Wendy left Seulgi’s shop and walked back home, it was pretty late and she was tired. She couldn’t wait to lie down in bed and rest. She entered the house and it was quiet, guess her parents were asleep. Wendy chuckled to herself, they always were early sleepers, it was about 9:30 pm. 

She tiptoed her way to her room to avoid any noise, but she didn’t really have to, her parents were heavy sleepers and unless she screams or something blows up, then they’d wake up. As she walked in and turned the lights on, a large pile of papers stared back at her. Wait… oh ! She had completely forgotten about Jennie’s papers, she walked out for a little break, but she got carried away in Seulgi’s shop, she just really missed her old friend’s company. 

She sighed a long deep sigh, then sat in front of those papers. She thought it’d be a little better now that she went out and cleared her mind, but she was wrong. After an hour of just staring at gibberish, she was going cross eyed. She debated whether to just scribble down anything to make it look like she did something, but she thought against it, who knows what she’d be signing. She needed to think of something to get her out of this situation, and that’s when a light bulb lit in her head, maybe not something, but definitely someone. 

She quickly whipped out her phone and pressed on a certain contact. She waited until the person answered, “Why hello there my loveliest assistant!” she said extra enthusiastically. She only heard a sigh, “What do you want?” Wendy fake gasped, “What makes you think I want anything from you?” “No one calls at 11 pm in such an excited tone. So, you’re either super drunk, super high, or you need something. And since you’re too poor for the first one, and a coward when it comes to the second, you definitely want something.” Wendy was shook with Joy’s analysis, god she knows her too well. “Okay you’re right. I need your help with something. It’s super urgent.” “According to my knowledge, you didn’t have anything that serious to work on.” “I may or may not have stolen some of Jennie’s work to kick her out of her office…” She blurted out quickly. Joy went silent for a few moments. “Meet me at the local coffee shop in 5. Get the work.” she said before hanging up.

Wendy stuffed the papers in a bag and quietly left the house. Thankfully, she knows which coffee shop Joy was talking about, since it was the one she enters every morning for a quick sniff. Also, it’s open 24/7, so it doesn’t matter how long they spend there. She just wished Joy wouldn’t be so angry at her. It took her a while to walk to the place but she finally made it. She found Joy sitting on a table in a corner. The place was pretty empty, except for two baristas quietly chatting behind the counter, one of them was creepily staring at Joy, that Wendy almost went up to tell her off, but Joy noticed her entering and called to her. Wendy noticed the barista now looking at her, so she sent her a sharp glare, causing the girl to turn around quickly. 

Wendy hopped over to Joy and sat in front of her, “Okay spill. Why did you take Jennie’s work?” Wendy scanned the place, then looked at Joy, “I just felt really bad that she’s always in her office working, so I thought as her manager, that I would take some of her work for her.” Joy looked at her incredulously, “I get that you’re a sweetheart and all, but don’t you ever do that again.” “Why not?” 

“Well, since you’re such a great manager, you definitely do know that Jennie graduated from law school right? And she helps the company not only as a model and a muse, but also as a lawyer.” Wendy’s jaw dropped at the revelation, “I’m such a ty manager.” she muttered to herself, and Joy snorted. 

“Wait, so how are we supposed to do this then?” Joy smiled at Wendy’s question and puffed out her chest, “Jennie isn’t the only one who went to law school.” Wendy visibly relaxed at her statement, god this work nightmare is finally going to end. Joy is such a blessing. She’s so proud of this Joy. Law school? Damn. She should promote her as best assistant of the year. She took out a paper and handed it to Joy. Joy held the paper in front of her and scanned the document.

After a few minutes of silence, “What the actual ?” she sputtered. Wendy, who was drinking some water, almost spit it out and choked on it. “Um, what did you say?” she said through her fit of coughing. “I don’t get , is what I’m saying.” Wendy looked at her in disbelief, “You just said you went to law school, didn’t you?” Joy laughed, but this was no laughing matter, “I went to law school, but I never said I graduated from it. I dropped out actually, it was too much for me.” Wendy almost wanted to smack Joy and herself while she’s at it. She was incorrect and the nightmare just continued to persist. She definitely called the wrong person for this one, “But,” Joy started, “I do have some resources to help with the terminology, so we can actually get this done.” She explained as she was pulling some thick books out. 

Great, this looks just like college all over again, Wendy thought, then she yawned. “We can’t have that now.” Joy suddenly burst out and called for the barista. The two at the counter looked at each other, then the little one came over. “What can I get for you two?” she asked once she arrived. “I’d like two of the most caffeinated drinks you have.” The barista looked confused, but seemed to understand when she noticed the scattered papers and the books, “Oh, is it a big college project?” 

“Yes, it is,” Joy almost immediately said. The girl nodded and went to get their drinks. “But, we’re not in college,”Wendy whispered confused, “I know, but I’ll always be 21 at heart.” Joy stated confidently. The drinks arrived shortly and the two almost chugged their coffee, it was going to be a long night. 

It was almost 2 am and Wendy was about to pass out, the two had been going at it for a while, checking their terms in the ‘law encyclopedia’ as Joy liked to call it, and understanding what the context was, but they were still too slow. The two baristas were each doing their own thing, looking at the two from time to time and wondering what the two customers were working on. 

“What the does quash even mean?” Wendy sighed, while Joy rubbed her forehead, “I don’t even know how they came up with this subpoena word.” The two rubbed their eyes, and Wendy smacked her head on the table in an attempt to jolt her brain. Why is everything so complicated? They couldn’t just use easy to understand terms? 

“Um... excuse me,” a new voice chimed in. Both girls looked towards the voice, it was the tall and blond barista who made their drinks, she looked a little foreign, but she was still cute nonetheless. “Yeah?” Joy replied. “Quash means to cancel something out or declare it invalid.” Wendy's eyes lit up when she heard the girl, this sure did catch her attention. Suddenly, the little barista popped up from behind the tall one, “Yeah, and a subpoena is an order compelling a person to appear in court or produce documents.” 

Wendy and Joy quickly met eyes and nodded at each other. “Would it be okay if the two of you helped us with this?” Wendy asked. “We really need all the help we can get.” Joy pleaded. The two baristas nodded, it’s not like they had anything better to do and no one is going to visit them at 2 am in the morning. They all sat down and began to work. The papers were finishing at a quicker rate, and progress was being done. The tall barista, Lisa, and the tiny one, Yeri, were a great help. The two apparently go to law school and are doing the night shift at this coffee shop to make a little money. 

When the work was done, everyone took a deep breath, Joy let a few stray tears of happiness fall, which Yeri quickly wiped away, and Wendy laughed in joy. “I’ve never felt so achieved,” Wendy said and the rest giggled. “Why the hell were you two doing such professional work when you don’t even know the basics?” Lisa asked, and that’s when Joy snapped towards Wendy’s direction, “It’s all because of this !” she half shouted, “I honestly deserve a raise for all of this.” she whined as she fell deeper into her seat.

“Well, I think this calls for a celebration.” Yeri announced and the rest cheered. She went up and headed over to the counter and got some pastries. She placed the big plate in front of them, “Enjoy!” “Are you sure it’s okay to eat this without paying or anything?” Wendy questioned. Lisa chuckled, “Don’t worry about it. It’s either you eat it now or we hand it to someone else to eat it.” And that’s all Wendy and Joy needed to know before digging in. They were starving. 

If you had told Wendy that she would be sitting in a coffee shop, eating free pastries at 5 am in the morning after completing complicated law work, she would have definitely laughed and walked away. But who would have thought, at least Wendy and Joy got to make new friends out of it.