So much for giving Wendy a head start. Seulgi watched the petite barista fumble with the espresso machine cleaning tablets out of the corner of her eye while she wiped down the counters.

“Crap…” she heard Wendy mutter to herself as she dropped a tablet. It rolled under a cabinet and out of sight.

Seulgi came over and took the bottle from her. “Need some help?” she asked, shaking out more tablets and slotting them into the cleaning key.

“The only help I need is some 'hair of the dog',” Wendy said with a hoarse voice. She thanked Seulgi just the same, inserting the cleaning key back into the machine to start the cycle.

Seulgi gave her a wry smile. It seems they were both questioning their actions from last night. “How much do you remember?”

Wendy got a faraway look in her eyes. “Everything… I think. Hopefully.” She suddenly turned and gripped Seulgi by her shirt collar. “Why? What did I do?!” Aside from flirt with your ex, Wendy thought to herself, breaking into a cold sweat.

Seulgi laughed, making them both wince at the loud noise. “Nothing...! I think. I was just asking,” she said, putting up her hands disarmingly. Wendy released her and took a step back.

“What about you? I… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Eunae was coming.”

Seulgi shrugged, though Wendy saw her expression darken a bit. “You didn’t know I was coming. I kind of decided last minute.” Seulgi tossed the dish rag back into the sanitizing bucket with a small splash. “I mean, I’m bound to run into her here at some point,” she sighed. “It’s just… I guess I don’t know what to say to her.”

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think she knows what to say either,” Wendy said with a sympathetic look.

Seulgi gave her a strange smile. “You talked to her about it?” It would be just like Wendy. People were drawn to her emotional generosity and sincerity, and if Eunae was anything like Seulgi remembered, it’d be easy for her to fall under Wendy’s spell and confide in her.

Wendy glanced away. “Party foul?” she asked timidly.

Seulgi shook her head. “No, no, it’s not that.” She absently pulled at the espresso machine’s steam valve lever, letting the brief hiss buy her time to gather her thoughts. “She was just never very good at talking about her feelings.”

Doesn’t that sound familiar, Wendy thought, raising an eyebrow at the ‘Legendary Barista’. Seulgi wore her heart on her sleeve, but having a conversation with the girl sometimes felt like pulling teeth.

“Alright, alright,” Seulgi said, acknowledging the look Wendy was giving her. “I get it. I’m not fantastic at it either.” But she should try to do something before the remodeling period was up. It would be silly to not use this opportunity to sort out their differences.

Wendy let Yeri maneuver around them and slip into the back room again before continuing. “Are you still, you know…?”

“In love with her?” Seulgi finished for her.

When Wendy had written Seulgi’s number on Irene’s cup all those weeks ago, she had had no idea Seulgi had this kind of unresolved history with another girl. She just hadn’t been able to miss the way Seulgi had watched Irene the moment their boss had stepped foot inside their cafe.

“No,” Seulgi sighed out. Wendy heard the unspoken ‘but’, though she wasn’t sure if she should prompt Seulgi to continue or just wait patiently. Surprisingly, Seulgi did continued. “We just kind of… stopped.” None of their arguments about moving and transferring had escalated to the point of yelling or slamming doors, but Seulgi did remember one line standing out to her even after all this time:

Not everyone wants to work in food service forever!

Seulgi felt her jaw tighten even at the memory. She had seen the regret on Eunae’s face as soon as she had said it, but it was too late. The divide between them had been revealed. There had been so much she had wanted to say back.

Do you think you’re the only one with dreams? Do you think I want to do this for the rest of my life? Can’t you see that I’m happy for you, even if it hurts so much to know how easily you can just leave?

But in the end all she had been able to do was hold back her tears and silently watch Eunae pack up her life. Seulgi had let her go.

“No,” Seulgi repeated, “But I think there’s still some things we need to talk through.”

+++

YR: [Gimme the goods]

JY: [Aren’t you at work?]

Yeri made a derisive noise. She glanced up at the closed stockroom door, where she could see Seulgi and Wendy talking through the window. [I’m on break] An easy lie. It was a slow day, anyway; it always was, the first few nice days of spring.

JY: [Whatever. What goods?]

YR: [From last night] Why was Joy being needlessly obtuse?

JY: [I’m not your spy. Ask them yourself]

Yeri thought for a moment. She decided it’d be best to cut the crap. [Have you noticed Seulgi lately?]

JY: [No? Is she sick?]

YR: [Lovesick, maybe]

JY: [WHAT] Good. That got her attention.

YR: [So spill! Did she say anything last night?]

YR: [Not really? Actually she didn’t really talk much at all. She kind of disappeared near the end of the night, but we found her outside]

Yeri quirked an eyebrow. Must have been quite a night. [Did she seem down?]

JY: [I don’t know. I don’t work with her as much as you. What do you mean lovesick anyway?]

YR: [Just answer the question. You were the only sober one there, right? Who else was there?]

JY: [You can’t just say that and not tell me]

YR: [Was Irene there?] Maybe that would clue her in.

JY: [Irene? No, why?] Or not.

JY: [Wait] Yeri waited.

JY: [OMG] Here it comes.

JY: [WITH IRENE????]

“And there it is,” Yeri smirked to herself. [Don’t make me regret saying anything]

JY: [Sorry I just don’t know how I could have missed something like that]

YR: [You just said you don’t really work with her]

JY: [Yeah she’s usually day crew] Except lately, Yeri thought to herself.

Before Yeri could respond, Joy sent her another text: [I did see something else juicy last night, though~]

YR: [Don’t ever say the word juicy again.]

JY: [Do you want to know or not?]

YR: [Fine]

JY: [Wendy and the girl from Heechul’s store]

YR: [WHAT] Yeri’s eyes shot back up to watch the petite barista through the stockroom door’s window.

JY: [And it gets better.]

Yeri’s eyes sparkled with glee.

+++

An hour west of the unfolding daytime TV drama, Irene was sitting in the basement of another store, watching a presentation about the upcoming administrative changes for the company’s third quarter with the other 13 store managers in the district.

Heechul leaned over and whispered to her. “Is Solji wearing extensions?”

Irene glared back at him incredulously. “Are you serious right now?” Gossiping about their regional director as if they were in high school. “She’s our boss’s boss!”

Heechul shrugged. “I just don’t like it when anyone’s prettier than me.”

Irene tsk’ed so loudly, Solji paused in her presentation and several heads turned their way. Irene punched Heechul in the arm turned beet red.

“Did you have something against the new tea distributor?” Solji teased.

Irene waved a hand dismissively and practically melted off her seat and onto the floor in embarrassment. Heechul snickered. Solji smirked and continued.

Heechul leaned in again. “Actually I have some bad news,” he murmured.

Irene straightened up in her seat, composing herself after getting scolded by her senior. “What do you mean?”

“The contractors have to replace the plumbing in the building, all the way out to the street. It could take a month.”

“Your store’s going to be closed for a month?!”

“Oh, thank God!” a voice whispered behind them. Irene spared a glance over her shoulder and saw Yongsun quietly fistpumping. The pink-haired barista had recently been into the store manager training program and placed in the troubled Drivethru store for her assignment. “We could really use the help there, so keeping your baristas for a little longer is actually good news.”

Heechul leaned back in his seat, a serious expression crossing his features. “What’s going on now?”

Yongsun pressed her fingers to her eyes and sighed wearily. “We had two people quit, one right after the other. Guess who gets to learn how to approve overtime for baristas now?”

Irene winced. She was lucky her current crew seemed fairly stable, at least for now. “If you need more, I can give you Eunae or Moonbyul.”

Yongsun and Heechul shared a look, and the aspiring store manager shook her head. “No, I think we’ve got it covered for now, but I don’t know how we’re going to find time to hire new people. We’re going to need all the help we can get going into the spring BOGO sale…”

The three managers fell deathly quiet. The dreaded, annual half-off sale for their blender drinks. Indeed, as Irene turned back to face Solji and her powerpoint slides again, the regional manager was already delving into the new spring offerings being released specifically for the upcoming sale.

Heechul leaned back towards Yongsun once again, “After this maybe we should talk about shuffling some of the baristas around. I don’t mind doing the hiring and training for you while you keep one of mine.”

He glanced at Irene. “Maybe we could both spare someone.”

+++

Irene pulled up a group chat with all of her baristas, trusting that Heechul would get in touch with Moonbyul and Eunae for her.

IR: [I’m coming back from the district meeting now. Heechul told me that his store’s going to be closed for the rest of the month]

SG: [What does that mean?]

JY: [So Wendy lives with me now, right? Well I think she was still pretty drunk, because while I took us home she was telling me all about how Eunae and Seulgi used to be a thing once upon a time]

WD: [Joy]

JY: [Oh ]

IR: [Excuse me?]

[Yeri has left the group chat]