Pushing the bathroom door, Hana walked briskly to the sink at the end. It was fortunate that the bathroom was empty at that moment, but she knows it won’t be for long. The end of work day is inching closer, and with that colleagues would start appearing to freshen up before making their way home or otherwise. In the meantime, she is grateful for the privacy.

She gripped the edge of the countertop, staring blindly at the white porcelain bowl while taking deep breaths through her diaphragm. Counting slowly and silently, she released each breath and welcome the calmness that seeped back. Her breathing slowed to an even pace after several minutes. Splashing some cold water on her face, Hana stared at her reflection. The face staring back reflected the tension in her body. Biting her lips, she fought the stinging at the back of her eyes.

Despite her efforts, the hostility in the office is getting to her. Her manager has clearly set on making her life difficult as his KPI. He has several times discredit her during meetings, trashed her work, refused to listen to proposed changes that were accepted at head office and make it a point to give her last minute work. Especially at the end of a working week. She just left a discussion where the work she has been spending late hours for the past few days was asked to revise in a totally different format. And he wanted it done before the end of that day.

The stress and frustration is bringing her to her knees. Sumin is unsure how much more can she take it. It has been hard trying to keep it together alone. She needed Sehun badly, or at least his voice for reassurance and comfort. But he is in Europe and would only be back the following week. Although she missed him so terribly and desperately needed him , Sumin won’t call. She doesn’t want to worry and   Breathing out loudly, she psyched herself to hang in there until she hears from him.

Late! Late! Late!

Sumin rushed out of the office, her head scanning the area quickly to decide on whether to take the train or a taxi. Noticing that several people were already trying to flag taxi, she decided on the train. After shooting a quick apology to Yerim, she managed to get into a train.

The past couple of hours were intense. She managed to complete the revision after shutting out all distraction and just focus on the work. Her eyes barely moved away from the two screens on her desk. But the intensity of the past hours has left her feeling the tension in her body and head. She needs to hold back the imploding migraine attack for a few more hours as the dinner with Yerim and her boyfriend is important. Yerim has been there for her and Sehun since the very start, and Sumin vowed to be that for her best friend. In fact, she is looking forward to get to know the guy that managed to snag Yerim’s heart. He must be special.

Arriving at the restaurant, Sumin gave a quick smile at the host and informed her that she is dining with a friend. Glancing quickly through the interior of the restaurant, she looked for Yemin and her boyfriend. Immediately her eyes latched on the wave from Yerim, but was surprised that she was seated alone.

“Hey, so sorry I’m late,” Sumin apologized as she sat down in front of Yerim after a quick hug.

Grinning in happiness at seeing her friend, Yerim gave a quick shake of her head to dismiss the apology. “What did the slave driver do today?” Yerim is very much aware of how Sumin is badly treated by her boss with heavy workload and frequent last minute dumping of urgent works, especially just before the end of the week. She had half expected the tardiness. But it frustrates her that Sumin chose to prove to her boss that she can handle it instead of telling him off. That was so typical of her friend.

Shrugging, Sumin just mumble, “The usual.” She doesn’t want to think of problem and rather focus on enjoying the dinner date.

“Hey, where Jeonghyun?”

Immediately the smile dropped and Yerim grimaced. She is annoyed. And embarrassed. This is the second dinner with Sumin that her boyfriend had bailed out at the last minute. Another unexpected work in the office. They argued over the phone but to no avail. Jeonghyun doesn’t seem to appreciate the importance of Sumin in her life.   

“He sent his apology. Work.. you know.. the  usual,” she smiled apologetically.

As expected, Sumin took it well and joked that third time will be the charm. Admittedly that she was disappointed about the missed opportunity again. But she could see Yerim was pretty upset about the no show. Not wanting to be the spanner in their relat