Chapter 1: What the hell?

Author Soda's Note: Yay, my first story on ScribbleHub. I am working on this story alone so there may be some typos here and there. If you spot any, please let me know. I have no idea how long I want this story to be so I will just let inspiration take me. 

RAIN

I giggle as I place another flower in his hair. The jet-black colour makes the pink petals stand out more. “You look so pretty!” I cheer happily as I take a step back to admire my work. He is sitting before me.

Obsidian orbs on a slightly tan face stare back at me. His lips are curled slightly at the corners, indicating a smile. “I am glad you think so.” He says quietly. 

“You are both pretty and handsome.” I beam at him, meaning it. My words make him smile wider and it makes him look better. I cup his cheeks with my chubby fingers, and lean in to stare into his eyes. They grow a little wider. 

“Rain…” He calls my name, sounding a little nervous. 

“I like it when you smile, okay? Smile more.” I say. His smile grows wider. 

He calls my name again. “Rain…” 

“Yeah?” I ask happily. 

But he just says my name again, this time a little louder. I am confused. “Rain!” 

And I feel his hands reach up to push me, startling me. 

“Damn it, Rain! Wake up! We’re going to be late!” 

My eyes fly open and I shriek at the face before mine. “Fuck!” I curse at my best friend and roommate, Junior, who is scowling.

Junior simply grabs my blanket and pulls it off me. “Get up! It is already 7.30am. We are going to be late!” 

I sit up and stare at him blankly for a second. “Late…?” 

Junior is fully dressed in a smart attire, navy blue shirt and black trousers. Then, the realisation comes crashing in. Today is the first day of our internship! 

Let me back it up a little bit so that you have some background. My name is Rain. I am currently 22 years old and in the last year of my Bachelor’s Degree, majoring in Communications. This person before me is Junior. He has been my best friend since high school. 

From young, Junior has always been shy and had difficulty making friends. I, on the other hand, have always been an extrovert or a noisy asshole, like my friends so affectionately call me.

I saw Junior sitting alone during the assembly on the first day of high school and no one was talking to him. I felt bad for him. So, I was the one who walked up to him and asked to be his friend. He thought I was a little crazy at first but we realised both of us like the same kind of music and anime so we became closer. His family is really nice to me too because I am the first friend he brought home. They are nice to my mother too because my father passed away when I was little. 

After high school, Junior and I managed to get into University A together, one of the top universities in the City. Junior’s family is really wealthy. His father owns hotels and his mother is a lawyer. They got him an apartment as a gift and allowed me to stay with him. In return, I help to pay for the utilities with my allowance and do the cleaning. 

Now, since it is our last year, we are required to complete a 4 month internship with a company. Thanks to our good grades, we managed to secure an internship at the communications department of a new but top company, AceVine. 

AceVine is known to have investment in multiple businesses, from drinking water to movies. We have been excited about this internship to get some working experience and AceVine is really hard to get a job opportunity. 

Only top students were chosen for their internship programme. The university told us if we did well, we may be offered full-time employment like some of our seniors had. While Junior would eventually be joining his father’s company, I need this opportunity. I wanted to start working right away after graduation and support my mom back for all these years.

I quickly jump up and shove Junior aside. I rush into the bathroom and start brushing my teeth hastily. Luckily, I took a shower late last night and washed my hair. So I will just have to make do with brushing my teeth and washing my face. 

Junior leans against the doorframe, crosses his arms and glares at me slightly. “I told you to sleep early last night.”

“Yea…but Muon…got dumped again..and called me…He said you didn’t pick up..Tew too.” I managed to speak as I gargled my mouth at a fast speed. Once I am done, I wash my face making sure there is no toothpaste remaining on my lips. 

“We didn’t pick it up for a reason! Since Year 1, Muon is always getting dumped. He will survive through it and find another girl or guy in less than 3 days.” Junior says, sounding exasperated. “You have been spoiling the idiot.” 

Muon and Tew are our two other friends that we started hanging out with since the start of university. They are in the same major as us. I managed to get Junior to open up to them and now the four of us are like a group. Muon and Tew found AceVine too stressful and chose other companies for their internship. And Muon, well like Junior says, falls in love fast and gets dumped fast too. The girls or guys he has dated all had one similar issue, they all all said Muon moves too fast. Junior and Tew have given up when he comes back crying but I don’t know, I feel a little bad for the hopeless romantic. 

I am done washing my face. I grab my towel and wipe it hurriedly. I walk past Junior and head to my wardrobe. “He is our friend. I am sure he would do the same for me one day, if I ever find someone…. Fuck!” I curse when I realise I forgot to iron a suitable attire last night. 

I turn to Junior with a desperate look, about to ask him for help. But he walks over and sighs loudly. “I already did it for you last night. It’s there.” He points at a set that is hanging at the end of the rack. 

Gratefulness surges through me as I pull my best friend into a quick hug. “What will I do without you?” I say dramatically before letting him go. I have said this many times over the past 7 years we have known each other. Junior and I always take care of each other but he is more thoughtful. 

“Just hurry up and get changed!” Junior scolds me but he is smiling. “If we screw up this internship, our professor will kill us. I made sandwiches we can eat on the go. We will just have to get coffee later. Hurry, I will wait outside. I got your bag ready too.”

“I LOVE YOU!” I declare as Junior shakes his head and walks out of my room while I change at a record speed into a white shirt and navy blue trousers that Junior prepared. 

I pull on a pair of black socks and rush out. Junior is already waiting by the front door of our apartment, holding a brown bag with our breakfast and my black messenger bag. My smart shoes have also been taken out. 

“Seriously, what will I do without you?” I slip on my shoes and take my bag from him, slinging it. 

“I have no idea.” Junior responses in a teasing tone as he watches while I shut the apartment door and lock it. 

As we walk to the lift, Junior hands me an egg sandwich. “By the way, you were smiling widely in your sleep. What were you dreaming about?” 

I blink at him in confusion. I smiled in my sleep? I try to recall my dream but somehow, I can’t seem to. I guess the dream mustn't have been important… but why do I feel a little strange? Oh well, since I can’t remember it… 

“I can’t remember what it was about.” I shrug.

“It must have been something really happy.” Junior shrugs. “Maybe you dreamt that you won the lottery or a car.”

“Hah, I wish.” I scoff as I bite into my sandwich. 

I finish my sandwich just as we reach the basement car park. We walk over to Junior’s shiny, expensive Audi that was a 21st birthday gift from his parents who felt a car is an essential. Don’t get it wrong. 

Junior is well to do but he isn’t some pampered prince. He doesn’t really shop, likes to eat cheap and saves his allowance. During our term breaks, he works part-time with me as a waiter so that he could buy gifts for his parents or treat them to meals. That’s one of the reasons why I like him so much too. 

“You drive so I can eat.” He tosses me the key and I catch it smoothly with one hand. 

“Yes, sir!” I have my licence and am still saving up for my own car. So Junior lets me drive his car from time to time. 

We get in the car and I start the engine. I turn to smile at my best friend. “Let’s try not to screw up on the first day, yeah?”

You are reading story [BL] The CEO is Normal… I think. at novel35.com

Junior grins at me. “We will need to be on time first, asshole. Drive!” 

“Let’s go!” 

---

We made it with 5 minutes to spare. Now, Junior and I are now sitting in a meeting room opposite a Human Resources manager, Mr Chen. He came down to meet with us and brought us up to the second floor. AceVine impressively occupies a whole 7-storey building in the middle of the City. Mr Chen is a middle-aged short man, with a slight protruding belly and a kind smile. 

“I will be in-charge of any matter regarding your internship for the next 4 months.” Mr Chen tells us. “So, welcome to AceVine. Here are your ID badges. You will need them for access and identification, so carry them all the time while you are in the company.” He slides 2 badges across the table. Each badge had a lanyard and our photos and names printed on.

Both of us accepted our own badge politely and hung it around our necks right away. 

Mr Chen looks pleased and claps his hand together. “Before I bring you up, let me just share with you some information. The salary has been discussed with your university so I won’t go into that. Your working hours will be from 830am to 6pm, unless the Communications head requires you to work overtime to assist on any project. You will be paid extra for overtime. Your head has to sign the overtime form and you can submit the form to me at the end of each month. Clear so far?” 

Junior and I both nod and Mr Chen continues, “Your head’s name is Ms Aree and she leads the whole Communications department. She has requested the both of you report to her directly for all work so that she can track your progress. Don’t worry, Ms Aree is nice and she is very experienced. I am sure both of you will learn plenty from her.” 

Hearing that, I am a little nervous but also excited. I really wanted to do well for this internship. I glance at Junior and I can tell he feels the same way.  

“After 4 months, Ms Aree and I will do an evaluation with each of you. As you may have heard from your university, if your work performance is good, we may offer you a contract to work here after your graduation.” Mr Chen’s words make my excitement grow. 

“Come, I will give you a short tour before I bring you to Ms Aree.” Mr Chen stands up and we follow suit. As we exit the room, Junior and I discreetly give each other fist bumps. Something we do to encourage each other, like before the start of exams. 

Mr Chen shares with us as we walk to the lift, “HR and admin are on this floor. You can find me here if you need to. 3rd is sales and procurement, 4th is legal and accounting, 5th is IT.. you can go there if you have issues.. Communications is on the 6th floor and the 7th floor is the CEO’s floor. An important thing to remember, the CEO floor is restricted. Only those who have meetings with the CEO are allowed to go up.” 

Before applying for the internship, of course I have done some research on AceVine and its operations. The CEO of AceVine, is called, Night. 

Night is extremely popular because of how smart and successful he is at the age of 28. I read that his family is wealthy. He studied at Havard Business, graduated with extremely good grades and came back 3 years ago to start AceVine. Like in novels, he is also a CEO who is blessed with good looks. He is tall, handsome and possibly way, way out of anyone’s league. Especially mine. 

Right… if Muon is bisexual, I have always known I preferred guys. I have no dating experience but guys have always attracted me more. I forgot to say that earlier. Only Junior, Muon and Tew, my close friends, are aware of this. I have never told Mom about this because I wasn’t sure if she would accept it. Anyway, I am not dating anyone yet so I will worry about it in the future. 

Back to Night. They say he is picky about dating and only dates really smart and famous people, like him. To be honest, when I first saw his picture, I thought he was my type. But I know my own standards so I started to admire him as a role-model. A young entrepreneur… it would be impossible for me but I hope to be half as successful after I graduate to support Mom. 

Mr Chen brings us to the 6th floor after giving short tours of the other floors. The Communications Department seems busy and everyone seems to either be rushing about, on the telephone or typing furiously on their laptop. Both Junior and I glance at each other and discreetly give each other a fist bump again. Our professors always say that communications can be really fast paced. We expected this.

“Ms Aree should be in her office. Come on.” Mr Chen leads us across the busy floor, to an office with glass walls. The name Ms Aree, Head of Communications is printed on the glassdoor in black font. We can see an immaculately dressed and pretty lady sitting behind a large desk, typing on her keyboard. Mr Chen knocks and she looks up from her iMac. She smiles as she stands up and gestures to us to come in. 

“These must be my new interns. Hello, I am Ms Aree.” She walks around her desk to greet us and we do the same politely. I am glad she seems friendly and nice, like Mr Chen is. It will make working here a little less stressful. 

“Well, my work is done for now.” Mr Chen claps his hands together. “I will leave them in your good hands, Aree. Boys, you can find me at level 2 if you have any issues.” We say goodbye to Mr Chen who leaves first.

We turn back to Ms Aree, who is smiling at us. 

“I will be honest. Unfortunately, today we have a media query to respond by noon because a movie that we invested in ran into some issues. I am meeting the CEO in 5 minutes to get his thoughts on this so I can only do a proper introduction with you both after lunch. But I have read both your files and have a gauge on your strengths based on your grades so far so I might have to crash course you into our team now, are you both alright with it? But don’t worry, it won’t be anything too difficult.” 

I process her words real quick and nod slowly. Junior glances at me and follows suit. Being best friends for so long, I know we are thinking the same thing: This is what real working life is like. We can do it! 

Ms Aree seems pleased with our response. “Great. Junior, I saw you did well in media relations. I am going to get you to work with Zoey, our media queen.” Through her glass walls, Ms Aree points to a girl sitting not far away. The girl looks like she is slightly older than us and she looks extremely focused, having 2 monitor screens and 1 laptop before her. 

“She is currently drafting possible queries that the media may further have and the responses for the CEO’s consideration and I want you to help her. Don’t worry, Zoey doesn’t bite and she is expecting your help. I was planning to tag you with her mostly throughout this internship.” 

“Great. I will go right away to look for her.” Junior smiles slightly, excitement shining in his eyes a little. My best friend was indeed the top scorer for our media relations module. He even won our mock debate, where we pretended to hold a media conference. He gives me a discreet fist bump behind my back before leaving the office first. 

Ms Aree turns to me. “And you, Rain. I understand you did quite well for crisis communications.” Yeah, it was one of my favourite modules. “Now, I want you to accompany me to meet with the CEO. Just take notes and learn. After the meeting, you will work on the crisis plans with me, which includes how we are going to get out of this mess without affecting AceVine’s reputation. Does it all sound too scary for your first day as an internship?” Ms Aree’s smile grows kinder, as though she feels a little bad for the situation.

It is indeed scary as I process her words. But, I can’t believe I would be meeting someone I regard as my role-model on the very first day of my internship. This must be a God sent opportunity! So even if it is scary, how could I see it as a bad thing?

“Honestly, it is.” I say, smiling back. “But, it is exciting. And that’s how I learn right?”

“I like your attitude. I promise I will make it up to you guys with a good lunch after this is over.” Ms Aree grins. “Come on. I will brief you real quick about the situation then we got to head up. The CEO doesn’t like tardiness.” 

---

Okay. This is scarier than I thought. I clutch my notebook tightly in nervousness as I follow Ms Aree up to the 7th floor. The moment the lift doors open, we are greeted by a tall guy dressed in a full suit. 

“Ms Aree.” He smiles politely as Ms Aree.

“Hello, Ken.” Ms Aree greets him back cheerfully. “This is Rain, one of my new interns. It is his first day. Rain, this Ken, the CEO’s personal assistant.” 

At Ms Aree’s words, Ken looks at me. Ken’s eyes grow wide slightly the moment they land on me as though he looks shocked to see me. However, Ken immediately smiles next to cover his reaction. I find it a little weird… but I smile back out of politeness. Maybe, he was surprised Ms Aree brought a new intern along?

“The CEO is finishing up with his call. He says you can enter once you arrive.” Ken says. 

Ms Aree and I follow Ken down the quiet hallway to a double door with a gold plaque. Bold words were inscribed on it: Night, CEO.

I feel my heart beating wildly as Ken knocks on the door. I feel a little nauseous from the nervousness even. 

I can hear a deep voice from behind the wooden doors commanding, “Enter.”  

Just don’t say anything stupid. Just smile. Just take notes and listen. Maybe he won’t even notice a mere intern. 

Ken pushes the door open and holds it open for us. I follow Ms Aree in, bowing my head slightly. I use the opportunity to quickly glance around the huge office. There are full height glass windows overlooking the busy city, a seating area with three couches and even a mini-bar! There is a large desk before the windows and a man is sitting behind it. He taps the side of the bluetooth earpiece in his ear and looks up. 

I can’t help it, my eyes locking on to his eyes right away. Oh my god. This is actually Night in the flesh. He is so freaking handsome. And he is staring right back at me without any hesitation. I feel my cheeks growing a little hot instantly. 

Then it hits me. Fuck, I am checking the big boss out. On my first day. 10 minutes into my internship. It is stupid and wrong. I am about to turn away in embarrassment but I can’t seem too. His eyes seem to hook my gaze. The colour of his eyes are dark, obsidian orbs. 

I frown inwardly. Why do they look a little familiar…? Not just from the pictures online but I seem to have seen them before… 

Then, Night stands up abruptly and what he says in a quiet voice gets me frozen in place. “It really is you, Rain.” 

What the hell?  

You can find story with these keywords: [BL] The CEO is Normal… I think., Read [BL] The CEO is Normal… I think., [BL] The CEO is Normal… I think. novel, [BL] The CEO is Normal… I think. book, [BL] The CEO is Normal… I think. story, [BL] The CEO is Normal… I think. full, [BL] The CEO is Normal… I think. Latest Chapter