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FIVE STARS | Y. JUNGWON

— as assistant managers at one of the most popular luxury hotels, you and jungwon have been put through the wringer. it is no secret that the two of you harbour deeper feelings for each other, and yet, even after so many years of working together, nothing has happened. perhaps this cycle things will finally change…

or, you receive a promotion offer only an idiot would turn down, but at the cost of moving across the country and leaving everyone behind.

warnings: texting au + written parts, f!reader, jungwon jumping to conclusions and reader being bad at Talking. why can't they just date already amirite 🙄

chapter 2: leave obama out of this (wc: 1.9k) | prev next | series masterlist

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Generally speaking, you're a good employee.

Reliable, organised, passionate…. Those are just a few of the words that have followed your name around Hybe Hotels for the better part of five years, voiced in performance reviews and passed between departments whenever somebody asks who should cover an extra shift or when inevitably, there’s been some sort of problem and you need to sort it out. Hospitality is hardly an industry where compliments are handed out for free, and you've worked enough to know that doing your job well often goes unnoticed. Unfortunately, the reward for competence doesn’t come in the form of praise, but rather more work.

Thankfully, you happen to enjoy what you do. There is something satisfying about making sure the guest experience reaches its maximum potential, and seeing their reactions make it all the more worthwhile. Of course, there are guests who are less than pleasant, but for the most part, things tend to run smoothly.

You applied for a room attendant position during the summer between university semesters because you needed a job that paid more than minimum wage and preferably didn't involve smelling like fryer oil at the end of every shift. It was never supposed to become part of the long-term plan, but here you were.

Jungwon had also started around the same time, being another university student looking for some extra spending money, and having someone your own age around immediately made the place feel more welcoming. Most of the housekeeping department had years, sometimes decades, of experience behind them, and many didn’t care for small talk, or getting to know the hundredth summer student to cross their paths.

Hence the two of you becoming friends right away, the long shifts passing by quicker when you had someone beside you to complain with. It probably didn’t hurt that you found him to be extremely attractive, a fact that would only become distracting on the slower days. After all, with emptied out lobbies and rooms tidied, there wasn’t much else to occupy your attention besides fantasizing about your coworker.

Once classes started up again, you were offered a weekend contract, and the following summer, you moved behind the front desk. Then, being a front desk agent turned into becoming the shift supervisor, and finally, assistant manager. And while there were many times in which you considered leaving and trying out other professions, the attachment you had built to the hospitality industry conquered any doubt you felt, and you’d never end up going through with it.

Luckily for you, Jungwon appeared to be living through the exact same career trajectory. Sometimes you wondered whether management simply refused to separate you. Every time your title changed, his did too, not that you were complaining. Somewhere along the line, the two of you stopped being colleagues who worked well together and became a package deal. People rarely mentioned one of you without the other following shortly after. And to absolutely nobody’s surprise, you developed a massive crush on him.

The summons to the executive boardroom had arrived in the morning morning with very little explanation beyond mandatory attendance and while slightly ominous, it wasn’t unusual. What was unusual, however, is the lack of Jungwon’s presence.

“Thank you for joining us,” Mr. Bang says, gesturing to the chair seated across from him.

You offer a quiet thank you before sitting down, wiping your embarrassingly sweaty hands on your trousers and hoping, no– praying– that it doesn’t leave behind a visible stain. Around the table, eight other pairs of eyes settle on you: he Board of Directors. You note that there should be a ninth pair, but perhaps that director was occupied.

“We have a few important matters to discuss.”

“Of course,” you hesitate for a moment before speaking up again. “May I ask where Jungwon is? I assumed he’d be joining us.”

One of the directors seated to your right responds. “He is not involved in today’s discussion.”

Now that doesn’t sound good, you think to yourself. In all your years with this company, there has never been a meeting that involved one of you but not the other. Talent acquisition, departmental restructures, performance reviews, you name it. Especially now, as assistant managers, if management wanted your opinion, they usually wanted Jungwon's too. You don't particularly like discovering you've become an exception. It has you thinking that perhaps your time at Hybe Hotels has come to an end. Still, there isn't much you can do about it now, and you’ll probably tell him everything that goes down in this meeting afterwards anyways, as humiliating as getting fired is.

Leaning forward an inch, Mr. Bang folds his hands on the table. “We have spent the last several months reviewing our operational structure across all Hybe Hotels locations, and have found that certain departments are not meeting expectations.”

You nod.

“We have also been assessing all internal employees, taking into account their contributions to our workplace. Some replacements will need to be in order.”

You nod again.

"We believe you've consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, strong operational judgement, and an ability to manage both staff and guest relations under pressure."

Suddenly, staying silent seems to be a good choice, because you are starting to get the sneaking suspicion that this conversation is taking a completely different turn from what you thought it would be.

"So with that in mind, we'd like to offer you the position of Director of Operations and Management."

When you unlock the door, you’re immediately greeted with Jungwon’s face. He's standing so close that you almost jump, your hand still wrapped around the handle as he says your name, and without waiting for an invitation, he slips past you into the break room, quietly pushing the door shut behind him.

“Is it true?” He asks, panicked, and confuses you. Your first thought is that someone has somehow found out about the promotion already, but that seems impossible. The meeting ended less than fifteen minutes ago, and every person in that room had struck you as extremely private. Then again, much like any place of work, news travels through the building at an alarming speed. “Are you actually leaving?”

"I..." you begin, but the words stall somewhere between your brain and your mouth. Jungwon mistakes your hesitation for confirmation, beginning to pace.

"You've only just come back onto the same rotation as me. We’ve barely been seeing each other because they keep fucking up our schedule, and now we're finally on a cycle together again and..." He breaks off in tangent, exhaling sharply. "Seriously?"

"You can't go," he says, stopping his steps directly in front of you. "I don’t think I can work here without you. I’ll go crazy.”

You should be touched, really, but no, you’re still puzzled. What is he going on about?

"Let’s see if I can talk to them." His mind clearly seems to be jumping several steps ahead. "If they're letting you go because of budgets or restructuring or whatever excuse they're pulling out of their asses, then I'll go upstairs myself. They have to know how much you do around here. Everyone knows.”

It’s at this point that you realize he has got it completely wrong. Jungwon thinks you’re being fired.

“Hey, stop,” you interrupt gently, placing your hand on his forearm. “I’m not getting let go, or fired, or anything like that.”

“.... You’re not?”

“Nope.”

"Then..." He blinks at you. "Why were you called into a meeting?"

"Because," You can't help smile a little now, the edges of your mouth lifting despite yourself. It still doesn't feel entirely real when you say it aloud. "They want me to become the new Director of Operations and Management.”

The tension drains from him so suddenly that it's almost visible. His shoulders finally drop, his brows smooth out, and the relief that washes over his face leaves you feeling oddly guilty for letting him believe the worst, even though you didn’t actually do anything.

"...Are you serious?"

"I know, I had the same reaction."

"No," he says, shaking his head with a disbelieving laugh. "No, I mean..." Trailing off, Jungwon looks at you again, a slow smile spreading across his face. It starts at the corners of his mouth before reaching his eyes. "Wow."

He runs a hand through his hair. “That’s amazing. You really deserve it.”

It’s a cute moment; it really is, and you just want to savour it. Considering how long it’s been since you and Jungwon have even had a one-on-one interaction, you’re tempted to keep your mouth shut and wait for another time to deliver the bad news. Still, the thought settles heavily in your chest, dulling some of the excitement that had been bubbling there only moments ago. He deserves to know. More than anyone else, he deserves to know. If the roles were reversed and he had accepted a position on the other side of the country without saying anything until the last possible second, you don't think you'd ever let him hear the end of it, or you’d be so heartbroken you’d simply refuse to talk to him.

In any case, if this really was the beginning of something new, you don't want your last few weeks here to be overshadowed by a secret you deliberately kept from him.

"Thank you," you breathe out. "But, actually, the thing is, if I accept it, then I'm going to–"

"There you are!" Ryujin practically stumbles inside, slamming the door open and bracing one hand against the doorframe while she tries to catch her breath. “You didn’t respond to my messages, and mind you, there are multiple break rooms here, so I’ve been checking them all!"

She finally stops to look at you properly. “Holy– I am so out of shape– Oh.”

Upon seeing the two of you, she doesn’t even need to say anything. You can already sense her thoughts, and judging by the goofy smirk she’s serving, Jungwon probably can too.

“Well well well,” your friend begins, beginning to back away slowly, sending you finger guns, “looks like everything is good here. I’ll just leave y'all to it.”

Then she leaves.

Silence settles over the room, though you wouldn't describe it as awkward. It never is with him. With your hand that isn’t on his forearm, you bring it up to the back of your neck, rubbing it sheepishly. The moment you'd been trying to hold onto is gone now, broken beyond repair by Ryujin's spectacularly bad timing, and there doesn't seem to be any way back to the conversation you'd almost had.

Letting out a quiet sigh, glancing towards the clock mounted above the vending machine. "I guess we should probably get back to work."

“Yeah,” he agrees. “We can’t have both of the assistant managers gone.”

You turn towards the entrance, but barely make it a step before Jungwon's hand finds your waist, his arm slipping comfortably around you with a familiarity the two of you had settled into years ago. He gives you a gentle squeeze, drawing you briefly against his side.

"Congratulations," he starts, “Seriously. You've worked really hard for this, so don't let yourself forget that, okay?" His hand lingers for just a moment longer before dropping back to his side. "I'll text you later. Once we're both off the clock."

He reaches past you to hold the break room door open, waiting for you to step through before following you into the corridor, matching your pace as the two of you head back towards reception.

…Right. So later tonight you need to break the news to Jungwon that the promotion comes with a mandatory relocation, and maybe Karina was right (though you’ll never admit that to her), maybe you really should have said something to him a long time ago.

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a/n: hope you enjoy! i like writing and a part of me thinks i should have just made this a full length written fic but oh well :')

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