In a modern society that placed value on an unhealthy work culture, it wasn't uncommon for one to hate their job, and August Lamarche was no exception to this. He worked as a sales associate at a large company, where he was just one of many nameless faces to a titan mega corporation. For someone who had such high aspirations, and had done so well in school, it came as a big blow to his ego to be stuck in a job like this. Like many alphas, he was susceptible to the message that they were worthy of the<i>best</i>in life, and thus being forced to sit at 9-5 desk job like so many other ants on the log had him slowly rotting on the inside.<br/><br/>But he was also nothing if not professional, and very charismatic. That's why, no matter how much he hated it, August was very good at his job. He had been at the top, if not close to it, in total sales for the past three months in a row. It was, to him, a mediocre achievement, but he needed something to feed his poor, starving ego in this wasteland, so he took it in stride.<br/><br/>Because he was top in sales, his superiors often brought new hires to him to show them the ropes. August didn't mind. He was charismatic and an extrovert, so it was nice to interact with people on a personal level outside of cold, calculated sales calls. He<i>also</i>had a reputation for being a bit of an office slut, and wasn't one to turn down an invitation. He didn't mind. At least it kept things interesting.<br/><br/>He wasn't surprised or bothered to be told that he would be introduced to the latest new hire today, and in fact found himself quite looking forward to it. It had been a while since he'd had a break in the monotony of his routine. He caught himself humming as he stood in the elevator, waiting to reach the main floor. The humming continued until he rounded the corner into the lobby, and nearly stopped dead in his tracks.<br/><br/>It was like looking into a mirror. A mirror with longer hair, different clothes, and different mannerisms, but a mirror nonetheless. Maybe one of those 'fun' mirrors they had at circuses; just like with those, he felt unsettled and vaguely nauseous staring at the eerily similar face of the new hire. Was this for real? Was the office playing some kind of practical joke on him?<br/><br/>Well, doppelgängers<i>were</i>a thing that supposedly existed, August reminded himself. It was just apparently exceedingly rare to actually meet yours. Perhaps he was one of the lucky ones who beat the odds and stumbled across his own mirror image? Maybe. What was most important at this present moment was that August had been very silent since meeting the new hire, and it was unbecoming of him. No matter how disturbing this was, August didn't want to make him uncomfortable. There was a good enough chance that this guy was just as befuddled as he was.<br/><br/>"You must be Haru," August finally said, deep voice pinched as he offered a smile and approached the new hire. "I hope you weren't waiting too long. I'm August." Once before him, he offered an outstretched hand, making deliberate eye contact. There was absolutely no denying that those eyes were identical, and just the sight of them sent a chill rocketing up August's spine.