“So, how’s Bubble doing?”

Jongdae asks as Yong-sun pours hot coffee into two big cups, in the silent break room of their work place. She takes a sip of her own cup, shrugging slightly at the question, as her colleague seems to fiddle with something in the pockets of his black trousers. “Fine, as always. Hyejin knows what she does.” answers the cat-owner, thinking about the way she has left her babies alone, once again.

“And Mr. Stache?”

Of course, Jongdae would ask about Mr. Stache. He is the one who offered her the cat to ease the pain of her breakup, after all.

“You sound like a father worrying about his child going on holiday with a stranger.” She remarks in an amused sing-song voice as her colleague crosses his arms and sits at a table to have his meal, taking out a plastic box filled with stinky yellow-white cubes; Jongdae smiles, a smile that is curly on the edge, and the corner of his eyes are wrinkling. He always looks like an imp, she thinks, as she looks at her

“Are you coming to the welcome party, tonight?” He asks, looking up from his meal to catch Yong-sun’s eyes.

She blinks and looks at her colleague, brows knitting in surprise. “A welcome party?”

“Yeah, we’re welcoming the new members in our service.” He adds, taking more food. “Will you come? I can come to your place and bring you there.”

Young-sun looks at him for seconds, trying to come up with an excuse to not go to the party she was invited to; but she knows it is impossible to say no, because Jongdae perfectly knows that she has nothing to do in the evening. It would not be so wrong to tell that he is one of the people who knows her best.

“I’ll come around 8 pm.” He says after what seems like forever, stirring is food with his small plastic chopsticks, pinching another white cube between them and bringing it to his mouth.

“How do you ever manage to eat this?”

“It’s good.”

“But it stinks.”

She catches him whispering something about not getting a proper answer, but she decides to ignore the mumbles of her colleague to go back to work, leaving him alone with his food as she pretends having something important to do, looking at the small golden wristwatch she is wearing.

It is not the first time that Jongdae is acting so stupidly, she thinks. She does not care about welcome parties, she never has, and everyone seems to want her to be around new people, and this is precisely what she does not want. The mere idea of meeting someone again is making her dizzy, but the wrong way. She remembers Eric, his smile and the way he was looking at her. Then, her memories turn gray, as bits of their last argument come back into her mind, distracting her from her computer screen, where an open calculator tab is ready for input. When are they all going to stop with this?

She looks up only to discover the familiar face of her boss, who is giving her a dirty look from afar, her long, caramel hair tied in a bun on top of her head. She looks like an angry bulldog, although she must be no older than thirty. The fact that her desktop is located right in front of hers does not help hiding the fact that she is not working at that moment, and the accountant goes back to her calculations and lists, with the help of the math program.   

It does not help her to feel better, though. As she inputs numbers and functions in the table, associating numbers and tables one after the other, Yong-sun’s mind keeps drifting away, wondering whether Jongdae was serious about coming home to take her to the party.  She then realizes that her colleague has never failed to honor a promise he has made, and that he will certainly be coming, even if it is to find her unprepared and looking like a bag of trash, which already is a bit unusual for her.

Therefore, she stands in front of her mirror again a few hours later, gazing blankly at the way her little black dress is falling around her thighs, unveiling her white and milky shoulders. Her hair is still up in a ponytail as she approaches the mirror, stabbing some red lipstick on the center of her lower lip before smearing it softly with her middle finger. That seems just right, she thinks, adding a touch of mascara.

If she really is to meet new people tonight, she must be good to look at.

As the bell rings, at 8 pm, she stands up, the head of Cherry, which then pokes her hand with her tiny, pinky nose and follows her to the door. Jondgae is standing there, wearing his eternal black suit. “Do you even have other clothes?” She asks, raising a made-up eyebrow as she lets out a soft, dolphin-like laughter.

He laughs back, eyes crinkling in their corner as he enters, looking around. “Are you ready?”

“I have to.” She sighs deeply, faking contempt. “I knew you would come even if I refused.”

“You were right.” Jongdae bends to Cherry’s head, then lets the purring white fur ball go back to her nap on the couch.

They leave the apartment shortly afterwards and jumps into Jongdae’s car. The drive is silent, except for the questions he asks her as she looks through the window, contemplating the night that has fallen on the town, its shadow swallowing everything around. These are basics questions about the cats, her neighbor; basically, all the things they discuss every day.

“You should undo your hair.” He finally says, looking straight in front of him, as they arrive in front of the hall where the party is taking place.

“Why so? They look good this way.”

She leaves the car before he has the time to answer, trailing her gaze around, cringing at the sight of the crowd. She swears it is the last time she agrees to follow Jongdae to a place like this, even for a welcome party.

It is only when they are heading for the entrance of the restaurant that Yong-sun notices the person coming over them. A person wearing the same black suit than Jongdae, thick black-framed glasses and a black bow tie, with hair falling on each sides of his face. She looks at him with widened eyes. She must be hallucinating.

Author Note: I'm feeling a bit low, but I hope some of you like this anyway. Have a wonderful day y'all ! ♥