"I'm Hidemi Jinki," she answered nervously, "I don't understand why you didn't introduce yourself as my Manager," she smiled nervously at him.

Manager guessed it right. The girl was his client, Hidemi Jinki. 'She's so tiny...'

Her eyes take a look around Sofia's office. Well, a temporary office.

Sofia longingly sighs and places down her papers near the shredder. "He's not usually like this, Hidemi. I'm sorry for forgetting to tell you they were remodeling the comic department. I should've told you they moved me up to level five."

Manager crossed his arms, "ah, remember two weeks ago, everyone thought you were fired because your office was missing in the comic department. It was the most chaotic day for me."

"Haha, Tae left voice mails and kept begging me to come back. I was so confused," Sofia giggled and turned back looking at the two. "Ah," she remembered, "how did you two meet again...before the meeting...?"

Hidemi's eyebrows knitted together, turning away, "um, I met him in the elevator and he said he would help me find you..."

"Either way," Manager added, "I was going to meet her with you, Sofia."

Sofia exhales with a smile and gestures for both of them to sit down. "Let's have a proper introduction, shall we?"

The two sat down, Manager sitting at the right and Hidemi sitting at the left. Sofia walks around her desk, standing before the two and leans against the desk. She smiles and puts her hands on her hips.

"Hidemi Jinki, this is your Manager. He is very, very, very reliable and great help among the managers in our department," she smiled and looked over to Manager, "and this is your newest client, Hidemi Jinki. She has won last month's featured comic artist and has earned her spot for the past year with her comic, Purple Dew."

Manager glances at Hidemi, "I remember that comic, it was top ten for the past 3 months..."

Hidemi's chest felt light, '...huh, I haven't realized it was that popular...'

"Correct," Sofia snaps her fingers. "Hidemi Jinki has only been in our system for only a month now and with the help of yours, I believe she will be able to catch up and be able to launch Purple Dew within two months."

"Two months?" Hidemi questioned. "I thought it would be launched within a month..."

'Shady...' Manager looked at Sofia with a questioning look as well.

"Ah, well," Sofia nervously chuckled, picking up what Manager was thinking, "since the comic department is still having a construction for Creator's Workshop, we will have to push it back more since you signed up to work at the company."

Hidemi nods and brought her eyes to the ground, "I did sign up to work at home remotely as well, Ms. Sofia. I wasn't informed about the launch date being pushed back."

"Ah...well..." again, stuttering on her words, Sofia looked for help from Manager.

Noticing Sofia's nervousness, Manager looked off to avoid her eye contact. '...she's never like this.'

"Hidemi, it did take a while to see what managers were willing to take you. Most of our managers in the comic department are fairly new and try their best to adjust their schedules with their own clients. It all came down to him when we asked him to." Sofia looked over to Manager, a look for reassurance to give to Hidemi once again.

'...fine.'

Manager looked at Hidemi, turning his body to face her and leaned in. "Ms. Jinki, I apologize on behalf of us for extending your launch date. Since I am your Manager, I will be assisting you and helping you grow as a creator. We will be working side by side once the Creator's Workshop is finished. If possible too, I am willing to work outside of the office."

It was in these moments, Manager always knew the right things to say. Sometimes, just sometimes, he didn't know the right things he said were right on time.

Sofia knew that for sure.

He continued, "I read your file and with an extended time for your launch date, you will have time for other activities like your day job at the cafe."

Hidemi's eyes catch his, '...yeah...he's right...'

'I got her attention.'

Manager clears up his voice and looks over at Sofia.

Sofia nods and smiles happily, 'good, thank you so much.'

"Since the construction is still going on in parts of the comic department, you are welcome to visit me in the cubicle office to your liking. Until then, I will help you with the preparation." Manager stands up, taking his eyes back to Hidemi. "We welcome you to the OCU, Ms. Jinki."

"Ah, thank you so much for the opportunity." Hidemi stood up and bowed, "...I'll make sure to work hard..."

.

.

.

5:25 PM, Manager's cubicle desk.

As directed by Sofia, Manager, and Hidemi are to figure out their plan for this following week together for schedules to aline.

'Come to think of it,' Manager began to think as he tapped the pen on his earlobe, 'Sofia has been avoiding Tae and the other managers lately. She's been acting shady for a while...'

"Manager...?" Hidemi called quietly. The office cubicle was slightly empty.

'Maybe that's why Tae went out on a date with someone else...Sofia must've shot him down again, really bad this time...' Manager sighs, biting his lip. '...I would've shot him down too.'

"Manager..."

"Hmm?" he raised his head up, feeling Hidemi tapping his knee, "ah, I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"I didn't say...anything yet," she pushes back her hair behind her ear and takes off her hat. "Um, I was wondering what you were thinking about..."

'What am I thinking?' he looks at her, taken back by her question.

Manager places down his pen and turns his chair to face her. "Umm...you work early in the morning at the cafe...so I guess we can only talk in the evening..."

"Would you like me to talk to my-"

"No, it's okay," Manager looks at her, "I can adjust my schedule to work for you."

Somehow, a mixture of warmth and familiarity came when their eyes met. 'He has nice eyes...'

Averting her eyes quickly to the schedule on his lap, Hidemi points out, "uh, Manager, it's okay, I think I can make sure you can have time with your other clients..."

"It's alright, Ms. Jinki," Manager reassures her again, "I'm available from 8 PM to 3 AM if needed when you're working from home."

"Haa? That late?" Hidemi smiles slightly, "do you work that late with your other clients?"

'Not all the time,' Manager thought, 'it's for other things...'

"Ms. Jinki," he grabs his pen and circles Wednesday on the paper, "are you available to visit me at noon since you have 3 hours off before going back to the cafe? Not to offend you, I've worked with many of my clients through emails and phone calls. It would be nice working in person more." Manager grabs a sticky note pad and writes down the time and date. "How about every Wednesday at 1 PM?"

"Uh..." Hidemi pondered while pouting, "...I can do that..."

'She's hesitating...' he thought. '...she's pouting, too.'

He takes off the sticky note on top and places it to the side, "if that day doesn't work out for you, why not another day?"

"Wednesday's work for me," she spoke quietly, "I'm sorry, I was just trying to figure out what things I can adjust as well."

'...I usually hang out with Hidemo during those 3 hours...but...lately...'

"As I said, Ms. Jinki, I can-"

"Haha, yeah, I hear you, Manager," she nudges his shoulder and takes the sticky note, "but I feel bad that you're adjusting your time for me. I would like to do the same if you please let me~!"

Surprisingly, she's not so shy or distant as he expected. Hiding his smile of surprise, he turns off to the side and opened up his schedule on his computer.

'...I don't know how to describe her.'

As Manager began to type down the agreed schedule meetings and other information, he began to notice his client...coming closer. Leaning in more, she observed his desk and eyed his black decorated pencil cup holder.

'...hmm...' she spots the rare cute anime sticker on the cup, '...who knew he was a weeb...haha, probably not a weeb though. He doesn't look like one.'

"Ms. Jinki, I'll print this out for you, give me a second..." he clicked around and began to finalize the schedule.

"Manager?"

"Yes?"

Pouting slightly, she lets out an exhale, "...you can call me by my first name..."

Finishing the schedule and hitting print, Manager turns to her. "H...Hidemi..." he said softly.

Familiarity.

And warmth.

Somehow, again, there was a smile in his eyes. There was more than what the eyes told her.

.

.

.

"Ah, you speak English?" Manager and Hidemi walked side by side towards the elevator.

It was already 6:12 PM. Almost all of the managers were gone by the time they were leaving.

Hidemi nods and giggles, "yep, though I feel like I'm losing my Japanese more than my English..."

"Hmm," he switched to English, "what do you think about my pronunciation in English?"

'What the fuck...' her eyes widen.

Hidemi pouts and squints at him as they reached the elevator. "How dare you speak English better than me..."

Manager was caught off guard by her tone, switching back to Japanese. "Ah, I'm sorry-"

"Haha! Wow, I'm impressed!" her tone changed. Her smile put off Manager.

"Huh?"

The elevator doors opened as she giggled to herself. "I'm impressed! Seriously, how long have you've been studying English?"

'...she changes so easily.'

"When I was very young," he walks in the elevator, clicking the first-floor button, "it wasn't that relevant in South Korea though so I didn't think it was that important."

The doors began to close as Hidemi leans her head back, "no wonder you don't look Japanese. You're Korean..."

"Yep..." he switched back to Japanese, "when did you learn English?"

Hidemi hummed, "hmm, well I was born in the United States so, it's a second language to me."

'...right, she was an American High School Exchange Student...' Manager exhales, listening to the 8-bit elevator music. '...I wonder...'

"H...Hidemi," he called her name.

She turned her head, "yeah?"

"...it was-"

DING!

The elevator door opens. Hidemi looks out the door and back at Manager.

"...it was nice meeting you today," he took his hand out, "Hidemi."

If it wasn't for the rain or the missed phone call, who knows if the two would've met before the meeting.

In his eyes and her eyes, there was a sign of familiarity within the two. Luckily, it's not the right time to say so.

Smiling back, she takes his hand and shakes it. "You as well, Manager. Thank you for working with me today."