Seo-jeong looked up from the dough she was kneading just in time to see Suyeon walk back into the kitchen from the front of the shop. She thought her roommate looked surprisingly happy for someone who'd just called her boss with the news that she wouldn't be able to work for the next two months.

"Is that a smile I see?" she asked teasingly. "Let me guess: Nayeon's retiring to Fiji and they're going to make you a partner when you get back off brain rest."

Suyeon laughed.  "Not quite that good," she said. "But it is good news, I suppose."

"Well, don't keep me in suspense.  What is it?"

"Nayeon gave me a chance to change my life, and - much to my surprise - I took it!" Suyeon was practically quivering with excitement.

"Well, congratulations, I guess," Seo-jeong said as she went back to kneading her dough. "So how are you changing your life? And how did Nayeon help?"

"Well," Suyeon said, "they're required to hold my position for me until I'm medically cleared to work again, but that creates a hardship for the agency:  They need someone to do the work that I do, but they can't hire anyone because I'll be coming back when I'm medically clear.  But they don't know how long it'll be until I'm medically cleared.  Right now Yoojung's saying two months, but that's assuming I don't have another one of those spells.  So Nayeon came up with a way to get rid of me."

Seo-jeong looked up, confused. "I thought you said they couldn't fire you.  And why are you so happy about that?"

Suyeon's smile grew wider. "I didn't say they fired me. I said they got rid of me. Specifically, Nayeon offered me one year of salary as severance pay, plus payment for my accumulated vacation time and sick leave, in exchange for my letter of resignation."

Seo-jeong was momentarily stunned into silence.  "Are you sure you can trust her?  Did you get it in writing?"

Suyeon nodded.  "I did.  And I made sure the money had been deposited into my account before I sent my resignation letter."

Seo-jeong nodded as she gathered up the dough into a ball, put it in a bowl, covered it, and set it aside to rise.  "But what are you going to do when the money runs out?"

"I've already got a plan," Suyeon said with a smile.

Seo-jeong rolled her eyes.  "Why am I not surprised?  It's only-" she looked at the clock on the wall - 9:15 and you've already quit your job and come up with a plan to replace it."

"Technically, I had the plan in mind first, which is why I was brave enough to quit my job," Suyeon said.  "It started from something Soo-kyung said last night.  I've still got to do the paperwork, and Hae-rim's coming by at 11 to take me to the print shop so I can get business cards made, but I am now the owner and sole employee of Ji Suyeon Accounting, specialty accountant for the food service industry."

Seo-jeong dropped the ball of dough she had just started to knead, ran around the table and gave Suyeon a hug. "That's great news!  I'm so proud of you!" She stopped suddenly, her eyes narrowing. "I've been trying to get you to start your own business for years. What made you decide to start now?"

Suyeon shrugged. "Seeing over a year's salary flowing into my account all at once gave me a great sense of freedom. Plus, Soo-kyung wants me to do the accounting for Chez Lua, so I know I've already got my first customer."

"Second customer!" Seo-jeong interjected. "You're already doing the accounting for the bakery."

Suyeon scoffed. "That's just a favor to a friend. Soo-kyung is my first paying customer."

"But- I want to pay too!" Seo-jeong protested. "It was one thing having you do my accounting for free when it was something you were doing on the side from your regular job. Now this is your regular job, and I want to pay my fair share!"

Suyeon said in quiet thought for a moment. "I appreciate that. I really do. But I also know how tight your margins are here - at least six months of the past year, you couldn't have afforded to pay me."

"That was just growing pains," Seo-jeong broke in. "I'm doing better now."

"Today you are," Suyeon said, holding up her hand stop the protests that she was sure were about to come. "But I'll make a deal with you:  If you let me continue doing your account for free now, I'll start billing you after you've grown your bakery enough to hire two assistants."

Seo-jeong looked at Suyeon with a twinkle in her eyes. "Have you been taking negotiating lessions from Nayeon? Because that sounds like the sort of thing she'd come up with! I'll take it, but I'm holding you to it. As soon as I hire my second assistant, I expect to start getting an invoice from you every month." She wiped her hand on her apron to get most of the flour off, then held it out for Suyeon to shake. Once Suyeon had shaken her hand, she jumped up and down. "Woohoo! You just made your first deal as a freelance accountant!" She skipped back around the work table and started kneading the dough.

Suyeon sat watching Seo-jeong quietly for a few minute. Finally, she spoke up. "So," she said, drawing out the word for emphasis, "what about you?"

Seo-jeong looked up, confusion written on her face. "What about me?"

"Well," Suyeon said, "you and So-eun went out for drinks last night, and unless my brain was even foggier than I thought, you two were holding hands when you left my exam room."

Seo-jeong shrugged. "I don't know what's going on there. We talked for a while the night of the Mayor's Gala, and when she was trying to think of someone to go drinking with to celebrate her first time cooking her own menu, for some reason she thought of me. Most of the time we talked shop - which reminds me: When you've got brain enough, I want you to have a look at my personal finances to see how much I can afford to invest in So-eun's restaurant she's going to be opening - so I don't know if