Chapter 4 - The Overtime Grid and Sovereign Invitations

The dull hum of the fluorescent light tubes buzzed quietly over the high-walled cubicles of the MIXXO Fashion Company design floor. Outside the tall glass window frames, the afternoon sun was beginning to slant downward, throwing long, geometric shadows across the cutting tables. Han-eun and Chae-won were completely submerged in their drafting station logs, their fingers frantically typing updates into the design database when an office teammate stepped directly into their cubicle perimeter.Without a word of warning, the employee slammed a massive, heavy stack of leather-bound portfolio folders right onto the center of their clean desk layout."You two need to execute a complete data-review and finalize every single one of these files before your shift log clears today," the employee announced, adjusting her glasses with a pitying expression."Are your thoughts entirely out of their mind?!" Chae-won groaned out loud, her lower lip instantly forming an aggressive pout as she stared at the mountain of paperwork. "So many outstanding files in a single deployment?!""Yes, and the strict mandate says you have to finish them today itself," the employee replied, lowering her voice as she leaned against the partition block. "Honestly, my system feels really, deeply bad for both of you. I truly wish my hands could help your station out, but my own logs are packed.""Thanks for the thought, but just wishing won't get a single drop of this work done, will it?" Chae-won countered slurrily, throwing a pencil down onto her drawing board."True, your logic is perfectly correct," the employee smiled faintly, looking around the floor. "So, get all the parameters finalized today, because there's a massive, official welcome party scheduled at the office headquarters tomorrow, right? If your builds finish the baseline work today, your names will legally be allowed to attend the party logs."Han-eun sharply lifted her chin from her drawing monitor, her sharp gaze locking onto the teammate. "Who exactly is this welcome party for? And through what frequency did your ears find out about its security clearance?""Wow! An official welcome party!" Chae-won cheered ecstatically, her eyes sparkling with pure, unadulterated joy as she completely ignored Han-eun's suspicion. "That sounds like absolute, incredible fun—no matter whose name is registered on the invitation files!""It's targeted specifically for Mr. Kang Ha-joon and Mr. Park Seo-joon," the employee whispered conspiratorially, tapping the stack of folders. "I heard the entire brief straight from our company's 'Gossip Club' network—the rumor mill is working at maximum frequency today.""Is this a welcome celebration for that grumpy, arrogant old kangaroo?!" Han-eun scoffed loudly, her defensive codes locking into place as her face flushed with deep annoyance."Who on earth is this 'grumpy kangaroo'?" Chae-won blinked her eyes in total bewilderment, looking between them."I think your mouth is talking directly about Mr. Kang, aren't you?" the employee giggled nervously through her teeth, her radar tracking the danger."Yes, he is exactly the specimen I am talking about," Han-eun raised her voice slightly, her stubborn baseline taking over the conversation. "The man is so incredibly irritable, and his fuse parameters are entirely too short for a normal human system. I just feel like his character files—"Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the creative department wing slid open smoothly. Moving with absolute, silent executive speed from the opposite coordinate vector, Mr. Kang Ha-joon and Park Seo-joon walked straight into the cubicle aisle right behind their backs. Chae-won's eyes dilated wide with paralyzing panic as she spotted their strict profiles."Han-eun... cut the database talk and let's get back to work immediately!" Chae-won whispered in a frantic, high-pitched frenzy, grabbing her friend's sleeve block."What on earth happened now?" Han-eun muttered, completely unfazed as she tapped her desk. "Did that grumpy kangaroo actually show up on this floor? Why are your system parameters acting so—""Be completely quiet!" Chae-won hissed out, her voice cracking as she bolted upright and bowed her head 90 degrees. "Oh—Welcome, Boss!""Boss..." Han-eun turned her torso around in a sudden loop of sheer panic, her Manager persona melting away as her eyes ran into Ha-joon's icy, unmoving gaze. "You're... your build is here on this floor?""Am I legally not allowed to occupy the coordinates of my own company headquarters?" Ha-joon countered through his teeth, his towering, powerful frame radiating a bone-chilling coldness as he slowly removed his sunglasses. "And what exact database parameters were your lips broadcasting about my character files just now?""Alright then! My shift is fully done, I should get straight back to my assigned desk!" the employee stuttered nervously, her face turning pale white as she backed out of the cubicle line. "There's still a massive ton of work left to execute on my end, isn't there? Alright, Boss, excuse my system!""No... that's absolutely not it, Boss," Han-eun stammered slurrily, her face turning a bright tomato red color from total, toe-curling embarrassment under his suffocating radar. "My mouth was talking strictly about the complexity of the design work itself, nothing else."Park Seo-joon stepped inside the perimeter, a wide, thoroughly amused smirk playing across his features as he looked down at Chae-won's frozen stance. "Hey, you! I explicitly didn't tell your system to sit here on this chair and eavesdrop on executive schedules. Do your assigned job parameters, got it?""Yes, I am executing my job parameters perfectly, Mr. Park..." Chae-won mumbled in a low, defensive whisper, pouting her lips."Hey, what kind of ridiculous, uncoordinated attitude is that?" Seo-joon scoffed playfully, his voice hitting a highly animated, mocking frequency. "My audio input can hear your vocal cords perfectly clearly.""Let the data go, Park," Ha-joon commanded coldly, his deep voice carrying a low, menacing frequency that ended the conversation instantly. He adjusted his suit lapels, his long strides already turning away from their cubicle lane. "Come on, let's go. Our corporate registry doesn't need to waste its valuable time on her files.""Fine, let's clear out—and you! Get back to the data-entry!" Seo-joon fired a final playful wink before following his heels down the corporate corridor."What on earth is that man's actual problem?!" Chae-won groaned in total defeat, slumping onto her desk cushions."They will mandatory be right in front of our faces for the rest of our careers," Han-eun let out a heavy, exhausted sigh, burying her face inside her portfolio binders to hide her burning cheeks. "Why on earth are our bodies sitting here inside this office? I've officially made up my mind: my registry is absolutely not going to that welcome party tomorrow.""Why?!" Chae-won looked wide-eyed, her voice rising in a desperate plea. "Please, Han-eun, don't let them stop your system parameters! Come to the venue strictly for my sake; my heart really, truly wants to attend that party layout!" She locked her fingers together, making an adorable, highly animated cute face right in front of her friend."Alright, alright, we'll deal with all that social stuff later," Han-eun snapped, trying to regain her professional composure. "Let's just finish this mountain of files first before midnight hits our clock."[INT. CEO EXECUTIVE CABIN – CONTINUOUS]Kang Ha-joon and Park Seo-joon pushed past the heavy mahogany double doors of the private executive suite. To their absolute, total astonishment, the grand leather chair behind the glass desk block was already occupied. Chairman Kang was sitting there comfortably, his thumbs aggressively hammering away at a high-end handheld video game console, completely dead to the corporate world."Chairman... your build is actually..." Seo-joon stammered, his executive filter short-circuiting."What on earth are you executing inside my workspace, Dad?" Ha-joon asked with icy finality, anchoring his frame as he sat down in an adjacent leather chair."So, you two boys have finally reported to my coordinates?" the Chairman muttered without dropping a single mile of his focus from the display. "Wait a single minute—let my thumbs finish this final score layout. I am getting exceptionally close to breaking my personal historic record. My system is going to smash the registry today!"🏆 VICTORY CHIME."Chairman, do your thoughts seriously still process video game parameters at your age?" Seo-joon asked, a massive, laughing grin breaking across his face."Yes! Done! The old record is officially demolished!" the Chairman cheered proudly, tossing the console onto the marble table cloth before looking up with a wide, hearty laugh. "There is absolutely, completely zero age limit for this sort of entertainment data. Anyway, so you two have just arrived from the airport terminal. My profound apologies—my system couldn't come downstairs to the main gate pavilion to welcome your builds personally today. The thing is, my knee joint recovery charts have been bothering my mobility lately.""Really, Dad?" Ha-joon countered smoothly, raising a strict, skeptical brow past his frame. "Are you using medical science metrics now?""No," the Chairman laughed heartily, waving his hand dismissively. "I just desperately wanted to finish playing my video game level, so completely forget all that nonsense logic. Did your eyes like everything here on the fashion floor today? Did your transit encounter any difficult parameters?""I think Ha-joon's system had a bit of a fierce, chaotic issue with someone down at the arrival pavilions," Seo-joon intervened with a mischievous smirk."With whom?" the Chairman's interest spiked."With absolutely no one!" Ha-joon barked strictly through his teeth, his features freezing into a terrifyingly dark mask as he glared at his friend. "You just keep your mouth completely quiet and clear your speech database, understood?""Come on, tell my ears," the Chairman grinned."It's nothing, Chairman; my vocal cords were just executing a joke parameter," Seo-joon backed down smoothly with a chuckle."Alright, fine," the Chairman stood up, adjusting his traditional suit as he prepared to exit the executive cabin clearing. "Oh, and one more critical thing: the company has finalized a grand welcome party for the two of you tomorrow afternoon, so make sure your bodies get some absolute, mandatory rest today.""There is completely zero need to go to all that unnecessary trouble," Ha-joon responded with absolute corporate coldness. "My registry doesn't care for these kinds of trivial social gatherings.""Your individual brain may not care for it, Ha-joon, but the data is highly important—for my peace of mind, and for the public reputation matrix of this fashion company," the Chairman commanded with patriarchal gravity."Chairman, please don't let your thoughts worry for a single millisecond," Seo-joon added with a confident wink. "I will personally handle his transport logs and make sure to drag his build along to the venue."The Chairman stepped out past the threshold, walking directly onto the main creative department design floor. He raised his hand, his commanding voice projecting clearly across every single cubicle lane."Listen to my words carefully, everyone!" the Chairman announced proudly, a warm smile lighting up his face. "There is an official welcome party at the office headquarters tomorrow afternoon, and every single employee is expected to attend. You are all completely welcome to bring your romantic partners or personal guests along if your system wishes, so make sure your hands wrap up all your pending project work beforehand!"The entire design floor looked instantly delighted, a massive wave of happy whispers and excited chatter breaking out across the desks: "Are you coming to the venue?""What magnificent wardrobe dress are you going to wear for the cameras?"[INT. DESIGN CUBICLE – CONTINUOUS]Back at the corner desk layout, Han-eun threw her pen down in absolute, raw fury."That grumpy, monstrous Kang kangaroo has dumped such a massive, suffocating mountain of files on our station that it will mandatory be morning by the time our fingers finish reviewing it all!" Han-eun hissed venomously in a hushed whisper. "My system is absolutely, completely not coming to his party. My body will be entirely exhausted after executing this overtime work. It's infinitely better to just stay home and rest my vitals—and besides that, I don't even possess a single drop of desire to attend his celebration in the first place.""Eun, please don't execute a rejection loop like this!" Chae-won begged brokenly, her face shifting into a tearful, highly animated expression as she gripped her hands together [Ch. 52]. "Come on, let's just go to the party together; it will be absolutely fun! Please—do it strictly for me! Honestly, my own mind didn't want to attend either, but since Chairman Kang delivered the mandate himself, our systems have zero choice but to report to the coordinates. So please, you absolutely have to come too!""Alright, fine! I'll go!" Han-eun snapped through her teeth, her defenses completely crumbling. "But stop executing that ridiculous, tearful face right now—it looks absolutely terrible on your profile!""Yay! My system won't make it anymore!" Chae-won cheered ecstatically, jumping up from her seat. "Thank you, thank you! You're sacrificing your sacred sleep parameters strictly for my sake!""Don't get too excited or launch your celebratory logs just yet," Han-eun warned, keeping her eyes fixed wider on her monitor data. "We'll see how things actually go once our fingers successfully finish this mountain of work before dawn.""No way! Your lips already gave the verbal promise, so your build absolutely, mandatory has to be there at the venue!" Chae-won insisted with a triumphant smile."Yeah, yeah, whatever," Han-eun muttered, diving back into the files.[INT. LK COMPANY HEADQUARTERS – CEO OFFICE – DAY]Across the district sector, inside the sleek, minimalist executive suite of LK Company, the atmosphere was quiet and dark. Lee Min-juh was sitting rigidly behind his grand marble desk, reviewing global strategy documents with cold authority.Knock. Knock.The heavy office doors parted slightly, and Secretary Yoo-jung carefully stepped inside the room layout, holding a silver-embossed invitation card. "May I come in and disturb your coordinates for a second, Boss?""Yes, come inside," Min-juh responded, his voice deep, calm, and masked by absolute mystery."Boss, my system forgot to mention during our earlier boardroom brief—there is a massive corporate welcoming party scheduled tomorrow afternoon, and your executive name has been formally invited to attend," Yoo-jung reported, placing the luxury card on the corner of his desk."I don't want to go," Min-juh dismissed instantly, his long fingers not even dropping a single second of their document tracking. "Cancel the travel logs.""Alright, Boss. I will execute the rejection reply immediately," Yoo-jung nodded, turning her torso to leave."Wait," Min-juh's voice suddenly dropped into a low, sharp frequency that halted her steps instantly. He tilted his head slightly. "Whose welcome party is it registered under, anyway?""It's an official welcome celebration for Mr. Kang Ha-joon—the new supreme CEO and son of the Chairman of MIXXO Company," Yoo-jung answered clearly.Min-juh froze completely for a single milestone fraction of a second. His dark eyes dilated wide as a powerful, intensely sharp thought flashed through his database. He slowly adjusted his cuffs, a devastatingly handsome, secret dark smile slowly breaking across his strict features."Okay... hold the cancellation logs," Min-juh commanded smoothly, his voice laced with an unreadable, dark gravity. "My system will mandatory attend that party tomorrow.""Alright, Boss. I will update the registry," Yoo-jung replied, looking thoroughly confused by his sudden, high-speed change of mind before bowing and stepping out of the room.Lee Min-juh leaned back into his leather cushion, his eyes staring out past the dark glass windows at the Seoul skyline as his secret smile widened.'Kim Han-eun... your build will mandatory be there at that venue too,' Min-juh thought to himself, his heart tracking a deep, hidden possessive thrill as he imagined her face.