The Last Person They Wanted to See
The three of them had drawn up the contracts dated for Monday, and they were walking out of the studio, tossing around ideas for what they felt like eating, when they ran into the last person they wanted to see.
"Huh? What's this? Where are you all going?"
"And who's this?"
It was Park Woojin — the very man they'd planned to tell Dohyun about over dinner. A fleshy build. A face packed full of spite. Dohyun had never seen him properly, never even heard a real description, but he knew at a glance that this was the Park Woojin Dayeon and Eunchae had been so reluctant to talk about.
"Ah. This is our new editor."
Dayeon, who'd been smiling just a moment ago, answered with her face gone suddenly stiff.
"Something put you in a bad mood today, Dayeon-ssi?"
Park Woojin didn't much care for that attitude of hers, but with Dohyun standing right there he made a show of it, pointedly calling her Dayeon-ssi like they were close.
"Dayeon-ssi?"
Dayeon's expression twisted even further.
"Come on. We're off the clock. Do I really need to call you 'boss'?"
Park Woojin was grinning like a friendly guy, but inside he was in a foul mood.
Look at this bitch playing hard to get. And she already went and hired another guy as an editor?
He'd been working here for a good few years now, ever since Eunchae first introduced him to the job, and he'd always been thoroughly pleased with being the only man around. The lone rooster in the henhouse, soaking up every woman's attention. For Woojin, who'd never been particularly popular with women, that arrangement had been nothing short of bliss.
Not that Dayeon or Eunchae had ever actually treated him like a man, of course. Eunchae had a high sex drive and had been hunting for a guy friend who actually suited her for a long time, but Park Woojin wasn't her type to begin with, and he wasn't even a fellow Dayeon fan — which put him completely outside her field of interest. The reason she'd taken an interest in Dohyun from the moment he walked in was that she already knew he was a fan who stanned Dayeon.
As for Dayeon, she was a streamer with a public face — dating wasn't something she had any interest in pursuing. And even though they worked out of the same studio, she typically came in around broadcast time, holed up in her room to stream, and left when she was done, so they barely crossed paths to begin with.
"Call me boss. Or Dayeon-nim, at least."
"Haha. Our boss is extra feisty today."
Neither of them had ever given him so much as an inch, but Park Woojin had spent years telling himself they were just playing hard to get.
"Anyway, if you're the new editor, that makes you my junior, yeah? Hey. Name's Park Woojin."
He'd at least kept up a veneer of manners with Dayeon, but the moment his eyes landed on Dohyun, every last scrap of courtesy vanished.
Why the hell is this asshole acting so buddy-buddy with Dayeon noona? He doesn't even like her.
Dohyun hadn't planned on paying much attention to however Park Woojin treated him. He'd already gotten a heads-up that the guy's personality was pretty bad, and they'd said they'd hire another editor and send Woojin packing once Dohyun settled in — so they wouldn't even be working together that long. That had been all the more reason not to care.
But acting this familiar with Dayeon? That was a different story.
"Yes, Park Woojin-ssi. I look forward to working with you."
Dohyun gave Park Woojin a once-over from head to toe, then offered the greeting with a little snort of a laugh.
"Oh-ho. This little shit's laughing at his senior?"
Dohyun had expected exactly this kind of reaction. A guy like Park Woojin was the type who couldn't stand being looked down on or mocked by anyone he considered beneath him.
"'Senior,' huh. If we're talking workplace seniority — you got here first — I was prepared to show you a certain amount of respect."
"What? A certain amount of respect?"
Park Woojin had been planning to harass him just for being a man, even if Dohyun had bowed and scraped like Woojin was some exalted senior. As far as he was concerned, Dohyun's attitude was thoroughly, completely unacceptable.
"Someone who drops the formalities the second he meets a coworker, just because he thinks he's the senior? Yeah. Honestly, I'm not really in the mood to treat you like one."
A deep displeasure had settled over Dohyun's face. The truth was, he'd planned not to react at all — informal speech, whatever — as long as the guy didn't cross a line. It wasn't really about the informal speech. It was much more about the way Woojin was acting so familiar with Dayeon.
Dayeon and Eunchae knew they probably ought to step in, but they just watched Dohyun with expressions of genuine fascination. If they'd had popcorn and drinks in their hands, it would've looked exactly like they were watching a really good movie. No — for the two of them, this was actually way more interesting than any movie.
"Holy shit... Dohyun-nim."
Eunchae was the first to lean in and whisper to Dayeon.
"Right? He's got some serious backbone. I've never seen anyone go toe-to-toe with that guy like this."
Dayeon whispered back, matching her energy. Most of the other editors, when Park Woojin greeted them like that to establish dominance from the start, just quietly said hello and looked intimidated. Park Woojin had the kind of fleshy build that made him look big, and a face that didn't do him any favors — just standing across from him was enough to make most people nervous. Which made this all the more fascinating.
"Huh. Look at this little shit. This bastard's out of his goddamn— ah, no. Ahem."
Park Woojin had been about to let his temper rip, then suddenly remembered Dayeon and Eunchae were standing right behind him and coughed instead.
"I mean, ahem. Anyway, I dropped the formalities because I'm the senior."
"I'd prefer we not use informal speech that hasn't been mutually agreed upon. And how would you even know whether I'm older or younger than you, Park Woojin-ssi, calling me 'hey' like that?"
Park Woojin ground his teeth as Dohyun picked apart every single word. If Dayeon and Eunchae hadn't been there, he would've thrown a full-blown tantrum and scared the guy into submission. Not being able to do that was just infuriating.
"Ah, well. Comparing your face to mine, Park Woojin-ssi... I suppose it is obvious I'd look younger."
Dohyun glanced at Park Woojin's face for a moment, then delivered the line with another thick layer of mockery.
"Pffft—!"
Eunchae, who'd been holding it in, finally burst out laughing.
"Pff— kh, hhk... ah, s-sorry... hhk... ah, hhheh..."
She was saying she was sorry, but she didn't look sorry in the slightest — she couldn't stop the laughter from pouring out.
"Y-you little—?!"
"Alright, that's enough, both of you."
Park Woojin was an extremely hot-tempered man. Knowing that all too well, and worried things might take a bad turn, Dayeon stepped between Dohyun and Park Woojin to break it up.
"But you saw it too, boss! This bastard just openly rated my face...! How am I supposed to just let that slide?!"
Judging someone's looks to their face was generally a dick move, so under normal circumstances Dayeon would've sided with Park Woojin.
"Woojin-nim, you were the one who started it — talking down to Dohyun-nim and calling him 'hey.' If a stranger treated me like that, I would've responded the same way he did."
She figured the fault this time was entirely Park Woojin's. Which, honestly, made it all the more satisfying. If Dohyun had gone after Park Woojin first, she would've had no choice but to take Woojin's side. But this was just Dohyun responding to Woojin's behavior — which meant she could back Dohyun without any guilt.
"Pff, kh... y-yeah. Woojin-sunbae was the one who, hhk, pff... started it... hhik..."
"Eunchae, you stop laughing too."
Dayeon said this to Eunchae, who was still snickering behind them.
"Khheh... I don't even want to laugh... hah..."
Her laughter showed no sign of stopping. She'd never in her wildest dreams imagined someone would just come out and say what everyone had only ever thought privately — that Park Woojin had an old-looking face.
Oh my god... I seriously like Dohyun-nim so much, holy shit...!
On the outside she was already barely holding it together. On the inside, she was losing her mind.
This is it. This is my guy-friend material...!
Dohyun's opinion on the matter, of course, had not been consulted. In Eunchae's heart, Dohyun had already become her first guy friend.
"Anyway, Woojin-nim, what brings you in? It's your day off."
"Ah, well... I didn't have anything going on, so I figured I'd get a head start on some work..."
Anyone could tell he was lying, but nobody bothered to call him on it.
"Well then, work hard. And lock up when you leave."
"Uh, w-wait...! Are the three of you going somewhere?"
Park Woojin, who clearly hadn't expected to actually be told to stay and work, shouted in a panic.
"Yes. Dohyun-nim just started, so we were heading out to grab a meal together."
"Ahh~ a new-hire welcome dinner~ Well, I can't miss out on that, haha."
After nearly starting a fight just moments ago, he was now shamelessly inviting himself to the welcome dinner. Eunchae's laughing expression began to harden.
"Wow. Genuinely shameless."
Eunchae muttered it under her breath, then looked over at Dohyun.
"I don't particularly mind if he comes along."
Dohyun, surprisingly, looked like he had no objection whatsoever to Park Woojin joining them.
Hah... what is that? That big-hearted act...?
Eunchae was falling for him all over again.
Go on, then. Let's see if you can even get a word in.
Dohyun was already thinking about nothing but how to make Park Woojin eat shit.