Bae Joohyun, also called as “Irene” by everybody around her, woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.

 

Today was, well, the second day of hell week, since it was that time of the month again. To start with, she’s been having these stupid menstrual cramps that made her feel alive every day, early in the morning. Though at the same time, she would also like to thank the gods above for creating such pain, or she wouldn’t find a reason to get up from her white, fluffy, magnet of a bed to start the day.

 

She peeked from her peaceful, strained sleeping position over the dresser beside her bed to check the time. It was currently 5:00 AM, two hours before her work starts. Since she didn’t want to sleep again, mainly because her cramps wouldn’t let her do so, she decided to make a cup of coffee for herself for the morning. Just to keep her awake (she didn't really liked the coffee itself, but she would be needing the caffeine).

 

Irene stood up and stretched her arms, and it felt good. Maybe her friends were right, that she was getting older. She had to do stretching every morning so that she wouldn’t get muscle pain the next day. But maybe that’s just how her body works.

 

She threw up her dark brown tresses in a messy bun before making her way out of her bedroom and down to her kitchen.

 

 

 

The house felt so empty, that Irene stopped calling it a ‘home’. Apparently, Irene’s parents handed the house down to her since the two needed to go back to Daegu for the family business they've been trying to revive. Although they kept their promise of visiting her every time they had the chance to, it was inevitable feeling lonely at times, since now she had no one to talk to once work was over. Other times, she invites over some of her friends like Kim Yerim and Park Sooyoung, but these days they were busy for college.

 

The more Irene thought about it, the more dramatic, frustrated, and painfully sad she becomes. God damn menstruation, here comes her mood swings again!

 

She just sighed heavily and tried to shake away whatever emotions her monthly visit triggered her and skipped her way to the kitchen.

 

 

The kitchen probably was the best feature of the house, since this was her mother’s favourite place. It has a great interior, having white tiled floors and baby blue painted walls. The wood used for the cupboards were also fine, and the electronics simply were something to treasure.

 

Irene ran her hands along the cupboards on the wall as she walked, and she stopped so when she reached a certain cupboard filled with mugs. She felt sad once again, thinking that it’s a shame, seeing this number of unused mugs when the only person in this house decreased to the population of one.

 

She cursed her father for giving her the X chromosome and making her a girl. Oh, how she wanted to reach menopausal stage right now. She sighed to no one in particular as she grabbed an orange mug and produced coffee to consume.

 

 

 

 

After she drank her coffee, she took a bath. And after she took a bath, she picked from her wardrobe what she could wear for today.

 

She was stuck between a classic, white blouse and a lively, lavender one. She even had to text her friend, Son Seungwan, or Wendy, to ask for her opinion. And what she got as a response was:

* Why? Are you trying to impress someone with your choice of clothes? :-O But I think you should go with the white one. *

 

And so she went with the white, long sleeved (which she folded up neatly to her elbows) blouse and a complementing black pencil skirt, along with a pair of black two-inched heels. She decided to just let her hair drape down on her shoulders, in case someone decided to stare at her for a moment.

 

 

 

She left the house at exactly 6:10, since the distance of her house to the company building was ten minutes, if there’s no traffic. She took a cab to get to her destination. 

 

She was fond of staring out of the window whenever she was inside of a car, or simply when there was actually a window to stare out to. The cars outside were overtaking one another, as if the drivers were late for work. But Irene was kind of satisfied seeing at least one car, a matte black muscle car, was driving safely beside the cab she was on.

 

But wait... Was that..?

 

 

 

She squinted her eyes so that she could zoom in her vision, in attempts of trying to confirm what she concluded. Was the one driving the car...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kang Seulgi..?

 

 

Oh yes, she is. No one ever owns such beautiful car. Such piercing eyes. Such beautifully long and flowy hair. Such --

Damn, how she hates that girl! 

 

Kang Seulgi was her boss' only child. She often sees this person in the company, since she was the heiress and future president of the company. Wait, scratch that. Irene always sees this person, at least five times in twenty-four hours a week. And she's so god damned pissed at this girl, that whenever she sees her, Irene has to fight the urge to search for holy water and pour it over her two eyes.

 

This girl, although people say she's the nicest, kindest person you'll ever meet in the building, was the complete opposite to Irene's point of view. It started last year, when Irene really had to get to the 10th floor of the building, and the elevator was occupied by one person with the name of Kang Seulgi. Irene was rushing towards the elevator before it closes, when Kang Seulgi locked eyes with her and pressed the close button, leaving Irene with no other options but to take the stairs.

 

It was no use. That time, Irene was late for work. And from what she's heard, Kang Seulgi always went to the 29th floor, as if it was her territory. And based from experience, the elevator stops at every floor for two minutes if it was pressed. Irene wouldn't want to be late because she waited for the freaking elevator to come back to the ground floor. She wouldn't risk to be late.

 

Now, the reason why she despises the heiress so much was because it didn't just stop there. It happened all the time, whenever Irene was rushing to the elevator and Kang Seulgi was there. No matter if Kang Seulgi was with other employees or if she was the only one in the lift. Irene likes to think it was intentional, that this person was trying to make Irene pop a vein in her head. 

 

Well, if that was the case, mission ing accomplished. Few more encounters with this demon in the form of a human, and she's brain dead.

 

Irene didn't plan on being late today. This day, she'll overtake the Kang Seulgi in getting into the elevator. 

 

 

 

The cab dropped Irene in front of the building, but Kang Seulgi just was the epitome of bad luck for Irene, seeing that the other girl got to the building faster than her. She sprinted her way to building and swiped her I.D. on the scanner in the entrance. She was filled with the desire to at least once beat Kang Seulgi and confront this person. She was being pushed by adrenaline, that she'd win a freaking 10-meter dash if Kang Seulgi was one of her opponents.

 

But Kang Seulgi was one step away to get inside the elevator. Irene, though it was unlikely of her, removed her heels and ran towards the elevator.

 

She saw Kang Seulgi flashed a face of panic, and Irene saw what she expected the other girl to do: press the god forbidden, mind-wrecking, big, bright, red colored 'close' button.

 

But just right on time, Irene slipped inside of the elevator two seconds before the elevator fully closes.

 

 

 

Irene glared at the girl, who was surprisingly wearing a calm face on. It made her pissed, because just a few seconds ago, this girl was panicking, as if afraid to finally get to have Irene beside her in the lift. Irene, getting carried away by her menstrual period, decided to rant. Good thing, they were the only two inside the lift, or else this would spread throughout the company and get Irene fired the second she reaches her floor. Which was the thirtieth for today, as she was asked by her supervisor to fetch something on that floor. 

 

"Damn it, Kang Seulgi!" Irene cursed, as she frantically pressed all buttons. One, two, three, four, five -- all thirty buttons. Just because she thought she could finally get to make Kang Seulgi feel what it is to be pissed and annoyed. She thought it would be a nice idea to stop two minutes every floor, so that this person would be late for an appointment or something she has to attend on the twenty-ninth. But...

 

Wait... 

 

Irene forgot she was supposed to get to the thirtieth! If anyone was to be fired for being late, it was Bae Joohyun, an employee, and not Kang Seulgi, the heiress.

 

Kang Seulgi just looked at Irene with a blank expression. Irene couldn't even track down what was going on in Kang Seulgi's train of thoughts. But the girl decided to speak. "You spat out my name like it was a swear word. Please, just call me Seulgi. No need to act like my mother and call me by my full name." And that was when Irene realized she has been calling the younger girl 'Kang Seulgi' the whole time. 

 

"Listen, Seulgi," she said, stressing on the name to indicate the change. "Whatever plans you have in your floor, will have to be postponed for..." Then she mentally computed; thirty multiplied to two is sixty. Sixty minutes. One hour. "An hour or so. You'll have to bear with me."

 

"Alright, ma'am, but I have no other plans for today but check every employee's profile. Seems I'll be marking someone as late for today?" Seulgi retorted nonchalantly. She was buttoning the cuffs of her blazer, and carefully tucking in the front part of her off-white polo shirt inside her belted black slacks. Irene felt her eyes roll involuntarily. By the time she was done fixing her appearance, the elevator opened, and they were now in the second floor. Irene wanted to die.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has been sixteen painful minutes, the elevator stopping on the eighth floor as a mark, and no words has been exchanged between the two. Seulgi was texting someone on her phone, while Irene awkwardly looked at every spot inside the elevator while actually ignoring the other girl's prescence. Which was hard to do, since everything about the younger one was hard not to notice; the way Seulgi would bite her lower lip, the way her eyes seem to sparkle as she read something on her phone, the way she carefully types her response, and her scent that has filled the elevator for the past sixteen painful minutes of dead air.

 

Irene wanted so badly to start