It wasn’t really a special day, actually. It was just one of those days when Eunji would suddenly feel melancholic and get overwhelmed with her emotions. She was okay until after lunch, she saw her walking by. Eunji thought that she was finally becoming okay. She wasn’t thinking of her, she wasn’t imagining millions of scenarios inside her head. Eunji really wasn't a reminder for her to go back to step one.

“What is up now, Eunji?” Sandeul welcomed her as soon as she entered his office. If there was one thing that was good about having your best friend as your supervisor? Eunji could simply knock (she never knocks) and rant about work and personal stuff whenever she needed to.
 

Eunji frowned and sat on the couch that was supposed to be for visitors, “I saw her again.”

“You know, I’m really close to asking the other department to transfer her or I might as well transfer you to the field myself!” her best friend sat down and looked at the clock. “It’s been years since you fell for the higher batch girl whose name you never knew until you went to their graduation and mind you, our batch weren’t allowed in their ceremony rites but you managed to find a way.”

“Shut up,” Eunji whined. It was just a simple crush, honestly. It started with her just snooping around a club and then she ended up signing up for the club because the girl was there. Eunji wanted to quit right away when she found out that the girl wasn’t even part of the club to begin with.

“Come on, it’s past working hours. Let’s go for a drink,” Sandeul stood up and pulled her by the collar (in a friendly way). “You need to drink that sappiness outta you,” he continued.

As usual, they settled at a low maintenance local pub with mostly people they don’t know. It was the best place for Eunji to rant and let out her feelings because no one would judge her and at the same time, there was no one there who knew them. Sandeul was so used to the set up that upon sitting, he already ordered three large glasses of beer for her best friend. He opted not to drink because he was so sure that Eunji was gonna be so wasted that he would need to take her home.

“You see! She’s so god damn pretty and it’s not even fair!” Eunji ranted as she chugged the beer. It happens every once in a while and Sandeul was actually used to it already. “I get it, really. I’m not really her type but damn it, bro, she’s everything I want to be with.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that line before too,” Sandeul replied to his best friend as he took a bite of the bulgogi he ordered.

Eunji downed the three bottles down immediately. Even though she has amazing alcohol tolerance, the exhaustion brought about the whole week caught up with her and made her drunk.

“For three years, I thought I had gotten over that tiny crush I have for her but no! I had to work in the same company as her. I had to see her during my first day! And she’s from another department,” Eunji continued to rant. “You know that one project we had where I had to go to her office and ask her for things her department needed in the advertisement I would permit to run during the radio shows I was handling? I want to do it all over again and maybe ask for her number or what. Sometimes, I would draft an email to her just to ask random and then delete it because I don’t want to sound stupid.”

Sandeul laughed, he heard this story too. More than a couple of times, actually. But he continued to eat as Eunji ordered another round of beers. He was already sure that he would be driving the girl home. Not that he minded. Eunji was his best friend and without her, he wouldn’t be where he is now. But that’s a different story and all he wanted was for her best friend to either move on from Park Chorong or just ask the girl out because clearly, Eunji didn’t have plans to move on.

“Dude, I really like Chorong. What the ,” Eunji said in between hiccups and then passed out. It was a sign that they should stop drinking and for him to do his job. “Really, really like the pretty unnie since freshman years,” she kept mumbling.

~

The next day, Eunji woke up in a foul mood. Maybe because she smelled like alcohol and smoke and everything in between. She got up, fixed herself, and went out for a jog. It was a Saturday afternoon (yes, she woke up in the afternoon) and maybe a job could help her not think about what happened last night.

Of course, it wasn’t easy because even during the jog, she was thinking of the pretty unnie she has been crushing on since eight years ago. Eunji stopped and sat on one of the benches, “Okay, maybe it’s not just a tiny crush,” she said to herself.

“Maybe I should accept that I really don’t stand a chance so I can finally move on,” Eunji continued her monologue until she said, “That’s right. I should start seeing other people. It’s not healthy to keep thinking about one person for years.” As if she finally convinced herself, she stood up and unknowingly turned around.

“Woah,” a woman said as they almost bumped into each other. “Oh? Eunji?”

Okay, maybe the world is totally against me moving on from this girl , Eunji thought to herself. She met the eyes of the girl she had been secretly crushing on and smiled, “Chorong, fancy meeting you outside work.”

Chorong laughed, which sounded like honey in Eunji’s ears by the way, “Yeah. I didn’t think I’d meet you here too! Do you live nearby? I was gonna go grab food because I was too lazy to cook but since you’re here, why not have dinner together?”

“Ah,” Eunji was speechless. Actually, she just didn’t know what to say. Standing in front of her was Park Chorong, the pretty unnie she had been crushing on.

“Oh, did you have plans already?” Chorong asked with a concerned face. Eunji automatically shook her head, “Cat got your tongue or something? Pretty sure Sandeul mentioned that you’re very talkative.”

“Sandeul?”

“Yeah, your department manager? We had an emergency meeting earlier and he mentioned you. He said if there are any concerns, I should contact you because you’re the best among his employees,” Chorong smiled and started walking. “I must say, I really like how we worked together before because it was a success. I do apologize though, that I couldn’t follow up with you after. I got so busy that I couldn’t even visit you in your department!”

She probably looked like but Eunji didn’t care. All that mattered was that she was going to have dinner with Chorong. Regardless of how she looked. Eunji was pretty confident that she didn’t smell even after a long workout session so that was something to be proud of too. “You wanted to visit?” she blurted out.

Chorong looked at her with a smile, “Yeah! Our collaboration was amazing and I was wondering if you wanted to have another collaboration for our next project.”

“Sure,” she replied rather quickly for her own liking.

They settled at a local restaurant. Chorong sat comfortably while Eunji was feeling shy. It was a good thing she brought her wallet. She didn’t want Chorong to pay for their first date (yes, in her mind, it was a date and no one is going to stop her).

“So, what have you been up to these days? I heard that your department’s continuously hiring because of the demand. Is that a good thing?” Chorong was genuinely interested in what was happening in her life. It made Eunji’s heart swell.

Eunji scratched her nape, “Well, work’s kinda hectic but it’s fun you know. Yeah, we’re constantly hiring because we’re expanding the team to different tasks. Kinda having a lot of projects these days.”

“That’s good!” Chorong sipped her drink. “Before working together, we’ve met, right?”

“What?”

“At school? You’re the first year DJ that everyone sends their love problems to right? And you give wonderful advice to them?” it surprised Eunji that Chorong remembered her from way before they worked together.

“I mean,” Eunji chuckled and drank her water as well. “I didn’t think I would reach the seniors’ knowledge.”

“Everyone knew you, Eunji,” Chorong held her gaze a little longer than usual before turning to the waitress. “That includes me,” the girl continued.

“You..” Eunji struggled to find the right words but she knew she had to say something. “Knew me?”

Chorong t