It's a Friday night and the room’s lights are dimmed to a soft glow as a girl sweeps across the maroon carpeted floors. Her back is bent in an uncomfortable position, scanning for any trash or fallen pieces of popcorn with a broom and dustpan in her hands.

A head peeks from the darkened corner and the brunette doesn't flinch or squeak when a loud voice echoes in the theater room. “Yo, Seulgi! You done yet?” Seulgi’s on the pads of her knees, reaching for a plastic wrapper wedged underneath two folded chairs. She grunts and finally stands up with the silver wrapper in her hand.

“Yeah, just finishing up.” Wendy walks over to her and gives a hearty pat on the brunette’s back. “You know, you don't have to make it squeaky clean every time.” Seulgi shrugs at the girl with chestnut curls. Her work philosophy includes putting the most effort into even the smallest things.

It doesn't matter if she's just the clean up girl at the movie theater, Seulgi works hard in every aspect of her life. “I don't mind it, really.” She checks the digital watch on her wrist, “What time is the next showing?”

“Doors open in five.” The two descend the wide set of stairs and exit through the double doors. Seulgi dumps the trash into the bin outside, brows furrowing when a piece of wrapper refuses to leave the dustpan. She's slamming it against the rim of the trash bin when Wendy figures she’d help her newbie coworker out.

The smaller girl puts a halting hand over Seulgi’s and reaches into the black dustpan, grabbing the plastic and tossing it into its proper destination. “What?” Seulgi’s face is twisted in horror and disgust and it’s entirely laughable. Although it’s only been a week since Seulgi got hired, Wendy soon discovered that she likes teasing the taller.

There's no other response than the look on her face, so Wendy lets out a small chuckle. “You'll get desensitized in no time, rookie. No time.” She pats Seulgi’s shoulders with her dirty hand and tries not to burst out laughing at the way the brunette tenses up. “Come on, theater 9 needs some cleaning up too.”

It’s nearing the end of her shift, as Seulgi waits for the last showing to be over with. Wendy's left her to help clean up over at the concession stand, widely smiling wherever she goes. It hasn't been long since knowing the smaller girl, but Seulgi thinks she can find a friend within her. With the way Wendy carries herself in an overflowing stream of confidence and kindness, it'll be hard not to befriend her. And that goes for a good majority of coworkers she’s met too.

The sound of steps grows louder behind theater 12’s doors, so Seulgi stands off to the side with her broom and dustpan ready. A flurry of people file out of the dim hall, and the brunette notices that some of them have tear stained cheeks.

She looks at the sign above her that reads, “Me Before You 8:15pm”. Seulgi shakes her head and wonders how many times she needs to witness the sniffling and sobbing, courtesy of the theater that screens a romance movie every week or so. She waits a couple of minutes until the last stragglers are out the door before entering.

To her surprise, however, Seulgi hears voices echoing in the large room as she rounds the corner.

It doesn't take her long to locate a couple seated in the back, off to the right side.

They seem to be in some argument, but Seulgi doesn't really care and starts her job at the first row of seats. Their debate increases in volume and they don't appear to notice Seulgi, even though she’s now sweeping the three rows in front of them. “So you're telling me, that if I ever loved you. And no, I don't love you. And hypothetically that you loved me too, you wouldn't be willing to live for me?” Seulgi can hear the disbelief in the girl's tone, and out of curiosity, she picks her head up to examine the two more closely.

“I'm just saying that I would do the same thing as him!” The guy has a hoodie on, and sunglasses clipped to his collar even though it's autumn and the sun has set too long ago to be blinding anyone.

“Which is what I just asked?” There’s aggression borderlining her otherwise calm voice, but the man remains indifferent. And even with her bad eyesight, Seulgi doesn't need to squint to declare that the girl is way too beautiful to be sitting next to that trash. At this point, she’s referring to the empty box of nachos next to the petite girl and also the guy who's rolling his eyes.

“If I can't even walk, what's the point of anything?” Seulgi isn't sure where it comes from, but a gush of bravery shoots through her veins when she clears loudly. She can feel the pairs of eyes trained on her neck as she sweeps popcorn into her dustpan, but doesn't stop it there.

There's too much adrenaline running through her now.

“The point is knowing that someone loves you, that they'd take care of you on your worst days, and returning the favor by pouring your heart out to them unconditionally. To believe in each other despite the odds.” She looks up from her task and stares at the man straight in the eye. “I think you're defending a coward’s argument, if I'm understanding your point correctly.”

Her gaze is undermining and maybe too sharp, but she wants nothing more than to shut him down. His words are shallow, and Seulgi thinks his personality is of the same reflection. The lights are bright enough for her to see the shock and anger teetering on his face, though Seulgi pays more attention to the beauty beside him.

Her expression is unreadable, and her left eyebrow twitches just once. Seulgi isn't sure if she’s apathetic to her statement, or is masking her interest with the blank stare. “Excuse me? Who the do you think you are?” Seulgi tears her gaze away from the girl and only then does she register the aggressive questions that are thrown at her. The man is sitting at the edge of the seat, contrasting the girl who sits back in reposition.

Seulgi contemplates her next move. There's fury in his eyes and Seulgi’s brave, but not to the point of getting assaulted for belittling the character of a chick flick.

So, the girl clad in a black vest and tie bows her head—not in respect, no. She lowers it to continue cleaning, acting as if she had never intervened in the first place. Seulgi pretends not to hear the scoff and, “Come on, Irene. Let's leave before any other decides to give their two cents.”

She’s busy wiping at a sticky armrest when the sound of seats snapping back together resounds and footsteps pass her down the stairs, though one pair reminds her of an angry horse trotting off. Before she’s completely alone in the theater, however, Seulgi’s eyes gravitate towards the exit and catches the source of captivation that has her mind reeling, meeting the other girl's brown ones.

The stranger’s eyebrow quirks up once more, and then she’s dragged into the dark hallway.

Seulgi hears the slam of a door, but her mind is stuck in a little stupor at their exchange. It fazes her for some reason, those brown eyes that twinkle with mischief, reeling like an endless movie in her winding thoughts.

Another slamming of doors and a shout rips her back to reality. “Yo, you need help?” Wendy's back at her side, and Seulgi wants to say that she's fine, but the other is already throwing empty popcorn bowls into the trash bag she brought. Seulgi smiles in appreciation and bends down to brush fallen Skittles into the dustpan.

“Did you see all of the red and puffy eyes?” Wendy asks with a lilt of playfulness, “Quite a sight, don't you think?” Seulgi chuckles, recalling the somber faces and sniffling noses that left the theater. And naturally, her mind drifts back to her encounter with the couple.

“Yeah, almost got beat up too.” The widening of her coworker’s eyes is quite comical, practically bulging out of their sockets.

“WHAT? Beat up?” Seulgi waves her hand to ease the girl's worry.

“Basically, I called out this guy's bull argument with his girlfriend and he didn't take it too well.” The brunette shakes her head left and right at her mistake. “I'll keep quiet next time, I promise.”

Wendy releases a breath of relief and then she lets out a sound of realisation. “Oh! I think I passed them on the way here. Was the guy wearing sunglasses?” Seulgi nods her head, picturing the man who must look so foolish wearing shades at night.

“Yeah, that girl was way out of his league.” The comment unconsciously slips between her lips and she hopes the pink tint isn't all too visible under these lights.

“Oh yes, one hundred percent. The same goes for the other guys she brings too.” Seulgi stops her sweeping, interest putting a halt to a job well done.

“Other guys?”

The smaller girl answers with nonchalance, “She’s a regular. Comes here every week with a different guy. If they're lucky, they get a second round, but there's never a third.” She mistakens Seulgi’s stare for judgement, so she quickly adds, “Not that it's a bad thing. If you got it, go get it. Props to her!” Wendy’s got that smile on again and it shines brighter than these soft yellow lights, but Seulgi’s too perplexed to take it all in.

She mindlessly nods, the two continuing the rest of the clean up until it's as good as it gets. And when they retire for the night, Seulgi can’t stop thinking about the girl in theater 12.

After a long week of classes, the weekend arrives and Seulgi’s standing at the entrance of the theater in her uniform.

It’s going to be a busy night, with the premier of a movie that is already making headliners of being an unforgettable blockbuster. There's a tap on her shoulder, and she turns her head to meet Wendy with a knowing look. “Let’s survive the night, yeah?” The bubbly girl links their arms and leads them forward into the glass doors, chin up with an unfaltering grin.

They meet the frantic faces of two other coworkers, Joy and Yeri who are manning the popcorn stand. Wendy quickly unlatches herself at the long lines and waves a quick, “Good luck!” before tying her hair and joining the chaos behind the counter.

“I’ll clock you in!” Seulgi shouts when she realizes that Wendy briefly forgot protocol. She makes her way to the employee lounge and after clocking in for work, she braces herself for the long night. And by long, it’s going to be hellish and she’s sure she’ll wake up with back problems the next day when she picks up her cleaning tools from the utility closet. “Theater 2,” the brunette says to herself as she maneuvers through the crowds of people buzzing with excitement and anticipation.

She continues to her destination and breathes in deeply when she sees a throng of people in line by theater, waiting for the showing to be over so they can claim the best seats. This means she has to bust her within a span of ten minutes and clean as thoroughly as she can before the doors open to the public.

Mino, who’s in charge of making sure the lines are neat and less chaotic, gives her a look filled with pity and she grimaces in reply. Seulgi exhales for the last time as the doors bust open for people to leave, shoving her way into the emptying theater. Mino closes off the door behind her and makes sure no one slips in after her.

One glance around the room and she’s rushing between the aisles, up and down the stairs with handfuls of trash and leftover debris. Wendy was right. She does get desensitized to it all real quick.

By the time the theater starts to clear out, Seulgi’s back is already hurting and the balls of her feet have never been more sore. Her mind is also weary, for her only desire is to get out of there and hop straight into bed. Theater 12 is her last again, and it’s the only one that shows movies that are generally out of theaters—a break for her.

With the thought of speeding up the process of getting home, she silently enters and pokes her head out from the corner. There aren’t much people in there, so Seulgi decides to start at the empty rows by the front, kneeling so she doesn’t interfere with the projector and the viewers. She’s cleaning a small spill of soda, though her progress is significantly slowed when there’s a heckling feeling trained on the back of her neck.

It’s that same feeling of being watched, and her senses are on high alert as she hunches down lower. The urge to turn and meet the predator-like gaze wins over her desire of flight, so Seulgi peers behind her. It doesn’t take a fraction of a second—not one for her to find eyes that aren’t trained on the movie that’s coming to a close.

Instead, they’re on her and Seulgi notices that her lungs are at a standstill, breath caught in and going nowhere.

It’s the girl—Irene, if Seulgi recalls correctly. Though she’s more certain than not because Seulgi remembers every detail from last week’s encounter. Seulgi also discovers that she’s lost the concept of time too. Whether it’s been seconds or minutes, Seulgi has no clue when her eyes are locked on the brown ones that reflect the light from the film.

And she’s not sure if she just imagined the single raised eyebrow, or if her eyes are playing tricks on her in the darkness. The lights gradually come on and Seulgi whips back to the screen, surprised at the reel of ending credits. People shuffle around her, gathering belongings and exiting without a delay, but she turns around again and Irene hasn’t moved an inch.

This time though, Seulgi notices the guy who’s dozing off next to the dark haired beauty. He’s different from the one last week, and Wendy’s right yet again, though this time there’s a little drop that Seulgi’s heart does at the realization. It causes her to push aside the lingering stares, the employee focusing solely on her work now.

There’s a lot of questions traversing through her mind that pertain to the girl’s blatant staring, and Seulgi has trouble silencing them when the only sound in the theater is light snoring.

She’s made it to the couple’s row now, forcing her eyes to remain only at the task at hand.

It’s a lost cause.

Seulgi’s standing right in front of the girl and decides to let her thoughts run free when she lifts her head and asks, “Do you need something?” Her stare is firm, despite the beating of her chest. The girl is too breathtakingly pretty up this close.

“No, why do you ask?” Irene crosses her arms, matching the challenge that’s thrown at her in those brown irises.

“Well, you’ve been staring at me for quite a long time now.”

“Was I? Sorry, I didn’t realize.” There’s a lack of sincerity in her voice, causing Seulgi to furrow her brows in bewilderment.

“How do you not realize when your eyes actively follow me wherever I go?” She brushes a strand out of her face, “It’s not like you’re blanking out either.”

Irene’s calm and collected at the accusation, “I’m just curious about you.” Her answer is fairly blunt, though Seulgi doesn’t appreciate the heat that crawls up the back of her neck. Before she can ask to specify, there’s movement beside Irene and a loud yawn resounds in the room.

“Oh, is the movie over already?” The man stretches his arm over Irene’s shoulders and looks the employee up and dow