Pop-up || Shin & Zhi
The sun had begun to set, painting the view from the big windows of the office a gradient of orange to pink to purple. Zhi stretched his hands over his head, straining backward against the chair and making it swivel as he reached his legs out. It had been a long day of signing off papers, the “Out” stack steadily growing as he thinned out the pile of work. He rolled his shoulders, popping out the tension built up from a day of just sitting at his desk. Though the corner of his laptop screen only read 6:00 pm, the fact that it was a Saturday meant that the office had probably already thinned out, with most employees having already gone home by 3 pm. It was probably time to turn in.
But the intercom rang. Zhi flinched instinctively -- who was coming in at 6pm? -- before he answered. ‘Yes?’ ‘I’m sorry to disturb, sir Lian,’ came the receptionist’s voice, sounding somewhat irritated. ‘No worries,’ he hoped his smile could be heard across the line, ‘what is it?’ ‘There’s a man here who wants to see you,’ the receptionist sighed, ‘he doesn’t have an appointment but --’ ‘Please let me up! I’m his brother!’ A familiar voice called out from the other end. ‘I know I didn’t set an appointment, but I know he’s free now!’ ‘-- He insists that he be allowed to come in.’ The receptionist almost groaned. ‘He says his name is Shinyong, but he wont give any details as to why he’s here.’ ‘He knows me!’
Zhi covered his mouth, stifling a chuckle. The receptionist didn’t get paid enough to handle the surprise visits -- hell, last month, she had to deal with Junseok wanting to interrupt a meeting. Hardly anyone ever called ahead anymore -- not that he particularly minded. The receptionist -- and occasionally, Jonghyun -- felt quite differently. ‘You can let him in. I’m not occupied right now.’
