[CAN SKIP IF YOU WANT TO GO TO THE MAIN PLOT but if you want some side pairing goodness... read on!]
Somewhere in China, a bright young woman named Yi Ting is eager to start a new stage of her life. She is fresh out of high school, and is ready to apply for an internship at Sun Enterprises, to hopefully land a cushy job in the company in future to support her family.
Of course, she also had a less-than-stellar record of childhood delinquency (she punched one boy once) back when she was in school, which made getting an internship a lot harder than it had to be.
But that was alright. There was always one company that was open to potential employees.
Sun Enterprises is always hiring, because they are always firing.
At least, that's the impression she got after researching them.
On Glassdoor, a website used for rating companies, the famed Sun Enterprises only has a rating of 2 out of 5 stars. She ignored the first tendrils of doubt creeping in. Surely a company as reputable as Sun Enterprises shouldn't rank this low? But then again, maybe they have a lot of competing companies downvoting them. And it wasn't possible to please everyone.
And they mentioned good pay. That had to be worth everything.
Some of the more memorable reviews she recalled reading were as follows:
From Pang S L:
PROS: Now I have enough money to pay for the therapy that I now need from working at Sun Enterprises.
CONS: I NEED THERAPY. WHAT DO YOU THINK.
Likes: 12553 Dislikes: 30
From Meng S Y:
Do NOT work at Sun Enterprises, unless you are single and planning to die alone in your house by 30 without even a pet. Your pet will die of starvation loneliness if you work here, kind of like how you will if you work here long enough. They'll fire you if you start dying at your desk.
Likes: 10092 Dislikes: 43
From Chen P P:
This place has no concept of personal time, and their second Young Master loves to give you a heart attack by creating trouble at odd hours.
The good thing? I've found myself becoming more patient with my young son now.
Likes: 5256 Dislikes: 159
Surely all these people were exaggerating.
On his first day of internship, Yi Ting joins a crowd of 20 other starry-eyed interns as they are brought around the company building. The sun shone through the clean glass windows, giving the entire building a sense of life.
Yi Ting feels hopeful for her future.
Then she and this other intern Liu Shengli gets assigned to shadow the youngest Sun heir. The youngest Sun had company shares, but no one actually knew what he did for the company - and no one had the guts to outright ask, because they were scared to get fired.
Sun Jingwei had no real managerial post, but him being Sun Haowei's youngest son was enough authority to make heads roll if he wished.
Initially, Shengli and her were at loggerheads, determined to out-do each other to prove they were the better hire.
But after the first 6 months, they realised the truth - the real menace was Sun Jingwei! Their animosity mostly dwindled into camaraderie, because no one would really understand what it was to 'work' for Sun Jingwei.
They all thought it was a great opportunity, and Sun Jingwei had a reputation for being easier to work for than his older brother Sun Tianwei. That man was cutthroat, a workaholic, and intolerant of incompetency.
They heard he made five interns cry.
Well, not like Sun Jingwei didn't make interns cry, but the reasons are different.
"What the fuck, I went to law school to become a nanny," Liu Shengli laments into his beer, his collar popped and tie undone. This was the most dishevelled Yi Ting had seen him since he entered the company.
Yi Ting didn't look much better, her face red with alcohol and her hair in a mess.
"SO? At least you're getting experience!" Yi Ting points out, hiccuping. "He never lets me do anything! I just sit in the office and watch him spend money and flirt with women!"
"I want to fight real court cases. Now I'm just wiping his ass," Shengli whines.
"Hic - His pickup lines are so bad. So BAD!" Yi Ting whines louder, because she's not losing to Shengli in this, he doesn't know how good he has it.
"Then why the fuck do they work?!" Shengli asks, in the voice of a man who can't believe he has been forsaken by God. "How could women fall for him and his cheesy lines, and then hate him when he dumps them in the morning!"
Shengli had to be there for all the morning-afters with an NDA for them to sign. Never before has seeing naked women been any less arousing for him. If Sun Jingwei turns him gay he's going to sue him.
"You're asking me?!" Yi Ting yells back. "How would I know?! How does 'Are you a parking ticket? 'Cause you've got fine written all over you' work on anyone with a brain?" She shudders as she remembers that pickup line. Sun Jingwei had thankfully only laughed at her barely concealed look of disgust on her face, instead of firing her.
Liu Shengli must have his brains addled by the alcohol, because his mouth moves faster than his brain for once. "So what pickup lines would work for you?"
"Eh? Are you hitting on me?" Yi Ting asks, spluttering out a mouthful of beer.
"You wish!" Shengli denies it immediately, ignoring that same part of his drunk mind that was saying Yi Ting looked very pretty in the dim lights of the bar. "You always complain about his bad pickup lines, are you sure you're not jealous of the women he's telling them too?"
"Huh?! Liu Shengli, did you hit your head on the table? Do I need to hit your head on the table?" Yi Ting replies, before coming to a realisation.
"I GET IT. YOU ARE JEALOUS." She leans over and gives him a consoling pat on his shoulder, but it's more like a painful slap. Yi Ting really had no strength control when drunk.
"Don't worry bro," she continues seriously, but her eyes can't even focus on his face. "I won't tell anyone you're in love with Sun Jingwei. Your secret is safe with me!"
"Goddamit woman! I am not! What kind of manga have you been reading during work hours!" Shengli screams, looking around to see if anyone heard her outlandish declaration. Thankfully, no one is interested in their conversation.
Yi Ting just continues to pat him, her hand now moving to his head. It's like getting slapped by an octopus. He grabs at it to stop her.
"It's okay bro, I got your back," Yi Ting declares. "We need to stick together."
"Who's your Bro?" Shengli replies instinctively. "You're so drunk, I'm hauling you back now."
"Okay." Yi Ting woops and wraps her arms around Shengli. "Let's go man!"
"Yes, yes," Shengli says, dragging her body out from the bar.
"...Thanks," Yi Ting murmurs into his neck later, when they are both in the same cab on the way home.
"For?" Shengli asks quietly. "The cab fare? Think nothing of it."
"Nah, for everything," Yi Ting hiccups. "I don't think I could have stayed in this job for so long if you weren't here. You're great."
"...You're welcome," Shengli chokes out, not daring to turn to look at Yi Ting. His ears burned, no one has ever said that to him, drunk or sober. And Yi Ting wasn't going to remember this the next day. "... I think you're great too."
Silence greeted his reply.
Shengli chanced a quick look, and Yi Ting was dead asleep. Figures. Fine, he'll just tell her that tomorrow. Or never.
Never would work.
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