Early morning sunlight filtered through the blinds that covered the windows in Seungwan’s combined kitchen and living room. It projected small slats of light onto the tile floors that Seungwan steadied her gaze on as she sat on her small couch, waiting for Joohyun to pick her up. She had gotten up earlier than usual, as she had not been told a time to be ready by and she knew Joohyun typically went into the office earlier than eight thirty. She was desperate to make sure Joohyun had no reason to enter her apartment building and come knock at her door, so she planned on bolting down the steps and out to the sidewalk the minute she saw the silver Volvo arrive. Seungwan reached behind her and opened the blinds, peering outside and down at the sidewalk. No parked cars in sight, but plenty of people were walking the sidewalk and cars sped down the street by the dozen. None looked like Joohyun’s car.

    Seungwan sighed, leaning back against the couch cushion. She was in the largest room of her apartment, which was not saying much. It was both her kitchen and living room, and it housed a small, used couch from Goodwill, a coffee table she had found at a rummage sale, a lamp that sat on said coffee table that she had had since she was a teenager, a small kitchen table (also from Goodwill), and a fridge and microwave that came with the apartment if you paid extra for them. Her bedroom was small, and there was only room for her twin bed and a small dresser. The bathroom was so cramped she hardly had room to move, and she thanked God every time she went in there that she was so small because she could hardly imagine anyone taller than five foot one using it comfortably. Seungwan glanced out the window again and spotted Joohyun’s car moving down the road, watching her slow down to pull into a parking spot. She bolted up from her seat, snatched her purse up off the floor, and hurried out the door. She fumbled with her keys as she moved to lock her apartment up, and forced herself to take a deep breath as she managed to get the key in. After she heard the definitive click of the lock, she took off down the stairs and out the door, immediately beginning to shiver in the early morning air.

    Joohyun’s car was parked right in front of the apartment building, and when Seungwan reached for the handle she found the car already unlocked. She hoped Joohyun had not been sitting with the doors unlocked the whole time she’d been waiting. Grateful for the heat of the car, Seungwan quickly shut the door behind her, still trembling slightly from the cold. “How can you have left the house without a coat on?” Joohyun asked incredulously, skipping any semblance of a formal greeting. “It’s absolutely freezing out.”

    Seungwan looked over to Joohyun, who focused her eyes on the road as she pulled away from the curb and back out into traffic. She had on a deep purple pea coat and a gray scarf, even in the warmth of the car. Seungwan did not wear a coat over her work clothes, which consisted of a long sleeve white button up and gray dress pants. She refused to wear the coat she did own out in public because it was full of holes and tears, so it really did nothing to protect her from the cold anyways and she was embarrassed by the fact she couldn’t afford a new one. “I forgot.” Seungwan lied, her heart aching in her chest at the dishonesty.

    “Oh dear.” Was all Joohyun said in reply. Silence settled over the pair as they rode down the streets, buildings blurring as they increased speed when Joohyun to a main road. The walk that took Seungwan thirty minutes everyday was less than a ten minute drive in Joohyun’s car. She parked the car in the lot behind the building, making sure the car was perfectly in the lines. Seungwan checked the car’s clock, which told her it was eight seventeen. There was only one other car there. As Seungwan reached to open the car door and get out, Joohyun stopped her. “Wait,” She said, leaning and reaching into her backseat, grabbing a black coat and pressing it into Seungwan’s hands. “So you don’t get cold.”

    “You’re the only person I know who would keep an extra coat in the backseat of her car.” Seungwan commented, clutching the coat in her hands.

    “Well lucky thing I do, because someone was forgetful this morning.” Joohyun teased back, making Seungwan smile softly. “Aren’t you going to put it on?” Seungwan slipped the coat on, and it fit well, settling on her shoulders in just the right way. It was warm and it smelled of lavender, which she figured was the fabric softener Joohyun must use.

    “Thank you.” Seungwan said quietly.

    “It’s nothing Seungwan-ah. Anything to help a friend.” Joohyun replied just as quietly, smiling before turning to get out of the car. Seungwan went out her respective door and met Joohyun around the other side of the car. The coat did keep Seungwan much warmer; she hardly felt the cold wind anywhere but her face. They made their way up to the door together and went inside, Seungwan following Joohyun up the stairs to the second floor. Joohyun pushed the door open and called out, “Sooyoung? Seulgi?”

    “Ah, Joohyun unnie!” Sooyoung said from the kitchen. Joohyun and Seungwan stepped inside and shut the door behind them. “I wondered where you were, you’ve never gotten here after us.” Seungwan followed Joohyun into the kitchen and saw both Sooyoung and Seulgi leaning against the counter, drinking coffee.

    “I was picking Seungwan up.” Joohyun explained as she went to the coffee maker. She poured a cup, put the lid on, and handed it to Seungwan, who accepted it with a small thank you. She then began pouring her own cup.

    “Oh really?” Seulgi asked. “Well that’s nice of you.”

    “You say that like I don’t often do nice things.” Joohyun said back, making Seulgi laugh.

    “Come on you know that’s not what I meant.” She assured the older woman, who laughed alongside her friend. The office door creaked open and Yeri came bustling in, hair mussed from the wind and her cheeks rosy from the cold.

    “What, now I’m the late one?” She said, looking at the four women already in the kitchen. “I thought I could count on Seungwan unnie to be later than me.”

    “Joohyun gave Seungwan a ride this morning.” Seulgi told Yeri in her usual sweet voice.

“Oh!” Yeri said brightly, sliding her coat off and tucking it over her arm. “Well then it doesn’t count because that’s Joohyun being extra punctual, not Seungwan.”

“Whatever you say, Yerim.” Sooyoung laughed, picking her coffee cup up off the counter. “I’m going to have to excuse myself to go and make a phone call.” She gave Seulgi’s shoulder a light squeeze and then walked off to her office.

“I should probably get to work as well.” Seulgi said, watching Sooyoung until her office door shut. She turned towards Yeri. “You too, kid.” She joked, making Yeri grin. “You’re not getting college credit for nothing.” Seulgi smiled and put a hand on Yeri’s shoulder, the pair walking together towards Seulgi’s office.

“And then there were two.” Joohyun said, sipping from her coffee. Seungwan grinned at the joke. “Are you still hoping to come to the trial with me?”

“If you’d still like me to come.” Seungwan watched Joohyun lean back against the counter, holding her coffee delicately.

“Of course I would.” Joohyun replied, looking up at Seungwan. Her dark eyes seemed full of light all of the sudden. “We’ll leave at noon, get lunch, and then go down to the courthouse.”

“Okay.” Seungwan agreed. Their eyes steadied on each other, a comfortable stare, as they studied one another. Seungwan felt at ease with Joohyun, and she hardly felt at ease with anyone. Something about the older woman’s gentle nature made it easy to trust her. “Let me give you your coat back.” Seungwan said, sliding the coat off.

“No, keep it.” Joohyun insisted, pushing herself off the counter. “I don’t need it, and besides it suits you.” Seungwan had many things she wanted to say, though none of them seemed right. She felt odd, accepting a gift like this from her boss, but at the end of the day she didn’t just consider Joohyun her boss; Joohyun was her friend too, a friend she had made quickly but felt as though she had known forever.

“Thank you, Miss Bae.” Seungwan settled on a simple thank you, though she wanted to say more. Joohyun gave her a half smile in response before heading off to her office. Seungwan trailed behind her, sitting down at her desk and beginning her work day.