Nothing teaches you how to perfect your Fake Smile faster, than working in a store. It only took Hyejoo three shifts to nod and smile at whatever the customer says. Internally, she is screaming, of course. But on the outside, she is calm and collected.

‘I bought this phone here last week, and it is already broken!’ A man, seemingly in his forties angrily exclaims. He throws the box of the phone down, the phone in it.

Hyejoo picks the device up, turning it over. There doesn’t seem to be any damage to the screen. ‘And how is it broken, sir?’

He angrily huffs, crossing his arms. ‘Well, I was just using it, then it just stopped!’

Keeping the on/off button in for a few seconds brings the phone back to life. Or what it has left. ‘Sir, have you tried to recharge your phone?’

‘Recharge?’

Hyejoo feels her left eye twitch. ‘Yes, there should have been a charger in the box with the phone.’ She takes the box, emptying it of its contents. Out of it falls the charger. She plugs it into a nearby socket and it immediately starts to recharge and turns back on.

The man turns red and mumbles his apologies. And Hyejoo smiles.

‘Goddamn, did he just not know how to charge his phone?’

Hyejoo turns to face her co-worker, Hyunjin. Hyunjin was her super-visor for the first few weeks, explaining her all about the job and what to do. They stopped treating each other as co-workers ages ago. Right now they are just friends that happen to work at the same place.

‘Yeah. And here I thought people are so tech-savvy these days.’

Hyunjin grunts. ‘Some of them couldn’t work a phone, if their life depended on it.’

They both snicker. It’s not very busy right now in the store. Not that they mind it, it gives them time to catch up.

‘So any new things happen in your life?’ Hyejoo asks, inspecting her nails. Her black nail-polish has begun to chipper.

‘Ehh,’ Hyunjin sighs, scratching the back of her neck. ‘So, I might have slipped into the DM’s of this girl I like.’

Hyejoo’s eyes widen. ‘Shut up!’

‘Ssh!’ Hyunjin shushes,  covering Hyejoo’s mouth with her hand as she frantically scans the area for unwanted listeners. When she is satisfied with the lack of customers, she lowers her hand.

‘Yeah. I honestly don’t know what the I was thinking, but yeah. The best part,’ Hyunjin is smiling wide, ‘She replied and we started chatting! She goes to a school pretty close to mine. She’d like to get a drink sometimes.’

Hyejoo smiles at the enthusiasm of her friend. ‘That is really good, Hyun. I am proud of you.’

Hyunjin dusts off imaginary particles of her shirt. ‘I know, I am amazing.’

‘Hey, you two, go help in the storage if you don’t have anything better to do!’

They groan at the interruption from their boss, Haseul. Haseul is an absolute sweetheart and a great boss, but sometimes she annoys the hell out of them.

No one dares to say ‘no’ to Haseul though.

So they make their way to the back of the store and enter the storage. It is utter chaos, boxes blocking any clear line of sight. Somewhere deeper inside the mess, someone can be heard rummaging around and complaining.

They follow the path through the cardboard and plastic until they reach an opening. A blonde-haired girl is angrily ripping boxes u