A black Bentley stopped in front of the building lobby, several men and women in formal suits immediately lined up to the left and right of the entrance to the lobby.
Hyein got out of the car, followed by Minji, the line of men and women bent 90 degrees.
Minji walked into the building with a slight limp, Hyein following behind her. They headed to the elevator dedicated for leaders, which only stopped at the floor of their office.
Hanni stood up when the elevator doors opened and Minji and Hyein stepped out of it, she bowed after her eyes glanced at Minji's feet.
"What are you doing here?" came Minji's cold voice, Hanni straightened up, "I..was waiting for Miss Marsh, Miss Kim." she said in a low voice.
"Speak louder!"
Hanni jumped in surprise, she cleared her throat with trembling lips, "I'm waiting for Miss Marsh...Miss Kim" she repeated.
"Wait in her room, I don't want to see you here." Minji growled as she entered her office, Hyein then closed the door.
Minji took off her coat and threw it on the sofa, she turned around to face Hyein, looking at her.
Hyein bowed, " I apologize. I didn't know Mr. Kim was gonna come to your penthouse last night."
Minji snorted, "Of course you didn't know, even something as trivial as this secretary business you didn't know either. Do you know what he did to me after you left?" Minji pointed behind her right knee.
"I'm willing to take the punishment." Hyein bowed her head.
"You're my personal assistant Hyein, but you obey my father like a dog. You should only listen to my words, me." Minji walked around Hyein, and then hobbled toward her golf bag at the corner of the room.
Her mood was a mess from last night, and her anger peaked when she saw Hanni this morning. A little venting at Hyein wouldn't hurt her, it wasn't like she was going to break the young woman's bones.
She unzipped the bag's flap and took out a golf club, observing it, "Do you know a Wood type golf club?" she squinted her eyes, looking at the club with admiration.
"It's usually used for long shots and the material is made of wood, that's why it's called Wood." Minji chuckled, "But nowadays the wood has changed to steel." she whispered.
Minji turned back to Hyein.
She gritted her teeth, annoyed at the pain she felt every time her right foot took a step.
Minji stood behind Hyein, "Behind the right knee Hyein, be prepared." she whispered in a vicious tone of voice.
The taller woman clenched her hands shut, she tightened her jaw.
Minji's arms rose, ready to swing her golf club.
"Minji."
Those arms stopped in mid-air, her eyes glancing at the door.
She then exhaled roughly, lowering her golf club.
"The meeting will start in five minutes, I need you there." Haerin stood looking at her, both hands in her pockets. Her cat eyes glanced at Hyein then at Minji again, "The representatives from England are already gathered in the master meeting room." she added.
Minji threw her golf club in a random direction, she adjusted her shirt and headed for the door, "I hope you'll be there before I arrive." she said to Hyein as she passed Haerin, bumping into her shoulder.
Hyein released her breath nervously, she took a step, bowing to Haerin before hurrying to catch up with Minji.
Haerin sighed.
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Hanni adjusted her sitting position nervously, her eyes glanced towards the furthest seat, Minji was still staring at her intently, she averted her eyes again.
What's the problem?
Did she dress badly today? Why did that grumpy one keep staring at her like a lion monitoring its prey?
"CEO Kim, do you have anything to say before we end this meeting?" came Haerin's voice.
There was no answer.
Minji's eyes were still fixed on Hanni.
Haerin followed the direction of the woman's gaze, she furrowed her brows.
"CEO Kim?" Haerin repeated her words.
"I heard you Haerin." Minji stood up and walked over to her, standing next to her, smiling thinly.
She then looked around at the people in the meeting room.
"Thank you for coming." she bowed her head slightly, "As we agreed, the signing of the cooperation contract documents will take place after the meeting ends and your company will start using our products next month.
Two technicians and three system analysts will be sent to train your staff.
All the calculation about payment, profit and shares have been explained in detail by Ms. Kang and we have mutually agreed. I hereby close the meeting."
Minji then made her way to the door and looked at Hyein who was standing next to it, "Tell Danielle to give the agreement documents to Haerin, and send the Vietnamese to my office." she ordered, then walked out of the meeting room after glancing at Haerin.
Haerin exhaled, Minji didn't even bother to smile or say goodbye to their guests.
Hyein approached Danielle and whispered Minji's order, Danielle tidied up the folder she was holding and brought it to Haerin.
Hyein then glanced at Hanni, "Ms. Kim requests your presence in her room." she said in a half-whisper, Hanni cringed at the low voice of the tall woman.
She nodded then stood up and walked towards the door, opening it slowly and walking towards the elevator. Hyein followed behind her after closing the door.
Minji had just entered her room when Hanni and Hyein exited the elevator.
Hanni entered the room quietly, Hyein followed behind her and closed the door, they then waited until Minji sat down in her chair. Hyein walks up to Minji and stood beside her. Hanni cleared her throat nervously, "Hyein said..."
"Buy me a coffee at the cafe across the street, cappuccino with one and a half pumps of vanilla syrup, double shot, house blend beans." Minji threw a platinum card on the desk.
Hanni was dumbstruck.
Minji glanced at her watch, "You have to be here by 10." She then started to pick up the folder at the end of her desk and opened it.
Hanni glanced at her watch, 09:53 am, how was she supposed to buy coffee across the street and be back here in 7 minutes??
"Miss Kim..."
"Time is ticking Pham." Minji didn't lift her face, her eyes remained glued to the sheets of documents in front of her.
Hanni took the platinum card and turned around, she began to pace anxiously, then ran a little towards the elevator, pressed the button, the elevator door immediately opened, Hanni rushed in.
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****
Hanni walked in with messy hair and heavy breathing, a glass of hot cappuccino in her hand. She stood in front of Minji, "Miss Kim..."
Minji glanced at Hanni's hand that held the coffee, then at her watch, 10:02 am, she smirked.
Hanni understood the gesture, "The cafe is very crowded and there is one customer who ordered 7 kinds of coffee." she said immediately in one breath.
"I want an iced cappuccino, same amount of syrup and same type of coffee beans." Minji said, looking at her tablet intently.
Hanni's jaw dropped to the floor.
"But..."
"Be here at 10:10 Pham." Minji stated coldly.
----
****
The office door opened slowly, Hanni bent down holding her knees with her free hand.
She winced at her feet that were blistered and red in her high heels.
"It's already 10:11." came Minji's voice.
Hanni straightened up and trotted over to Minji's table, ignoring the pain in her feet.
She placed the coffee on Minji's desk, the CEO picked it up and took a sip, her brow furrowed, "The melting ice ruined the flavor." she looked at Hanni.
Please, no...
"Buy another one."
The Vietnamese clenched her fists, "Would it be better if the ice was separated?" she asked with a hint of irritation.
Minji leaned back in her chair, squinting her eyes, "Be careful with your damn tone."
Hanni bowed her head and walked out of the room.
15 minutes afterward.
"You're getting slower." Minji glanced at her watch, ignoring Hanni who hobbled towards her with a look of pain on her face.
"That cafe is only 50 meters away from this building, what took you so long?" Minji grabbed the coffee cup that Hanni had placed on her desk, throwing it into the small trash can near her, the lid of the cup popped open and the steaming coffee instantly overflow into the bottom of the garbage can.
Her eyes stared intensely at Hanni.
"I ran wearing high heels..."
"You're blaming your shoes now?"
Hanni lowered her head, fighting her tears, she bit her lip hard to hold back the words that wanted to escape her mouth.
Minji stood up and walked over to Hanni, standing towering over her.
"You're so incompetent even for a small matter like buying coffee, how can I trust you with my other things? My appointments, my dinning trips, my schedules? Are you going to blame me if you mismanage them?" every words that came out her tongue was laced with hatred.
"What does my father see in you?" she snarled.
Hyein stared at Hanni with a bit of pity.
There was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in." Minji responded without turning her face away from Hanni.
The door opened slowly, Danielle appeared from the other side, her eyes looking at Minji and Hanni in turn, the air felt very tight in the room.
"Sorry to interrupt your time Miss, President Cha of MK Construction is here, he is waiting in the main lobby."
"Tell him to come to my office." Minji turned her back.
"And bring her, she ruined my morning mood." she added, referring to Hanni.
Danielle bowed her head, she then looked at Hanni, "Ms. Pham." she called softly. Hanni bowed to Minji and walked towards the door.
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Danielle placed a Band Aid box in front of Hanni who immediately took it, she opened the seal and took out a couple of plasters.
Hanni's feet moved alternately out of her heels, there were several areas where the outer skin was slightly peeling off. Hanni peeled off the paper covering the plasters, placed them on the table, and applied the white part of the plaster to the wounds.
She repeated the action until she had four plasters on her feet. Danielle watched her, not saying anything.
Hanni looked at her feet and decided she would just wear loafers tomorrow.
Danielle then handed her a bottle of corn tea, Hanni smiled and mouthed thank you, she quickly opened the lid and drank it.
"I'll teach you how to use the e-mail after this okay." the foreign woman smiled at her.
Hanni furrowed her brows, "I can use Outlook, Gmail too."
"We don't use those, we have special email software for employees here. It's almost the same as Outlook only with some more complicated features. Ms. Kim and Ms. Kang always use it so you should learn it too." Danielle chuckled.
Hanni gave a nod.
"What's going on back there?" Danielle asked cautiously, she took a sip of her chamomille tea, Hanni exhaled, "Miss Kim asked me to buy her coffee."
"Was it according to her request?"
Hanni nodded, she then told Danielle the full story.
The Australian widened her eyes, " She made you buy coffee three times? And just to throw them away."
Hanni drank her corn tea, "I don't know where I went wrong."
Danielle snorted, "You're not wrong, the first order was her favorite coffee. She's just being a jerk."
Hanni chuckled.
"You still have the card, right? Let's use it to eat meat for lunch." Danielle grinned.
Hanni fumbled with her blazer pocket, the flat object still inside, "No way! I have to give it back." Hanni glared at Danielle, only to be met by her laughter.
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The elevator doors opened and a woman with wavy black hair walked out, her hips swaying left and right in rhythm with her footsteps. She looked very lavish.
Hanni looked over, "Who is that?" she whispered to Danielle who was still focused on typing an email draft.
Danielle turned her eyes away from her MacBook screen at the same time as the woman reached her desk, "Is Haerin inside?" she asked, her voice smooth with a slight coquettish tone.
"Have you made an appointment?" Danielle gave her a puzzled look, but she still flashed her professional smile.
Not everyone could access the leaders' level, and the elevator used a special card that only the CEO and COO and their secretaries had.
The woman let out a small smile, "I don't need to make an appointment with that cute cat." she said, Danielle saw the woman's delicate fingers playing with the black and silver elevator card, the color designated for the COO. Her eyes squinted, it belonged to Haerin, "How did you..."
"Why did you come up here?"
The three of them looked over, the woman approached Haerin and stood on tiptoe to kiss Haerin's cheek, "I told you to wait in the lobby." Haerin reprimanded the woman, her eyes accidentally glanced at Danielle, the foreign woman immediately dropped her gaze.
"I have your card, why would I wait downstairs?" the woman pouted.
Haerin sighed, "Wait for me by the elevator, I have something to discuss with Dani first."
The woman rubbed Haerin's arm, she then flicked her hair and left them.
Danielle stood up and approached Haerin, "Ms. Kim will be furious if she finds out your card was in someone else's hand."
"I'm sorry, I accidentally left it at her place last night. She contacted me this morning and I told her to deliver it this afternoon."
"Oh..." was all Danielle could say.
Hanni saw how Danielle's face turned sad before she masked it with a fake smile again.
"I'm going now, you guys be careful on the way home okay. Dani, I've scheduled a taxi for you, just click on the app ok, use my login." Haerin put on her jacket and patted Danielle's shoulder, then walked towards the elevator.
Danielle and Hanni bowed their heads.
The Australian walked over to her desk and sat back in her chair, "Would you like to join me on the ride home?" she smiled at Hanni.
Hanni's eyes twinkled, "Of course, but I have to return Ms. Kim's card first." she answered, Danielle chuckled, "Good luck."
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****
Minji opened the door right when Hanni's hand moved to knock on it. They were both startled but Hanni had already brought her hand forward.
She knocked on Minji's chest.
Hanni gasped and immediately withdrew her hand, she quickly stepped back and bowed 90 degrees, "I'm really sorry." she said nervously.
Minji looked at Hanni blankly, Hyein stood behind her, peeking at what made Minji stop at the doorway.
Hanni straightened up, "I'd like to return your card Miss." she took the platinum card from her blazer pocket and brought it with both hands to Minji.
Minji glanced at the card, she raised her right fingers, Hyein immediately went over to Hanni and took the card. Hanni stood awkwardly, "Move." Minji looked at her coldly.
"Ah..I'm sorry." Hanni shifted to the side and lowered her head. Minji only made a small snorting sound, she passed by with Hyein following behind her.