work?" she presses for clarification that she is won't be running errands for the others all day like a raw intern.
"There's plenty of time for that later," Mi-Ran brushes off Sun-Mi's concern. "Right now this is more important... Got it?"
Mi-Ran signals with her eyes that there's no point in disputing the matter... as the Junior of the office, she should accept her place without complaint ...
"Ehm..." Sun-Mi concedes reluctantly, not so sure now that Mi-Ran has any intentions of treating her as an equal.
Mi-Ran glances at her watch, and announces: "Morning break starts in ten, so get moving. People here are very serious about their coffee!"
"Yes..." Sun-Mi has to agree, despite misgivings.
Mi-Ran notices her reluctance and cautions, "Let's make this clear, Sun-Mi... disappointing your colleagues the first day won't look good.... don't make any mistakes..."
As Sun-Mi clatters off to the break room, instructions in hand, she wonders how to describe her new job...
... Yes, I have such a glamorous career -- I'm the new London Bureau Women's Correspondent and Coffee Girl ...