"We need to go find an urgent sample fabric."
Standing with Yoojin and Dongha, waiting for the elevator, Sunyoung nervously bit her thumbnail without realizing it.
When the elevator doors opened, three employees—two women and one man—were already inside.
"Hello."
Yoojin, Dongha, and Sunyoung stepped in and greeted them.
"Hello. We met yesterday—I'm Lee Seyoung, assistant manager from HR."
It was Assistant Manager Lee Seyoung from the headquarters HR team, along with two HR staff members. Seyoung had attended the orientation yesterday—she was one of the people who gasped when Dongha pulled off that beer-chugging trick.
The other two also couldn't take their eyes off them. They had been sneaking peeks at Yoojin and Dongha all throughout yesterday's program.
'Up close, they're even crazier. Look at that skin…'
'Is this real life? Are they even human?'
'This combo is unreal.'
The light-blue dress shirt Dongha wore made his pale skin and striking features stand out even more. And Yoojin's navy suit subtly outlined her slim yet curvy silhouette.
When the elevator stopped on the first floor, the HR employees stepped out reluctantly, as if leaving beauty behind was a crime.
The doors opened again on B3. The parking lot stretched out, filled tightly with cars.
Sunyoung strode across the lot toward a door at the far end.
A storage area sat there, its entrance stacked waist-high with fabric rolls.
Scanning around anxiously, she called out:
"Chief!"
A man in his mid-forties sauntered over, hands stuffed in his vest pockets.
"We need roll SO2014-NK-0328."
He looked at her, bothered already.
"Is it checked in?"
"…Sorry?"
"If it's not checked in, how am I supposed to find it?"
Embarrassment washed over Sunyoung. With all the urgent tasks piling up, the sample check-in had been pushed back.
"It arrived a week ago. Where do you keep rolls that aren't checked in yet?"
"Over there in the holding area."
A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
Yoojin glanced inside—two old computers, workers dragging rolls in and keying them in one by one. So that was the check-in system.And the chief was implying she hadn't done it.
"Yoojin, Dongha—this way."
Sunyoung opened the metal door next to the elevator.A darker space lay beyond—still technically B3, but deeper underground.
Hundreds of fabric rolls were piled high like a mountain.
A stale mix of old fabric and dust hit their noses—sharp enough to taste in their mouths.
"NK order, black jacquard fabric. Number SO2014-NK-0328."
"Jacquard?"
"Don't mind the type. Just look for black, and check the sticker on the roll."
She eyed the filthy floor with dread.
Then she climbed up onto the massive pile and began pulling out anything black.
Dongha dragged the rolls down; Yoojin checked the labels.
Not the one.
"How long is this going to take…"
Sunyoung bounced anxiously on her toes.
At that moment—
"Sunyoung."
A sharp voice approached.
It was Oh Minji, the Design Team leader, dressed in a mint-colored high-quality knit and a uniquely patterned tight skirt. Beside her stood an equally anxious employee—the NK brand sales associate.
Minji swept the underground storage with razor-sharp eyes. The two ridiculously attractive interns rummaging through the dusty pile didn't even catch her attention.
"Found it yet?"
Her tone cut straight through the air.
"We just started. We'll find it."
Sunyoung's flat, emotionless tone made Minji's irritation spike.
"This fabric is custom-made by the buyer. You know there's nowhere else to source it, right?"
It was true. It was a newly developed fabric for the 2015 fall season review. If they didn't submit the sample on time, the entire order could fall through. Losing a roll like this was unthinkable.
Neither Sunyoung nor the sales associate replied.
Minji's eyes sharpened even more.
Just then, Yoojin slipped off her heels, climbed onto the pile, her long calves exposed under her knee-length skirt.
She bent down and yanked out another black roll.
"Dongha, pile these on one side!"
At her cue, Dongha's broad upper body flexed, tossing rolls aside like they weighed nothing.
While working, he turned to Sunyoung.
"Senior, how many samples come in each week?"
"About a hundred? It'll get worse soon—development season's starting."
"Then we just have to sort a hundred."
He glanced at the man beside Minji—and remembered the name he'd overheard.
"Senior Kyungho? I'm Intern Yoon Dongha from Overseas Trading. Could you help by moving all non-black rolls to one side?"
"O–oh, yes! Of course!"
The NK sales associate snapped out of his daze and began moving.
Minji watched briefly with folded arms before turning on her heel and heading back to the design floor.
The mountain of rolls slowly shrank as the four of them worked.
"Got it!"
Yoojin lifted a gray vinyl pouch into the air.
All four collapsed onto the floor in relief.
They had been rummaging for over two hours, skipping lunch. They must have gone through at least 300 rolls. Anxiety had started setting in hard.
The sample wasn't even a roll—it was neatly folded inside a sealed pouch. If Yoojin hadn't torn open the nearby pouches, they might never have found it.
Sunyoung checked the fabric, cut off a palm-sized swatch with practiced skill, pocketed it, and handed the pouch to the NK sales associate.
"Please deliver this to the development room."
"Thank you, everyone!"
He sprinted off.
"Senior, you're busy. You should go first."
With a mountain of unread emails flashing before her eyes, Sunyoung fled as fast as she could.
Yoojin stepped down from the pile and put her heels back on.
Her navy skirt and sheer black stockings were dusted with gray bits of fabric.Dongha's rolled-up sleeves were dirty, and his carefully styled hair had fallen over his forehead in soft waves.
He grabbed rolls—about as thick as Yoojin's waist—under each arm and hurled them toward the processing chute, muscles flexing intensely.
Yoojin also lifted a roll and tossed it into the storage, determined not to fall behind.
"Stop."
"Huh?"
"Don't. This is men's work."
"What? I'm strong."
She doubled down, dragging another roll as if to prove it.
Dongha paused, brushing his hair back with long fingers, and watched her crouch to pick up a thick roll.
"Yoojin."
"I'm busy—what?"
When she lifted the heavy roll she let out a tiny involuntary grunt, "Kk-eung."
A smile crept onto Dongha's lips.
Stubborn. Of course she was.
But everything she did—she did with her whole heart.
"Is digging through trash-mountains like this fun for you?"
"It's not bad? I think I'm better suited for moving around than sitting and studying."
A sincere joy bloomed on her delicately shaped face.
Dongha noticed dust clinging to her long eyelashes.
He reached out and gently brushed it off.
"I don't like it… seeing you doing this kind of work."
He had never imagined she'd be covered in dust, working like this beside him.
But Yoojin beamed brightly.
"It's fine. It's work. And because I'm doing it with you, it's actually fun."
Her smile—different from last night's smile at the salsa bar—felt more alive and natural.
Dongha found himself mesmerized.
"We're back."
Still half-covered in dust, Yoojin and Dongha hurried into the office.
Team Leader Lee Hyuk watched them return and called them over before they could sit.
"Yoon Dongha. Han Yoojin."
"Yes, sir," they said quickly, standing before his desk.
"Where did you go?"
His low voice was cold.
"We helped Senior Yoon Sunyoung find a sample fabric," Dongha answered immediately—before Yoojin could speak.
Hearing her name, Sunyoung jumped from her seat and rushed over.
Team Leader Kim Sehui from Overseas Purchasing also watched nervously from a distance, terrified that any trouble might splash onto her team.
Lee Hyuk's eyes gleamed sharply.
"I assigned you tasks as your supervisor first. And you went to look for a fabric sample?"