enjoyebooks Chapter 28 | Welcome Party
Chapter 28 | Welcome Party
The next morning, Cao Yisen went to the company obediently.
The instant noodles and Sprite combo he had the night before led him to make a decision the next morning.
—The kind of decision where "I must eat my fill in the cafeteria today."
After the morning meeting, he went with his colleagues to the staff canteen in the BIGHIT building.
He's become quite skilled at it now, specializing in the few things that "look most worth the money."
He had a simple breakfast of toast and an egg. For lunch, he brought a tray with a large bowl of white rice, fried pork chops, kimchi soup, and two pieces of stewed beef that looked quite flavorful. He swiped his card, looked at the bill, and silently did the math in his head—
"Yeah, it's much more cost-effective than instant noodles at a self-service restaurant."
Back at his workstation, he habitually sent Cao Rou a message about getting a haircut.
[Yisen]: Hi, are you going home today?
A few minutes later, the other side replied.
[Cao Rouli]: I went back to get something at noon and called back!
[Cao Rouli]: I put some food in the refrigerator for you. Don't eat out every day.
It was accompanied by an "angry cat" sticker.
[Yisen]: Okay, thank you.
[Cao Rouli]: We have a lot of schedules lately, so we might not be home much. Please take care of yourself!
[Cao Rouli]: I'll get scolded if my younger brother gets as skinny as a bamboo pole.
Cao Yisen couldn't help but smile as he read the message.
He imagined what would happen to the extra things in the refrigerator—
It's probably chicken breast, salad, and some simple dishes that can be heated up and eaten quickly.
"That's good," he thought to himself, "At least I won't have to rely on Sprite to get by anymore."
However, he noticed that the atmosphere in the office was a bit more lively than usual today.
At first, he didn't pay much attention, only noticing that there were more people in the corridor than usual and that they were talking more. It wasn't until Park Ji-eun walked up to his workstation with a coffee in hand, looking like she had something to gossip about.
"Cao Yisen".
"Okay." He was editing a report on the screen.
"We have important guests coming today," Park Ji-eun said in a low voice, leaning closer. "You'd better be alert."
"A distinguished guest?" Cao Yisen paused, then asked in surprise, "In what sense?"
"Expensive in the literal sense." Park Ji-eun was pleased with his reaction. "This isn't an ordinary person coming today; it's the kind of visit that will be written into the company's internal communications."
He raised an eyebrow: "Shareholder?"
"No, they're artists," Park Ji-eun corrected. "To be precise, it's the whole group."
"A whole group?" Cao Yisen's mind automatically flashed through the girl group preparation timeline of BIG HIT, then circled around again, and finally filled in the blank himself, "Is it fromis_9?"
Park Ji-eun laughed: "Looks like you're pretty well-informed."
Actually, it was mentioned in the meeting a couple of days ago, but today is the day of the official handover.
fromis_9's official "transfer" from WAKEONE to PLEDIS, ostensibly an internal company adjustment, has actually been a sensitive matter for artists, staff, and fans alike. In these kinds of situations, a single wrong word can lead to forum posts the next day accusing the company of "not taking it seriously," followed by trucks arriving at the company gates to protest.
"They're coming here today for an internal introduction," Park Ji-eun said. "The higher-ups want our planning, operations, and marketing people to make an appearance. From now on, all their group activities will have to go through us to some extent."
"So what am I supposed to do?" Cao Yisen asked, "Be introduced while standing?"
"At least don't look like you're wondering 'Who am I? Where am I?'" Park Ji-eun swirled the coffee in her hand. "Aren't you in charge of overseas data? fromis_9 has quite a few overseas fans, so they might be the first ones you get the data from."
She paused, then added half-jokingly, "Also, stop daydreaming. All the girls are dressed up nicely; don't act like you're only looking at numbers, not people. That's so rude."
Cao Yisen said helplessly, "It depends on the person."
"Oh, really?" My colleague next to me immediately caught the key point, "So, who's your favorite character fromis_9?"
"I……"
The words were barely out of his mouth when his reason immediately froze.
Those meetings, press releases, and capital trends flashed through my mind.
He knew that fromis_9 would have a subtle impact on HYBE's overall girl group strategy and PLEDIS' own girl group lineup, but it was obviously inappropriate to talk about that now.
So he steered the conversation back to a safer area: "I'm not familiar with them yet, we'll see when we meet."
"Oh dear," the woman smiled knowingly, "then let's take a good look today."
The news spread incredibly fast; some people in the office had already started tidying up their desks, stuffing the messiest pile of documents into drawers and quietly throwing away nearly expired beverage cans. Someone in the planning team even touched up their makeup.
"What are you all doing...?" Cao Yisen found it all quite novel.
"It's the artist's first time here," a colleague said, "We should at least have a sense of ceremony."
"Yeah, right," another added, "and fromis_9 is already a 'highly accomplished group,' not some rookie group that just debuted. Just wait, their visuals on stage will amaze you."
"I'm already a celestial being," Cao Yisen calmly admitted.
Park Ji-eun was passing by when she heard this, and casually tapped the edge of his desk: "Come on, with your face like that, how are the rest of us in this office supposed to live?"
"This is an objective evaluation," Cao Yisen said with a smile.
Cao Yisen sat in his seat, a half-finished report still on the screen, but he knew very well that from today onwards, this job, which he had originally planned to just coast through, would probably officially become connected with the Korean girl group industry.
He himself couldn't say how many people and stories this line would lead to in the future.
After lunch break, Cao Yisen's eyes ached from looking at reports, so he simply took his employee badge and went downstairs to the coffee shop.
He now has a fixed ritual: in the afternoon, an iced latte, without ice.
When he was in line, there was only one person in front of him.
She had long, pink bob hair, a neat cut, and beautiful shoulders. She wore a white dress and white flats. The delicate collarbone at the back of her neck made it clear to anyone that she was "not an ordinary employee."
If someone on this floor is dressed like this, they're either a trainee or an established artist.
Cao Yisen just couldn't tell whether she was from the parent company BIGHIT or from his own PLEDIS side.
The pink-haired girl leaned closer to the counter, her voice soft: "Vanilla latte, large, extra ice, is that alright?"
The barista asked her if she wanted to switch to sugar-free syrup. Her eyes drifted to the notice on the wall about reducing sugar intake during the recovery period, her shoulders visibly slumped, and after thinking for two seconds, she quietly changed her mind: "Then a regular latte, please."
When it was Cao Yisen's turn, the cashier recognized him: "Another iced latte, no ice?"
"Yes." Cao Yisen nodded.
"Dude, what you're ordering is basically... a cold latte," the waiter couldn't help but complain.
"That sounds a bit more upscale than an iced latte," Cao Yisen retorted, swiping his card.
The pink-haired girl had just moved aside when she heard this, but she couldn't help but turn back to look at him, her expression saying, "This is acceptable too."
She held back for two seconds, then blurted out, "Are you worried about the ice taking up space?"
"Maybe," Cao Yisen said frankly, "mainly because my teeth are bad."
She laughed: "This is the first time I've heard such a direct reason."
The two cups of coffee were made almost one after the other.
"Miss, your latte, extra iced."
"Cao Yisen, iced latte, no ice."
The pink-haired girl subconsciously reached for the clear glass, but when she saw that it only contained coffee and milk, with no ice, she paused for a moment, then looked up and met his gaze.
He politely pulled the cup towards himself, saying, "This is mine."
She then reached for the latte next to her with her name on it, took a sip, and stole a glance at him: "You really like drinking it like this?"
"I like it," Cao Yisen said. "The portion is larger, the taste is consistent, and it saves money on ice."
"You're from your finance department, right?" she blurted out.
"Content operations," he corrected, shaking the cold latte in his hand. "It's just that we're poor."
She laughed even harder, clutching the paper cup in her hands: "So, in your building, the standard for the poor is even higher than ours. We even have to decide when to order coffee."
Upon hearing this, Cao Yisen became even more certain that she was either an artist or a trainee, but he was too embarrassed to ask further.
The row of high chairs by the window in the coffee shop was empty, so Cao Yisen sat down with his cup. The pink-haired girl hesitated for a moment, then simply sat down one seat away. Cars passed by outside, while the air conditioning blew steadily inside.
She covered her mouth with the cup lid and whispered, "Are you from PLEDIS? I don't think I've seen your name with BIGHIT before."
"Yes. I just arrived recently." Cao Yisen raised the name tag hanging on his chest.
"No wonder." She nodded, as if registering internal information. "I only recently moved here myself."
"Ah, you are..." he asked casually, pretending it was just a casual question, "A trainee?"
The pink-haired girl twitched her lips: "I guess so. We're still dancing, still singing, and still cutting back on sugar." She raised her hand and swirled her cup: "I was thinking of adding some caramel, but when I saw that notice, I didn't dare."
"Less sugar is better for your health," Cao Yisen said. "Your job is too draining."
She glanced at him, a hint of helplessness in her smile: "You seem to know more than I do."
"It's for work, so I've watched quite a few documentaries," he said, trying to brush it off.
Their conversation quickly veered into safe territory: which restaurant in the cafeteria had the best food, where the internet was fastest in the building, and whether it was cold in Seoul in winter. She would occasionally imitate her manager in that typical idol variety show tone, telling him to drink less coffee and more water, only to burst out laughing herself after saying it.
During this time, a colleague passed by and saw the pink-haired girl. The colleague's steps were clearly slowed down. Then, when the colleague saw the new content operations staff sitting next to her, the colleague's expression changed to "Oh - so you've already made it to the point where you can have coffee with celebrities."
A dozen minutes later, her phone vibrated. She glanced at the screen, immediately stood up, and said, "I'm leaving."
After saying that, she turned back, tore off a sticky note from her notebook, scribbled a few words, and placed it next to his cup.
Thank you for letting me experience an iced latte without ice. Remember to say hello next time you see me.
Below is a drawing of a short-haired figure, with only the simple word "Initial: NG" written next to it.
"Consider this a sugar substitute for today," she said with a smile. "Although I can't drink it, it should still be sweet enough."
After saying that, she picked up her latte and walked towards the door. Her short pink hair swayed briefly in the light before she quickly disappeared down the corridor.
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At 3:30 p.m., the entire planning team was notified to go to the main conference room to "attend a welcome meeting".
PLEDIS's main conference room had been temporarily set up. A banner with the fromis_9 logo hung on the wall, and several plates of snacks that looked photogenic but weren't actually very tasty yet were perfect for serving to friends were laid out on the table. Juice had been poured into plastic cups beforehand. A few chairs were placed in the front row for executives and artists, while the back row was for staff.
Cao Yisen was tucked away in the middle to the back, his employee ID card hanging neatly on his head, and he held a notebook in his hand as if he could take notes at any time.
As soon as the front door opened, a series of neat greetings, "안녕하세요——," entered first, followed by a line of girls filing in.
Song Ha-young, Jang Gyu-ri, Park Ji-won, Noh Ji-sun, Lee Chae-young… He was familiar with all the names, after all, they were artists under the company. But seeing them all together in real life for the first time still made him feel a little dazed.
When his gaze swept across the center, he saw that striking pink short hair, and the nameplate in front of the stage had a few words written on it.
Lee Na-kyung.
Aside from the stage lights, she wasn't in "idol mode" today. She had just styled her hair a little, wore light makeup, a white sweater, and jeans, giving her a more "formal" look than she had in the coffee shop. She followed her teammates, bowing to the front row and politely nodding towards the staff seating area.
The moment she looked up, her gaze swept over the back row and paused for a moment.
They clearly recognized someone who ordered an iced latte without ice.
Cao Yisen happened to look over as well. The two of them, separated by a crowd, seemed to meet each other tacitly. Neither of them made any extra movements, but simply nodded to each other lightly.
No one noticed this subtle understanding; everyone's attention was drawn to the preceding procedures.
Han Shengshou gave the opening speech, reciting a string of platitudes such as "Welcome to the PLEDIS family" and "Let's create a better stage together in the future."
fromis_9 greeted each person individually, introduced himself, and thanked the company and staff.
A short highlight video was shown in the middle, montageing their activities over the past few years. Many employees only realized what was happening when the background music started playing.
"Oh, so it's them."
During the Q&A session, someone mentioned that future events would focus more on overseas content, to which Han Shengshou casually remarked, "We've already increased our manpower for overseas data."
After speaking, he glanced at the back row again, his gaze lingering on Cao Yisen for half a second.
The members of fromis_9 in the front row turned around and looked over, following the gaze.
In an instant, Cao Yisen felt like a student who had been called on to stand up and recite a text, with several pairs of eyes immediately falling on him.
He could only smile politely and bow slightly as a greeting.
Lee Na-kyung sat in the middle, a standard idol smile on her face, but her eyes clearly showed a hint of realization, "Ah, so that's what you were talking about." She turned her head and whispered something to Lee Chae-young next to her in the line. Lee Chae-young glanced over and smiled again.
After the welcome party, a quick group photo was taken. The artists and executives left first, while the staff stayed behind to clean up and remove decorations. As the crowd had mostly dispersed, Cao Yisen was carrying a stack of documents out when there was a sudden commotion at the side door of the conference room.
"Cao Yisen, employee nim."
Someone called his name.
He turned around and saw Lee Na-kyung standing by the door, holding the small gift bag she had just given to the artists, with a coat draped over her shoulder. She must have been heading back to the practice room and had deliberately come this way.
"You were that person who was just... handling overseas data, weren't you?" She moved a little closer and asked softly.
"I think so," Cao Yisen smiled. "I just found out too."
"Then we might be 'analyzed' by you a lot from now on," Lee Na-kyung said playfully, making a quotation mark next to her head with her finger, "in terms of data."
"Don't worry," he picked up where Lee Na-kyung left off, "we only analyze the numbers, not the people."
"That's a shame." She chuckled softly. "At the coffee shop today, I observed you carefully. Your ordering style... is very data-driven."
"How so?" he asked, a little curious.
"Fixed time, fixed category, fixed price range," Li Najiong said seriously, "a typical preference for conservative assets."
Cao Yisen was amused by her "technical terms": "Do you artists even have finance in your curriculum now?"
"No." She shook her head, her eyes crinkling into a smile. "It was when Representative Han introduced you that he mentioned you studied this in the United States."
"...This person really...betrayed my privacy." He clicked his tongue softly.
"Then let's consider it an equal exchange." Lee Na-kyung reached into the gift bag, pulled out a small packet of snacks with the company logo printed on it, and stuffed it into his hand. "We received two of the same welcome gifts. I can't eat too many, so I'll share one with you."
"Is this your sugar allocation for today?" he asked.
"This is my extra sugar allowance that I secretly saved," she whispered. "Don't tell the nutritionist, okay?"
The two stood by the corridor for a few seconds when a staff member pushed a cart past and politely greeted her, "Na-kyung-ssi, are you going back to the practice room?"
"Okay, I'll head back now." Lee Na-kyung nodded, then looked at Cao Yisen, "Then let's pretend we know each other if we see each other in the building from now on."
"Okay," he said.
She took two steps forward, then, as if suddenly remembering something, turned back and added, "By the way, iced lattes without ice, maybe drink less next time. If your teeth aren't good, you can drink them warm instead."
"Didn't you just praise me for having a strong 'asset preference'?" he laughed.
"Assets can be stable," Lee Na-kyung waved her hand, "but your body needs to be more aggressive."
After saying that, she waved to him gently, turned around and followed the staff towards the practice room. Her short pink hair bounced under the corridor lights, and her back view looked much more relaxed than in the conference room.
-----------------
Just a few days after the fromis_9 welcome party ended, a company-wide email with a red exclamation mark popped up in PLEDIS's inbox.
The title is very eye-catching:
[fromis_9 – New Single Project Presentation]
Below is a long list of attendees, starting with Han Shengshou, and extending to the planning department, A&R, marketing, public relations, and all the way down to the content operations team. The last line in small print reads:
Content Operations: Cao Yisen (Attendance Required)