A NOTE BEFORE YOU READ AHEAD : This chapter is written in a third person POV. Enjoy!

Stephanie Puhn:

You're Stephanie Puhn.

You're Stephanie Puhn.

"Excuse me, you're-"

"Stephanie Puhn!" The girl who was standing by Steph's seat, gave her a weird look.

"-in someone else's seat, actually. Are you sure you even belong to this seminar? I've never seen you around on the team."

The ranting parade that had been going on in her head since this morning, and part of last night, decided to take a breather. Stephanie didn't even bother to check her seat number, but looked up at the girl with one eyebrow raised.

"Beg your pardon?"

"You're in my seat."

"You're quite sure?" Stephanie crossed her arms over her chest. Despite the fact that the girl was standing, and Stephanie wasn't, it would appear to an onlooker that it was the other girl who was being questioned to intimidation.

"Read this, if you can, that is." The girl shoved a seminar token at Stephanie.

Steph neither looked at it nor received it.

"If you can read, you would have seen the huge prop and banner, outside this seminar hall, of the graphic designing team. Oh wait, let me rephrase that. If you can see, that is."

Stephanie's team leader had noticed the little discussion, and also the 'I'm-only-so-much-away-from-kicking-your-ass' expression of Stephanie's that she had on now. He consider walking in on them, but just as he was about to make a move, he heard the sound of chairs being pushed out of the way and saw Steph's opponent walk out of the hall with a red face.

Steph : 1
Girl, who was stupid enough to mess with a nervous Steph : 0

He smiled, a lot proud and a tad impressed. But he'd never tell her that. He wouldn't know how, without making a fool out of himself.

She had every bit of the potential, but what she needed more than anything was for somebody to believe in her. Entirely. And he was useless when it came to that.

The smug grin that had taken over her face when the girl walked off after being put in place, slid back into her previous sullen expression.

That little distraction was very much necessary but not enough. Steph's eyes strayed in the direction of the wall clock, which showed that there was just 2 minutes to 5. The presentation was at 5.

Her team leader checked the time at the same moment and both their eyes met, over the huge folder that Steph had clutched to her chest. He nodded at her and she nodded back.

There wasn't even any time to inform Grace about it, people were starting to move closer to the podium, and Steph saw one of her team members wave her over. She took out her phone, hoping to send a quick 'it's starting.' message to Grace, but there was already a message waiting for her.

G : Fighting! Your cover is gonna get picked! I'm sure of it! Be seeing you late!

Steph smiled and thought to herself, the telepathy that they shared was truly a blessing. And right now, it lit back her spark, knowing that, even though not physically present, Grace would always be rooting for her. And that would do.

The audience had settled into their respective seats. With the publishing company members and the respective team leaders, seated upfront in the VIP seats along with some of the press. The host's occupied the dais, which included the university dean, the author and her agent. The presenters were sat a bit to the side, Steph being the representative for her team.

She shared nervous smiles with her fellow workmates. They had worked really hard and for really long, to simply get selected as representatives. And now that they were here, the pressure felt still more severe. It was imperative to their future careers here, in Kookmin University, to have their designs approved or at least appreciated today, in front of a legitimate publishing company.

The emcee began to ramble on about the several commendable aspects of Kookmin University and then some more, in korean that was way too fast for Steph to keep up with. Not that she was paying attention to her surroundings, anyway. She was running the presentation over, in her head, as one last revision.
Unaware of a set of eyes watching her. Well, several were, but one particular pair of eyes seemed to have more expectations in them than the rest.

The introductions were done, the speeches delivered. The dais was cleared for the presenters to take over. Her team leader gave her a subtle thumbs-up sign from his seat among the audience, and Steph gulped down the jitters to paste on a smile.

The first presenter was done. The 'Thank You' slide rolled into place and he took several deep bows in the direction of the audience, before he got off the stage. He earned a considerably long round of applause by all of the crowd, sans the author's agent. The man had entered the hall with the same pinched expression, that he still hadn't wiped off his face.

The boy's hands were still trembling when he approached their seats, but still had the decency to mutter a "Good Luck" Stephanie's way, before she went up next.

"Now I request the representative of our second Graphic Designing team, Ms. Stephanie Puhn, to present her design."

It's just another presentation. Just another stage. Just another crowd.

Steph climbed the stage with the chant on her mind, and took her place behind the podium. The projector was way too bright, while the rest of the room was in shadows, which suited her perfectly. This way she couldn't make out a single face in the audience, and so wouldn't have to make eye contact with any of them.

Once the basic greetings and acknowledgements were over with, Steph jumped right into the framework of her design and what she had based it off. Each of the team had been given, only a summary of a chapter of the book. And they were to make a cover, based on only that summary. Stephanie thought it a most stupid method of judgment of skills. Atleast if every team had gotten the same summary, the playing field would have made more sense.

Steph was explaining about how the particular chapter she had got, allowed her to envision the protagonist in the way that she had, when a door opened and shut somewhere causing Stephanie to pause. The room was so silent that Steph could hear the sound of a person's shoes scuff the carpeted floor, and a distinct tinkle of chimes from outside, perhaps. She could see a figure making its way to the near front line of seats, and another figure got up as he or she approached.

People from the VIP seating turned around or got up, seemingly to greet the newcomer. Steph couldn't make out any faces or other details owing to the lighting, but then someone from the front waved her on to continue with her presentation and so she did.

The time allotted was only 10 mins but to Steph, it felt like she had enacted an entire Shakespearan drama in a monologue. She bowed to her audience, and got off the stage, with knocking knees and parched throat. The final representative passed by her, and Steph managed a smile in confidence.

She gulped down all the water from the bottle by her chair, in less than several seconds, and discreetly wiped her mouth and chin. When she looked up, in the direction of the audience, her team leader was looking at her. It could have been the light reflecting off of the speaker's shiny jacket, or not, but his eyes seemed to shining. And at her, at that.

The third presentation whizzed by, and before they knew it, the projector was being switched off, and stage lights were turned on. The emcee thanked the speakers, hosts and everyone else on the list, and then asked the agent or the author to deliver their thoughts.

This was it.

Unaware she was even doing it, Steph sat up a little straight, and so did the other two. It was like a chain reaction. Apart from her nerves gnawing at her, Steph felt like someone was observing her, and she turned towards her team leader. But he was far off in his thoughts, with his expression all spaced out and hands fisted on his knees.

The author and her agent were still 'discussing'. And in what lighting was available, it appeared like the two of them were having a disagreement. The author kept nodding her head, chin angled downwards, whereas the agent who had turned in his seat to face the author, could be seen to have a scowl on his face as he spoke to her.

"She is so sleeping with him."

"Lisa!"

Steph was afraid that someone might have heard that, but Lisa just shrugged it off and pointed at the couple like it was the most obvious thing ever.

The banter came to a close, when the agent got off his chair, walked up to the emcee and took the mike from her. The author remained in her seat, still looking at her stiletto clad feet.

"Check, check." The guy tapped the mike, like he did it for a proffesion and even blew into it twice.

"Annyeonghaseyo, my name is Jung Key Bin. It is my privilege to be provided with such wonderful hospitality by the Kookmin University of Arts. As a child....."

He went on a 'brief', extremely unnecessary rant about his childhood dreams and presently 'flourishing' career and such. Somebody cleared a throat somewhere, which reeled him back on tracked.

"Anyways, right now, I'm here to make judgement. And," He paused, and received the dramatic effect he expected from all the coiled up nerves and anxious expressions.

"And, I'm extremely disappointed to say that none of your so-called best designers have made the cut for what our author had in mind."

What breath Stephanie was unaware she had been holding in, failed to release itself, and she felt like she was choking. On air.

Not made the cut?

She dared a look towards the VIP seats. Her team leader had his head hung low, as had the other leaders, and Steph felt humiliation empower her outrage. Then she saw the author, and she wasn't even looking at anyone.

"It's a lie." Steph whispered more to herself, but then she got an approving hum from either of her sides, and that satisfied her.

The agent went on to say how mediocre the designs were, and how he had expected much more from such an esteemed university. Then he went on to say, how he could have done a slightly better job than us.

The fact that he would belittle the profession so easily, when he was the one who came in need of them. Steph heard chairs being pushed back, probably the sound of people leaving, and she wished she could do that too. Simply, walk out on his jabber.

But she couldn't. And she wouldn't. She would never disrespect her seniors for the downfall of her own pride.

The agent apologised for having used up so much of time, then thanked the management for their contributions and got off the stage. The lights were turned back on, but the majority of the crowd had either already left or were leaving the hall, as if they were afraid of the light.

The publishing company posse also filed out, the author went last making sure to avoid eye contact with everyone still present in the area. Everyone left, until it was only the team leaders and the representatives that remained.

The other two representatives were pulled to two seperate corners by their mentors, and were being lectured in hushed tones. But Mr. Lee didnt budge from his seat, and Stephanie bided the moment until it became too long to resist. She walked over instead.

"Say something."

Mr. Lee hummed, one hand under his chin, the other crossed over his chest and balancing the first one.

"You should have smiled more."

Stephanie thought, for a moment, that she had imagined him saying what she just heard him say. Just like how she had been imagining spewing all sorts of profanities at that fraud of an agent. But then she noticed the slight grin at the side of his mouth, when he looked up at her.

He was attempting to lighten up the mood, but Stephanie had heard enough taunts for one day.

"Wow. That's what you have to say after a publishing company walks out on us, following the most demeaning comments we could ever receive?"

"What did you want me to say, Ms. Puhn? Everyone saw what an illegitimate a-hole that agent was. What more confirmation do you need on your work?"

"An honest one! I want to know if it really was that bad to be simply dismissed like it was a child's crayon drawing."

Stephanie's voice had raised, which normally wouldn't have happened. But this event had sensitively affected her, and she couldn't get a hold of her emotions. And it seemed, neither could her mentor.

"Oh! If that's what you want to hear, fine. Yes, Ms. Puhn, it was bad. It was worse than a child's art work. There, are you satisfied?"

Her entire body was trembling, so much that her bag nearly slid off her shoulder. She slid it back up with a furious move of her hand, making her keychains clink against each other. The tears were holding a balancing act at the edge of her eyelid, and she was about to voice her thoughts when-

"I have several arguments about that statement."

Steph was overwhelmed beyond measure, and she felt herself near to losing her grip over herself, and so she questioned her sanity when she recognised the voice that spoke.

She further questioned her consciousness, when she turned to face the owner of the voice.

"Jungkook-ssi!" Mr. Lee immediately bowed, his reflex instigated Steph, and after a beat she bowed as well. As she straightened, she took in the person who stood a mere two feet away from her.

Jungkook. The person she'd been pining to witness the past few years, and lamenting about having missed, for the past three months. He was right in front of her, and she was perfectly calm. Or was she?

"I am here for, Ms. Puhn, is it?" The way he pronounced her surname was heavy with an accent.

"Stephanie is fine. Uh, sir."

He smiled, eyes crinkling at the sides, like he had been told the funniest jokes. He had one hand in his pant pocket, and the other holding a pair of spectacles. It was a different and a more well fitted suit compared to the one Steph had seen him wearing, on the day Grace had video called her from the lift. His hair was shorter too, which made him look more mature.

"Okay Stephanie, let's drop the sir then. Jungkook will be just fine."

Steph couldn't decide if she should breathe in or breathe out at that moment and so decided to stick to nodding, and then to inspecting the tiles.

"I was here for Stephanie's presentation, Mr. Lee. I had received the memo a little late, hence the delay. I also stayed till the very end. Well, until it mattered and when the meeting turned into a boastful session conducted by that scam of an agent."

Steph's head perked up at his terms, he noticed it, and shot her a wink. Oh, it was nothing alike to a polite, encouraging gesture that a boss was supposed to give his employee. Steph willed her legs to not turn to jelly, and stood rod straight, in both posture and expression.

"But, what I'm actually here for is, Stephanie."  And once again, he had no trouble in gaining her attention. Stephanie had daydreamed this scene a million times in her head, and had Grace write it down for her in variations, but the real thing truly was another issue.

"Me?"

"Your design, to be specific. I would suggest you to remove whatever comments that man had spoken on stage and listen to mine. Carefully."

He needn't even request it.

"Your design was alive. That is what I have to say. It had life. What little input was given to you, from that insignificant summary, you gave it a rebirth. And in your own way. It had spark, creativity and originality. Nothing else matters once you've fulfilled this criteria and you did, Stephanie."

She didn't realise the tears had fallen, until she felt their wetness upon her cheek, and then rushed to wipe them off.

"I'm sorry. Thank you. Thankyou so much. That means, really, everything."

"It would mean to us, me, everything, if you came and worked for us. Directly. No subordinates and ranks, just one team working towards one goal. What do you say?"

Stephanie couldn't believe what was happening. Ever since they became friends, Grace would tell Steph, stories about her everyday happenings and it would seem so eventful. And she always wondered why she never felt the same about her own life.

But at that very moment, all Steph could think was, how amazing her life was. How exciting and how unpredictable it had become. And also, how she couldn't wait to tell Grace all about it.

Steph turned to Mr. Lee but he was already beaming at her, like a proud older brother. She was about to accept the 'proposal' when the door was thrown open, and a woman walked in.

"Ms. Puhn? Ms. Puhn, oh thank God, you're still here."

It was the author. And she was alone.

"I had to see you, and tell you what a mistake my agent had made. It was the stupidest mistake ever and I'm here to right it."

All three spectators watched the woman curiously, waiting for her to disclose her solution.

"I'll take you. I'll take your cover. Im signing you, where are the papers?"

She looked at Mr. Lee expectantly, but he only moved to proceed to the door.

Jungkook looked at Steph, and smiled, as if in question. Stephanie smiled back, a full mouthed and genuine one.

"I'm sorry to say, ma'am. But the oppurtunity has been bagged by someone else, who noticed raw talent and decided to not wait around for the right time. Talent as precious as Stephanie's, here, don't deserve to be left lying around."

He bowed shortly in her direction, and then turned to Steph.

"Lets be on our way now, Stephanie. We have quite many projects to sign. And perhaps, in the very quickly approaching future, a film."

And there was that wink again.

Stephanie followed the man in the blazing, blue, suit and left all her doubts behind in that room with an ever so disappointed looking consultant and a smug mentor.

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Jungkook showed up before Taehyung!!!!! That must be everyone's reaction right now, but!!! Only I know the truth, and boy, I feel as smug as Mr. Lee about it. Also, this chapter was special. Hence third person POV and all that. I have my reasons. It's not aimless writing, dont worry. Just read, enjoy, leave comments, vote and leave the writing to me.