thirty-three

The rest of the week passed by in a blur. After Jisung had been fired from his publishing company, he had started attending a bunch of job interviews.

Today, he was stood in front of the towering building belonging to the Seo's, one of the richest families in Seoul.

He rode a train all the way here to apply for a job, and he couldn't help but feel damn scared to mess this up.

As he entered through the glass doors of the huge building, he found himself in a large lobby filled with people. He walked up to the reception desk and Mochi trailed behind him.

The receptionist he talked to explained to him where he needed to go, and she called Mr. Seo, the CEO of the company, to inform him about this new job applicant.

He felt jittery as he took the lift to the 18th floor where the CEO's office was supposed to be. For this occasion, he had picked elegant clothing - a classic business suit with a necktie, and some decent leather shoes.

When he came to stand in front of another secretary's desk, he had to wait for a moment before he got permission to enter the CEO's office. All these formal stuff made him even more nervous.

His trembling fingers clutched on his job resume as he walked on to enter the office where he was greeted by the man he had so often seen on magazine covers. It felt unreal to be standing in front of him now.

"Hello, Mr. Seo. My name is Han Jisung, and I'm here to apply for a job." He said politely, bowing down.

"Nice to meet you. I'm glad we found time for this job interview," he smiled and gestured for Jisung to take a seat on the sofa.

His office was large, offering enough space for a seating area in front of a wide windowpane that allowed a breathtaking view over Seoul. Even the little demon, Mochi, was stunned by the amazing view.

"You can call me Changbin, by the way. Mr. Seo makes me feel so old," he said with a chuckle.

"Alright, Changbin..." The interview began after a couple of seconds or so. He was very nervous at first and also a little shy. But as time went on, he began to feel more confident.

Changbin was surprisingly charming and kind, and Jisung was taken aback when he suddenly started talking about his dog. It was such an unusual behavior for a CEO.

"You know, I have a cute dog that I love so much. I'll show you a photo of him," he said, and pulled his smartphone out from his pocket. It was a golden retriever with big brown eyes that had its tongue hanging out on the picture.

Jisung giggled, finding the dog incredibly adorable. "What's his name?"

"Bob."

"B-bob?" He repeated and fought hard to hold in a chuckle. Changbin looked dead serious about it, so he tried not to laugh even though the name sounded funny to him.

"Why does everyone react weirdly when I tell them the name?" He suddenly sputtered, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "What's wrong with Bob?"

Jisung cracked and began to giggle, hiding his mouth behind his hand. "Nothing's wrong with that name! I-I think it's very creative and beautiful!"

"Thanks!" Changbin said happily and beamed at Jisung, but then fell silent for a moment and tilted his head. "Wait! Was that sarcasm just now?"

"N-no, I was serious! Bob is a great name for a dog."

"That's what I wanted to hear," he said, looking pleased. "What about you? Do you have a pet too?"

"Uhhh... yes, actually I do..." He answered, glancing at the little demon which was staring outside through the large windowpane in the office. He wasn't sure if it counted as a pet or not.

"I have a cat named Mochi."

"Mochi?" Changbin repeated and raised his eyebrows. "You're laughing about Bob's name when your cat is literally named after a snack?"

He giggled, only now realizing that Mochi's name was kind of weird. "You have a point there."

"And how do you even deal with a cat daily? They're so sassy and such huge snobs," Changbin said, his lips twitching in amusement.

"Those are just clichés. Mochi is nice and loves cuddles!" He squealed. Needless to say, the rest of the interview went very well since the two of them got along great.

To be continued...