Angel Smile 176 Scene 176
There were sixteen candidates who were given a chance to be chosen for the commercial, and they were called in groups of four to save time.
The first group was called in at exactly 11.05 a.m. They had spent approximately twenty-some minutes in the conference room before the next group was called. Yeo Ri was the fifteenth candidate, meaning that she was part of the last group.
Finally, after waiting for almost two hours, her turn arrived.
She followed her three other group-mates and entered the meeting room.
Inside the conference room, there was a standard long table with plenty of chairs to go around. Three of the seats were occupied by two men and a woman. Several bottled drinks were placed in front of each occupied or soon-to-be-occupied seats.
Just like any corporate workers, the three people were dressed in crisp suits. The two men were barely paying attention to the candidates as they shuffled through the papers in front of them.
"Number 13, 14, 15, and 16? Go ahead and sit down," the lone woman among the professional-looking interviewers said. Her voice was firm with little emotions, causing the interviewees to tense up and raise their guards.
"Introduce yourselves in order of your numbers," she instructed. After saying this, the other interviewers finally looked up. "Keep it short," one of the male interviewers added.
Nervously, Number 13 opened her mouth and stutteringly introduced herself.
"H-h.e.l.lo! I am Candidate Number 13, Lee In Ha. Please take care of me—"
Then, Number 14 introduced herself.
"h.e.l.lo! I am Park Lina. I've been a fan of your company's beverages for a long time, so I hope you will give me a chance to join this project."
The lips of the interviewers quirked up slightly, as if they were amused with her bootlicking. They ignored her sweet words and motioned for the next person to introduce herself.
Yeo Ri gripped her hands tightly on her lap to stop her trembling. Taking a deep breath, she similarly introduced herself with a short and simple greeting, "h.e.l.lo, I am Lee Yeo Ri. It is nice to meet you."
Yeo Ri released a silent breath of relief after the interviewers' gazes pa.s.sed by her and moved on to the last candidate. It was quite nerve-wracking when their gazes had concentrated on her. She hoped that they didn't nitpick on her awkwardness.
Once the introductions were finished, the interviewers started their questioning.
The female interviewer turned to look at the man next to her, who sat in the middle.
The candidates had an inkling that the man must have been a very important person, seeing as his bearings were much more regal and poised compared to the other two despite looking much younger. It was clear that he had a high status seeing as the other two interviewers seemed to be waiting for him to speak.
He's probably that heir her manager was talking about earlier, Yeo Ri thought. She pursed her lips, straightening her back with as much courage as she could muster.
The presumed heir narrowed his eyes at the candidates, as if evaluating them. After silently observing them for a few seconds, he shifted in his seat, leaning back, uncrossing and crossing his legs the opposite way.
"Do you see the drinks in front of you? I want you to drink it and give your opinions about it," he suddenly instructed.
"Huh?"
The four interviewees looked at the man in the middle with confusion.
They had originally thought that those drinks were placed there just in case the interviewees became parched during the interview. But nevertheless, aside from Yeo Ri, the other three seemed to be familiar with the type of tasks they were told to do and immediately complied.
Yeo Ri was the last to pick a bottle. They were all the same anyways, so she randomly picked one.
The design of the bottle was simple—it was a transparent plastic bottle with no labels. Clearly, the main focus was the transparent liquid inside it and not the appearance.
Curiously, Yeo Ri sloshed the bottle slowly to examine the drink before finally uncapping it and taking a small swig.
"Hm," Yeo Ri hummed in surprise. The taste was surprisingly sweet and not carbonated. Being a product that was to be advertised as 'vitamin water', naturally she did not expect it to have no taste, but judging by the appearance of the clear liquid, it was easy to a.s.sume that it would be carbonated, like soda. Therefore, the somewhat novel taste surprised her.
Yeo Ri unconsciously licked her lips, tasting the remnants of the liquid on her lips. It had a sweet taste and a rather refreshing aftertaste. Yeo Ri took another sip silently, deciding that this was the best-tasting drink she had ever drank in her life.
Unbeknownst to her, she had suddenly became the center of attention.
It was only after she swallowed another mouthful that she noticed that all eyes were on her. Yeo Ri blushed, lowering her head in embarra.s.sment while biting her lips. She hastily placed down the bottle on the table and used the back of her hand to wipe any trace of the beverage from around her mouth.
"..."
Hearing no one speaking nor reprimanding her, Yeo Ri kept her eyes lowered. Did she seem like an uncouth b.u.mpkin...? It was her first time drinking something with such a new taste that she couldn't help herself. Mentally, she berated herself for not behaving properly.
After ten seconds of silence, the heir—a.s.sistant Marketing Director, Do Kang Rok—finally spoke: "Number 15, Lee Yeo Ri, was it?"
He tilted his head with an amused smirk, "Congratulations, you pa.s.sed."
"..."
"..."
"...Huh?"