Chapter Text
Somehow this was not the fantasy job Doyoung had in mind.
When Doyoung graduated university with his degree in journalism, he thought it would entail attending meetings or press conferences held by government officials or huge multinational companies. Maybe it meant covering sports meetings or attending international symposiums, or even covering natural disasters or war-torn countries.
Nobody said that Doyoung’s job was to make coffee.
“I want mine with sugar no milk.”
“I want mine with milk no sugar.”
“I want mine with milk no coffee.”
“I want sugar no milk no coffee.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Doyoung cursed under his breath, carrying cups of coffee and one cup of milk (he didn’t bother with the sugar, Ji Hansol can go rot in diabetes for all he cares) on a plastic tray and serving his colleagues in the office. The Seoul Times office was an organized chaos of cubicles with those ridiculous looking green partitions, papers stacked everywhere, phones ringing, the fax machine blowing up, coffee machine working overtime and heels clicking everywhere because somehow everybody has an important case to crack or lunch with the Governor or meeting with the king of Spain.
“Here’s your milk.” Doyoung placed the last cup on Nakamoto Yuta’s table. “Drink it like the big baby you are.”
“I appreciate the drink, but the server could use an attitude adjustment.” Yuta smirked.
“Fuck you.” Doyoung said, slumping down in his seat opposite Yuta. Both of them graduated from the same university together and were classmates. Yuta was technically his senior, since he started working at the newspaper longer than Doyoung did, but Doyoung didn’t give a shit about him. They bathed together too many times when the bathroom in their dorm stopped working and Yuta has cried on Doyoung’s shoulder far too many times for Doyoung to call him senior. Yuta doesn’t mind at all, saying that Doyoung was ‘the least pretentious snob in the office’. His philosophy was “If I got an ugly haircut, everyone in the office is going to tell me it looks great. Only Doyoung would tell me I look like Godzilla and that’s why I like him.”
“What are you working on?” Yuta asked.
“A thrilling expose on the use of parmesan cheese in Rita’s Bread when it was advertised to be cheddar.” Doyoung sighed. “God I hate my job.”
“I’m guessing this is not your highlight piece.”
“I am so sick of all of these lame job assignments.” Doyoung crumpled up his written report and threw it in a corner. “Why do I have to cover bake sales and the unveiling of a new playground?”
“You’re a rookie Doyoung. Just be patient. You’ll get your break soon just like everyone else.”
“Then why does Lisa get to cover the UN General Assembly when she’s only been here for less than 5 months?”
“Because she has tits and doesn’t wear a bra.” Yuta motioned to Lisa with his head, standing by the photocopier with her arms folded. Lisa flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, the gold bracelet on her wrists shimmering in the light. Her silk top had a low cut and it may look like nothing much to the untrained eye, her perky little nipples made round indents in her top.
“If you want to get higher up in the ranks, grow a pair of boobs and start wearing short skirts to work.”
“Fucking asshole.” Doyoung mumbled under his breath. Lisa walked over to Doyoung’s table and dropped a wad of files on his desk.
“I need you to proofread this for me.”
“Say please like a normal person and this is someone else’s job.” Doyoung pushed the files away. “I have my own articles to work on.”
“Like what? The county fair dog show? Or was it that piece on the wrong cheese labelling?” Lisa mused, pouting her lips to make them look full as her hip cocked sideways. Doyoung wanted to fling the files in her face but unlike her, he had decorum.
“I’m not doing your work Lisa. It’s not my job, it’s yours, so instead of lifting your skirt so that Mr Kim could stick his hand underneath, why don’t you sit down and actually do something?”
“Is that why I’m getting to cover the Nobel Awards ceremony and not you?” Lisa smiled, putting her palms on Doyoung’s table as she leaned into him. “You know what your problem is? You’re too ‘by the book’. You got to learn how to play smart.” She leaned back and pushed the stack towards him. “Be a good boy and do it. Maybe I’ll take you with me if you do.” She walked away with her hair moving back and forth like a silk curtain and all the male colleagues turned their heads as she walked past them.
“I could cover the UN General Assembly too if all it took was a tight skirt and a mouth big enough to stuff ten sausages.” Doyoung sneered.
“You do have nice legs for the skirt.” Yuta said.
“Shut up.” Doyoung sighed, picking up the files and running through them. As he picked up the stack, a slip of paper fell out by Doyoung’s feet.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know,” Doyoung said, picking it up as his eyes scanned the letter with speed. “Holy shit.”
“What?” Yuta looked up with a pencil in his hand.
“This is a letter from NCT.”
“NCT? The fashion brand?”
“Yeah,” Doyoung’s eyes lit up as he read the letter word for word. “It said that Lisa was granted an exclusive interview with its CEO Jung Jaehyun.”
“Jesus Christ are you fucking with me?” Yuta dropped his jaw. “Jung Jaehyun is the hottest celebrity of the modern generation. He never gives interviews unless they are on TV where he gets to parade that gorgeous face of his.”
“Yuta, do you know when this is?” Doyoung said, a smile crawling on his lips. “It’s today! The interview is scheduled for this afternoon at 3pm!”
“So?”
“So,” Doyoung stood up and grabbed his phone, keys, wallet and his bag. “I’m going to be late!”
“Wait wait wait!” Yuta grabbed his sleeve. “This letter was addressed to Lisa. They are expecting Lisa. You can’t just hijack someone’s assignment.”
“Didn’t you hear what Lisa said?” Doyoung scoffed. “I’ve got to learn how to play smart.” He shrugged off Yuta’s hold and went back to his table. He grabbed Lisa’s file and smirked. “That bitch is not going to miss this. She’s too busy with her own work.”
With that, he walked over to the paper shredder and slid the files in. Yuta watched in horror and amazement as Doyoung gave him a salute and left the office.
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You would have to be blind to miss this.
NCT’s fashion headquarters could not have been more obvious if it tried. The tall building was sleek and seemed to be made of glass. The words NCT were written in bold black and branded the top of the building. In fact, the words were everywhere, on the walls, floors, the cups they give out to guests and even the staff as well.
It was hard to imagine NCT without its star ambassador, CEO Jung Jaehyun. He started off as a model and then he built his own brand named NCT. At first it was just a little indie brand selling in department stores, then it became a billion-dollar brand with celebrity endorsers. The CEO himself is the company’s main model, and you can’t walk into an NCT headquarters without seeing his picture everywhere. His model portraits were hung in the lobby like photos of presidents, and magazines with him as the cover were the only thing available to read in the waiting area.
“Excuse me,” the male attendant at the reception counter called Doyoung. “You may go up to the executive office now. Please follow me.”
“Wow,” Doyoung looked around the cold glass interiors of the elevator as they rose up slowly to the top. “It’s quite an impressive place to work huh?”
The male attendant smiled politely. “Yes, it is.”
“Been here long?”
“2 years.”
“Right,” Doyoung chuckled. “I’m sorry if I sound intrusive. I’m just a little nervous.”
“Everybody is.” He said as the doors opened on the 16th floor. NCT’s clean, minimalistic interior spread out before him. A young man and a lady were sitting at their desks, furiously typing away. The lady stood up and extended her hand.
“My name is Momo and I am Mr. Jung’s secretary.”
“Kim Doyoung, reporter from the Seoul Times.”
“I’m sorry but we were expecting a woman.” Momo blinked twice, her lashes fluttering against her bottom lash and her smile seemed like it was forcibly plastered on by a ten-year-old.
“Lisa was unable to make it.” Doyoung tucked his hands into his pocket to hide the fact that they were shaking very hard. “She had some urgent matters to attend to so I’m here on her behalf.”
“Why didn’t Miss Lisa tell us?”
“She’s…going through some difficult times.” Doyoung lied. “She’s a little indisposed on the matter.”
“Oh, perhaps we should reschedule to a more appropriate time when she is available.”
“No no wait!” Doyoung stopped her. “We really shouldn’t delay this anymore. She’s a very busy reporter and I’m already here. Let’s just start so that we can get this out of the way.”
“My apologies but we specifically asked for a woman.”
“A woman?” Doyoung tilted his head in question. “Why so specific?”
“It is as Mr. Jung required.”
Fucking bitch and fucking sexist asshole. “Listen,” Doyoung was getting awfully impatient at the robotic blonde female talking to him “I’m here, can’t we just do this?”
“I’m sorry but we are just following orders and I’m afraid you must leave.”
“Look, can’t you…”
“You really must leave, or I’ll call security.”
“Fine,” Doyoung raised his hands in defeat. “I know when I’m licked. I’ll tell Lisa and she can reschedule.”
“Thank you, Mr Kim.”
Doyoung bowed in return and walked over to the elevator. He pressed the button, waiting for it to arrive and when the doors opened, his eyes bugged out in horror as Lisa was standing there with a book in her hand, ridiculously tight skin-coloured dress, and her arm on Mr Jung.
Jung Jaehyun. The CEO of NCT was standing right before him.
With that bitch.
“Doyoung? What are you doing here?” Lisa asked, her face contorting between confusion and disgust.
“Mr Kim said you were indisposed today.” Momo said, arising from her seat and looking just as confused as she was. Doyoung cursed himself, Momo and everything between heaven and hell.
“No I wasn’t. I just happened to run into Mr Jung at the downstairs lobby who was so kind to help me with my broken purse strings.” Lisa turned to her side to show off her brand-new purse, navy blue with long leather straps and the company brand carefully stitched into the material. That bag could have easily cost Doyoung his apartment and his car, and Lisa was parading it like she won it from a carnival or something.
“It must be your kind demeanour that has made you so successful.” Lisa drawled, clinging onto Jung Jaehyun’s arm a little tighter and the young CEO smiled at her.
“Thank you, you’re very kind.” His smile was blinding, and he had two dimples on the side of his cheek. He turned to look at Doyoung and his gaze hardened. His smile disappeared and his cheeks sunk in, highlighting his high cheekbones. Doyoung felt like a melted witch under his gaze. “Who are you?”
“I’m Kim…”
“This is my colleague from work, who is not supposed to be here.”
Bitch. Doyoung chanted in his head like it was a mantra and he could feel his blood boil and his muscles tensing up. He looked around to see Momo staring at him, the other male secretary also staring at him, Jaehyun was glaring at him while Lisa smirked a little and rubbed Jaehyun’s arm softly, dragging her fingernails on his clothed arm carefully.
“Security!” Momo called.
“Don’t bother, I’m leaving.” Doyoung huffed, getting into the elevator and pressing the button. As the doors closed, he saw Lisa watching him and he mouthed a very loud “Fuck you.”
************************
“Doyoung?” Yuta tapped on Doyoung’s table the next morning. “The boss wants to see you.”
“Oh god.” Doyoung groaned, banging his head against his desktop keyboard. “What does he want?”
“I’m not sure but Lisa is in there so it can’t be anything good.”
“Fuck.” Doyoung huffed and walked over to his boss’s office. Doyoung told Yuta what had happened the day before at NCT and he was utterly mortified and embarrassed. I should have prank called Lisa to do something else or some shit.
“There you are.” Doyoung knew he was screwed when he saw Lisa sitting on his boss’s table, legs crossed, and skirt carefully slit up her right thigh to show enough skin without looking like a prostitute. The two of them stared at him like they were the United Front and Doyoung was a lone enemy soldier awaiting his death penalty.
“What’s this I hear about you showing up at NCT unannounced?” Kim Joonmyun asked, removing his glasses and crossing his arms.
“It wasn’t unannounced.” Doyoung folded his hands meekly. “Lisa said she was busy, so I thought I could help her out.”
“He hijacked my interview with Jung Jaehyun.”
“She was too busy to proofread her own articles.” Doyoung spat, pointing a finger at her. “She just dumped her files on my desk and asked me to do it, saying she had no time. I was just doing her a favour.”
“If I needed a favour I would ask for it. I didn’t ask you to take the interview in my stead, I asked you to proofread those articles for me.”
“That is not my job. We have editors and proof-readers for that.”
“No matter what it is,” Joonmyun interrupted them. “You are not allowed to steal or hijack another reporter’s assignment without permission.”
“Just like you are not supposed to push your work to other people, right?” Doyoung asked. “Go on boss. Tell her.”
“I think you’re just jealous because I am a more successful reporter than you are.”
“Jealous?” Doyoung scoffed. “Seriously? The only thing you are better at is wearing heels and unbuttoning your shirt.”
“Are you suggesting I use my sexuality to get what I want? Are you calling me a whore?”
“If the shoe motherfucking fits.”
“Joonie,” Lisa huffed, crossing her arms like a spoiled child. “I think we have a problem.”
Joonie?! We?! Excuse me, since when did Lisa, a rookie reporter even younger than me, and Kim Joonmyun, chief editor of a newspaper, become WE?!?!?!? What the actual fuck is going on? How long has she been sucking his tiny dick?
“Doyoung, I’ll let this go with a warning. You are not supposed to hijack another reporter’s schedule.” Kim Joonmyun sighed, rubbing his temples. “I had three phone calls from NCT alone wondering what the hell was going on when two reporters showed up at the same time with no communication in between? Do you know how difficult it was to get that interview with Mr Jung Jaehyun? Her interview with him could put us on the map and score us even more readers.”
We are already on the motherfucking map. We are the Seoul Times for Pete’s sake. Doyoung sighed, blowing hot air into his own face, lifting the ends of his hair upwards. “Yes sir.”
“Just go back to covering book sales and missing cheese.” Lisa waved him off. “Leave the real journalism to me.”
Doyoung chewed his bottom lip as he exited the office. He raised two middle fingers in front of Joonmyun’s door and stormed his way back to his seat.
“Is everything okay?”
“Everything is on fire and we are going to hell.” Doyoung dug out a key from a compartment in his paperweight. He bent down and stuck the key into a locked drawer at the bottom of his cabinet.
“What are you doing?”
“Dousing the flames.” Doyoung uncapped the bottle of whisky he hid in the drawer and poured its contents into his coffee mug.
“Are you insane? You know we’re not supposed to drink on the job.”
“You’re either with me or against me.” Doyoung swirled his mug like it was no big deal and took a big gulp. “Pick a side dickhead.”
Yuta sighed, twirling his pen between his fingers. “Fine,” he handed his mug over. “but if anyone asks, I’m saying it’s herbal tea.”