Present Day
 

Jessica gasped for air as she struggled to keep pace with HyoYeon. She hated running. She’d much rather be on a bike but running was HyoYeon’s passion. They met up every other day at the gym, then took one day a week for either biking or jogging, today being HyoYeon’s day.  Her friend finally slowed, taking it down to an easy jog, allowing Jessica to catch up. Jessica reached out an arm, tugging HyoYeon to a stop.  She bent over, hands on her knees as she in air.

“It’s psychological, you know.”
 

“Shut up.”
 

“You don’t do this when we ride.”
 

“Exactly my point,” Jessica said as she straightened up,  her  breathing returning somewhat to normal. She pushed her hair  off her face, tucking the stray strands behind her ears. Her hair  was just barely long enough for a ponytail and she pulled it out  now, shaking it loose.
 

“You’re  in  excellent  shape  and  you’re  not  winded  when  we  ride.  That’s why I’m saying it’s psychological.”

“The bicycle was invented for a reason.”
 

“Yeah. For lazy people who didn’t want to run.”
 

“Well, let’s be lazy and walk back to my apartment. I could use a cold drink.”
 

“That was barely three miles.”
 

Jessica shrugged. “It’s getting too hot.”
 

“Since when do we make excuses?”
 

Jessica laughed. “Let’s start today.”
 

She turned and headed back, knowing HyoYeon would follow. The hike and bike trail was two blocks from her condo  and they  knew it like the back of their hands. On a good day, they’d make the loop once when running, twice when biking. Today wasn’t a good day.
 

“Want to tell me what’s bugging you? Bad day at work?”
 

“Every day’s a bad day at work,” she said.
 

“You have a cushy job and you make lots of money. How bad can it be?”
 

“I hate my job. I hate the people I work with. I hate dealing   with oil and gas bigwigs. I hate all the bull politics that I have to deal with. I hate my job,” she said again.