“Yoo Hyunjin.”

She stares at her barefaced self in the bathroom mirror and chants her name aloud over and over in a moderate pace. Her breath fogs the delicate surface of the mirror, blurring her homely image until there is nothing left to see.

“Yoo Hyunjin. Yoo Hyunjin.”

Hyunjin blinks twice before leaning back, satisfied. Two thundering knocks echo through the hollow bathroom. She flinches in her bathrobe before sighing.

Her younger twin, Yoo Byunjin, is notorious for doing this, even during their childhood. Interrupting has become an integral part of her daily routine.

“Eonni, come out! I need to use the bathroom!” The younger twin groans from the other side of the bathroom door. “Stop taking so long in there!”

Hyunjin draws in a long breath, then releases it slowly. An image of her twin sister hopping from one foot to the other, breaking into an awkward dance pops into her mind. A giggle escapes her lips. A few more minutes can’t hurt her, she thinks.

When she and Byunjin had finally moved into the one-bed, one-bath apartment, they decided together that early mornings were reserved for Hyunjin. She was always the first of the two to wake up, anyway. Therefore, Hyunjin offered to use that time to shower, meditate, and ready herself for the day. Byunjin accepted this proposition with utmost respect. Yet, here she is, dancing on her tip-toes on the other side of the door.

It is a good thing, then, that Hyunjin has just finished meditating. There would have been war otherwise.

“Alright, alright. I’m coming out.” Hyunjin sweeps her beauty contents into her arms and opens the door. She is shunted aside when Byunjin elbows her (in an extremely undignified way) and slams the door in her face.

Hyunjin mutters under her breath, padding her way back into their bedroom. She isn’t surprised, really. Byunjin is shameless when it comes to “nature calls”; she will even elbow an Ahjumma if she really needs to go. In fact, she admires Byunjin’s brazen personality since she herself does not, cannot, dare to be like that. It is what makes Byunjin Byunjin; she is simply a vixen by nature.

It is a wonder that Byunjin is the popular one with this personality of hers, but then again, Byunjin is much different outside of the home than inside. She is a people-person and people-people are great with other people.

Hyunjin can’t complain. She is the elder twin and being so means that she is left with responsibilities. Popularity will never be her forte.

Hyunjin sighs once more when she settles onto the seat of their cheap dressing table. She glances at herself again in the mirror. Although she and Byunjin are indeed twins, she unfortunately received the lesser of the family genes. They both have their mother’s large, dewy eyes, their father’s smooth button nose, and matching pouty lips. But, she procured bad eyesight like her father, puffy cheeks like her mother, and wild, wild hair of her own.

Yes, popularity matches well with Byunjin.

Hyunjin, not so much.

Hyunjin pats her face with BB cream and some powder, lines her eyes with eyeliner, and applies some gloss on her lips. She grins a little at her reflection. Not bad. She looks like a girl at least.

As she begins untangling her messy hair in sections, Byunjin bursts into the room and ricochets about, much like a pinball on steroids.

“Byunnie, what’s going on?” Hyunjin asks patiently. She groans softly when the brush gets stuck in her hair.

“Nothing, nothing at all!” mutters Byunjin in a voice that suggests otherwise.

“Oh, sure, nothing at all.”

Byunjin gives an irritated twitter. “Hongbin is going to arrive in a few minutes and I have nothing to wear!”

Hyunjin rolls her eyes, then resumes wrenching the brush through her stubborn mane.

Of course, Byunjin is worried about something as menial as this. Her latest conquest, a dimpled sweetheart who has eyes only for her, arrives at their doorstep every single day to pick her up for school. He usually offers rides to Hyunjin, but she prefers her own mode of transportation. She isn’t fond of the sort of affection Byunjin and Hongbin display toward each other.

“Move,” Byunjin orders as she pokes a finger into Hyunjin’s ribs.

Hyunjin yelps and scrambles off the seat. “Yoo Byunjin!”

“I told you that Hongbin will be here in a few minutes!”

“So, what?”

Byunjin groans impatiently. “Stop being such an idiot, Hyunjin! Do you know what today is?”

Hyunjin rubs her chin in mock contemplation. “…Nope.”

“It’s our 100^th day together!”

“And?”

“And? AND? Hyunnie, you have to start dating! This is unhealthy for you,” Byunjin exclaims huffily as she stuffs her arms into the sleeves of a lavender blouse and examines herself in the dressing mirror. She frowns, then peels it off her torso.

Hyunjin simply chuckles at this. Of course, she knew that it is their 100^th day together. Byunjin couldn’t stop boasting about it for the past week. That is why, she had ordered for a limousine to pick up Byunjin half-an-hour from now, not in a few minutes. But, she can get used to this frantic side of Byunjin. Goodness knows the girl has never had a frantic moment in her entire life.

“Where are my teardrop earrings? I just had them yesterday! Right here!” Byunjin’s cries are muffled when she rushes back into the bathroom. “Hyunnie! Did you use them?”

“No, I didn’t. Look around, Byunjin, they could be anywhere.”

Another secret chuckle. She hid them somewhere in the kitchen, far from Byunjin’s scouring eyes.

“Oh, no! My hair is a mess! HYUNNIE!”

~:~:~:~:~

Twenty minutes later, Byunjin is nearly in tears. She had finally found her teardrop earrings in the cupboard above the sink, nagged Hyunjin for hiding them from her on such an important day, and garbed herself in a carmine three-quarter sleeve top, crème-hued scarf, skinny jeans, and champagne corduroy booties. Yet, Hongbin hasn’t arrived.

Has she been forgotten? She doesn’t dare ask herself that question. Lest, Hyunjin would jump at an opportunity to criticize her crumbling confidence. She sinks to the floor and draws her knees to her chest.

“Not here yet?” Hyunjin muses from the kitchen as she munches on a bowl of raisin bran. She clucks her tongue, then lifts a corner of her lips, obviously taking delight in Byunjin’s misery. “You know, you might have scared him away, Byunnie. You do have the tendency to make mountains out of anthills. Let’s just hope that Hongbin isn’t anything like the last guy you dated. Then, we’d have a problem on our hands.”

Darn her twin sister for acting like a smart-. Just because her history with men is less tainted than hers, it doesn’t mean she has the right to say such a thing to her.

Unfortunately, there is more than an ounce of truth in Hyunjin’s statement. Byunjin’s last boyfriend was a clean-cut germaphobe who insisted on wearing gloves and a mask everywhere they went. His ideal place for a date was at his psychologist’s office, where he claimed was cleaner than a hospital. The date would include a “meal” of organic arugula and spinach smoothies, a “discussion” about deep, philosophical issues in the presence of his psychologist, a grave man with very little to say, and then a long, extremely arduous “conversation” about the danger of AIDS on the car ride home.

He had ended the relationship under the impression that Byunjin was much too liberal for his taste, then eloped with his psychologist in France a month after. Byunjin discovered that her ex-boyfriend had harbored feelings for his psychologist long before she even met him.   

Byunjin pouts, the scarf wrapped around her neck. Where was her boyfriend?

As if on cue, the bell chimes from the intercom. Her lips split into a wild smile as she scrambles to her feet. She unlocks and swings the door open, then frowns. It isn’t her boyfriend at all.

“Hello, Agassi*. My name is Chulsoo and I will be your driver today,” utters the balding man as he bows before her. He straightens up with a soft smile. Aside from the crinkles at the corners of his eyes, the tobacco on his breath, and his wizened hands, the man is dressed smartly in a black tuxedo, bow tie, and polished dress shoes. (*“Agassi” means “Miss” or “Young Mistress”)

“Driver? I don’t…” Byunjin’s sentence trails off. She shifts her gaze back to her twin sister. Hyunjin is as negligent as ever, yet there is something different about the way she eats her bowl of raisin bran. It’s as if she is doing her best not to choke in laughter.

“Hyunnie, don’t tell me--”

Hyunjin bursts out in laughter, spilling milk and bran everywhere. “Okay, okay, I’ll admit it. It was so funny watching you get all frantic.”

The wild smile returns to Byunjin’s face in full force. “You… ordered a limo for me?”

Hyunjin pops a “peace” sign under her right eye. “Bingo.”

In a whirlwind of manic joy, Byunjin clatters over to Hyunjin and attacks her with a bear hug. “Oh, my gosh, Hyunnie! You’re the best!”

“Yeah,” Hyunjin gasps against her sister’s chest. “I’ve been told.”

Byunjin pushes away and plants a wet kiss on Hyunjin’s cheek. “Hongbin is going to freak out!”

With that, Byunjin and her manic whirlwind flurries out the door, leaving Hyunjin alone in their kitchen. After a few moments, the smile slips from her face. She reaches for a rag to mop up the scattered milk and bran.

“Of course, he is.”

~:~:~:~:~

Dressed warmly in her trusty trench coat, thermal leggings, and knee-high moccasins, Hyunjin finally exits the apartment with her book bag and coffee thermos in hand.

She is late, extremely late, thanks to her tendency to care for her sister more than herself. Perhaps if she had refrained from calling Hongbin to make sure the plans for his and Byunjin’s romantic evening were still set, she wouldn’t be running so late.

Mr. Ahn, their next-door neighbor, pokes his head out of his door when she is halfway to the elevator. “Yoo Hyunjin!”

Hyunjin halts mid-step, curses silently in her head, then turns around with a bright smile.

Thin and unkempt, Mr. Ahn is well-known in the apartment building, perhaps even the entire apartment complex, for his critical views of the twins. Hyunjin doesn’t how or why he behaves such a way towards her and Byunjin, but she has an inkling that it was something that Byunjin did to him. Something like calling him a foul-smelling old man who peeps on young women upon their second encounter with him, a remark that Hyunjin herself inspired the previous day.

“Yes, Ahn-ahjussi?”

“Don’t ‘yes’ me, Hyunjin,” growls Mr. Ahn. “Young kids and their stupid attitudes. Why, I ought to—“

“I am very sorry to say this, but I don’t have much time. Is there something you need to tell me?”

“Of course, you insolent little girl! Keep in mind who is allowing you and your sister to stay here. You two would be homeless without me.”

He is also the landlord of the entire apartment complex, not just the twins’ building. Respect for the man comes with an incredibly costly price; the price of suppressing a torrent of curses that the man very well deserves. Which, at that precise moment, Hyunjin barely manages to accomplish.

“Ahn-ahjussi, I am very short on time right now. I need to get to school.”

“Probably ing around the neighborhood,” Mr. Ahn mutters, loud enough for her to hear across the hall. “You and your sister are capable of that.”

Hyunjin sighs then turns on her heel to take the staircase. She really does not need to hear his spiel of how he had saved them from becoming the next spots of filth on God’s green earth. It is an exhausting speech that she and her sister has heard frequently over the last four months. It could be because of Hongbin’s determination to see Byunjin every morning, but Hyunjin will not get her hopes up. Mr. Ahn is not that sensible.

As Hyunjin opens the staircase door and descends the steps, Mr. Ahn shouts out, “Your rent is due next week Monday at 2:00 sharp. A minute late and I’m—”

The staircase door clicks shut and Mr. Ahn’s reedy voice is no more.

~:~:~:~:~

Hyunjin feverishly scribbles down notes as her instructor drones on about the great works of Geoffrey Chaucer. The lecture hall is fairly silent, save for the scratching of pencils and the instructor’s monotone voice. Several heads raise to glance at the clock, then slump in disappointment. The lecture is far from finished.

“Psst!” A voice whispers, somewhere behind Hyunjin’s left shoulder. She pays no mind. Her page of notes is nearly filled.

“Yah!” The voice whispers again, urgently this time. It travels farther down the rows of students, but still does not reach Hyunjin’s ears.

Students exclaim in discomfort as a male clamors noisily down the rows, stumbling over textbooks, folders, and pencils. As he drops into the empty seat beside Hyunjin, he runs a pale hand through his thick ebony hair, panting.

“Yah, Yoo Hyunjin,” he breathes. She still does not hear him. Her pencil skitters across the page and rests at a final period at the bottom right-most corner of the page. He reaches out to pinch her cheek during this pause, earning a surprised yelp from her. “Hyunjin, look at me, will you?”

Hyunjin widens her eyes at the male, flushes pink, then pelts her eraser at him. “Hongbin!”

He ducks out of the way smoothly and picks up the fallen eraser, his lips splitting into a wide, dimpled smile. “Hey.”

She glances at her instructor, whose speech seems unperturbed by the commotion happening on the upper levels of his lecture hall, and swats Hongbin on the arm. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Byunjin right now?”

Hongbin rubs his chin in mock contemplation. With a playful smirk, he replies, “Yes, I should be with her right now, but I didn’t get to thank someone for helping me plan out today.”

Hyunjin rolls her eyes at him. “You already thanked me, Hongbin. A text is more than enough.”

“Is there anyone who can tell me what the main theme in ‘The Knight’s Tale’?” Her instructor calls out in the general direction of Hyunjin and Hongbin. The lecture hall erupts in whispers. This is the first time in the entire semester that the instructor addresses the class with a question. Hyunjin stiffens when her instructor’s gaze locks with hers. He glances at his class roster, then back up at her. “Yoo Hyunjin, is it?”

The entire class peers up at her, eagerly waiting for her response. A student in particular whispers to her neighbor, “Oh, this should be good. Hyunjin is the best in our class.”

Hyunjin flushes once more in embarrassment. It is true that Hyunjin’s opinions are often valued by both her fellow classmates and professors. Because of this, she is a bit of a celebrity on campus. Not so much that she is popular, but she is admired by many for her academic prowess. However, with Hongbin sitting beside her, Hyunjin feels constrict at the prospect of giving her answer. 

“Themes usually vary accordingly with the reader,” Hyunjin begins, biting her lip as the class murmurs in agreement, “since every interpretation of the text are in the hands of the reader. But, generally, the main theme is courtly love.”

A corner of her instructor’s lips lifts up. Hyunjin’s perch is way too high to see whether it is in humor, malice, or admiration. “Go on, Hyunjin. Please tell us what ‘courtly love’ means.”

“Well,” Hyunjin begins with a clear of . A reluctant croak escapes her lips. From the corner of her eye, she sees Hongbin lean back in his seat, covering his smile with a fist. At the sight of his dimple, she struggles to collect her errant thoughts and mold them into a comprehensive answer. “Our perceptions of courtly love now are actually quite wrong. There is nothing inherently romantic about courtly love at all. ‘Courtly love’ is a term often used for an ‘unattainable love or desire.’ As motivation or inspiration to pursue their duties, medieval knights looked to maidens who were seemingly unattainable, either married or engaged in this sense.”

When Hyunjin pauses for breath, giggles ripple throughout the lecture hall. Most of the female students whisper excitedly amongst each other, clearly unconvinced that such a romantic notion could be considered as “nothing inherently romantic.” Whether or not it is inherently romantic, young women will inevitably find “courtly love” romantic. All young women are hopelessly romantic at heart, after all.

Including Hyunjin.

“Go on, Hyunjin,” her instructor encourages with a genuine smile. The class grows silent once more as they wait for her to continue.

“In the Western medieval age, knights were soldiers who were expected to fight in the Crusades to preserve Christianity against Islam. Thus, they were bound by the Chivalric Code, of which included chastity. Falling in love, courting, and marrying would have breached the Chivalric Code, since they all jeopardized the chastity of a knight. Therefore, since courtly love was a knight’s pursuit of an unattainable woman, it was the type of love that could not be satisfied.”

Hyunjin purses her lips before stealing one more look at an amused Hongbin. He flashes her another one of his dimpled smiles and lets out a loud bark of laughter. Petrified, Hyunjin rips her gaze away from him to hide her red face in her hands.

From the podium, her instructor claps slowly and appreciatively. “Good job, Miss Yoo. I expect your term paper to be as great as that answer. Now…”

When he turns around to face the lecture board once more, the class resumes its normal pace. Hyunjin does not join in. Her face is still buried in her hands. This is so embarrassing, she thinks as she peeks up at Hongbin through her fingers. Why in the world does this have to happen in front of him?

“…and be sure to read more on the differences in the portrayal of courtly love between Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Knight’s Tale’ and ‘The Miller’s Tale.’ We will have an informal debate next week. That is all. Class is dismissed.”

The class is raucous as they pack their belongings and descend down the aisle that splits the lecture hall in two. Students from below Hyunjin shoot her congratulatory smiles. A few upper-classmen from behind give her enthusiastic pats on the shoulder. Still pink in the face, Hyunjin gathers her belongings without reciprocating their goodbyes and neither does she pay any mind to Hongbin’s relaxed, stretched-out figure.

When her instructor leaves, the two of them are finally alone. Hyunjin does not like it when this happens. She is usually vulnerable in the presence of Byunjin and Hongbin, but whenever she is alone with Hongbin, it is as if she tacks a target on her back. His stupidity is notorious for hitting its mark. She steels herself against emotion before clearing . “Are you going to pick up Byunjin or not?”

Hongbin twirls her eraser in his hand for a moment. The seconds tick by and finally, Hyunjin is convinced that he either ignored or paid no attention to her question. She snatches the eraser away. He pouts at her. “Aw, Hyunjin! I just learned that new trick from one of my friends!” 

“I asked, ‘Are you going to pick up Byunjin or not?’”

Hongbin sighs exasperatedly. “Yes, mommy, I’m going to pick her up. But, her class doesn’t end until half an hour from now.”

“Quit whining, you baby. Get up and get out.” Hyunjin elbows him out of his seat (after which he tumbles to the floor), steps over him, and descends down the aisle with calculated ease. “I have another class to go to.”

Startled by her sudden indifference, Hongbin scrambles after her and when he reaches her, he walks in the same pace as her. “Yah, Hyunnie—”

“Don’t call me that. Only Byunjin is allowed to call me that.”

“Aw, come on!”

Hyunjin reaches the bottom step and accelerates while striding across the lecture stage. Hongbin struggles to maintain the same speed. She opens the classroom door to a thick crowd of students. Hongbin grabs her shoulder before she can take another step. “Hyunjin, I need to talk to you.”

Hyunjin shrugs off his hand. “There’s nothing to say, Hongbin. You need to get to Byunjin right now. Her class might end early.” She disappears into the crowd.

~:~:~:~:~

It is a little after three when Hyunjin barrels through the doors of ‘Fact & Fiction.’ She sprints past bookshelves, rounded tables, and alarmed customers. She glances at the clock on the staircase leading to the second floor. Another minute and she will be considered late. Late, to her boss, is naturally “dead.”

The prospect of losing her job propels her forward to the breakroom. She bursts through the door, tosses her belongings into her locker, slips on her charcoal ‘Fact & Fiction’ polo shirt, and reaches for her timecard. She pops it into the machine with six seconds to spare, then immediately breathes a sigh of relief. If she had arrived any later, her employer would not be happy. He tends to do very extreme things when he is unhappy. Like firing someone.

Technically, Hyunjin is not late. She is, in fact, very early. Her employer simply wants her to come in fifteen minutes before her shift, since he is out on vacation. He put her in charge of all operations during her usual shifts. “A taste of management,” he calls it.

“Annyoung, Hyunjin,” a male’s voice calls playfully from behind her. She turns to find Cha Hakyeon and Lee Jaehwan duck into the doorway. Two of the five Giants she is used to seeing in her life. Why do all the men in her life have to be tall, when she herself is an ant in comparison? She shakes her head to rid herself of such thoughts. She is blessed with intellect and sound judgment. There is really no need to worry about height when she has everything else.

She rolls her eyes at the tan-skinned speaker, who happens to be the eldest of the college hires. “Hakyeon-ssi, please don’t use banmal* with me. I’m your sunbae** here.” (*“Banmal” means “informal speech” or literally “half language.” **“Sunbae” means “senior” or “someone of higher rank.”)

Hakyeon shrugs nonchalantly. “Yeah, I know. But, that doesn’t deviate from the fact that you’re three years younger than me.” He pats her head affectionately before putting his things into his designated locker. He flashes her a mischievous grin. “Taekwoon might be coming today, so be prepared to take his orders. I’ll make sure that you’ll be his waiter today. Where is my darn shirt?”

Hakyeon is naturally clumsy. Dropping his shirt on the floor before checking in, Hyunjin notices, has become a routine of his. Hyunjin picks up his shirt and flings it over his shoulder. “Jung Taekwoon? Oh, please, Kkam-yeon*. Don’t forget that I know taekwondo and yudo**. Before he can peep two words, I’ll have him on the floor.” (*Refers to N’s dark skin, a combination of “dark” and the second part of N’s first name. **Two types of martial arts that are popular in Korea.)

As Hakyeon puts on his employee shirt, Hyunjin turns to find a bashful Jaehwan holding out a warm can of coffee to her. She takes it from his hands, quite moved by his thoughtfulness. “Jaehwan-ssi…”

“How was your day, Hyunjin?” He asks as he walks past her to put his things into his locker.

“Fine…” Hyunjin pops open her can and takes a swig. “Oh, wow, this is good.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jaehwan replies, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s one of the newer brands of canned coffee at GS25*.” (*A chain of convenience stores in Korea. Kind of like 7Eleven.)

“Thanks, Jaehwan-ssi. I appreciate this.” She narrows her eyes at him. “You’re not doing this because you want a favor from me, are you?"

Jaehwan widens his eyes, clearly shocked that she would say something like that to him. “Wh-What? N-No, I don’t want a f-favor from you!”

Hyunjin’s lips split into a wide smile. “I’m just kidding, Jaehwan-ssi. Lighten up.” She frowns when Hongbin’s laughing face flashes to mind. “Hongbin came to class again.”

Jaehwan looks at her, worried. “Again? What do you mean? Has he been going to your class?”

“Yeah, once in a while. He does it to kill time before Byunjin’s class ends.”

“I’m going to kill him.”

Hyunjin bites her bottom lip keep her from laughing out loud. Jaehwan’s expression, in a word, is murderous. “Not if I kill him first. I already gave him a scolding after class, Jaehwan-ssi. You don’t have to worry.”

“Of course, I worry! He’s—” Jaehwan pauses mid-sentence when he sees Hyunjin staring at him. He blinks once before turning away. “You must understand, Hyunjin-ssi. Hongbin is my cousin. He needs to learn his boundaries. Koreans are different from Europeans. Hongbin doesn’t understand that, yet.”

“Ah, well, he’ll adjust eventually.”

“Has he given you any trouble?”

Hyunjin smiles and chuckles a bit. “No, but it’s getting pretty annoying, given the fact that he is Byunjin’s boyfriend, not mine. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Jaehwan is silent when Hyunjin steps out the door. Casting a forlorn gaze at the floor, he mutters, “But, you wish that he was.”

~:~:~:~:~

Since it is Thursday, ‘Fact & Fiction’ is not busy during the evening. It is the eve of the best day of the week; thus, students are in libraries, not bookstores, cramming their heads with knowledge so that they’ll be able to survive another week of school. All who remains in the store now are Hakyeon, Jaehwan, Hyunjin, and a few regulars.

Leaning against the cashier kiosk with her chin rested in the palm of her hand, Hyunjin is bored. Yes, she has been temporarily promoted to manager during her shifts, but that does not mean she has the guts to break the rules (as she has seen other promoted “managers” do). The clock on the staircase seems to be moving through molasses, the ticking second hand leisurely making its way past four… then five.

Hyunjin thinks back to earlier in the day. Was Byunjin truly happy about having to meet Hongbin in a limo? Hongbin is much too dim-witted to come up with such a romantic idea, but since he has charm, he does seem to get away with “being” romantic. And that smile of his has the ability to light up an entire room.

She must have been happy. Hyunjin sacrifices much so that her twin sister can be happy.

Hyunjin closes her eyes and breathes in deeply. After a few moments, that darn dimpled smile interrupts the calm of her thoughts. Again. Is she really unable to move past her own emotions for the sake of her sister?  

“Brooding again?”

Hyunjin opens her eyes to see Hakyeon staring back at her from the customer side of the kiosk. She raises her eyebrows at him. “Brooding? Me? Hakyeon-ssi, I don’t brood.”

“Oh, yeah? Did you know that I’m an expert at recognizing this sort of thing?” He raps a knuckle on her forehead, eliciting a yelp from her. “I can tell when you’re thinking too much, Hyunjin. When you start putting your chin in your palms, that’s when you begin brooding.”

“What are you? A stalker? How would you know something like that?” Hyunjin socks Hakyeon on the shoulder and steps through the kiosk door. She checks the time again. “It’s quarter to 11:00. Time to close up.”

Rubbing his shoulder, Hakyeon falls in step with her as she does her rounds to give customers the 15-minute warning. “I observe, that’s how I know.”

Hyunjin scoffs at him. “Hakyeon-ssi, you are definitely not observant. The observant one is Jaehwan-ssi.” She stops mid-step before surveying the room. “Hey, where’s your boy-toy? He’s not here today, I see.”

“Boy-toy? Who are you talking about?” Hakyeon peers in the direction that Hyunjin is looking at. The unofficially named ‘Cozy Corner’ of ‘Fact & Fiction,’ made unbelievably cozy by the ample amount of (clean) secondhand pillows, comforters, and cushioned chairs stuffed into a single corner of the bookstore, is a favorable spot for many customers. Especially a particular friend of his. A corner of Hakyeon’s lips lifts up in amusement. “Taekwoon?”

“Yes, him.”

“He’s coming soon. He’ll be picking us up today.”

“He’s not usually this late, is he?”

“Who’s the observant one, now?”

Hyunjin glares at Hakyeon from the corner of her eye. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing,” Hakyeon muses with a smirk.

“Whatever you’re thinking in that hollow head of yours, Hakyeon-ssi, please get rid of it. It could be detrimental to your health, for all we know.”

“Since when have you cared about my health?”

“Oh, shut up,” Hyunjin mutters under her breath. She tacks on a smile as she approaches a cuddling couple in the ‘Cozy Corner.’ “Hello, we’re closing in about fifteen minutes. If you have any purchases, please come to the cashier kiosk and we’ll help you right away.”

The couple relay their thanks to her, then resume cuddling. Hyunjin turns away and sighs. It is enough that she has to deal with such a couple at home, but does she really have to do so at work? Must she be reminded of her singleness every single day?

The front door slams open, snapping Hyunjin out of her thoughts. A dark, hooded figure stands at the door, its head bent, arm outstretched, and feet hidden. It glides forward, in the direction of Hyunjin, who shrinks back in fear when it stops before her. Its cloak, which is as long as it is tall, billows when a brisk wind blows through the door. Hyunjin looks down and exhales slightly in relief. It has legs.

The door swings shut.

Shivering, Hyunjin peers into the seemingly faceless hood before her and widens her eyes when she recognizes who it is. She reels her fist back and drives it through the hood. There are shrieks when the hooded figure stumbles back and slips on its cloak.

Hyunjin turns and stomps back to the kiosk, leaving behind a shocked Taekwoon sprawled out on the floor.

~:~:~:~:~

“Hyunjin, you could have been more delicate with that punch!” Hakyeon whines as he fusses over Taekwoon with a first-aid kit. The latter raises his arms in attempts to swat the foreign objects from touching him, but it is no use; Hakyeon is far too flustered to keep still.

Hyunjin scoffs, crossing her arms tightly around her chest. “He scared the wits out of me when he came in, Hakyeon-ssi. What was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, maybe just step out of the way? Leo-yah, stop doing that! I’m trying to wipe your nose! It’s bleeding, for goodness sakes!”

After Hyunjin punched Taekwoon, the remaining customers fled from the room, shrieking their heads off. Jaehwan had closed and locked the front door. Clearly, they were just as afraid of Taekwoon as Hyunjin had been. Jaehwan and Hakyeon carried a bleeding Taekwoon into the breakroom while Hyunjin closed the rest of the store.

“My actions were legitimate, Hakyeon-ssi.” Hyunjin glares at Taekwoon with a snarl on her face. “If someone hadn’t glided in like some sort of phantom, things would have been fine.”

Taekwoon reciprocates the expression right back at her. “What sort of idiot would punch a phantom to begin with?”

“Hyung, she was scared, what did you expect?” Jaehwan pipes up from his darkened corner of the breakroom.

“Of course, defend her like you always do, Jaehwan.”

“No offense, Hyung, but I kind of wanted to punch you, too.”

“What?” Taekwoon lunges at Jaehwan from his spot at the table, blood spurting wildly from his nostrils. “Say that again!”

“Leo!” Hakyeon hollers as he grabs his arm and yanks him down. “Stop moving before you bleed yourself dry!”

Hyunjin sighs as she rises up from her seat. She cannot believe her great luck. Simply being around these three Giants lowers her IQ. Without looking back, Hyunjin swings her backpack onto her shoulders and abandons the farcical scene behind her. Because of her late shift and Byunjin’s late night outing, she will probably have to deal with being alone in the apartment for the next few hours.

Just when she thought she had enough problems in her life.

 

*****Hey, all! Thank you so much for waiting diligently for an update. I understand that most of you have been waiting nearly a year and I apologize for that. Please excuse me for being a horrible author. I guess that it's safe to say that I'm back! At least, for the summer. I hope that all of your summers are going well! As always, please comment and subscribe! Constructive criticism is also welcome. :) 7.1.15*****