It was afternoon when Sojung received an email from Yerin, all information about the business dinner compiled in one long, boring wall of text. Most of it was useless, a lot of pretty words to appear fancy and important, so Sojung just skimmed through it. The essential was: in a week, being held by a five-star hotel, would happen an enormous meeting of investors from the USA and other countries.

            The period was said to be from 6 PM up until 2 AM and Sojung held back the urge to sigh at it. She had never understood why they liked to stay up until ungodly hours socializing. Sure, Sojung enjoyed working at night, but that was when she was in the comfort of a bed or a nice office. Talking and interacting with mostly self-righteous men was not something that fell anywhere near her hobbies.

            Hardships of the life, as Yerin liked to say.

            It wasn’t that bad lately, though. At the beginning, Sojung used to go alone, and it was quite the stressful task to deal with directors, secretaries and even their companions. When Yerin decided to attend to the dinners, things became a lot easier. Yerin was a natural, Sojung quickly noticed, she could make friends and put people in their places with a bright smile, without ever losing her posture.

            If Sojung had to admit it, she’d say that it was one hell of a sight, to watch Yerin work, that is. So, besides getting easier, it was also a bit entertaining to go with Yerin. Sojung still needed to talk and tightly smile, but it was exponentially better with the assistant by her side. It really was.

            She still wasn't feeling like going, though.

            Sojung rested her chin on her open palm; again, it wasn't something she had to like—it was something she had to do. Well, just another day on the job, I guess, she thought while her fingers fondled with the pen lying beside her, so, I'll have to stay here for another week.

            This wasn't bad. Sojung was planning to stay for longer, anyway, which reminded her to ask Yerin about the search on apartments. The sooner they got that down, the sooner she'd feel a lot more comfortable.

            Suddenly, her cellphone chimed, and she jolted a little, hurrying to get the mobile in hands. Sojung was alone in her office, so she didn't even disguise her disappointment when she saw Yerin's username. The message said that the financial representant from Manila had called again and that they needed to talk. Sojung sighed and logged into her Skype in order to have an impromptu meeting with said man.

            It didn't take long for the both of them to be connected and into a mildly heated discussion. The situation there seemed to be worse than Sojung had pictured and, while her work there was done, meaning she had nothing to do with it anymore, it was very bad if the word got out. To have people thinking that a company she helped, left in a perfect state, had slumped down so quickly would paint an unwanted image of her work.

            Sojung tried her best to keep her boiling temper from saying stuff she would not be able to take back. It was irritating how the incompetence of some people could ruin a month of diligent work.

            "What do you want to do, Mr. Alonzo?" Sojung leaned back on her chair, quirking an eyebrow.

            The chubby, suited up man ran a hand over his face, "this situation need to be dealt with immediately, Ms. Kim. I... I know you and your secretary did everything you could and yes, I'm also aware of whose fault this is, but..." he swallowed, "we really need help."

            Mr. Alonzo wasn't a bad person, exhausting yes, but not bad. He looked desperate and he had every right to be. His CEO, Mr. Mendoza, wasn't a very clever person, but he could be one hell of an impetuous old man which stressed everyone out.

            "I've told Ms. Jung that we are ready to offer twice the previous payment—”

            "Yes, I know, but I'm in the middle of a case, right now, Mr. Alonzo..." Sojung trailed off and looked at the anxious man on the other side of the screen.

            Squinting her eyes for a second, she pondered her options. Before she could say anything, the office's door quietly opened, and she set her eyes on Yerin. Her friend stepped into the room holding a couple of folders and an exasperated expression.

            Sojung turned to the computer's screen, "Mr. Alonzo, send me the reports on the last downfall and other pertinent documents. I'll take a look at it and then we'll talk more."

            The man's shoulders slumped, and he vehemently nodded, "sure, sure. Thank you, Ms. Kim."

            She ended the call and looked at Yerin sitting on the sofa, feet resting on the center table. She held back the urge to complain. "The situation there seems pretty critical."

            "It is," Yerin mumbled and opened one of the folders, a black one filled with what looked like tax declarations. "And it's not something we can solve from here," she continued and looked over the documents, "things here are far from ending too. I gather that the police will be involved soon enough."

            At that Sojung rolled her eyes, "of course that had to happen."

            Yerin shrugged with a compassionate smile, "I know, eonni. It's a drag. But it's only another reason why we can't leave things here and go to Manila."

            Sojung carefully nodded. That was true. Although they wouldn't be directly involved with the investigations, they had their part to play and it required their presence. Especially Sojung's presence. She stopped playing with the pen.

            Yerin, noticing how still she had gotten, slowly took her feet off the table. "Eonni? Is everything alright?"

            Sojung raised a finger to ask for a moment; she was thinking.

            That she needed to be in Baltimore was a fact. Sojung wasn't new to that kind of situation and she knew the basics of how to handle it smoothly. However, the situation back in Manila needed to be dealt with. Their work there was done, but she didn't like the feeling of one of her cases going down the drain.

            She analyzed a very a confused Yerin in front of her. Oh, no, her mind provided a solution, but she didn't really like it; Yerin, in special, wouldn’t like it. Sojung groaned.

            "What is it, eonni? You're starting to creep me out."

            "Well, I agree with you that I can't leave Baltimore right now, but... I really don't enjoy the idea of leaving Manila unattended. So..."

            Yerin quirked an eyebrow. "So?"

            "Maybe you should head there and take care of things."

            Her friend was silent for a second before widening her eyes. "You want me to go to Manila by myself and solve the situation?"

            Sojung gave her a half-smile, "I know you aren't very fond of that specific company, but it's the only way I can think of."

            Yerin looked conflicted, "but the dinner's in a week."

            "And?"

            "And... and you don't like going to those, especially not alone. How am I supposed to be sure that you won't go off and ruin all of our future contracts?”

            At that, Sojung couldn't help but to roll her eyes. "Yerin, I know how to act around people, ok?"

            "Yeah, sure you do," Yerin scoffed, "but I'm serious here. Are you ok with me going on my own?"

            Sojung looked at her and tilted her head to the side. Yerin sported a calm expression, but she could feel there was something underneath it. Sojung couldn't quite point what, though. "Yes? I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

            Yerin stared at her for a second before smiling. "No reason. Well," she stood up. "I guess I'll have to start searching for plane tickets, then." Sojung watched as her secretary placed the folders on her table, "these are the documents you asked for, by the way."

            "Thanks," Sojung reached for them and continued, "thanks for everything, really."

            Yerin halted for a second but smiled. "No need to, eonni. I'll go back to the lobby, now. I think the interns are going crazy and somebody needs to keep an eye on them."

            Sojung quirked an eyebrow to her smirk. "Oh, interns? Anyone who caught your eye?"

            Yerin loudly gasped, "eonni! Are you suggesting that I'm interested in someone and not actually purely wanting to help them out?"

            Sojung chuckled, "no, of course not. How could I ever?"

            Her friend nodded and whipped her hair. "Yes, I'm very ethical while working. I'd never do something like that."

            "Oh, never? But if memory serves me right..."

            "You have a lot to do, don't you! Work well, dear eonni," Yerin brightly cut her and left the room. Sojung shook her head for a second. Yerin was really something else.

            She looked at her mobile and felt an ounce of regret for her decision. Going alone wasn't in her plans, but it was needed. Sojung caught the phone in hands and checked the empty notification box.

            She didn't want to be alone at the dinner. Stop whining, Sojung, you're a grown woman and you can deal with this by yourself, she sighed and stretched her arms, glancing once again to her phone. I wonder if Eunbi is alone right now.

            Jung Eunbi was not alone. She was, in fact, surrounded by classmates for the greater part of the day. She had to leave the convenience store in a hurry because she’d completely forgotten about the group project meeting that Friday. Eunbi was, for the lack of a better word, busy.

            It was not fun to find herself drowning in newly acquired responsibilities and the fact that she still needed to go the bar later—to face no one less than her boss and give her “better explanations” as the woman had said—wore her out. But, honestly, it gave her a reason to not think about the previous day. Eunbi liked that.

            Sure, she didn’t like to run away, and she wasn’t proud to admit that it was exactly what she was doing. Eunbi thought that with everything in her life the way it was, she could at least handle some stuff head on. But that wasn’t really the case at the moment.

            The fact was that she was scared. In less than twenty-four hours, she had gone to the hospital, acquired a huge debt, then seen herself free from it, but at the same time she had a fight with Kim Sojung, who was this incredibly gorgeous and careless woman, because she had paid it all for Eunbi and then she found herself working again with a group project in hands.

            At least I got the job at the bookstore, she thought to herself as her classmates engrossed in another heated discussion about the color pallets they’d be using.

            The job at the bookstore really seemed nice. The man who interviewed her was not the most sympathetic person Eunbi had met, but he didn't treat her bad. The things she'd have to do were pretty alright, too—organizing the books, cleaning the floor and helping customers. It'd take most of her Sunday, more specifically from 10 AM up until 6 PM, but it'd be worth the pay. Eunbi quietly sighed and tried to keep up with the discussion about the project, but soon enough gave up on it. Her mind was too tired to provide ideas and contribute to the overall work; it was better to just let them decide on the details and go along with their plan.

            In the end, they finally decided on something and she left college. Eunbi's mind was busy with her chores and worries through all the way and even when she got to the bar, talked to her boss and began working, it wasn't like she was really there.

            Her thoughts were running miles per hour inside her head, heart skipping a couple of beats from time to time—more precisely, every time the bar's door opened. Maybe, just maybe, Eunbi hoped that someone would stop by. But as the hours came and her shift ended, she disappointedly realized today was not one of her lucky days. Actually, Eunbi frowned, leaning her head on the bus’s window, what the hell was today?

            She was awfully down, something bitter biting on her chest and making her wish she hadn't got out of bed. As the transportation stopped and she took a look at the jammed traffic, Eunbi sighed and grabbed her cellphone.

            Unlocking the screen, she eyed the little chat app's icon.

            Should she send a message? Should she just keep her fingers to herself? Ah, seriously, Eunbi groaned and softly hit her head against the glass. Closing her eyes, letting her hands fall to her lap, she asked herself why was that situation so hard to deal with? How had she even reached that point?

            Eunbi turned her head, rubbing her forehead on the window. It shouldn't be so hard, there was no reason for it to be. What was the problem with sending Kim Sojung a quick text? It'd be perfectly reasonable for her to ask the older about her day. On the other hand, wasn't she still angry at Sojung? Shouldn't she be pouting around and refusing to talk to her?

            I'm getting a headache, she opened her eyes and looked at her phone's screen. The bright wallpaper—a picture of Yewon and herself from months before; before everything started to go down—greeted her with irony.

            For a second, Eunbi observed her face on the picture. It was her, of course, but Eunbi couldn't recognize herself. It wasn't as if she had changed her appearance—sure, her hair was a little shorter and her make-up was spot on—but there were small details that made the girl depicted on the screen a stranger to her.

            The smile, for once, was open, her eyes almost disappearing due to its wideness; her face was rounder, healthier, chubby cheeks standing out, and, maybe the most noticeable, the sparkle in her eyes and the lack of dark bags under them.

            That Eunbi was different. That Eunbi was happy, but careless. She should've known better, a sigh left her lips, she should've done something before it got like this. It was probably stupid of her, but Eunbi sometimes resented her past self. Yes, she was aware that, by that time, she had no way of knowing what the consequences of her actions could’ve been, but still... she should've worked harder.

            If she had, things would've never gotten the way they were now. Maybe Eunbi wouldn't be so afraid of talking to Sojung, maybe she wouldn't be so ashamed of herself. Tons of concerns weighted on her heart and it was almost as suffocating as when she passed out the previous day. Eunbi wondered what she had to do to stop feeling like that. What would it take for that knot on to go away for once? The fact that she didn't have the slightest idea was terrifying.

            Jung Eunbi was tired, but more than anything, she was scared.

            When her stop came, she got off almost airheaded. So many things were going through her head and not all of them made sense. Eunbi decided it was best to just let her mind do its thing and ignore it all as she walked towards her building and went to her apartment.

            Right at the door she could hear rattling inside. Her whole body grew apprehensive, muscles stiffening at the prospection of an intruder. But as she checked the door, she realized the lock wasn’t broken. Her mind provided that it was probably her long lost roommate, and Eunbi carefully opened the door, peeping inside. What her eyes caught was the tall and thin figure of a girl wearing baggy and dirty clothes, and Eunbi immediately recognized her as her roommate.

            “Um, hi?” She watched as the girl her heels to look at her. She was pretty, Eunbi thought, trying to remember the girl’s name, but she looked exhausted. “You haven’t come back in a while.”

            The girl swallowed dryly. “Yeah, yeah,” she had a backpack in one hand and a couple of bills on the other. “Hey, I’m, uh, sorry, but I’ll have to go. This—this is my part of the rent. I’ll be gone for good now, so, don’t uh, expect me to pay anything anymore.”

            Eunbi almost scoffed at that. The girl hadn’t been paying anything for some time now, it wasn’t like Eunbi was counting on her. “Alright,” she said and then hesitantly asked, “are you moving out, then?”

            Her ex-roommate just twitchily nodded and Eunbi thought that maybe her theories about the girl being on some stuff weren’t exaggerations. Her heart clenched a little at that; the girl looked like she needed help. But, still, Eunbi had tried to befriend her before, tried to make some conversation and get her to college and none of that worked out. She felt like a terrible person, but the truth was that… she didn’t have the mental strength to deal with whatever were the other’s problems.

            Eunbi bit the inner part of her cheek.

            “Do you want me to cook you some eggs before you go? I can do a… really good omelet,” she offered, trying to lessen the guilt inside her.  “It’d take just a couple of minutes.”

            The girl seemed extremely hesitant about that, but in the end she took the offer.

            After Eunbi cooked some food for the both of them, they ate in silence and the girl just left. She carried only a backpack.

            If Eunbi’s mood was bad, that only sourer it further. Her mind was filled with gloomy thoughts that she uselessly tried to get rid off as she cleaned the other girl’s room and left it sparkling clean. Her eyes dropped to the chair and she remembered the time when she wanted to switch their chairs. Eunbi thought it’d be nice to not sit on something that always pinched her legs, but now it just felt wrong.

            The chair was left untouched by the empty desk.

            Eunbi returned to her room and closed the door behind her. She was officially living alone now. I should tell the landlord… he’ll probably get someone to bunk with me. Eunbi peeled her winter clothes off, I need to take a shower. I have to, don’t I? But her body was heavy, and her brain told her to just put her pajamas, crawl under the covers and stay there. Eunbi didn’t find it in her to disobey.

            Suddenly, all the giddiness from the previous days were gone, the image of Kim Sojung seemed distant and disconnected, while her debts were bigger and scarier. Even when she was slightly shivering from the cold, with her hands holding her cell phone out of the blankets, and her eyes scanned for the hundredth time the few texts they had exchanged, it didn’t feel that real.

            Eunbi was tired. Ah, what is wrong with me?

            Letting her phone fall over her chest, she closed her eyes and allowed all the tiredness in her mind to slowly take over.

            Before she could fall asleep, though, her phone startled her with her mom’s ringtone. Eunbi jumped on the bed, feeling the cold air hit her skin, and hissed as she fumbled with her phone. She stared at the screen with wide eyes. It had been such a long time since she last talked to her mother; she couldn’t keep on ignoring her calls.

            Taking a deep breath, she tried to look at the bright side—at least it wasn’t a videocall.

            Eunbi picked it up with a barely stable voice. The woman on the other side of the line sounded worried, but happy to be hearing from Eunbi and that only added to the horrible weight on her heart. Eunbi lied and lied and lied and her mother was pretty sated by the end of it. She made Eunbi promise to call soon, though, because the rest of the family missed her a whole lot.

            Eunbi was sure of it. She was a horrible person.

            When the call went dead, she didn’t feel any relief. If anything, she only felt like her mind was packed full of hurried images and sounds, all somewhat proving how much of a liar she was. Eunbi threw herself against the mattress, not bothering to cover herself up again. Feeling cold wasn’t even close to being a punishment, Eunbi thought, she deserved worse.

            That’s when her phone chimed, and she whined like it had physically hurt her. Eunbi didn’t want to look at it, she didn’t want to move, she just wanted to lay there and wake up in her home, far away from all of those problems.

            So, even though her phone alerted her that another message had come, she didn’t mind it. Eunbi turned to the side, pulled the covers up to her face and wished that it all was just a bad dream.

            I’m going to wake up and everything is going to be fine, Eunbi let out a trembling breath. I’m going to wake up and I’ll be ok.

            Eunbi knew she would wake up to another day bursting with jobs, projects and thoughts she despised.

            But, that night, she decided to lie to herself too.