There was a light drizzle underneath the grey skies and the raindrops hitting against the window pane was a repetitive sound accompanied with soft chewing. Mina spooned her cereal slowly as she stared past her father, drifting into a daze. She had been working late the night before and her mind was occupied by figures and statistics from her work with her father. Her father was still reluctant to let her take on big roles in the company and she had been mostly relegated to number crunching and creating fancy graphs. It was monotonous work but she enjoyed it for the most part having dreamed about sitting in her father’s position since she was a little girl.

‘I might let you take a day off. You can rest up at home.’

Mina shook out of her stupor as her father spoke and turned towards him. Putting her spoon back into the bowl, she asked, “Sorry, what was that?” “You look tired. I think some extra sleep might do you good,” her father answered. Her eyes widened in dismay and she pushed down a wave of disappointment, knowing that her father was only worried about her health. She sighed and resumed eating, watching the rain fall. It was a quiet morning and she wondered what she would do now that her day had been freed up.

Her father rustled his newspaper and set it aside, taking a sip of his tea and looking to Mina. “So how is school?” he asked. Shrugging a shoulder, Mina thought about the university she was currently enrolled in. Her father had been grooming her to someday take over the family company and she had only attended her classes sporadically. The university allowed it on account of generous donations from her father but she still had to complete all the necessary assessments before she was able to move onto her third year.

‘It’s alright. I’ve only got one more major assignment before the final exam but that’s about it.’

‘Hmm. I’ve been doing some thinking and I feel that it is for the best that you do take the next year off to focus on finishing your degree. It would do you well to solidify your education and it would be good to have an uninterrupted university life.’

Mina nodded. Her father had already discussed this with her and she welcomed the idea. Although she loved working at the family company, she bemoaned the fact that she was missing out on a proper university experience. The seldom few of her friends that she had kept in contact with from high school often raved about the magnificent parties and social events that went on at their universities whenever they talked. She smiled happily and waved goodbye as her father got up to go to work. Cleaning up her bowl, she walked to the kitchen and the tap to wash up. She had gotten into the habit of cleaning up after herself nearly two years ago, feeling that relying on someone else to do it in her place was childish. It made her feel more mature and she had grown to learn the value of hard work.

It was easy to say that rich people were born with their lives made but somewhere along the line, someone would’ve had to work their asses off to earn that money. Working with the responsibility of thousands of employees, she had watched her father’s ability to oversee everything yet at the same time micro-manage. It still amazed her that her father was able to greet every employee by name and she had tried to emulate him with their household staff. She greeted one of them now, the maid, entering her bedroom. She leaned back against her pillows as she read a light novel and finally her fatigue caught up to her. She fell asleep while cuddling one of her many pillows with her phone slipping out of her hand.

~

Momo’s feet pounded on the pavement as she ran down the street. Glancing at her watch, she cursed at the time. The bus had run late and she had decided that it was faster to run a few stops than wait for the bus to slowly trundle its way to her stop. She was late and she regretted not being able to set a good example for the new worker. Junsu had graduated from university the year before and had become a proper salary man to support his pregnant girlfriend. Needing to fill the vacancy, Seungwan had covered the shifts by himself before he finally determined that he would rather spend extra time with his new-found wife and hire an extra worker.

Walking through the store entrance, Momo bent over as she tried to catch her breath. Panting, she tottered towards the backroom and hung her bag up on its hook. She took off her sweater to reveal a work shirt underneath and walked back out to the front counter. Her manager was waiting for her and scrutinised her with a stare. “You’re late,” he said matter-of-factly. Chuckling at his stoic stance, Momo bowed her head and apologised. “Sorry but the bus was late,” she explained. Seungwan narrowed his stare before eventually breaking into a grin.

‘It’s alright. Maybe you should take the early bus next time. That’s the second time you’ve been late this week. Never trust the public transport system to run properly.’

Momo barked a laugh, knowing all too well that trains and buses often missed their designated arrival time.

‘You are certainly right. Where’s Hyunjoo?’

Changing the topic, Momo asked about their new worker and Seungwan pointed down an aisle.

‘She’s replacing some stock from the fridge.’

Momo walked in the direction Seungwan had pointed and found Hyunjoo hard at work, stacking the bottles of sports drinks. Reaching down into the crate, she carried out a box of bottled water and opened the fridge door alongside Hyunjoo and started to fill up the empty rows. Hyunjoo turned to her with a grateful smile and Momo was reminded of herself when she had started working at the store. Watching her new colleague hard at work, she was glad that Seungwan had found someone who didn’t slack off. “How do you find the work?” she asked, striking up conversation. It wasn’t a bad idea to get to know Hyunjoo as they would most likely be working closely together for the next six months before Seungwan would trust Hyunjoo to run the store by herself and she emulated Junsu who had done the same thing.

‘It’s alright. A lot easier than my previous job but the pay’s better as well so I’m enjoying.’

Arching an eyebro