Chapter Text
Your heart beat fast in your chest. Was it because of nervousness? Excitement? Fear? Probably all of that. It was the first time you were in this kind of situation, after all. A complete change in your whole life lay ahead of you, the promising future you’ve always dreamed of experiencing hopefully already graspable.
The first steps had already been taken. Hours and hours of work had paid off, as now you could finally call this newly renovated flat, far away from your parents’ place, your own. This was a completely new start for you, here, where you only had your best friend Nora close by.
A smile graced your lips at the thought of her. The text she had just sent you, wishing you good luck for your first day, was a fine example of how much she cared about you and wanted you to succeed. You couldn’t wait to tell her about how wonderful your new work was going to be! You had to get through your first week, though, in order to see her.
After one last look in the mirror, one last check for your competent looking outfit and a deep breath you decided it was time to go. You did not want to be late on your first day, so you needed to be going soon. You grabbed a light jacket and your bag and headed out of your apartment to enter your car. It was old and used, but it always brought to your destination just fine, and was the present your parents had given you as a reward for your success. Since you had paid for your flat and all the renovations yourself, it was a welcome gesture, as all the money you had saved from odd jobs while you had been studying, was already gone. You sat in your car and took off.
On the way to the lab, the nervousness you had managed to swallow down until now started to arise again. That was understandable, though, since you were in fact the youngest scientist to ever enter Shinra. After graduating early, you had started to work on gene defects and correlated subjects with the help of competent scientists. Your dream of pursuing a career in this field had recently come true, since one of them knew and had suggested you to leading scientists in the Shinra company. The excitement in your stomach that had rushed you when you had gotten a letter for a job interview was still very evident.
Of course, you would only work as an assistant to Dr. Hollander, one of the scientists of Shinra, but you were confident enough in your abilities and knowledge to be sure of a promotion someday. You had to grin as you imagined yourself in your own office with many awards decorating the walls - your dream scenario.
To ease your nervousness - at least until you'd arrive - you turned up the music in your car and sang along until you arrived at the laboratory.
※
Since you had been there already for your interview, it was not difficult for you to find your way through the enormous building. Soon enough - actually even ten minutes early - you stood in front of Dr. Hollanders office. After one last deep breath you finally knocked on the door.
As no one answered, you decided to wait the remaining ten minutes in front of the door. Maybe Dr. Hollander was not as punctual as you were. So you rested your back against the door and thought about what you hoped you were going to work at in the next hours.
Suddenly the door you were leaning against opened to the inside. Since your balance got disrupted by the sudden lack of wood to lean against, you took a step back and tried to turn around, almost colliding with the person who had opened the door - accompanied by a not very graceful sound, similar to an 'Errrp'.
"I'm so sorry, I thought there was no one in the office!", you frantically excused your sudden appearance in their personal space.
As you finally had time to take in the appearance of the person, three things stood out to you. That it was a young man, probably slightly older than you, was the first thing you noticed.
The second was the gorgeous blue of his eyes as you looked up into them. They seemed to captivate you immediately, as you had a hard time looking away.
The third was the arrogant raise of his eyebrow and the annoyed sound he made as he looked you over.
Great, you were up to a really good start, it seemed. You took a step back to let him pass, but just in this moment, Dr. Hollander, who was in the back of the room, noticed you. Apparently, he actually was a punctual one, he was drowning in a huge pile of paperwork and looked like he has just stopped scribbling on a document when you had interrupted them.
"Finally, you're here! I've been drowning in work lately!"
The middle-aged scientist came forth to greet you, pushing the young man to the side rudely. He seemed eager and happy to see you, as he gestured you to enter the room.
"(Y/n) (l/n), was it? Good that you made it in time. Please come in."
"Good morning, Dr. Hollander," you greeted him and joined the two men in the office. A nervous smile was set on your lips, indicating that you were not fully comfortable with the situation.
As you entered, the young man decided to leave and stepped through the door, but was called back by the scientist.
"Genesis, why don't you stay for a second and greet her? She'll be working with you as well."
The man called Genesis stopped and turned around. You also faced him and took the chance to inspect him more closely. He was quite tall, had auburn hair and was dressed in the traditional SODIER uniform with a red coat.
He was extremely handsome, you had to admit that, but the way his body language signalled you his arrogance did not fuel an intense liking on your part.
"This is Dr. (l/n). Dr. (l/n), this is Genesis Rhapsodos," Dr. Hollander introduced you.
'When did I already earn the doctor title?' you asked yourself with a flattered blush appearing on your cheeks. This was a huge compliment to you.
"Pleasure to meet you", the young man finally spoke curtly. Said pleasure was not visible, since his face stayed stern and portrayed more of a complete lack of interest in you. Still, you had to admit that his voice was just as attractive as his appearance.
Before you could return the greeting, though, he had already closed the door behind him.
"Genesis is a busy man," Dr. Hollander excused his behaviour and you turned your attention away from the door back to the scientist again. "But you will see him again, since he is one of our most important research subjects."
"Oh, alright", you mused and followed the older man, who signalled you to follow him.
※
The uneasiness that had built up in you thanks to the meeting with Genesis quickly decreased as Dr. Hollander presented you with your new workplace and introduced you to thousands of folders that you were to study the next weeks. Your pleasant anticipation returned as you and the scientist talked about your favourite topic: science, studies and genes.
After an hour of introducing you to your workplace in the back of his office, Dr Hollander left you to start working - with a permanent grin plastered to your face. This was what you were born to do, after all. Being lost in the documents, it took a lot of time before your thoughts wandered back to the young SOLDIER you had met before. The day rushed by and suddenly the sun was already setting, it was quite late. You only noticed how much time had passed after you had finished working through the first few folders and a quick glance at the watch. With a polite 'see you tomorrow' to Dr. Hollander, you finally decided to go home.
On the car ride home, your thoughts went into the inevitable direction. Genesis was exactly your type, you thought as you drove through the city back to your apartment. But he was the kind of man that an attachment to often did not end very well. Good-looking guys like that always knew that they were exactly that, thus they tended to act like assholes. You knew that from experience, thanks to a failed relationship with another guy like that, you had already suffered through what these men were like, so you decided to not be bothered by him.
'I'm not going to fall for this man', you thought to yourself. 'But I can at least try to make friends with him, since I'm going to see him more often.'
And thus, you settled your demise.