Chapter Six  

——————

Two months later 

Her hand pushed the glass door open. The bells rang as she did. One ear had an earphone and the other didn’t have anything in. Her phone was tucked into the back pocket in her jeans. They were worn out and ripped from the knees. ‘Don’t tell me it’s okay,’ She said to her friend through the phone. ‘It was never okay.’ 

She stood behind a boy in the row before the cashier. As he finished with his order, she came up next. ‘Ahm, I want one black coffee grande, one—‘ She looked to the right to look at the food displayed. She hesitated then she chose to have one brownies and one croissant. 

‘You’re gonna eat all that?’ 

‘Shut up, Hyejin.’ Suran had to wave at the barista and point at her phone. 

Alerted, Hyejin asked right away, hoping the answer awaits will be a yes. ‘Wait, tell me you’re going to head home with whatever you ordered.’ 

She paid then she went to a table near the window, round with low chairs. She crossed her legs after putting her bag carefully on the chair across hers. ‘I just told you that I went to Nayeon’s bachelor’s party that she didn’t care to invite me in and I looked literally like . You can’t suddenly change the subject.’ 

Hyejin replied with surprise in her voice. ‘ her.’ 

Suran blinked, offended. She couldn’t get why Hyejin is unable to understand the situation. ‘ her? I humiliated myself by going there. I looked extremely ugly amongst the others. The girls, they were all there. Soyeon, Yuji, Jieun, Eunmi. Everyone was there like a high-school reunion but everyone looked tremendously beautiful and somewhat accomplished.’ 

Suran attended a place for work. However, it turned to be the bachelor party for a girl that once was a friend but not anymore. Usually, when you meet someone from your past, you want to look your best for them. You want to let that person see how you lived your life and you want it to show on you. That I lived well so far. That I have a good job kind of look. That my life has never been better kind of feeling. 

Suran looked the opposite of all of that, especially when she came with her hair, kind of greasy, her clothes were yesterday’s clothes. Her jeans was a little baggy from the knees. ‘Oh lord, I don’t even want to remember.’ 

‘Oh my god, Suran. You talk like I care or it’s a big of a deal.’ Her friend’s voice made her roll her eyes, still not approving on her friend’s point whatsoever. ‘Tell me when was the last time you had a good sleep?’ 

A slightly tall girl with an apron on walked to her table with a tray. Suran smiled as she imagined the smell and taste of coffee. She needed that. ‘That’s not the point, Hyejin.’ 

‘It is!’ 

Suran murmured a thank you. She took her laptop from her bag. She had some work to do, some editing and some sorting. ‘I don’t know, but I woke up 8 in the morning.’ 

‘You should head home and get some sleep.’ Like the good friend she is, Hyejin advised her friend to go and leave everything behind. 

‘I can’t even if I wanted to. I have a photoshoot session in an hour. It’d be a waste to go all the way home then come again, wouldn’t it?’ 

Suran’s eyes were sending invisible hearts toward the cup of coffee in her hands. She sipped a little and bit her lips because she got burned. 

A few moments of silence before her friend commented with worry clear in her voice. ‘I fear you’d collapse one day from overworking.’ 

‘I will not, don’t worry.’ 

She walked with alert eyes at the signs. ‘I will make left then I will have a barber shop, I take the stairs— Ah here they are.’ 

She’s never been to this part of the city. Everything is new. She just hung from her boss urging her of the importance of this photoshoot. The owner of the brand in the commercial she’s going to shoot is a dear friend of her boss’s. 

She glimpsed a car, a familiar car on the parking lot. ‘It can’t be.’ She stopped to take a good look at it. 

Due to the piling girls screaming with different signs, Suran learned she will deal with idols probably. That will be her first time to do so. 

Suran had a file in her hand. The plan of the photoshoots including the concepts, the colors, and a general idea depicted in some doodles. She contacted someone who was in the building now about the details concerning the commercial. 

She came an hour earlier and set all her things in place. She’s undone her hair and did it again. The idols were getting their make-up done and there when Suran interfered. ‘That’s too much make up.’ 

Suran said that because she likes to deliver naturalness in her work. 

She heard a scoff. ‘Said the person who looks like .’ It was more of a murmur with someone else but it wasn’t directed to her. She was sure that everyone heard so she thought she had to do something about it. However, she couldn’t say a thing. 

She went to the stylist and told her to lighten the make up on the girls’ faces. It appeared that the person who made that comment is the owner of the product to be advertised. 

After 15 minutes of being behind the camera, she came to the stylist angry and told her to re-do the make-up. Then she was told that the photographer said so. ‘If I told you to do something, you’d do it. She’s here to do her job, and so are you.’ 

Suran was holding the camera, unmoving. She didn’t even bother to take a look at Suran, which made her a little flustered. 

‘Excuse me,’ Suran walked to her, tapping her shoulder. ‘What exactly you didn’t like about it?’ Suran said that so she can understand her point and try and break the parallel lines. 

She turned, nose high in arrogance. Usua