Main Story Ch. 2-01 - The Time in Between (时间针脚) | Light and Night 光与夜之恋

The Time in Between (时间针脚)

"Within the wide space and infinite time, it's my honor to share the same planet and the same time with you."

Start reading from Chapter 1 HERE

By the vast riverside avenue, the workers are already putting up a huge advertisement banner of Warson's ready-to-wear fashion of the new season. On the streets, men and women are rushing into the subway, boarding the complicated lines towards every corner of the city. Some people closed their laptops that are still switched on with coffee in their hands, some people have already started queueing among the long queues for breakfast, and there are also people that walked towards the bus that's heading to the school. It's an ordinary day in Guangqi city, yet to me, today is an extraordinary day. 

At this very moment, I am standing in front of the headquarters of Warson Group, looking up to this fashion empire building that consisted of 56 floors. After tidying my hair for the last time in the mirror, I pushed the revolving door.

You: Good day, I'm Y/N, an employee enrolling to the design center today.

The receptionist lady nodded with a smile, quickly tapping on her tablet.

HR: We are now contacting the person in charge from the design center, please have a short rest in the rest area.

You: Alright, thank you.

I came to the rest area, hoping to look for a seat, suddenly noticing a familiar figure leaning against the sofa.

You: ... Gao Cheng?

The figure stiffened for a moment, curiously turned over, and his face expressed a lot of surprise as soon as he saw me.

Gao Cheng: Eh? Why are you here? Did you receive an offer from Warson too?

You: Yeah!

Gao Cheng: That's great to hear...

He let out a breath in relief, dropping his stiffened shoulders.

You: We are colleagues from today onwards, there'll be a lot of things I'll need to ask for your assistance in sampling.

Gao Cheng (stuttering): Al- Alright, no problem...

Gao Cheng is blushing a little, and vigorously nodding his head.

HR: Sorry to keep both of you waiting, this is your temporary work pass.

As she speaks, the lady from HR is smiling as she walked towards us.

HR: Please scan elevator no. 6 on the left and head to the 34th floor, the person in charge from the design center will assist you to complete your enrollment.

Gao Cheng and You: Thank you.

We happened to meet the peak hours for work, so there were already many employees waiting for the elevator. We've waited for a few rounds to only finally step into the elevator heading to 34th floor.

As soon as we stepped out from the elevator, Gao Cheng and I are astonished with the view that came into our sights. The tall main hall is connected to the offices three floors above and below, with the sunlight sprinkling throughout the entire hall, the soft yet delicate natural lights have made the entire space to look transparent.

In the center of the floor lies a huge transparent display rack, displaying various classical fashion items of various luxury brands. The open office space shows the buzzing scene of the employees, a birthplace  of many classical or avant-garde designs that has headed towards the world, affecting every single person's life.

Gao Cheng: This is Warson design center, so impressive...

??: Thank you for the long wait.

Mya walked on a pair of black high heels, walking towards us. She smiled at us gracefully, looking a little different from the strict expressions that she's put on during the competition.

Mya: Although we've met many times, but I should still introduce myself. I'm the vice director of the design center, Mya. Welcome to Warson. Your works during the competition has left me a deep impression, I'm looking forward to your performance in the future.

Gao Cheng and You: Thank you!

Mya nodded, her smile disappeared a little.

Mya: Both of you follow me, there are some situations that I'll need to explain to you.

Under Mya's lead, we had a tour in the entire design center.

Mya: There are four groups of ABCD in the design center. All groups work parallelly and individually, handling various high-grade ready-to-wear fashion series. As for haute couture, only Director Sariel will be in charge of them alone. The designers in Warson are classified in four different ranks: Assistant, Junior, Intermediate, and Senior. The job scope and importance of your work will be determined by your ranks. According to your past experiences and capabilities, you are both ranked as junior designers. You belong to Group A, your team leader is Zheng Lin. Gao Cheng will be in Group B, Bob will be the team lead.

You: So we aren't in the same group?

Gao Cheng looked at me with regrets, and let out a helpless sigh.

Mya: Of course, your ranks are not fixed. You can attempt your group's evaluation that will occur twice per year, and it could result in promotion or demotion. Within your tenancy, I wish you could follow the following rules. First, Warson dislikes unpunctual employees , if there are three consecutive times in late submissions, please submit your resignation letter within an hour. Second, do not attempt any submission of works that may be suspected in copying, that will immediately end your career path. Third, designers are authorized to study and observe the collections in the display room, but please ensure cleanliness. Last, outside of work hours, Director Qi does not like to be interrupted. Please do not try to look for his contact methods via our employee directory. Of course, you can't find it now. If there are anything that you still not understand, you can ask your immediate superior later.

Mya glanced between Gao Cheng and I, we quickly nodded.

Mya: Let's go, I'll lead you to your respective groups.

We followed Mya, walking through the corridor, passing the pantry and meeting rooms on both sides, finally arriving the office space.

Similar with the main hall, the office space too are designed with large glass walls.

Mya: This is group B's office space.

Within the office, a group of people are surrounding by a round table, as if they were discussing something. A boy facing the entrance is talking freely while holding onto a design draft with full of confidence, the people around him kept nodding as he spoke. Mya knocked onto the door, raising an arm to push the tall glass door. I looked into the office curiously, only to find a familiar figure on the first glance.

... It's actually him?

Under the lights, Sariel's wearing a slim-fitted white suit, holding a designed draft as he leans to the chair, slightly squinting, gaze focused, and pursing his lips a little. His fringe softly lays before his forehead, the bright white lights have embedded a layer of fluffiness on his face. He looked a little lazy, but when look closely, you could see a faint unhappiness from his eyes.

As if he was able to feel my overly direct gaze, Sariel turned his head over. For that moment, our gazes crossed. The golden eyes widened a little, but quickly returned to normal.

Sariel: You, come over.