Seungwan woke to late morning sunlight filling her bedroom the Friday after Thanksgiving. She typically woke up before ten, even on weekends, but she had slept past eleven. She chalked it up the wine she’d had during dinner, as she had always gotten quiet sleepy after a night of drinking in high school and college. She let out a soft sigh, peering around her bedroom through half lidded eyes. Her dress and shoes from the night before were strewn across the floor, and the black coat she now always wore out was slung across the bottom right corner of her bed. She sat up, the blankets covering her falling down and pooling in her lap as she reached and snatched up the coat, bringing the soft fabric to her and breathing in deeply. It now smelled of lavender again, which is what she had been hoping for. Seungwan got out of bed entirely, picking her dress up off the floor and breathing in the scent of that cloth as well, identifying lavender again. It all smelled of Joohyun, which put Seungwan immediately at ease. She did not want the scent to fade again. She set the garments down at the end of her bed and went to retrieve her phone, which told her she a new message from a number not saved in her contacts. It read:

    Hi Seungwan, it’s Joohyun. I know you don’t have my phone number, but I found yours in your employee file so I could message you. Thank you for last night, it was very sweet of you to spend your holiday with me. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend! I’ll see you on Monday morning. :)

    Seungwan grinned reading the message, laughing a little to herself at the smiley face Joohyun had added to the end. The previous night had not felt real, had felt so dreamlike Seungwan had nearly convinced herself it truly had been a figment of her sleeping mind’s imagination, but now she had two pieces of tangible proof the night had been real; the lingering scent of Joohyun on her clothing and the text message now awaiting a response. She began typing her reply.

    Hi! Thank you for the message, and for dinner last night. It was really nice to get to spend time with you out of the office. Enjoy your weekend and don’t work too hard. See you Monday!!

    She left off any name, as she was now unsure when she was allowed to call her boss Joohyun and when to revert back to her previous formalities. She didn’t know if the privilege of using Joohyun was reserved for that night only and was never to be repeated or if outside the office she could be casual with her employer. Seungwan slipped her phone into the pocket of the worn sweatpants she used as her pajama bottoms and made her way out into the kitchen. She made herself a mug of coffee and went with it to the living room, sitting down on the couch and opening up her blinds so the light of the morning could illuminate her apartment. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she took it out immediately, seeing a new text from Joohyun.

    You left your cake pan at my house, do you need it this weekend? Or should I just bring it to you on Monday?

    The question was so very Joohyun; Seungwan could almost see her boss’s furrowed brow as she worried over what to do with Seungwan’s property left in the wrong place. She composed her response quickly, smiling to herself as she did so.

    I don’t need it haha, Monday is fine. Thank you for the concern though.

    As she sent her reply, she settled back against the cushion of the couch and sipped her coffee, contemplating what to do with her weekend. She had gotten her paycheck early, before she had left on Wednesday, so she figured she could grocery shop for the following week. Maybe she could see if Yeri wanted to get lunch the next day. She would find ways to occupy herself no matter what. As the morning waxed on, Seungwan found herself glancing every so often out the window and down to the curb, then to the cars cruising by her apartment complex. It hit her as she finished her first mug of coffee - she was subconsciously waiting for Joohyun’s silver car to pull up, because that had become her routine every single day. The thought that she wouldn’t see that sight for three days made her heart ache. She missed Joohyun already, and it had not even been a day since she had last seen her.

    Seungwan often wondered why she had become so fond of her boss. She had been working for Joohyun just over a month, but she felt incredibly attached to the office and to Joohyun as well. She was so overwhelmingly kind to Seungwan; she offered rides, meals, her coat, and she did all of it without complaint. Seungwan could not fathom what she did to deserve someone like Joohyun in her life, but she knew for certain she would not take it for granted. She considered Joohyun an angel on earth. Knowing Joohyun’s track record, Seungwan knew her metaphorical expiration date as Joohyun’s secretary was looming over her head. Yeri had told her most secretaries only lasted about a month or two, and she was inching closer and closer to a month and a half everyday. Deciding not to worry about a problem that wasn’t happening yet, Seungwan got up and took her mug to the kitchen sink, rinsing it out and setting it in the dish rack. She sighed, thinking of the weekend ahead of her, and for the first time in all her life she wished it was Monday already.

~

Monday morning started with a knock on Seungwan’s door. She bolted upright in bed, her breath labored, hoping she had imagined the knock. A moment later two more knocks came, and she felt her heart rate pick up rapidly. Her mind was still half clouded with sleep, but she knew one thing; nobody ever knocked at her door. She slipped out of bed and cautiously went to the door, pulling it open a sliver and peering out. Joohyun, dressed in her work clothes, looked back at her with bright eyes. “Hi.” She said.

“Hi.” Seungwan said back hoarsely.

“You usually come out to the car right away, but you didn’t this morning, so after a little while I came up and knocked.” Joohyun explained. It hit Seungwan all at once; she had overslept, Joohyun had been waiting on her for awhile now, and now Joohyun was here, at her small, dingy apartment, looking at her as she was still donning her old, worn pajamas.

“.” Was the first thing out of Seungwan’s mouth, and Joohyun’s eyes widened at her profanity. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I messed up.” Joohyun looked almost sad at Seungwan’s sudden nervous outburst. “I have to run and get dressed but I’ll be quick, I swear.” A beat. “You need to come in, it’s a bad idea to linger in the hallways.” She opened the door all the way and Joohyun stepped inside. “My neighbors aren’t the nicest.” Seungwan rushed off and dressed quicker than she ever had before, pausing only to make sure the black coat was settled the right way so the collar was high enough to cover her neck. She ran back out to meet Joohyun in her living room.

“Your apartment is very you.” Joohyun commented softly as Seungwan rejoined her and they went out the door and down the stairs.

“What do you mean?” Seungwan asked as she held the front door open for Joohyun, watching as big snowflakes immediately nestled themselves into Joohyun’s dark hair.

“Tidy, but not in an orderly way, in a way where you only keep the necessities.” Joohyun explained, though Seungwan still did not quite know where this observation came from, or why it was important right now. They got into Joohyun’s car and sped off towards the office.

There was silence for a few minutes until Seungwan blurted out, “I’m so sorry I was late, I accidentally overslept because I forgot to turn my alarms back on and I usually try so hard to get out to your car quickly but I just-” She stopped as she ran out of breath, finishing meekly with, “-didn’t. Today.”

“Seungwan-ah, it’s okay, I promise.” Joohyun reassured her, her voice as warm as ever. “I don’t know why this has you so upset. Have I done something to make you think I would punish you in some way for something so small?” There was a bit of hurt under the concern in her voice, and Seungwan hated to hear it, hated even more to know it was because of her own assumptions about Joohyun.

“I…” Seungwan did not want to explain, did not want to detail her obsession with how to not get fired, did not want to tell Joohyun she knew about all the secretaries before her and had tried every avenue of getting information about why they were fired and had still turned up empty so she had resorted to walking on eggshells. She even more desperately did not want to explain that she was just plain embarrassed of her apartment, and how small it was, where it was located.

“You don’t have to be afraid.” Joohyun murmured, sneaking a look at Seungwan.

“I was scared you would fire me, or something.” Seungwan mumbled. “And I didn’t want you to see how gross my apartment is.” Joohyun let out the smallest of breaths, though it held the weight of her feelings and Seungwan knew that. She could see the sadness reflecting in Joohyun’s eyes when she finally gathered the courage to look up at the woman.

“You thought I would fire you.” Joohyun did not pose this as a question, it was a clear statement, but Seungwan nodded anyways. Joohyun sighed out a soft, “Seungwan.” There was a long moment of silence where Seungwan was scared she might start crying, and then Joohyun said, “I’m sorry I gave you the impression I was that cruel.”

“No, Joohyun,” Seungwan looked up at her, desperation evident in her voice. “I don’t think you’re cruel at all. You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met. I’ve just...heard stuff. About the secretaries before me.”

“Oh.” Joohyun whispered. Seungwan could’ve sworn there were tears welling up in Joohyun’s eyes, but a moment later they seemed to have vanished. They pulled into the office parking lot just then, and Joohyun parked the car but made no attempt to move. “As far as your apartment goes, I’ve never thought less of you because of the area you live in. I wish I had made that more known to you.”

“I’m sorry.” Seungwan whispered softly, a tear slipping down her cheek. Joohyun’s gentle hand came to her shoulder, her thumb rubbing back and forth in hopes of comforting the younger woman.

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for.” Joohyun replied, the emphasis on the you making Seungwan’s heart drop. Joohyun took a deep breath and said, “When you’re ready we’ll go in, there’s no rush.”

“No, I’m okay.” Seungwan said, trying to convince herself. “I’m okay.” She repeated. She wiped her tears away quickly. “I’m good.” Joohyun just watched her, so Seungwan made the first move out of the car. Joohyun followed hesitantly, trailing behind Seungwan as they went into the building and up to the office. Seungwan pushed opened the office door and Joohyun came in behind her, white knuckling her purse. She walked straight to her office and by the time Seungwan reached her own desk she heard the lock click on Joohyun’s office door.