Eunji arrives at the airport an hour before her flight leaves, annoyed, tired, and just a little bit hungover. She glares at anyone and everyone who looks at her through her sunglasses as she all but storms through the airport, taking out her frustration on them since she can’t bother who she’s actually pissed off at. No, her bothersome uncle is safe halfway across the world, creating a PR disaster for the family company. At the mere thought of the mess that’s waiting for her at home, Eunji is extra biting to the unfortunate TSA worker who is passing her through customs.

All she wanted was a two week vacation from the company that she normally slaves her life away at every day. Instead, Eunji got a mere four days before her uncle decided to get caught with a DUI and a married woman in his car. 

After getting through security, Eunji heads straight for the airport worker manning the desk in front of her gate. Because of the last minute timing, Eunji got stuck with economy class seating, and there’s no way in hell she’s spending a fourteen hour flight in there. 

The worker is nice enough, attractive too. If Eunji wasn’t in such a bad mood, she would have asked the woman for drinks before her flight. As it is, Eunji speaks to her coldly, in short, terse phrases that convey just how serious she is about getting moved into at least business class. They’re discussing the possibility of Eunji even getting moved into first when another voice says, “Actually, I was told over the phone that first class seat is for me.”

Slowly, Eunji turns around. She drops her sunglasses to hang from her ears, getting a better look at the other woman. She’s about Eunji’s height with short brown hair and a pretty face. She’s also dressed similar to Eunji, although her no nonsense blazer is offset by the bright red cap on her head. 

“Excuse me?” Eunji practically growls.

The other woman raises an eyebrow at her before turning to the worker and saying, “Park Chorong. I spoke with someone on the phone that said I could be upgraded to first class.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” Eunji tells her, “because that seat is mine.”

Chorong stares at Eunji blankly for a moment before she says, “Oh, sorry. Do you not know how time works with the hangover you have?” When Eunji’s jaw drops, Chorong wrinkles her nose and explains, “I can still smell the alcohol on your breath. Ever heard of a toothbrush?”

“Listen here, sweetheart, you have no idea who I am or what I am dealing with,” Eunji snaps, even as her cheeks turn a dark red. “That seat is going to be mine.”

“We’ll see,” Chorong replies with a flippant shrug that almost has Eunji reaching out to strangle her. Chorong’s eyes flick over her body in distaste, and Eunji glares back at her, daring her to say something else. And she does. With a flick of hair over her shoulder, Chorong says, “People really don’t have standards these days, do they?”

Eunji opens to give a scathing retort, but the airport worker hurriedly cuts in and says, “Why don’t you ladies get some drinks from the bar, comped on behalf of Asia Airlines? I will text both of you once I figure out the situation.”

Eunji accepts the drink coupon, but Chorong stares at the woman and says, “It’s barely noon. Do I look like a day drinker to you?” With that, Chorong gives a meaningful look at Eunji, and Eunji has to count to ten in her head and remind herself that murder would definitely not look good for the company on top of everything else that’s going on.

“The bar also offers coffee or any other drink you’d like, Ms. Park,” the worker says nervously, eyes glancing at Eunji with wide eyes.

With a roll of her eyes, Chorong takes the coupon and walks away, and Eunji watches her go, glaring at her but also unable to keep her eyes from straying below her waist. Now, why did an like that have to belong to such an awful woman? Sighing to herself, Eunji trudges over to the bar and orders herself enough espresso to make her lingering headache go away. 

A few seats away, Eunji eyes Chorong as the other woman daintily sips at what appears to be a latte of some sorts. She absently wonders who she is and why she feels just as entitled as Eunji to have a first class seat. She’s probably not a major business CEO like herself, or she would recognize her, so who is she?

At that moment, Chorong happens to glance over and catches Eunji staring. Her relaxed expression quickly sharpens into a glare as she asks, “Can I help you?”

Eunji rolls her eyes to the ceiling, asking what she did to deserve this, before grabbing her coffee and walking away without answering. She sits in a nearby armchair and pulls her phone out, scrolling through the news to see how everything is being handled so far. It’s times like these that Eunji is so grateful she hired Naeun all those years ago because at least she’s in Korea taking care of the mess until Eunji can get there.

She lounges around helplessly for almost two hours, watching as Chorong continues to move between the desk and the bar to pester the poor worker about any updates she has. Meanwhile, Eunji plays Fruit Ninja absently and checks for any more news. 

When Eunji is contemplating buying a snack, the intercom comes to life and announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the inconvenience, but Flight 642 has been delayed due to inclement weather in Seoul. Please report to the front desk to see what option you would like to pursue. Once again, we apologize for this. Thank you for flying with Asia Airlines!”

Of course, it just had to be her flight. 

In mutual exasperation, Eunji finds herself locking eyes with Chorong as they get up to figure out what’s going on and decidedly not getting their first class upgrade. There’s a large crowd already there when they arrive, so they just sort of awkwardly stand in line with each other. As they wait, Eunji sneaks subtle looks at Chorong. She really is pretty. With a soft sigh, Eunji steps up when it’s her turn.

It turns out her only option is to wait as the harried worker informs her the next flight won’t fly out until six the next morning. With a tremulous smile, the worker offers her a free night in a nearby hotel. Feeling her headache coming back on, Eunji agrees and gets the information printed and handed to her. She drags herself back to her armchair and googles the hotel. It’s nice enough and will do for one night. She grabs herself some quick fast food for lunch and scarfs it down, staring sadly at her now unusable plane ticket. After eating, she gets herself an Uber that will arrive in fifteen minutes and starts to head out.

Eunji is walking out when she feels someone tap her shoulder. When she turns, she’s surprised to see it’s Chorong.

“Can I help you?” Eunji asks, echoing the same words Chorong had said to her earlier.

Chorong glares at her for a long moment before she ducks her head and mumbles, “I need to share your hotel room with you.”

“You what?” Eunji says in disbelief.

“The stupid hotel is out of rooms, and you took the last one,” Chorong tells her in a biting tone, like it’s Eunji’s fault. “I asked the airline to put me in another hotel, but they said they can only comp rooms from the one hotel.”

“Why me?” Eunji says with a shake of her head. “You seem like you’d rather cut off your own head than spend an extended period of time.”

WIth a shake of her head, Chorong says, “Almost all of the other people who got the rooms are either families or men. I may not like you, but at least you don’t have three screaming children and are less likely to molest me in my sleep. Will you let me stay with you or not?” Biting her lip, she adds, “I’ll buy you dinner.”

“Fine,” Eunji mutters, closing her eyes and already regretting her decision. She opens her eyes and pins Chorong with a stare, “But if I hear you say one thing about me drinking tonight, I will kick you out.”

Chorong shrinks in on herself a little and mumbles, “I’m sorry about earlier. That was uncalled for. I was just… not happy.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Eunji sighs, running a hand through her hair. “This better be a damn good dinner,” she murmurs to herself as she starts walking to her Uber.

The ride over to the hotel is almost suffocating with how uncomfortable it is, and it somehow becomes even worse in the hotel room with the glaring fact that there is only one queen bed. Chorong excuses herself to the bathroom while Eunji slumps onto the bed and makes some calls home.

She checks in on Naeun, who reassures her that she can handle things until tomorrow, then calls Bomi, who’s dog-sitting for her. She smiles at Bomi’s warm and boisterous laughter, needing the brightness after her day so far. After Bomi tells her that she would keep her dog forever if she could and that one more night is no problem, Eunji hangs up just as Chorong finishes. They trade places, awkwardly inching past each other. 

Eunji freshens up and shrugs off her blazer, leaving her in a black t-shirt and her leather joggers. Running a tired hand through her hair, she steps back into the room and finds it empty. With a shrug to herself, Eunji makes herself comfortable and turns on the TV to some random action