Drawing others' girlfriends...

[Five years ago]

“You can’t even draw a proper concept properly?”

“Ah, please let me try again, sir-”

“No. It’s a failure. I’ll have someone else take over this project. You go back and help out Aoki with his work instead.”

I couldn’t stop gazing at the floor in between our feet. “Yes, sir.”

“You’re not even going to look me in the eyes?”

My head shot back up and I forced a smile. “Of course, I’m sorry. I’m just disappointed in myself.”

I could barely finish my words upon a single glance of my father’s wrinkles. His eyes burned in fiery, and his fists, which were tucked away into his folded arms, looked ready to throw punches.

“Just go back to your desk already.”

I nodded and swiftly exited his office. The walk of shame back to my desk was next. And since I sat on the opposite end of the floor, I was forced to shoulder every curious stare or giggle from everyone in the team. What irked me was how not a single time did someone ask me directly about what had happened; people didn’t need to. They all knew it was another father-son scolding session. For them, episode whatever-the-number of their favorite office drama show had commenced in front of their eyes.

Until finally, someone pulled at my sleeve.

“Hey, Rin, mind if we chat for a sec?”

To my right was Aoki, who was halfway out of his seat to obtain my attention. His cubicle faced everyone else’s from the corner of the room, so no one noticed.

“Oh, um…”

“Just follow me,” he replied and pointed to one of the meeting rooms next to our seats. “Come in here with me, it won’t take long. This is work-related.”

“Okay.”

I was the most junior out of everyone on the floor, and Aoki was the one of the most senior, so of course I complied. Aoki rolled up the sleeves of his white collared shirt and paced over to the meeting room. Once I entered from behind, he closed the door and rolled down the blinds, ensuring no one could see us through the window. He then sat down, crossed his legs, and gave me his full attention.

“Is everything okay? With Mr. Adachi, that is.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. Everyone in the office knows you get picked on. Must be a pain for you.”

“I… I don’t mind, I know what I need to work on,” I replied, sitting down but avoiding Aoki’s gaze.

“You know,” Aoki gazed up at the lighting and paused, looking hesitant. His voice then softened up, turned into a whisper half-way through: “I actually used to be bullied by Mr. Adachi as well.”

My back straightened, and my hands clutched my thighs. “Wait, really?”

“Yes, really. You’re target number two. I was number one.”

“But I can’t imagine such a thing. You’re one of the most senior staff members in our -”

“I’ll tell you what happened. It was a few years ago, before you were even on our team,” Aoki buried his face into his hands, and then shifted them down to only reveal his scornful eyes. “We were on a major project for a famous publisher, and I was in charge of coming up with the main character design, as well as the artwork. Well, suffice to say, I was treated like shit from day one after your father joined as the head of the team. He yelled at me in his office on a daily basis, saying my art was crap or how I lacked any brain cells. He’d glare at me for a few seconds sometimes without even saying anything, until finally breaking the silence with ‘you’re kidding me right?’ and stuff like that. Soon, he’d get all the credit for the project success, leaving me in the dust like I was only a tool.”

I was at a loss for words. He literally went through the same experiences as I am right now!

“Look, I’ll cut to the chase. I want you to help file a report on him. I’ve done-so many times, but I don’t think the executive team takes a look unless more than one employee complains about a certain manager.”

I gulped. I didn’t know what to say, or how to respond.

“So?”

“Um, I’ll…” His request was like a tsunami, crashing in without any time to process it. “Please let me maybe think about it first?”

Aoki sighed, but nodded in understanding. “Okay. Then let’s resume this some other time, but please do think about it. Our dad just isn’t fit to be a boss, nor a people manager, for that matter.”

“Okay.”

“Ah, and one more thing before we head back to our desks - keep this between us, okay? Please. This is very sensitive for me and I’m sure for you as well.”

“Okay. Got it.”

“Only you and my girlfriend Hikari know about this.”

[Present]

As my recollection faded upon staring at Aoki and Hikari’s photo, I pulled out the last tissue from my box, completely emptying it with a single cry session.

I wonder if Aoki’s still at the company…

Of course, one question led to another, and my curiosity got the better of me - it was time to do some digging. I opened a new browser tab and searched for his full name, as well as my previous company. I got my answers in a flash.

He’s…

“The director now?!”

I covered my mouth in surprise of raising my own voice. Well, he was pretty senior already when I left, so maybe he got a few promotions after that.

My head was dazed by all the info, and jealousy brewed. The man was a director at a major game studio, had a cute girlfriend, and was rich enough to be taking her to what could only look like a yacht based on his photo.

If this was any other person, I wouldn’t have given a single shit about any of this. I’d almost given up on life at this point, so the feeling of envy was hardly a thing. So why did I feel so green - perhaps even spiteful - about him?

No, it’s probably because he went through the same situation I did, but never gave up on life. Between the both of us, he’s the happy ending, and I’m the sad one.

That was my last thought before I picked up my pen, opened my iPad, and began drawing his art commission. Unwillingly, of course, but I needed the money.

Fuck.