Chapter Text
Daylight slowly faded through the office window near your tiny cubicle. It had been your first day of work, and you couldn't believe how fast it flew by. Your computer clock only confirmed this- 18:57- long past your coworkers' traditional end of the workday. But not you, you quite liked the peacefulness of the office after hours.
As HYBE's newest social media intern, you mainly took on the jobs that your managers didn't want to do- check emails, keep track of social media growth, the works. Today was spent giving you the social media passwords to Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Weverse and training you on what to do. Of course, this was taught to you by a much older man- the head of the social media department. While you knew exactly how to operate online accounts and what a Tweet was, you allowed the head manager his time in the spotlight by making him think he was teaching you the hidden knowledge of the internet.
You check Jandi, the office management system, to ensure you've done everything assigned to you today. Yes, you've logged into the platforms, filtered through comments and replies, and watched the mandatory entry videos for the company. All you needed now was to...
Call Park Jimin of BTS to remind him of his scheduled livestream on Weverse at 19:00. Shit.
Panicking, you quickly picked up your black office landline and dialed the phone number in the computer's contact list. The phone rang for what felt like the whole three minutes leading up to the scheduled time. In reality, the idol picked up after only three rings.
"Ah, Hello?" The smooth and silky voice said on the line. You wet your lips as nerves quickly sank in- you've never been good at phone calls.
"Is this Park Jimin? I'm with the social media department for HYBE."
"Yes, it is. Is there a problem tonight?"
"No, sir. This is just a reminder to be in the studio for 19:00. You have a livestream planned with managers Seo and Kang assisting you."
"Oh, yes! I'm currently in the studio waiting for the top of the hour. Thank you, manager-nim!"
Before you could correct him on your proper title, the line had gone quiet. You let out the breath you had been holding for what felt like ages before putting the phone back on the receiver. With your final task for the day done, you marked it complete before logging in your total hours for the day- eight.
You stood up and started packing your backpack. Your phone charger, tablet, novels, and miscellaneous paperwork were packed up, and you placed your headphones on your ears before exiting the office.
The BigHit social media office was on the tenth floor of the HYBE building, right in the middle of the office block. Thankfully, the elevators in the building are much more reliable and fast than the ones on your university campus. You managed to catch an empty one and pressed the button for the ground floor.
Engrossed in your phone, you didn't even look up when the elevator stopped until you heard the ping, indicating that the elevator had indeed stopped. You checked what floor you were at- floor five- before looking straight ahead to see who was entering the lift. A tall man with a black cap, white face mask, and tan sweatshirt entered the elevator. Moving to the back left corner away from the control panel, you made a quick bow.
"Hello."
The man walked into the opposite corner, also going down to the ground floor with you. He looked at you with wide, surprised eyes.
"Oh, good afternoon," he said. He glanced at his phone before looking back at you. "I don't recognize you. Are you new?"
"Yes, sir. I'm y/n, the new social media intern for BigHit. It's a pleasure to work alongside you."
You could see his eyes slant slightly, showing that he was smiling behind the mask. He gave you a short bow before reaching his hand out toward you.
"I'm Kim Namjoon. I'm sure you'll make our socials the best they can be."
Your heart skipped a beat; You had a member of the company's- no, the world's biggest idol group right in front of you, wanting to shake your hand. Timidly, you placed your hand in his, shyly shaking his hand. Namjoon chuckled, sensing your nerves.
"No need to be shy. You'll do great. Can I walk you out?" He asked as the doors to the elevator opened, revealing the empty lobby. You gave him a smile and a small nod as you both exited the lift.
"So when was your first day?" Namjoon asked.
"It was today- I mainly did training and menial tasks." Namjoon gave a disgusted noise at your response.
"That doesn't sound fun at all. Surely your work will get more fun as time goes on."
"Yes, sir. I'm sure it will. I will do my best to make you and everyone else look good online."
Namjoon gave a loud laugh at your response, further putting you at ease. He opened the side door to the parking deck for you, indicating for you to go first.
"That's a hard job, y/n-ssi; Our career depends on it."
Namjoon meant his words as a joke, but you couldn't help but have your smile falter as you gulped in fear. In reality, BTS and the rest of BigHit's public image depended on the competency you had at your job. In the back of your mind, you knew it wasn't solely your job, you had a whole team you worked for, but the thoughts wouldn't stop isolating you and solely making you the problem. You were so caught up in your thoughts that you barely comprehended Namjoon saying his goodbyes and walking towards his vehicle.
Quickly, you snapped out of it, realizing that staring at the older man as he walked to his car looked a bit stalker-ish. You walked out of the parking lot and began your trek to your apartment.
You were a recent college graduate, having had your commencement ceremony this past spring. You majored in Social Media Marketing with a minor in English and had quite the resume and portfolio following graduation. Over the summer you applied to job after job, but rarely received a callback or an interview. Smaller businesses and organizations passed on you, but you were shocked when you received an employment offer from HYBE after your second round of interviews.
In typical internship fashion, it was an unpaid gig. They did, however, offer to pay for housing and gave you a monthly allotment of money for food. While you much rather preferred a paycheck, the stipends for housing and food allowed you to at least live in Seoul. It did not, however, pay to allow you to take a bus home. So, you had to walk the thirty-minute walk home every day.
Entering your studio apartment, you sat your backpack down on the tiny countertop of your kitchen and slipped off your shoes. Your apartment was small and cheap for Gangnam, being only ₩300,000 a month for 20 square meters of space. This meant your kitchen barely had room for a table for one, your bedroom and living room were the same small room, and your bathroom held only enough extra space solely so you could stand in one place. It wasn't much, but living in Gangnam felt better than the farmland you had grown up in.
Growing up in a small village outside of Gwangju didn't provide you with much of anything in life. If anything, your childhood consisted mainly of bullying and body issues. You were much larger than most of the other kids growing up, and even now you still leaned on the thicker side. Many strangers would stare at you with your larger behind, thighs, and bust with disgust on their faces- you weren't the beauty standard in Korea. However, while attending Chonnam University in Gwangju, you befriended a group of foreign students from America that would constantly hype up your appearance, telling you that any man in America would die to have a girlfriend with a body like yours.
But you didn't live in America. You lived in Korea.
Eventually, your American friends would graduate and move back stateside, leaving you to receive glares and offensive remarks with no backup. By this time, though, the confidence your friends provided you with was stuck in your head. Their words of 'you're just short, you don't weigh that much', 'your tits are killer', and 'I'd smack that ass' never left your conscience. To this day you don't know whether to laugh at the memories or appreciate them endearingly. You just decided to do them both.
With water boiling on the stove for your instant noodles, you lay on your sleeper sofa and stared aimlessly at the chipped paint of your ceiling. Maybe someday you'll get rich and famous like Namjoon and Jimin and live in a luxury apartment, not a basement studio apartment for less than a week's worth of minimum wage.