Chapter Text
Kim Hongjoong
Position: Character Attendant and Convention Guide Supervision, Magic Kingdom Park
Hongjoong loved his job. He really did. From wandering the park in the hot weather to managing coworkers’ locations and costuming to helping the clueless tourists. Even on the busiest days in the Magic Kingdom he could find at least one thing to be happy about, even if it was as simple as taking advantage of the discounts on food and merchandise after a shift. The place was admittedly nice, the park was getting progressively more crowded with the warmer months of summer quickly approaching.
His first year with Disney was spent dreading work, constantly having to wave people on and off the Pirates of the Carribean ride monotonously for eight hours everyday. It had been okay enough, the money was decent and the benefits made up for the work. While he enjoyed all of those things on their own and the easy nature of directing guests, he knew he’d be better suited for a leadership position. Hongjoong was young and hungry for control in a time where he was swallowed by debt, long hours, and dealing with the not-so-satisfied customers. After several months of training he finally moved up to the position he held now as a supervisor. It had been undeniably better when he got to move freely between AdventureLand and FrontierLand, being able to organize everyone and assign tasks to those below him.
That’s how he met some of his closest friends, though they were more so coworkers and acquaintances than anything else. He worked well with them, rarely giving or receiving complaints and always making sure to give praise and criticism where it was due. The only one who attempted to have more than just a mindless interaction with him was San. He was a little younger than himself and worked the Jungle Cruise. He always tried to give updates whenever Hongjoong so much as stepped within fifty feet of him. San was nice, and loud, never failing to ask Hongjoong how he was doing.
Summer had just begun when he was officially assigned to his position, and he had to spend the first few weeks getting to know some of the newer employees. Most were in the college program and needed more coaching than what Hongjoong would believe was necessary, but he figured they’d get the hang of it soon enough. There were a few trouble makers in the mix. Mainly the ones who thought it’d be a “cool and fun summer job”, because “who wouldn’t want to work at the happiest place on earth?” He took his job seriously, and promptly requested they give 100% or leave.
The worst was the cleaning crew, more specifically Seonghwa. He worked a custodial day shift during the busiest hours of the day, which just so happened to line up exactly with Hongjoong’s schedule. For whatever reason, Seonghwa takes it upon himself to leave his location whenever he desires. He was the true bane of Hongjoong’s already miserable existence, he didn’t need this new guy leaving his section and inevitably putting him in hot shit with management.
The day was seemingly average to say the least by the time Hongjoong got to work, travelled through the tunnels, and made it to his post. He ran into some other coworkers, Wooyoung giving him a small wave on his way into the tunnels beneath the park to change into his costume and Jongho who nodded as he was frantically speed walking to FantasyLand so he could fix the Peter Pan ride before too many people complained. Jongho came in as a newbie maintenance technician this year, he was likely even more stressed out than Hongjoong.
He was stopped a few feet inside the entrance of AdventureLand, in the midst of doing his second lap of his second hour, by San who was a bit out of breath and still in his work uniform. Hongjoong could already feel a headache coming on, knowing that whatever San had to tell him was likely not about to be something he’d like to hear so early in the afternoon.
“Shouldn’t you be steering a boat right now?” He questioned tiredly.
San held up a finger and took a deep breath. He was sweating, a lot, with small droplets forming and sliding down his hairline; his hair, that was getting a little too long in the back, was matted to his forehead beneath his brimmed hat. The khaki uniform he wore was damp, likely with a combination of river water and sweat. San placed his hands on his hips, “Maybe if you had been easier to find I wouldn’t have had to leave.”
“Yeah? And what’s your excuse for not just having someone radio me?”
“They left it in their car this morning,” he shook his head, “that doesn’t matter. One of the gorilla animatronics stopped working and we received a complaint from some hardass saying her kid ‘didn’t get the full experience’ or whatever, so you need to call tech to send one of them down here.”
Hongjoong lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, suddenly feeling the heat from the sun, “That’s all? Okay… I’ll let them know. I doubt they’ll deem it important enough to stop the ride, but if someone’s already complained I wouldn’t say it’s out of the question. Is there anything else?”
San furrowed his brow, shifting his weight from his left foot to his right, “Oh, yeah, Chris over from Splash Mountain wanted me to let you know that Seonghwa took over some guy’s post who didn’t show. They told him he didn’t have to but Seonghwa insisted and said it wasn’t worth calling in someone else. Chris just wanted you to know that it isn’t like Felix to just not show up and he doesn’t want you taking it out on him.”
Hongjoong took a deep breath and shut his eyes as he exhaled, “Where’s he now?”
“Who? Felix?” San tilted his head to the side, clearly confused.
“No,” his tone came out harsher than he intended and the other bit his lip, but Hongjoong didn’t have the current mental capacity to apologize for being annoyed, “Seonghwa. Where is he?”
“Right!” San’s face perked up, “He’s heading back to the bathrooms near Pirates, I think he’s switching out his equipment.”
Hongjoong nodded, “Great, thank you.”
San took his hat off, running a hand messily through his hair, and gave a two-fingered salute, “No problem, Captain,” he grinned, dimples on full display, as he turned on one foot and began heading back to his ride.
“Next time make sure you have a walkie-talkie,” Hongjoong called after him. San gave no sign that he heard him.
Hongjoong heaved a sigh, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger before walking tiredly in the direction of the “Cast Members Only” area behind the restrooms. Park Seonghwa was going to be the death of him. The least he could’ve done was let Hongjoong know he was leaving so he could rework everyone’s location. It’s an inconvenience to have to track him down. He can’t spend too much time chewing him out, though. There’s that call to make maintenance and if they confirm that it’s important enough to fix during this time of the day then he’ll have to ask for San to help him block it off. Maybe Hongjoong could get him to stand in front of the entrance to inform the questioning tourists. San had always been good with handling even the rudest of people, the charisma and dimples probably help.
Hongjoong heard someone humming “Be Our Guest” the closer he got to the door and the moment he yanked it open he came face to face with Seonghwa as he was about to leave.
“Oh, hey,” Seonghwa’s tone was shocked, but the way he stood told him that he must’ve been expecting this. His dark black hair was likely combed to the side that morning but was losing its shape from the heat and the sweat, his white uniform still appeared to be pristine and had no noticeable stains.
Hongjoong had to tilt his head up to actually look at his face, “Chris said you went to FrontierLand earlier.”
The other rolled his eyes, dark brown irises appearing even darker, and took a few steps back, knowing this conversation was likely about to be a long one, “Yeah, Felix didn’t show today and it’s not that hard to go back and forth so I said I’d do it.”
“Why didn’t you just let Chris let his supervisor know so that they could handle it? They have plenty of bodies and you know AdventureLand gets understaffed in summers when college program kids start taking all of the entertainment jobs,” he crossed his arms over his chest, attempting to appear firm despite his short stature being glaringly obvious. Hongjoong refused to let himself be on the wrong side of the power imbalance. Even though Seonghwa was taller and older than him, his position remained below Hongjoong’s and that meant he was technically under his authority.
“It’s not a big deal,” he leaned back against the wall, mirroring Hongjoong in crossing his arms, “like I said, it isn’t hard to go between the two areas.”
He breathed out harshly through his nose, “If you’re not here, then who is? You might be covering for someone else, but when you are, who is covering for you? Maybe if you would have just told me I could’ve worked something out, or told you not to move from your post so they could have the time to just get somebody else in.”
“There’s no point in wasting time,” Seonghwa replied easily, his voice was deep, but light in the way he spoke, “you know how meticulous management is about making sure nobody sees any messes.”
“In that case you should know why trying to clean two sections is counterproductive. While you’re at one, the other gets dirty and there’s no one there to wipe down railings or pick up trash or make sure nobody leaves food lying around. You know you can’t leave your area once it’s assigned to you,” Hongjoong spoke quickly, blood running a bit hot.
Seonghwa looked him up and down, “You’re overthinking it,” he stated simply.
“I don’t need you to patronize me,” Hongjoong’s voice grew louder, and he closed his eyes to regain control, “You know I’m right, there was a better way to go about this and you didn’t follow protocol.”
The older stared at him as though Hongjoong were a specimen under a microscope, “Have you ever considered the thought that I could do it? I really don’t know why you’re acting like this is a big deal.”
A groan came from the back of his throat, he clenched his jaw tightly, “Seonghwa, you were to keep the area between the Aladdin ride and Pirates clean. You waste more time going from that area to Splash mountain than you would just staying at your post. San was practically out of breath because he was trying to go between them fast enough to find me and let me know.”
Seonghwa raised an eyebrow, “San ran around just to tell you I left? Does the guy really have nothing to do? Why not yell at him for not radioing you? He left his area too.”
Hongjoong seriously considered knocking himself out by slamming his head against a wall, “He was actually trying to let me know one of the animatronics broke down. He had somebody cover for him, like he should. His coworker forgot their microphone and I’m sure I’ll get their name later today if not right after this conversation when I request for maintenance,” he shook his head to stop from rambling on further, “The point is, you’re trying to take on responsibilities and in doing so you’re disrupting the order of things and it could’ve gotten far worse if San hadn’t said something.”
“And what are you doing right now?” Seonghwa questioned, corners of his mouth turning upwards.
He glared accusingly, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re wasting just as much time lecturing me on doing my job when I could actually be out there cleaning up after people like I should be. You’re just as guilty as I am,” he moved from his spot against the wall, walking past Hongjoong.
“You weren’t doing your job!” Hongjoong retorted, exasperated, and Seonghwa paused as he opened the door, “You left to go clean somewhere else and now I have to make another call to make sure Chris has somebody now that you’re going to be here.”
Seonghwa just huffed out a sigh, “That wouldn’t be a problem if I could just do both, but okay,” he left with that as his parting sentiment and it took everything in Hongjoong not to chase after him.
He shut his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts before picking his walkie-talkie up from his belt, pressing the correct channel and lifting it to his mouth, “This is Kim Hongjoong, AdventureLand Supervisor. Chris Bang, do you copy?”
“Hongjoong, I was wondering when you'd finally contact us,” Chris’s voice was muffled by the speaker.
“I’m really not in the mood, Bang,” he placed a hand on his hip and looked down at his shoes, “Just tell me if you made sure to call in a replacement.”
“Didn’t have to, Felix showed up ten minutes ago practically dying from sprinting all the way here. Tell Seonghwa I don’t need him.”
“You shouldn’t have needed him any way,” Hongjoong scoffed, “He needs to learn how to stay put when I assign him an area. Seonghwa can’t be in two places at once, I don’t care how fast he thinks he can walk on those long legs.”
Chris laughed into the walkie-talkie, “That guy really loves to clean, though, he works quick and I don’t think I’ve seen the kids’ play place that clean in a while.You should keep him around, even if he is a pain in the ass.”
“It’s not like I have the power to fire him anyway,” no matter how much he fantasized about it.
“There’s no way he’s worse than Felix, he can get the job done but he’s left spray bottles on the bathroom sinks twice this week.”
Hongjoong allowed himself a small chuckle, “Yeah, I can’t say that’s happened. Anyway, thanks for telling San so that I could straighten Seonghwa out. Make sure to give Felix at least a warning, I know how lax you all are on the rules over there.”
“Yeah, yeah. I will. Take care, Hongjoong. Over and out.”
Hongjoong took another moment to clear his head, focusing on the walkie-talkie until he found his next recipient. He pressed the button and waited a few seconds before greeting himself.
“This is Jennie, what is it you are requesting for?” The tired voice of a girl, likely in her twenties, asked.
“Yeah, we need a tech guy down at Jungle Cruise. One of the guests complained that an animatronic wasn’t working and the employees confirmed it was a gorilla.”
“Let me guess, they said they ‘didn’t feel immersed in the magic’ because of it?” The girl, Jennie, must’ve had a long day because she did not sound like this was the first maintenance call of her shift.
“More or less. Will you send somebody now or just wait until tonight after closing?”
“It’s minor and quick enough to just send someone now, just halt the ride when… let me see who’s available,” she paused, and Hongjoong tapped his foot to count the seconds, “Choi Jongho will be there soon I’ll radio him now. Keep Jungle Cruise running until he gets there and if it’s as simple as one stopped animatronic it shouldn't take more than ten to fifteen minutes.”
“Perfect, thank you, over and out,” Hongjoong lifted his finger from the call button and immediately slipped the device back into place at his belt.
He ran both hands through his hair and scratched the base of his neck with blunt fingernails. With one last glance around the room he stepped out and wandered back into AdventureLand. He should head to Jungle Cruise to let them know they’ll have to shut the ride down while it’s getting fixed, maybe stop anyone from getting in line now so that guests could go elsewhere. There should be a parade soon, the line likely isn’t long and it wouldn’t be hard to clear out for a few minutes while the tourists leave to watch it.
Hongjoong stopped his walk near the gift shop just outside of the Pirates of the Carribean, spotting Seonghwa pushing a garbage can around the corner to the large doors where the dumpsters resided. It may be a good idea to pull him now and get him to wipe down the railings for the ride while there's nobody on it, or just run through to pick up some stray bottle caps or wrappers that somehow always end up on the ground.
He wasted no time in following Seonghwa to the back and calling after him.
The other turned to face him, “Are you here to finish lecturing me?”
Hongjoong let a frown settle in his brow, “No, I need you to come with me,” he gestured for the older to follow after him as he turned in the direction of his destination.
Seonghwa’s footsteps caught up with his, “Am I in trouble or something?”
He waved off his concern with his hand, “No, I just called for maintenance and it’s going to take some time to repair. There’s a parade going on at this time so I thought it’d be convenient to make an announcement that the ride will be shut down for now and have the guests clear out the lines so you could clean it up a bit. You know how it gets in there when the lazy tourists start to leave their stuff around just because the ride is so easy-going.”
Seonghwa nodded his head in agreement, “It’s a good thing I have an extra trash bag on me, I just used three of them between Tortuga’s and here alone.”
“Maybe if you hadn’t left for so long you wouldn’t have needed to pick up so much trash,” Hongjoong couldn’t stop himself from instigating, he could feel Seonghwa’s eyes burning holes into the side of his face. He couldn’t help but smirk with a bit of pride and a sense that he had just won.