A pair of legs dangling from the table as a set of dainty fingers flipped through the pages methodically. Eyes scanning through the details word by word and carving into the memory.

The current active sensation is woven into the dream to rob it of reality.

Her brows drew together almost imperceptibly. 

Hot breath in her ears.

Her nose scrunched harder.

The slithering arms, shivers running along her ...

Concentrate...

"I will return the favor."

All at once the events of the previous night rushed back. She squashed the paper in her fist and groaned incessantly, pacing back and forth before coming to a halt.

She tentatively touched the side of her neck, letting her hand stay there. In a flashback, the ghost kisses are still as vivid as it felt like only yesterday. The peppered pecks sent heatwaves that left her ear bright red.

Moonbyul snatches her helmet and goggles hastily and scrams out quickly, clearing her mind of any nonsensical  thoughts.

--

"Byul-shi, can you sort this out?"

"Byul-shi, perhaps you want to take care of this when you are done with that..."

"Noona, you can take a rest already."

That one last sentence roused Moonbyul from her stupor. The construction site is still dusty and the noise that gets increasingly louder reminds her of a mental note to bring ear protection.

"You have been performing four different tasks without taking a break," he explained. "Liking you or not doesn't excuse the supervisor for this kind of treatment. You're literally doing everybody's work here. Take a rest and I will handle the rest."

The fact that her juniors have more sense than those old geezers brings a smile to her feature. It's been such perfect timing since her head has been feeling woozy for a while now. "I'll leave it to  you then. Just for a moment," With that she hands her electric screwdriver and steps back into the bunkhouse. After gulping down a shot of cold water, rinse a towel covering her face and slumped to the chair, getting relaxed.

A break that only lasts momentarily until a raucous noise breaks through the wall. Irritated, she gets up and glimpses a peek through the window.

It was a quarrel.

It is quite far from where she stands that Moonbyul can only guess what they were saying, but the pointing finger and tauted eyebrows just gave everything away. There seems to be nobody paying attention since, due to the nature of this job, some might be unable to suppress the stress that has been going on for so long, but it has become even more frequent these days. Perhaps the supervisor can be blamed for it, for giving an entire year worth of tasks in a week.

What's new.

Putting her yellow helmet back on, her steps brisk and almost unheard of until she tapped one of the younger workers that jumped instantly. "Hey. Tell the supervisor to come here now. I'll stall them."

By the time she came close both men were shouting their lungs out. Mustering the politest tone that often works with the elderly, Moonbyul reminds them that if they still want to continue perhaps they want to take it somewhere else, or something could happen with their paycheck, since the supervisor been constantly on the watch like a dog he is.

Things started to quieten down as other workers were slowly getting in, Moonbyul thinking about what she could possibly have for a quick lunch today. The loosened tension were suddenly disrupted with a louder shout, continued by shaming backstories on how the other men didn't even bother paying his debts all the time, and Moonbyul almost curse herself for getting into this situation before groping inside the back of his cargo, revealing a glass bottle with a metal lid that reflects the sun harshly it forced Moonbyul to squint, and she stare back alarmingly at the clear fluid inside it. The man raises his voice an octave higher before unscrewing the bottle and splashing the content forward. The other man flinched with his eyes shuttered close, opening it for a while only to find a skinny woman standing in front of him, clearly shielding him from any substance that was supposed to get to his face.

The site was filled with shrill screams.

--

"Get her eyes under the running water! Not tap, you idiot!"

"The ambulance hasn't come?!"

"Unnie..."

"Where is that damn supervisor?!"

It feels like all senses have been dulled and she was left with nothing but her eyes that were burning so badly, including the area around her face. Her back quickly sensed a different surface as she was transferred onto a different bed, and a deafening wail of a siren. Crazy of her to think that she has been transported in a firetruck. If only she could just at least open her eyes to check. Instead, her cheeks are