Irene walked into the familiar shop, the comforting aroma of coffee hitting her as she opened the door. She walked towards the back of the cafe, and was just hanging her backpack onto the rack, when a soft, childish voice greeted her.

    “You’re here early today.”

    Normally, Irene would’ve been startled. But no matter how easily she got scared, it was almost impossible to be afraid of a voice that sounded like it should be coming out of a five year old’s mouth instead of a twenty four year old woman’s. She turned to the owner of the cafe, a gentle smile on her lips.

    “Good morning, Chorong.”

    “Same to you, too. How’s my favorite barista doing? Did you have a good night?”

    Chorong jumped onto the counter and crossed her legs, leaning back onto her arms. Irene was indeed early today, so they still had time to spare before the cafe had to be opened.

    “Yes. It wasn’t that bad this time,” Irene replied, absentmindedly rubbing at her right wrist.

    Irene looked up when she heard Chorong lightly jump off the counter and make her way towards her. She didn’t reject the girl when she gently took a hold of Irene’s right arm and inspected the inside of her wrist. Irene could see the faint scars on pale skin, along with fresher scratches over them - though not too recent.

    “You weren’t lying. That’s good. Try not to do it too much, hm? You’re doing a good job.”

    Irene nodded like a child, grinning at Chorong to reassure the slightly older girl.

    “I’ll try.”

    Irene jumped slightly when the new chime Chorong set up rang, and she looked over to the door to see Bomi and Joy walk in.

    “Hey, unnies!”

    Irene smiled and waved at the two girls, but then froze when Chorong suddenly flashed past her and then gave what looked like an extremely painful punch into Bomi’s stomach. The younger girl let out a gasp of air before crumpling over, holding her abdomen. The once peaceful cafe erupted into gasps of breath, Joy’s cackling laughter, and Chorong’s childish yelling.

    “Yah! Pabomi! You were supposed to be here earlier! I told you yesterday, didn’t I?! Huh?!”

    “I w-woke up late,” Bomi stuttered out, obviously still trying to get her breath back.

    Irene made her way out from behind the counter and walked up to Joy who was still laughing like a maniac. She stood beside the giant of a girl, watching the scene unfold in front of her. The laughter beside her died away, and Irene looked over to Joy who was now smiling at her, wiping at the tears that had sprang out from her deranged laughter.

    “Oh, hey, Rene unnie,” Joy said, seeming to regain her composure.

    “Hi, Joy.”

    “You always wake up late, you idiot!” Chorong huffed, before running her fingers through her hair. She sighed. “Whatever, we have to get started now. One more time, Yoon Bomi, and you’re going to end up under these floorboards. You hear me?”

    “Yes ma’am!” Bomi said, saluting the manager.

    “Oh yeah, and we’re having a new musician coming in around one today, so be ready for that. Alright, come on, girls. Hurry up! We don’t have all day!”

~~

    The cafe was hectic as usual as Chorong’s business had become famous a few years back. Irene had been there to watch. One of the aspects that the cafe was famous for was the pretty, idol-level girls that worked it. Irene had to agree - for the other girls working around her, of course. She smiled as she watched the bustling cafe from behind the counter. She didn’t like crowded areas, but being behind the scenes gave her a faux sense of security. And anyway, after five years, she had sort of gotten used to it. But her sense of security was broken when Joy suddenly called out to her.

    “Rene unnie! Man the register for me for a sec! We’ve got a spill over there!”

    Irene jumped slightly at her name, but then quickly nodded when she met eyes with Joy.

    “O-Okay.”

    Irene had had to do this a few times before, but only when there hadn’t been much people around. But at the moment, the cafe was filled, and she began to feel panic set in. Trembling slightly, her left hand automatically went for her right wrist and began scratching. Her nails were always cut to blunt ends so when she scratched herself she wouldn’t do too much damage, but the scratching still affected her.

    “Regular coffee,” a man’s low voice said.

    Irene was immediately spurred to life, and she forced her hand to drop away from her wrist.

    “W-Would you like it iced?”

    “A regular coffee. What don’t you understand? I’m in a hurry. Make it quick.”

    The man’s voice was sharp, and had an edge of annoyance to it, and that only made Irene all the more flustered as she punched in the order, but got it wrong.

    “What the hell is this? I asked for a regular coffee, god damn it!”