Thursday was an important day for cleaning at Elysium. Tyvan inspected the common areas on Friday morning-- and it was an inspection Yeonha was abjectly terrified of failing.

So, in order to avoid a certain French maid ugly-crying at her door, Shay always spent a few extra hours helping her. It wasn’t terribly difficult. The two of them cleaned a little bit every day, after all.

Therefore... Shay’s field investigation started on Friday, after school.

The unplanned losses recently incurred by Ilsung Electronics indirectly benefitted their rival company, the Hongdai group. Then, the public face of that Hongdai group was a girl named Nuri Park.

She was a chaebol heiress-- rich, spoiled, extremely pretty... and consistently involved in scandal after scandal. The paparazzi loved her. And from the interviews, Miss Park loved the attention.

So Shay’s plan... was to meet and befriend Nuri.

It wasn’t... the greatest plan.

But they both had the same archetype: super-rich girl!

Shay was the closest thing to an heiress the Song family had. Grandpa even gave her a scary-looking black credit card (though she had yet to use it, even once.) And... even though she didn’t actually know what being rich was like or acting like other rich people--

Hm.

Hmmm.

The more Shay thought about it, the stupider her plan sounded. If she actually tried to explain it to Ivy, maybe she would have gotten told to screw off.

But... Shay was already on the bus. And that bus was already three-quarters of the way to the Hongdai building in West Archangel.

It was fine, though! Even if she didn’t meet Nuri, walking around and seeing new sights wasn’t so bad. Walking was healthful.

Bleigh. She would have felt a lot better if she had a battle-buddy, though-- someone to talk to about... literally anything. (Oh, she would have loved if she got Tyvan to come with her.)

But, even without a battle-buddy... Maybe... just maybe-- if she met Nuri, got close to her, and maybe discovered something with the Hongdai group that might have crossed into Kingdom matters......

Yeah, the whole plan was stupid.

Shay got off the bus. She went for a little walk and started scoping out the building.

The security on the first floor looked pretty tight. There were guards in suits and sunglasses-- and lots of other people at the front desk.

Shay was about to leave and head back home... but she also saw a path to the underground parking garage. So... since it’d be a waste to not even try, down she went.

(There wasn’t a pedestrian walkway, so it was a little scary. But she ended up being fine!)

There wasn’t anyone around-- and the lot was nearly full. There was still an hour left before 5 P.M., though, so... that made sense.

She headed to the VIP parking near the elevators. Nuri was definitely a VIP, so hiding around there would give her the best chances to coincidentally run into her as she left work.

--not that... Nuri seemed like a person who went to work on a Friday.

Shay crouched down, next to a leafy potted plant. She pondered her life choices as she traced her finger along its leafy lines.

The elevator dinged.

Ah. She’d forgotten to hide.

An older Korean guy walked out wearing a smug grin, a loose pair of pants that covered his shoes, and an open jacket that showed off his protruding belly. Shay pulled her head back and away, dizzied by his cheap cologne. He smelled like musky, rotten fruit.

“Look what we have here!” he said, “Is it my birthday?”

A shiver ran down Shay’s spine. The way that person looked at her made her wildly uncomfortable.

“G-good afternoon,” she said. “I’m waiting for a friend.”

She didn’t want to keep eye contact, so she looked down at her bag... and at her employee pin. It gave her a little bit of mental fortitude. And... it also reminded her that, as an employee of ❴The Kingdom❵, she had to be polite and professional at all times.

“A friend?” the man said, “What department does she work in? I could put in a good word with their lead for you.”

Oh. That... sounded like the person Shay was talking to was important. So... staying pleasant despite that icky feeling was... maybe a good strategy? If she was going to get any dirt on the Hongdai company, it didn’t have to specifically be through Nuri Park.

“You’d do that for me?” she said, forcing a smile.

“Our company has a lot of hard workers,” the older guy said, “but who you know matters more than how hard you work."

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When he leered at her, Shay felt her shoulders shrug up. She had to actively fight her natural revulsion just to talk normally.

“And who are you, mister?” Shay said-- as innocently as possible.

Ugh. She was cringing internally at her own awkward acting.

The man produced his business card.

“I’m a nice guy,” he said. “And I know people-- in fact, I was just promoted to Assistant Regional Manager of the entire west half of the country!”

“Wow, that’s really cool!” Shay said... wondering if she sounded as fake as she felt.

The name on the card was Ham Dong-Hyun... with Ham probably being his last name. And his title was ‘Regional Manager Assistant’... which sounded a little different from ‘Assistant Regional Manager.’

But calling him Mister Ham sounded weird... and due to reasons, Shay didn’t want to call him Mister Dong. So... she thought back to her times watching K-dramas with Yeonha.

“Can I call you oppa?”

Dong-Hyun’s eyes brightened with surprise-- extreme and excited surprise that made Shay immediately regret her words.

“Oppa!” he said, “Wow. Oppa... Yeah! I’ll be your oppa. And how should I call you?”

Shay wanted to say ‘not at all,’ but she kept polite and said her name was Xue.

“Oh, Chinese? Ni hao,” Dong-Hyun said-- just before laughing awkwardly. “Let me show you something, Xue.”

He started walking... but away from all the reserved spots?

Oh.

So... he wasn’t a VIP at all-- or at least not at the level Shay was hoping.

Shay wasn’t sure why she followed. A part of her didn’t want to be rude. But there wasn’t much worth in being overly polite to that person! Bleigh. Having a battle-buddy would have made rejecting him so much easier!

Dong-Hyun took out his car keys, remotely unlocking his car.

And... suprisingly... his car was actually cool. It was a white luxury sedan, except it had a weird, custom black-and-gray hood. (Also, there was an ugly, oversized wing on the back of it.)

Looking at the hood, Shay realized exactly why she thought it was cool. The UM symbol on the front, its shape, and how its seats looked-- it was the same car Tyvan drove, (plus that dumb-looking wing.)

“You like it, Xue?” Dong-Hyun said.

“Y-yeah,” she answered honestly. “It’s really cool.”

Dong-Hyun might have been a weird, creepy, old guy... but Shay couldn’t hate his car.

“It’s practically brand new!” he said, “This is the buying power of an Assistant Regional Manager!”

“Excuse me, Manager Ham?”

While Shay was busy looking at Dong-Hyun’s car, a different Hongdai employee approached him, slouched over and with his head down.

“What are you doing here?” Dong-Hyun snapped, “Get back to work!”

“I have to leave early,” the employee said, “I need to pick up my kid.”

Dong-Hyun made a show of shrugging and shaking his head. “Don’t you have a wife for that?”

“She’s sick right now,” the employee said, keeping his eyes focused on the concrete.

“And how is that MY problem?!” Dong-Hyun yelled. He raised his hand threateningly, making the younger guy flinch. “How dare you abandon your team members! Clock out at five like everyone else.”

“But sir--”

“I don’t care!! Now scram! I’m busy!”

The guy left. As he walked off, he deliberately passed the elevator, though. Shay immediately looked away, so not to accidentally rat him out.

And Dong-Hyun was looking... proud of himself? For bullying one of his employees? Really?

“Sometimes you gotta keep ‘em in line,” he said.

Shay forced a smile. She had to think of a new plan. Any plan involving Ham Dong-Hyun wasn’t one she could tolerate.

Suddenly, he put his arm around her shoulder.

“How about we go for a ride? Want to spend some time with your oppa?”

His breath... smelled like fish. That was probably incredibly normal because fish sauce was a common ingredient in a lot of Asian cuisine, but it was REALLY gross at that specific moment in time!

“Uh... err...” Shay shook him off and took a step away. “I... need to wait for my friend. Right here. You should go, though. I-- I don’t wanna bother you.”

“Just a quick trip around the block!” Dong-Hyun said, “I’ll show you around the area: all the best restaurants, all the nicest hotels-- just kidding! Haha.”

Shay looked away. Oh, what the hell had she gotten herself into?

“It’s okay. Really,” she said, slowly inching backward. “I don’t want my friend worrying about me.”

“Come on,” Dong-Hyun said. He grabbed her wrist. “I’m not a bad guy!”

His touch felt tingly-- but in all the bad ways, like something slimy and gross and warm and rotting-a-little crawled onto her forearm. She tried to pull away, but Dong-Hyun wasn’t letting go.

What. could. she. do?

Oh, wait. She could kick him in the face. Why didn’t she think of that earlier?

The rumbly echo of an approaching car and the shine of parking lights gave her some hope. Looking to the side, Shay saw a woman in the driver’s seat.

A new option had presented itself-- one a thousand times better!

“That’s her now!” Shay said. She tugged her arm out of Dong-Hyun’s grasp before getting some distance and waving at the driver, “Unni! Hey!”

She felt her opposite hand getting grabbed again.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dong-Hyun said. “That bitch is NOT your friend.”