Another day, another close, Seungwan thinks to herself glumly, looking up at the bright neon lights of the late night sushi spot she supervises at. No doubt, her hair smelled of spilled soy sauce and her fingers were still sticky with rice residue. A particularly nasty customer’s face materializes in her head and she frowns the memory away. It’s hard, but she’s been working on shaking more things off and take her friend, Seulgi’s advice.

There’s no point in holding onto something that’s already happened. There’s just some people in the world you’ll never be able to please, especially those who just want to wreak havoc on others. Lately, people have been crueler than usual and Seungwan’s doing her best to make her peace with that sentiment if only to keep herself from spontaneously combusting.

Her hand instinctively reaches into her pocket, ensuring her set of keys are nestled safely in their usual spot. She’s locked her keys inside the shop more than a few times before and with the way today panned out, Seungwan didn’t want to hassle any of the other supervisors to bail her out of her bad luck again. Seulgi’s too many times for her forgetfulness and she was not in the mood for playful chiding. Luckily, her fingers scrape against icy cold metal, and her heart rate dials back down to a steady rhythm.

It looked like tonight, Seungwan had a firm grasp on both her keys and her sanity. She fit the key into the lock and yanked at the door handle a few times to double-check it was secure. Her shoulders sagged with relief once she confirmed they were indeed tightly shut. The young Canadian woman was quickly tiring of nine hour workdays - they were beginning to take their toll. That being said, she’s sure no one in their right mind would actually enjoy being stuck inside a six by four box, watching as the day gives way to night.

Student loan debt is a helluva thing, Seungwan thinks grimly to herself. She lets herself zone out a little, hand still resting on the icy door handle, barely registering how frigid it is against her skin. The cogs and gears of her mind were finally slowing down after a long day on her feet. Her thoughts began to pour out into a slow, jumbled panic of, ‘Is it normal for my knees to be aching this much?’ to ‘Great, I just turned twenty-five and now I’m afraid of spraining a muscle if I speed walk too fast down the sidewalk’ until finally: ‘Where am I ever going to find a sugar mommy to pay for my knee replacement surgery?’

“Unnie!” A loud voice groans behind her, “It’s freezing out here. Hurry up!” Seungwan can’t help but crack a smile at the sound of the childish nagging. Tonight, she worked with one of her favorite hostesses, Kim Yeri. Yeri was a spirited college student with almond shaped eyes, chestnut brown hair. She walked around with a smile plastered across her face that suggests she’s already one step ahead of everyone else. Seungwan wouldn’t doubt she was for a second.

The young woman held the artful grace of someone who wasn’t afraid of taking charge when others remained sluggish and unaware. Her cunning wit was sharp and honed and she often whipped it out when necessary. To Seungwan, hiring her had been a blessing in disguise. She saw the college student as the somewhat annoying little sister she never had.

“Wait, you mean you don’t wanna turn into a human popsicle with me?” Seungwan teases the girl as she slips the store keys back into her purse. She flashes Yeri a grin and they trudge towards the parking lot. “I was kind of hoping we’d go, what’s that word, viral?” Yeri scoffs playfully, “Whatever you say, unnie. That’s not how memes work.” The college student impatiently shifts her weight from one foot to the other, shivering and clenching her puffer jacket close to her small frame.

They brush shoulders as they make their way towards Seungwan’s car. “If that’s what it takes for us to get home at a decent hour, I’m down.” Seungwan rolls her eyes, feigning exasperation. “You know I could just let you walk to the next bus stop, Yerim. I don’t necessarily have to give you a ride.” Yeri laughs lightly but throws a sharp glance Seungwan’s way. “You wouldn’t dare, unnie,” she says matter of factly, “The sheer amount of goodness in your heart wouldn’t let you.”

Seungwan hums in agreement and with the push of a button, her modest Hyundai sedan unlocks. The pair clamber inside and Yeri immediately blasts the heater and flips on the seat warmers, familiar with the controls. She flips through the radio station channels absentmindedly while Seungwan slowly peels out of the parking lot.

The sidewalks of the bustling college town are practically deserted by this time of night. Empty pavement with empty shadows. Finals week was lingering around the corner, keeping most students holed up in their dorms, studying their lives away. Seungwan remembers those times, only a few years in the past. With the street lamps illuminating the way, Seungwan tries to think of the last time she remembers going home while the sun was still in the sky to no avail.

Yeri starts humming along to a popular radio tune and Seungwan joins in softly to keep her mind off of things. She’s taken the route to Yeri’s bus stop so frequently that her muscle memory sometimes kicks in on days when she isn’t even dropping the younger woman off. “So what’s on your mind, unnie?” Yeri asks during a commercial break. She cranks down the volume. “You’ve been awfully quiet today. Is everything alright?”

Seungwan keeps her eyes trained on the road in front of her, but she can still feel Yeri’s questioning gaze burning the side of her face. “Well,” she eventually heaves a sigh, “I think I’m getting a little tired of all this.” She waves her free hand in the air, her body warming with embarrassment. “You know, the late nights, the long hours, the...cyclicality of it all. It feels like all my days are the same. Like I’m just stuck waiting for the next thing. I just know there’s more to life out there than that but I just can’t get there yet.”

Silence fills the car. Seungwan feels herself beginning to sweat, suddenly nervous as to what Yeri might be thinking. As if on cue, the car rolls to a halt just a few feet away from the bus stop. Seungwan clears and dares to turn her head to find Yeri staring at her with a