A new challenge

Back when she was in high school, Su-Jin had to draw a picture for a history project. After finishing the painting, she showed it to her brother in hopes to receive praise. Instead, he simply laughed his head off.

Ever since that day, he wouldn't stop teasing her about it. It almost caused Su-Jin to have PTSD whenever she had to do anything remotely similar.

"Shut up!" Su-Jin retorted angrily, poking the rice with her chopsticks. "What does it matter that I cannot draw? Don't I still have eyes? As such, I can still have an opinion about it. Are all those art critics talented painters?"

Su-Jin finished speaking with a huff, filling her mouth with rice and soup. She continued to mutter under her breath, but no one could understand what she was saying.

Mi-Suk, who already knew about Su-Jin's trauma, gave her best friend a sympathetic look.

"Su-Jin is right. She can let me know if the images look nice or if there is a certain something that is missing. A viewer's perspective is also necessary if I want to ensure the webtoon will be well-received. Especially since she doesn't have the talent, Su-Jin can better evaluate the story."

"What's the story about?" Su-Jin asked, shooting her brother threatening looks, which he disregarded entirely.

"It's a love story between a programmer and a painter." Mi-Suk replied, a bright expression settling on her lips. "At first, I thought they wouldn't like the concept, but my boss said it's pretty fresh, and to give it a try. If he likes the first two chapters, then he will expect the rest of them by the end of next month."

"Will they publish it on the website?" Min-Jun piped up, finally ending the silent war with his sister.

"Mhm." Mi-Suk nodded and continued to speak in an excited tone. "All the webtoons that appeared on that website became famous. I can't wait to see my drawings there."

"You'll do great, I am sure." Su-Jin said, giving her friend a reassuring smile.

"Thanks." Mi-Suk returned the smile bashfully.

"But did it really have to be a love story?" Min-Jun suddenly piped up in his maddening, all-too-serious tone.

His face was straight, and his expression lacked any meaning. Whenever he was like that, no one knew if he was joking or actually speaking seriously.

"Oh, ignore this one. It's not the first time he says something like this." Su-Jin snapped, frowning at her brother. "It's like he has something personal against love stories. Did someone wrong you, Min-Jun, and we don't know about it?" she threw at him with a huff of frustration.

To her surprise, both her brother and best friend choked on their food at the same time.

Su-Jin paused, looking from one to the other. Then, her eyes widened in surprise. Coincidences could surely happen, but there was something particular in the way Min-Jun glanced at Mi-Suk, that made Su-Jin think further. After all, sometimes reality could reach beyond the possibility of an accident.

However, any suspicions she might have entertained, had immediately vanished. It couldn't be that. Surely she was mistaken.

The three of them spent the rest of their dinner in silence. Afterwards, Min-Jun went upstairs to his room to study, while the two young women retreated into the living room to watch a drama. It was a favorite pastime of theirs. Su-Jin preferred the historical romance stories about the Goryeo or Joseon period, while Mi-Suk favored the modern-day plots.

They always made sure to take turns in picking, and that night, Mi-Suk's choice took precedence. Therefore, they settled for a modern-day romantic comedy, in which their favorite idol played the male lead. Despite really enjoying the plot and actors, Su-Jin knew that her best friend's reason for watching something like that wasn't just for the male lead's pretty face or easy story. Mi-Suk really wanted to watch something that could spark her imagination, and give her inspiration for her upcoming webtoon.

~~~

Thursday came so quickly, that Su-Jin stared in disbelief at her phone that morning. It was her fourth day of work, out of her first week. Somehow she had managed to survive until then, but there still seemed to be a long way until Friday.

Even though she was supposed to be Director Kang's assistant, he had never once given her a direct task. Instead, he told her through Seo-Jun to study more, focusing on their domestic projects. Meanwhile, Yeon-Ah had been helping Jung Seok in preparing the analysis for the end of the first semester.

Su-Jin was feeling jealous of her friend for having an actual task. She personally was sick and tired of reading paper after paper about what the company had done, or what the past goals of the Planning Department had been. She wanted to actually do something, be active.

This is the mindset in which Director Kang found her an hour after lunch break. To her utter surprise, the man actually personally came to her desk, instead of sending the Deputy Director. Su-Jin glanced around, and saw that Seo-Jun's chair was empty.

'Ah, so that is why His Dark Majesty came all the way here in all his pomp and glory.' Su-Jin thought grudgingly, trying hard to keep it from sowing on her face.

In the end, she smiled at him pleasantly.

For a moment, Ji-Won was fazed by her sudden pleasant manners. However, he soon noticed that her smile did not reach her eyes. He saw a fleeting expression on her face, one that made him sure she was not pleased to see him there.

No matter. He wasn't too happy with it either. Nevertheless, they were supposed to work together, so personal opinions would have to be set aside. He had a clear mission, and a high stake weighing down on him. So, he was not going to let it go to ruin just because he disliked an intern.

"Miss Park, I just printed five pages for today's meeting. Please make four more copies and bring them to my office. Also, make sure you staple them as well."

"Yes, Director Kang. Right away!" Su-Jin replied energetically, just as he was turning to leave.

Happy to be given something to do, Su-Jin sprinted out of her seat. She then hurried towards the copier that was located near the kitchen door.

It was a tall, robust machine, with lots of trays, paper slots and complicated functions. Up until then, Su-Jin had never worked in an office before, and therefore, found all this to be very confusing and complicated.

Nevertheless, Su-Jin wasn't the one to back away from a challenge. It was her dream to work in a big company. As such, she had to work hard to gain experience.

Thus, she picked up the printed pages, inserting them into the copying slot first. Then, she selected the number of copies, just like she'd seen the others doing. Afterwards, she waited.

Halfway through the job, however, the printer stopped and gave an error. It appeared a sheet of paper was jammed inside it.

"Great! Just my luck! Can't just one day go by without any issues?!" She muttered to herself.