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She sighed and looked straight ahead Her bright red lipstick stood out against her perfect skin and jet-black hair “You get used to it”

But should you? I silenced the thought before I could speak it out loud Instead, I looked in her direction She atching Kai like he hung the moon

“He’s cute,” I said

She jerked her head away “No dating policy Sorry, so sure…” Her voice trailed off “He’s a Chaebol It wouldn’t matter if I was obsessed My dad’s a doctor, my mom a teacher There’s no way I’d pass approval”

“A what?” I asked, feeling dumb for oh, I don’t know, the hundredth tiet worse In what universe did my uncle think I could handle this efficiently?

Slowly her neck craned until she was staring up at me like I had been raised by wolves “You really don’t know anything, do you?”

“Accurate” I sighed, hanging , so give me the fast version”

She sighed “Fine A Chaebol would be like…” She frowned “I guess you could compare them to a dynasty? A trust fund kid ill one day inherit the business—or in Kai’s case should but probably won’t because he wants to do music”

“So”—the ain—“his dad’s a rich businessman?”

This tih “You’re so innocent He could probably buy a country Does that make him rich? Yes, but we don’t talk about money”

“Oh, sorry” I gulped “I’ to learn”

“That”—she crossed her arms—“is why you have a phone attached to your hand You can learn a lot online”

I shrugged “I prefer to immerse myself”

“Then”—she nodded to the security at the door—“you’ll probably be on the first flight out by the end of the week We don’t believe in a learning curve Survive or die Those are your choices No matter what industry you work in here, you work hard, and you don’t complain”

I gulped “Like you actually kill—”

“No” She rolled her eyes “Are you dunorant?”

Warmth seeped into my cheeks “No, sorry I’m just—”

“Not right for the job, but did he listen to me last week? No He just said you’d settle in—as if you can learn a lifetime full of missed culture”

She was quiet after that

A sense of shame filled me as our conversation ended In the States, I had beendifferent, soon my eyes But here? Here I was a clueless Aotten her culture No matter how hard I tried…

…I couldn’t win