"This is the third ti this month you've ssed up the coffee order. You're supposed to be a professional! Do you know how important this is?"
Jia blinked at her, still half in shock. "I almost got hit by a motorcycle," she protested weakly, gesturing toward the door.
Mrs. Liu's expression was utterly unsympathetic. She folded her arms, glaring at her. "But you didn't get hit, right? So what's the problem? Now go back out there and get those coffees."
Jia stared at her, finding her insufferable. She'd just had the most insane, life-threatening morning, and she was acting like she'd misplaced a stapler.
Her blood pressure spiked.
'Nope. That's it. I've had enough.'
Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and stepped closer, eting Mrs. Liu's condescending gaze head-on. "You know what, Mrs. Liu? I quit. I'm done with this nonsense."
Mrs. Liu's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Excuse ? You can't just quit because of a little mistake-"
Jia cut him off, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, it's not just the coffee, Mrs. Liu. It's the everything. Let's start with the fact that I've been working like a mule for three weeks straight while you take credit for all of my work. And your coffee order? The 'triple-shot, half-decaf, soy milk latte, with a sprinkle of cinnamon and exactly two pumps of hazelnut syrup'? It's ridiculous. You know what else is ridiculous? Making walk five blocks in the rain for it every morning because you can't function without your overpriced drink."
The entire office had gone silent. Heads were popping up from behind cubicle walls, eyes wide as saucers. Mrs. Liu's face was turning a concerning shade of purple.
"And don't even get started on the hierarchy here," Jia continued. "Why does the intern have to pick up dry cleaning for the CEO? Why am I fixing the Wi-Fi when we have an IT departnt? And can soone explain why Carol from accounting gets to nap at her desk every afternoon while I'm running around like a headless chicken?"
Carol, who had indeed been napping at her desk, jolted awake at the ntion of her na. "Huh? What did I do?"
"And you, Minnie," Jia pointed at the HR manager who was sipping her green smoothie. "You once wrote up for taking a bathroom break. A bathroom break! Do you monitor everyone's bladder or just mine?"
Minnie nearly choked on her smoothie. "I-I was just following protocol!"
Jia threw her hands up. "Oh, to hell with your protocol! I quit! I'm out of here!"
With that, she grabbed her bag from her desk, shoving her multicolored pens into it.
She paused, rembering sothing important. She quickly opened her drawer and pulled out her overprized June photocard, the one she had taped up as a little source of daily motivation.
'Not leaving without you,' she thought.
"Jia, you can't just leave-" Mrs. Liu sputtered, but Jia was already dialing her phone, ignoring her completely.
"Hey, Mom?" she said.
"Is your offer still up?"
To hell with being a nepo baby!
***
Jia hadn't felt this light in years.
There was a spring in her step as she walked into Phoenix Entertainnt, the place she was now proudly calling her workplace. Well, it technically wasn't her workplace yet.
There was still a lot to do, considering she just offended half of her past office. Aside from that, the transfer would take a little over a week. However, even then, she was still excited!
She took a deep breath, inhaling the sll of polished floors and faintly scented air fresheners. It was infinitely better than the stale, recycled air of her old office.
Oh, another bonus was that June's face was everywhere!
Cindy t her with a bright smile. "I told you, boo bear. You should have accepted my offer when I first gave it to you."
Jia clicked her tongue and scratched the back of her neck. "Well, to be fair, you were still working under Azure back then. I don't want to be associated with Azure at all."
"Sure, sure," Cindy said. "Anyway, you're right. This place is infinitely better than Azure." "Let show you around."
"This is one of the most chaotic departnts-quality control. Everything goes through here. From the social dia posts to the news articles about our artists. It's like the nerve center of the whole company."
Jia nodded eagerly, feeling like she'd made the right decision.
She loved drama-especially if she wasn't the one involved in it. She could also protect June from those malicious news reporters!
They entered the room where people were typing furiously, phones ringing nonstop. It was chaotic but in an exciting way.
Cindy peeked over soone's shoulder and turned to Jia with a whisper. "Looks like they're discussing an article about June. Want to take a look?"
"June?" Jia's ears perked up. She craned her neck to see the screen. It looked like a headline was being edited.
The worker looked up, clearly excited.
"Oh, Miss Cindy, you heard about it?" the worker said, grinning. "June's getting praised all over social dia. A few days ago, people were criticizing him for being cold and detached. But after yesterday, he's a hero. Apparently, he saved a pedestrian from getting hit by a
motorcycle."
Jia felt her face go hot, her eyes widening in realization.
She leaned closer to read the headline. It blared in bold, attention-grabbing letters:
'Heroic Idol June Saves Helpless Old Woman from Tragic Accident!'
"Old woman?" Jia exclaid, her voice echoing across the room. Several heads turned to look at her, eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Yeah," the worker said, nodding enthusiastically. "It's all over the fan sites. They're saying he's such a gentleman, swooping in to help this poor, elderly woman who was about to be
hit."
Jia's eye twitched.
'Elderly woman?'
She clutched her chest, feeling a stab to her chest.
She was fresh out of college! Did her past company really suck all of the young energy out of
her?
She pursed her lips and took a step back.
Maybe it was better to have been ran over.
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