track 12 - Alternate World

"they shoulda been here already" said soyeon, glancing at her watch. she was waiting at the cafe for the girls to come back to work since soyeon couldn't find any courage to go to the office by herself. the news she got was exciting yet alarming.

after a while, minnie came huffing. she paused a little to catch a breath.

"finally unnie, where have you been?"

"i-"

"and where is shuhua?" asked soyeon again.

"we both were at soojin's mother's funeral. she'll be here in an hour, i guess."

"oh the funeral... okay i will listen to this story later. now-"

"can you tell me what's that urgent thing?"

"yeah, you know moonbyul is calling everyone to meet up immediately-"

"i know, but don't you have any idea what it is?"

"i have, and i'll tell you. if you let me speak..."

"oh, sorry... yes, i'm listening?"

"i think it's the hashtag you started. and you didn't even mention that you were gonna do something like this. seriously though, when did you even-"

"wait, what hashtag?" asked minnie, who was confused and scared.

"dare to be fair? even though you tweeted it past midnight, it blew up anyway. mostly the people who was exposed to raw deal are using your hashtag to make awareness... "

minnie took her phone and opened her twitter in a rush.

soyeon went on speaking, "... i mean it's a good thing, obviously. but most likely the tea you spilled in that tweet is the thing that put you and us in trouble."

then minnie saw her tweet which she thought was still in her drafts.

"! i was gonna ask you guys first before i tweet it. i wasn't aware i already tweeted."

"but, when did you even come up with that?"

"last night, after..."

"after?"

"after talking to miyeon... it's nothing... it-... it's... it just infuriates me that men in business have control over women for their own benefit, like always. so i wrote that down in a moment of anger."

"you exposed him with no concrete evidence. you better hope they don't kick you out as well."

"i have no fear. it may be a little unprofessional, but i still meant what i said."

"i like the way you think, but i sometimes don't like the way you deal with the issues."

"i'm sorry"

"don't be. luckily we have some good news. neverend's biggest advertiser joined your hashtag!"

"really?!"

"yeah, and korea loved your courage. you got a lot of positive feedback. check it out yourself. it became a movement."

"oh my god, then... i think i can use this reaction to support hwasa's return. i just need to convince TJ and the board to rehire hwasa, despite TJ being pissed...well, it won't be easy of course."

"um, maybe you should focus on you not being kicked out, you know."

"no, i will do my best and push the limits to bring her back even if it means i get fired. i can't just watch him do whatever he wants. you know covering something i deeply disagree is not my thing."

people knew the reason hwasa was fired was insubordination. but since minnie has exposed the official reason, and because minnie is so reliable person on sns and loved by everyone, people started believe her and come for TJ. there was a lot of reaction in a very short amount of time and it kept growing. now it was not just between TJ and hwasa.

minnie and soyeon went up to the office to talk with moonbyul and the others. they had a quick meeting there, and everyone was also supportive. moonbyul told minnie that if anything goes wrong, she will always be there for her, and that she needs to go to the meeting right now.

"we got you, good luck." said soyeon.

after minnie left and everyone got back to work, shuhua came to the floor. she was late and so she went to see moonbyul. she got to learn everything. on her way to her office, she stopped by soyeon's desk.

"unnie, i hope everything goes alright, however, i have a bad feeling. what if minnie unnie-"

"don't jinx it, shuhua. don't worry, we'll figure it out."

"okay, okay, you're right." said shuhua and was leaving but then stopped, "by the way..." she looked back at soyeon, "... have you heard from yuqi? i haven't got any word from her since she left us yesterday."

"no i haven't. maybe she wanted to spend some time alone. she can come to work without telling us, you know what i mean?"

"of course. but usually, she lets me know. also, i checked the studio before i came here, she wasn't there. i thought maybe you..."

"i don't know anything. did you ask moonbyul?"

"yeah, she doesn't know either."

soyeon started to worry and it was obvious. shuhua didn't want to worry her too much.

"it's okay. she probably overslept and now being lazy to wake up and come since we don't actually have any need of her today. i'll talk to moonbyul for her so she doesn't get in trouble."

"uh, okay. let me know if anything happens."

"sure thing"

in the late afternoon the meeting was over. however, nothing had come to a conclusion and the board was as furious as a volcano that is about to erupt. TJ didn't even say anything, but he was nervous and it was obvious. the reason of his uneasiness was about their biggest advertiser's participation to the movement. despite seeing the likelihood of losing her job, minnie was still hopeful of bringing hwasa back. after work, on the way home, minnie was driving this time and noticed that soyeon, who was sitting next to her, had tried to call yuqi numerous times, but failed every time.

"she's still not answering?" asked minnie.

"yeah, unnie... i'm very concerned about her. did she quit the job? did you really not hear anything?... her quitting the job or something else that i missed?"

"nope, nothing... i'm sorry. i tried to reach her too but in vain. it's desperate struggle. she ghosted us."

"i just... hope she's okay"

"so do i... but don't worry, we'll find her."

meanwhile shuhua was at the office, busy finishing the rest of the day's work. and her mind was also busy with the lingering thoughts of what soojin said at the funeral when she approached her to talk.

***

  "you also here to slap me in the face or?"

  "wh-what...who?"

  "nevermind"

  "i don't know what you're talking about, but i've come to pay my respects. i'm truly sorry for your loss."

  "no, you're not."

  "eh?"

  "you know what? just tell your friends never to come near me again, okay? you all are annoying me."

***

it must have been about something that happened between soojin and minnie, shuhua reckoned since minnie was the only friend of hers who also came there. she wanted to sort this thing out and tried to call minnie, but couldn't reach her. because minnie was on the phone with miyeon. when she arrived home with soyeon, miyeon called, so she left soyeon and headed to miyeon's house. she was driving and miyeon was on speaker.

"sorry to bother you out of nowhere. but i wanted you to meet someone."

"oh yeah, no problem. actually, i-i'm glad you called. there's something i need to tell you."

"really? what is it?"

"i'll tell you when i get there."

"okay"

minnie was so excited to confess her feelings for miyeon. also she got so curious. who was miyeon going to introduce her to? she thought maybe it was her mother.

when she arrived, miyeon herself greeted minnie at the door. after a warm hug, she politely invited her inside.

"welcome," she smiled, "come on in"

minnie was expecting an old lady but confronted a man.

"this is hwiyoung," miyeon said, "my fiance. "

minnie could say nothing but "oh.." but her first thought was 'the !?'

"yeah and this is minnie. i wanted you guys to meet. and i hope you get along well. hwiyoung, i've told you about minnie. she's my... new friend... we're on our way to becoming... best friends."

'best ing friends? are you for real, miyeon? just i was about to tell you my feelings?!' minnie was talking in her mind, but outside, it was just silence and tiny tear drops on her forehead behind her bangs.

"okay, hi, minnie. nice to meet you."

minnie put on a fake smiley face, grinding teeth, "glad to meet you too, hwiyoung."

'please god, just take me to an alternate world where i marry miyeon' minnie thought again.