Chapter 2

Subtle voices from the beauty show Hwasa was watching, calming music from Wheein’s MMO game, and the scratching sound of Seulgi’s pencil against her sketchpad engulfed the whole waiting area of To Go Service shop. It was a lazy afternoon for the three employees. With no job at the moment, it was typical for them to just lounge and wait for walk-in requests.

No one was talking to each other. Everyone was busy doing their own thing when Moonbyul came out of her office. Just by the office door, she stood on one leg as she watched the three women, too focused to notice her presence.

Moonbyul let out a fake cough, trying to get the three’s attention. She definitely succeeded in her attempt as everyone looked to find the where the growl came from.

But.

Just as how every employee should treat their boss, the three does the exact opposite – ignoring Moonbyul and turning back to continue their individual activities without a word.

Moonbyul was not at all enraged by their actions, she was just a “little” annoyed.

Maintaining her calm as always, Moonbyul retorted, “Seems like I’ll have to hire three new employees by the end of the day huh.”

Everyone immediately stopped in their tracks, all turning to look at Moonbyul again. “We’re just trying to annoy you unni. Chill.” Seulgi said, knowing Moonbyul’s spontaneity, it’s not impossible for her to just actually fire the three of them.

One proof is the fact that Moonbyul has already fired Hwasa not only once, but thrice already. Out of the three, Hwasa has the habit of fighting back when not in the mood, while Wheein and Seulgi are pretty much the obedient and calm ones. Good thing is, Hwasa kind of knows how to apologize when she’s at fault, so here they are, still friends.

“Aish. You need to know how to take jokes.” Hwasa added. “Don’t scare her unni. She’s already traumatized from being fired.” Wheein remarked as well.

“Well, I thought you guys would want a piece of Hwasa’s jobless vacations too.” Moonbyul told them before turning her gaze at Seulgi who was just continuing her drawing, “Anyway, you need to prepare now. You have your fake date in two hours you know. You have to remember the details dummy.”

Seulgi stopped drawing right away, “. I forgot about that.”

The fake date was actually the last thing on her mind at the moment.  Apparently, her sister’s new job –as a customer service agent– was too much of a good news for Seulgi that it hasn’t left her mind since she heard about it a week ago. Her plan of going back to college just sits so well with it. With Hanna being at home in the morning, she wouldn’t worry too much about Taeho, especially now that it’s the kid’s vacation still.

“Go inside. We’ll talk about it, and Hwasa you too. Help this woman with her makeup and attire. I don’t trust her with it.” Moonbyul instructed, gesturing at the door behind her.

…

“Wendy should be your name. Son Seungwan, your Korean name. You’re the daughter of– “, with a sheet of paper in her hand, Moonbyul started relaying Wendy’s background information to Hwasa and Seulgi before the latter interrupted her explanation short

“I don’t think I need to know that though. I thought the job was to reject the guy kindly. It wouldn’t matter knowing Wendy’s background then.” Seulgi countered, clearly not in the mood to memorize things.

“You have a point but you still need to know the basics. For emergency situations Seul.”

Seulgi groaned a little, knowing there’s nothing she can do with her boss’ insistence. “Just give me the copy of Wendy-ssi’s details. And how about the guy? Any details I should know?”

“The guy’s the important part. He doesn’t know Wendy, which is pretty much why you’re up for the job. But, Eunkwang hyung said that he’s supposed to be a very rich guy.”

“What if he’s a rich guy then? It wouldn’t matter, right?” Seulgi asked, honestly thinking of why she needed to know about it.

“Of course it would. Tell me the guy’s name after your date. If only I was here last week, I would insist on doing this instead.” Hwasa interrupted.

Moonbyul quickly answered Hwasa, “As if I would let you. You’ll just reveal yourself to the guy if I gave you the job.”

“Hey hey hey guys, I think we should be discussing the much more important details now. Time’s running.” Seulgi quickly stopped the brewing argument between the two, pointing at the ticking wall clock to remind them of the time left to prepare.

Moonbyul turned back to explaining after a quick warning look directed at Hwasa, “The thing is, hyung said Wendy’s mom was pretty excited saying the guy is not only handsome and that he’s really smart too. He studied in Seoul National University so let’s just hope he’s not someone we’re acquainted with.”

Seulgi shrugged at Moonbyul’s statement, “I don’t think there’s that oozing rich guy as they described in our circle so don’t worry about it.”

"Well, you’re right about that.” Moonbyul nodded at Seulgi’s statement, thinking about the friends she made back in her years in college until she was snapped out of her thoughts by the text alert from her phone.

After a quick look at the message, Moonbyul stood up, ready to leave the room for Seulgi and Hwasa. “Go fix yourself now. Changsub’s almost here. He’ll you to your date.”

Turning to look at Hwasa who’s just playing with her nails as she listened, Moonbyul ordered, “Make her look decent, it’s been long since I’ve seen Seulgi out of that tracksuit of hers.”

“Sure Boooss”, Hwasa sarcastically said, purposely dragging her words.

Seulgi can’t help but shake her head in amusement. Watching Hwasa and Moonbyul their heads out gave her a break from all the over thinking she’s been agonizing about the past week, never knowing her friends are just what she needed right now.

--

As ironic as how she looked like, wearing a fitted beige flared dress with just the right natural make-up –courtesy of Hwasa’s expert hands–, Seulgi sat on the couch cross legged all the whilst continuing the sketch she was doing earlier when Changsub finally arrived.

Changsub arrived pretty much later than he said he would, saying he’s caught on some Seoul traffic. He is the official long-distance worker in Byul’s shop so he’s never at the shop as much as the others.

As soon as he saw Seulgi’s unusual look, Changsub exclaimed, “Woah, you look great Seulgi! No wonder Eunkwang always teases you as his wife. You’ll make great babies together.”

“What the hell Changsub oppa! He’s always been a brother to me.” Seulgi argued, as she stood up from her position.

Changsub chuckled, “I know I know. I’m just kidding. You ready to go?”

--

Opposed to what everyone thought, Changsub’s excuse about the Seoul traffic was actually real. Seulgi’s definitely gonna run late for her fake date, maybe about 5 to 10 minutes, considering the distance left inside the car’s navigator.

The unwavering thoughts then came back to Seulgi, mostly due to the idle time the bad traffic was giving them. The savings she has managed to accumulate through the years she spent working –even before Moonbyul recruited her– seemed almost enough to start studying again.

“You look deep in thought. Mind telling me what’s bothering you?” Changsub asked, seeing Seulgi staring blankly into space.

Looking at Changsub in response, Seulgi stopped and stared at him for a few seconds, “Actually... I’m thinking of quitting work.”

“What?”

“Don’t tell anyone yet oppa. I’m still thinking about it.”

“What?” Changsub asked again exactly right after the stoplight turned red. “So you’re serious about it? Why then?”

“I’m thinking of studying again.”

“If you really wanted to study again, then that’s great for you. But, does Byul-i know about this?”

Biting her nails, Seulgi stared through the window beside her as the car began moving again through the easing traffic. “No one knows yet. Not even my sister. I just kind of blurted it out to you a while ago.”

Changsub listened as he took a glance at the closing distanc