a sharp inhale was taken by her due to utter frustration as she re-read the document that laid open in front of her. it made no sense to her as it wasn't what she asked them to make. 

pulling out another file, she opened to find the sketches of her spring-line clothes which she had neatly labeled to make sure they understood what she wanted out of them.

"but this isn't it secretary lee!" she raised her voice at the man who stood beside her seat, cautiously, as he observed her expressions. he knew she was mad and he was afraid that he's gonna be the one getting yelled at again.

"i thought i told them in the last meeting that they should follow the instructions that i have given them while tailoring these clothes, why do they not want to listen?!" the girl yelled at this point. this wasn't the first time she had corrected them, this happened in the last line up too, the one before as well and she had been repeating it over and over that they should tailor it using the instructions she had specially made for them.

seo hyerim, CEO of one of the most famous fashion brands worldwide. on top of being the CEO of SHR international, she had employees that absolutely hated following what she asks them to do. the pressure was real on the young girl who was building her own empire.

"i'm very sorry ms. seo, i'll ask them to redo them." her secretary mumbled softly, causing the enraged girl's piercing eyes to land on his frame. "you know what, lee? fire them! this isn't even the first time. if they can't listen to me, i don't need them." she simply said before sitting back on her seat, a leg crossed over her other leg.

impatience was bubbling inside her and all these issues kept piling in on her which caused her to stress out.

"no! ms. seo, if you fire them away too then you won't have any tailors in your gangnam branch, please forgive them this once, if they continue this on the next line up, we'll have enough tailors recruited by then so you would be able to fire them." the male tried to convince her to which she obliged.

"but this is their last chance. and! i want them and i to have a special meeting right after the new line is released. i would like to give them the warning personally, so arrange for that, mr. lee." she said before getting up, balancing on her heels before continuing "what's next on schedule?"

"uh- miss, you have an appointment with mr. byun? he wanted to talk about some matters-"

"byun? who's that?" she asked hearing the unfamiliar name.

"oh! i must've forgotten to inform you, hotel Hercules has a new successor, mr. yoon's son, mr. byun baekhyun." lee explained as the girl narrowed her eyes.

"why does the father and son have different last names?" she asked, a bit confused.

"according to the media, it's his mistress' son, ma'am." lee explained trying to remember the details but failing.

"alright, you may proceed, i'll make my way to hotel Hercules' headquarters." she announced causing mr. lee to smile before excusing himself.

hyerim made sure to smooth the wrinkles off of her pencil skirt and shirt before simply placing her coat on her shoulders before he grabbed her clutch and walked out of her office.

walking with the deafening click of her heels, she made her way to the entrance where her ride had been waiting for her.

getting in gracefully, she removed her coat, hanging it on the hanger of her car before telling her driver the next stop.

placing her clutch on the small side table, she placed one leg over the other as she pulled her phone out. making a call to her mother, she waited for the call to go through. 

"hello? rim-ie, how are you honey? i haven't heard from you i forever!" her mother exclaimed, earning a chuckle from her daughter as she responded to her eager mother.

"sorry mother, i was quite busy- still am, in fact, i'm going to an appointment right now."

"oh really honey?" her mother asked.

"yes, with hotel Hercules' new CEO. he asked to meet." she replied, earning a small laugh from her mother's end.

"the hotel we stayed in when we went to the States? it was a very impressive one. i hope the son does an excellent job as well. but why is he calling in for an appointment with you, sweetheart?"

"i'm not quite sure. anyways, business aside, how have you been? how's father? big brother called me yesterday. he wanted me to sponsor for an upcoming trip in hawon high." she said.

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she finally reached her destination, bidding farewell to her mother, she was escorted out of her car and into the hotel. 

"mr. byun hasn't arrived yet, we appologize miss. do feel free to make yourself home in his office though, he told us to allow you in there." a staff explained leaving hyerim in confusion.

"is this, mr. byun not careful enough? letting a stranger in his office? absurd!" she exclaimed with a laugh.

"it's an order miss, we cannot disobey." the staff said with a sympathetic smile before escorting her into the office room.

"please be seated." she said as hyerim took a seat on the black leather sofa. taking in the view from the office's glass wall.

it was breath-taking and quite impressive. she held shares in the hotel but she never has visited the CEO's office as it was not necessary. but it was quite embarrassing to not find out about a close company's CEO change. hence why she made a mental note to go visit the chairman in her spear time at his house.

her phone began ringing, she had received a call from an important client and she had to pick up. placing her clutch on the table, she stood up to walk close to the glass wall, taking in the view as she attended the call.

"good morning mr. shin. it is quite surprising to receive a call from you." she greeted and the call proceeded into the important details about the reasons for the client's call.

"oh yes sir, if you could get an appointment from secretary lee-" just ash she was about to finish her sentence the door opened causing her to glance back towards, through it came a young man in a fine black checked suit, his hair done messily, but quite elegantly. there was something fancy about his aura. it was addicting.

hyerim bowed as she continued talking, "sorry about that, as i was saying, if you could please get an appointment from secretary lee," the young man took a seat on the sofa opposite to where she sat, "we could meet talk about the changes you want to your monthly delivery, sir." she explained before sending an apologetic smile to mr. byun to which he just waved signalling that it wasn't a problem.

"alright sir- no actually, my schedule is full for today according to lee. yes, sir, thank you. have a nice day." she quickly ended the call before she walked back to her seat.

"good morning mr. byun." she politely greeted, giving a hand, which he took, before he replied with the same greeting.

"good day, ms. seo. busy morning, i see?" he asked with a soft smile, his deep voice sending chills down hyerim's spine.

"ah, my apologies, sir, it was an important client- but on a brighter note, it's a pleasure of mine to have my very first formal appointment with Hercules' new CEO." she said causing the boy to chuckle as she continued, "congratulations! and my apologies to mr. yoon. i wasn't aware that he retired, i'll be paying a visit to his household."

"thank you, that is very kind of you, miss. my father would be delighted to meet with you." baekhyun said before sitting back on his chair. "so about the reason why i wanted to meet you."

"yes?" this aroused the girl's curiosity.

"i can make you a major shareholder of this Hercules." she took a sharp inhale of breath, scanning over the girl's expression to find her smirking as she sat upright. pausing, there was sudden silence in the room.

"and? what am i expected to do in return. nothing comes for free in this world." she asked, impressing the boy and leaving him stunned before he finally decided to speak up.

"Hercules is coming up with a project. this is top secret at the moment so i would appreciate it if you could keep quiet about it." he said sighing, "i need SHR International's help."

"how?" she pushed further. "we're planning on a multi-purpose mall in Daegu, the biggest one yet. we need hawon and SHR taking 10-20 floors."

"why should i accept this offer?" she asked, narrowing her brows as she looked at the boy excruciatingly from head to toe.

"its beneficial not only for you as the Hawon Corporation's clothing department's head but the whole company. estimations prove that this  project alone would be able to create 10 years' worth of profit for the company and making SHR and Hawon major shareholders, you can get at least half of the benefits. we would also like to use SHR's model for advertisements, the profit is quite tempting."

"first of all mr. byun, i am not going to convince my brother. i may look like the easiest way into convincing Hawon Corp. but your assumption is wrong. second of all, i get the feeling that you've done your research about me but i don't think you know that i have major trust issues. sir, talk with my brother, he'll tell the chairman. and maybe try to convince me while father is deciding, alright?" she got up after she said this with a smile, looking down on him before speaking again, "i love you ambitious personality but slow down little rabbit."

walking closer to him slowly, she placed her gloved hand on his shoulder before patting it, "think twice about making us major shareholders, i won't give away my company profits that easily if i were you."

she walked towards the door after this, the door was opened for her. "ask your father to give you lessons some time, he knows the business in the industry more than anyone else, mr. baekhyun." she said side glancing before finally exiting the room, her heels clicking as it met the cold marble floor, holding her clutch and her coat covering her, she was definitely a woman booming with confidence.

"i love it." baekhyun said with a hysterical laugh. "she really is a hard to convince woman, secretary yerin."

"she came off a bit too rude, sir." yerin said as she looked at her boss with a worrying face. "no, that is how a woman should be. arrogant." he said before getting up from his seat.

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author's note; there's chapter one! i hope you understand that i have NO knowledge about business so i'll make a lot of mistakes bUT it's my story and it's my universe so there are no mistakes lmao ;;