taste of desire - woosan

7. determined

"you're alive!" a cheerful yunho boomed while san, barely awake, attempted to work the coffee machine in the office. out of frustration, san smacked the machine, prompting yunho to let out a chuckle.

"here, let me help" yunho moved san away and proceeded to get the machine working, "you don't even like office coffee" yunho said as he passed san his coffee mug. 

san rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn, "i know but i think i'm gonna pass out. seonghwa kept me awake all night". san grumbled, remembering how seonghwa forced him to join his movie marathon and would smack him every time he tried to fall asleep.

yunho poured himself a cup of coffee, "thanks for letting me know you made it home safe by the way, i totally wasn't freaking out the whole time" san rolled his eyes at yunho's sarcasm, "i forgot, okay? and seonghwa told you anyway" he pouted while yunho grinned at him.

"still. and you're okay now?" he asked, referring to the how upset san was when he walked out. san nodded slowly, "i just overreacted but i'm fine". yunho looked at san quietly for a moment before nodding along with him. he's known san to supress his emotions, but he wished that san would just open up to him once. he didn't want to overstep his boundary though but yunho could tell how much the whole jiyeon thing was bothering san. 

"ugh, we have that meeting today" san groaned and sipped his coffee, wincing his face at the bitter, stale taste of the coffee. yunho let out a deep sigh, remembering the meeting. they had a few every month and they were usually just their manager, mr. kwon, yelling at them because he was never satisfied with their work. 

"we're overworked enough already, i don't even want to see mr. kwon's face " san grumbled bitterly. yunho placed a comforting pat on san's shoulder, "let's just get it over with" he said while ushering san into the meeting room.

the atmosphere in the meeting room was as it always was - full of anxiety and exhaustion. yunho, san, and the other employees gathered in the meeting room were all low-ranked employees. they were either new to the company or never progressed enough, in mr. kwon's eyes, to get a promotion. a promotion would be great. even though san was only at the company for a year, a boost in salary sounded amazing to him. and it was known the higher ranked employees worked a lot less than the lower ones, that would be helpful to his whole jiyeon situation.

as all the employees were seated, mr. kwon walked in with a huge smile on his face. a look of excitement was in his eyes. san furrowed his eyebrows. mr. kwon was always a stern poker faced man, san doubted he even knew how to smile.

"i have some exciting news!" mr. kwon started, smile still on his face, as he placed his briefcase down. the other employees shared confused looks at each other before turning their attention back to their manager. "we're in charge of the company's 30th year anniversary celebration!". upon hearing the announcement, the employees let out excited gasps and squeals while san looked at yunho, confused by the reaction.

"isn't this more work? why are they so happy?" he asked yunho lowly. yunho leaned closer to san, "the president promotes people from the department in charge of the anniversary. sometimes a few people get promoted and sometimes only one person. it's based on how well the president feels an employee contributes to their part in the anniversary". 

san frowned, "that's stupid. why is it based on the anniversary and not the work we've put in already?". yunho shrugged, "these celebrations are always a big deal and getting a promotion from the president is faster and makes your position higher than it would for a regular promotion" san nodded at yunho's explanation, eyes widening in anticipation. even though san didn't necessarily agree with how the whole promotion system works, getting a high position from the president directly was very tempting.

"i'll assign roles now" mr. kwon said as the commotion died down. san grumbled, he had a feeling that mr. kwon would give him an insignificant role that wouldn't catch the attention of anyone, much less the president. while lost in thought, he felt a nudge on his arm. he turned to look at yunho who nodded his head towards the front, where their manager was.

"choi san, i want you in charge of the food" san stared blankly at mr. kwon. he could've sworn he saw a smirk on the manager's face, "you'll have a week to find an appropriate restaurant to feed all the employees and other guests". san's eyes widened. there were at least 300 employees alone and finding a restaurant to cater in such a short amount of time would be really difficult.

the meeting had concluded and san was still sat in his seat while mr. kwon and the other employees gathered their stuff to leave.

"san?" a hand waved in front of san's face and he looked up to see yunho looking at him furrowed eyebrows, "are you okay?" san shook his head, still sat in his seat.

"he hates me, i swear" san spat out while getting up to grab his stuff, "did you see the way he was looking at me?" he exclaimed as the two men walked out of the meeting room.

"it's not as bad as you think" yunho said, "if you do a good job, the president might notice you. the food's the main thing everyone looks forward to anyway". san looked at yunho, "yeah so if i screw up, the whole event will be ruined and i'll probably get fired" he muttered.

"do you always have to be so negative?" yunho chided, "if you pull it off, you have a really good chance at getting a promotion, isn't that what you want?" san's eyes twinkled at the word "promotion". although it seemed very unlikely to him, he couldn't help the feeling of desire at even the miniscule chance of climbing the corporate ladder.

"but what restaurant would host a big event on such short notice" san asked, pondering himself. if he wanted to make an impression, he couldn't just go with any restaurant. 

"what about the one you took jiyeon to, the really fancy one?" yunho suggested and san almost choked on his spit.

"nah, they're probably too busy" san hurriedly waved off. the memories of san's interactions with the head chef started floating through his mind and his cheeks heated up from embarrassment.

"are you sure? i though it'd be perfect. rich people like fancy restaurants and there's nothing else here even close to it". san scratched the back of his neck. letting out a sigh, he knew yunho was right. eclat was the most raved restaurant in the area, loved by the many wealthy guests who dine there. who wouldn't want their company event to be catered by a michelin star restaurant? that would for sure be impressive if san could pull it off, maybe even catching the attention of the president.

san sat at his desk, feeling a new sense of determination. he was going to eclat to cater the event no matter what.