Ji Hye released a long groan when her back hit the futon bed and her cold feet were finally tucked warmly inside the comforter. Her body ache all over and she could see an egg-sized bruise forming on her knees, she sighed and couldn’t help but think of all the days that she wanted to have a girlfriend to pamper and cuddle her, today was THAT day.

She picked up her phone, hoping that she at least got a message from Jung Woo to cheer her up, but nope, no message. As always, trying to get a text message from Jung Woo was like pulling teeth.

Sighing forlornly, she flipped on her stomach, thinking whether she should just make a call, but decided against it. It had been a long day for her, she might end up falling asleep just listening to Jung Woo’s voice. Funny, how the first person that she wanted to talk to after a long day was her, even just by thinking of talking to Jung Woo, half the stress of the day already felt like it was melting away. She smiled, pretending that she was with Jung Woo, back in her apartment, and started typing.

Hi,

It’s only Monday, but I’m already tired. Am I getting old?

We got quite a bundle of surprises today, one of the customers brought kittens. Let me emphasize, 8 KITTENS. She put them inside a stroller and covered them with blankets. And yes, as you might’ve imagined, it was a furball-covered time bomb waiting to explode.

Six of them got free. Don’t ask me how, I’m not one of the kittens, and they ended up scattered all over the café. Half of our customers melted on the spot over the cuteness, half of them…. Well, let’s just say I might have a hearing problem now.

So, I’ve just spent 3 hours crawling through desks and reaching over the counters to find them all. I’m happy to report to you that I am now a qualified cat herder, if you ever needed one. No kittens were harmed in the process and no animal control was needed.

How was your day?

P.S.: Ansso took the picture.

Ji Hye didn’t sign the email and just hit send, trying to imagine Jung Woo’s reaction when she received them.

She closed her tired eyes, wanting to just rest them for a while, but her tired body had other plans and she fell asleep instantly.

***

Jung Woo took a sip of her freshly brewed coffee, losing count on how many cups she had already consumed.

She looked at the scattered sketches on her desk, notes upon notes on post-its nearly covering them, full of her thoughts about specific designs that she was aiming for. Hyo Won would kill her when she saw this, but she would also be challenged enough to make her vision come true.

"Too red. But not too pink. Or too orange. Pomegranate?"

She was still searching for the correct color blend when she heard the ping from her laptop, signaling that she got a new mail.

She was about to ignore it, but something tickled at her, she was sure that it was Ji Hye’s name that popped up. Curious, she clicked open.

Jung Woo let out a small chuckle as she pictured the mess clearly in her head. Her mouse moved over to the attachment and clicked it open.

She laughed, "Omo, why is she so cute?"

There was Ji Hye. Her hair was a mess, almost half out from her low ponytail. Two small-looking, bedraggled Scottish fold kittens were trying to escape her grasp as she threw her head back and laughed.

She was a mess and Jung Woo found herself running a thumb over the picture before she could stop herself.

"Cute."

Ji Hye-ya,

It’s a good thing you didn’t call animal control, they might mistake you as one of the kittens too.

Ansso did great, it was a good picture, very cute.

The week barely started, but I already feel tired too, but that's probably because I AM old.

I hope you have a better day tomorrow.

Sleep well, Ji Hye-ya.

She bit her lips, finger hovering on top of her mouse as she kept looking at the picture, wondering whether it would be weird if she saves it, but friends save each other picture, right? It was just a picture, what’s the harm? Right-clicking her mouse, she quickly saved it and turn her mind back to work.

Tuesday came too soon and seemed to turn into Wednesday in the blink of an eye. Was it just her or did 24 hours seem to shorten as the years went by? She rubbed her tired eyes, she only got 2 hours of sleep, burning the midnight oil until dawn break before finally crashing on the couch. She scrolled through her mail, searching for the meeting link when she saw another email from Ji Hye.

She, apparently, missed it last night.

Hi,

Although today was kitten-free, unfortunately, it was not free from impossible people. Yes, I managed to still be friendly by putting on the fakest smile I could muster. It was not easy, but somehow I pulled it off.   

Where should I start? Ah…

Someone ordered an ice (light on the ice) quadruple shot decaf skinny soya macchiato with 3 pumps of (sugar-free) hazelnut syrup, with whipped cream but not too much, extra chocolate, extra caramel drizzle, and chocolate-chips topping then asked me why it took me more than 1 minute to make his order.

And then this lady came in and asked for a center of the sun extra hot latte.

You could picture me sighing? Because I did.

I was trained to heat the milk only to optimum temperature so that it wouldn’t burn, so it took ALL of my self-control to watch the milk boil away because the latte needs to be EXTRA hot, like open-the-gates-of-hell-kind of hot. That coffee is going to taste like crap and there’s nothing I can do about it. My heart was breaking. I sort of hope that she got 3rd degree burn on her tongue. I’m sorry. Okay, maybe not so much.

And then this guy. Wow. This guy. You won’t believe this guy. He started arguing with me, asking me to pay him $200 for new shoes, because he spilled his coffee on his shoes on his own but blamed me! He said he was distracted by me! I didn’t do anything to distract him I swear. I was working, not pole dancing. He said, it’s either $200 or my phone number. I gave him a number… of this police officer I know.

I need a hug.

-pleasetipyourbarista-

"Aigoo…."

A smile permanently lingered on Jung Woo’s lips as she read through the events of yesterday, feeling slightly sorry for the girl yet couldn’t help but think that it was also hilarious.

She was about to reply when her Teams alerted her of her scheduled meeting. Groaning, she grabbed her phone and look for Ji Hye's number, sending her an animated sticker of 2 kittens hugging to the younger woman before tucking away her phone and joining the meeting.

Later on that night, Jung Woo found herself sprawled on top of her bed. Not wanting to move even a twitch of her muscle. She was, for lack of better words, extremely exhausted. She was ready for sleep to claim her when her phone vibrated in her hand and Ji Hye's email came in.

Hi,

I just got back from checking on a noise complaint.

So this girl, Emma, called me and complained that she kept hearing strange noises and banging. Now, this is a luxury service apartment, we don’t have rats here, that’s for sure.

She then thought that it might be a ghost then, she said there was too, like someone was in pain and clanking. She wanted me to stay over and listened for myself.

Spoiler alert, it was not a ghost.

We waited inside her room, she kept grabbing me and asking me to hug her which was weird because there was really nothing to be afraid of and then I heard it too.

The noise.

I went to the unit right above her and… Let’s just say after inspection, I told them nicely, before I interrupted them any further. Although they might be very excited about performing their nightly marriage routine, they do have to consider their neighbors. So maybe put some extra padding if they want to get really loud and also… I had to give them a warning because apparently, they installed a swing in their bedroom.

You know, for .

I reprimanded them without blushing.

Much adult.

-horriffiedbuildingmanagement-

Jung Woo re-read the email once again just to be sure that she indeed read it correctly and burst out laughing.

Suddenly feeling less tired, Jung Woo typed in her reply.

Ji Hye-ya,

I don’t believe you.

I'm sure you cannot even look at them in the eyes when you warned them. Please tell me that they at least wear some clothes before answering the door, but if they don’t, please don’t give me any visualization. Thank you.

My days, unlike yours, were uneventful, just me slaving away and dealing with a bunch of meetings on the side.

Oh, Hurricane Hanee came to my house today. She cooked me my favorite food. Stir-Fry Pork and Kimchi Jiggae, it tasted like heaven. Have you ever tried her cooking? You should let her feed you.

Jung Woo paused, worrying her lips, wondering whether it’s okay to ask before typing once again.

Do you want to hang out once my work is done? Don’t sleep too late.

And pressed sent.

***

Hanee gave Ji Hye a suspicious look as the younger woman made herself at home in her kitchen, humming an unknown tune as she pulled out pots and pans from the cupboard and put the ingredients that she bought with her on the table.

“Why do you suddenly want to learn to cook from me?”

Ji Hye wondered whether she could get away with a cheeky response of – ‘because despite your very hip-hop appearance, you actually owned a traditional Korean cuisine restaurant and my crush really likes your food.’ – but decided against it, because she still very much values her life.     

“You offered before, remember?” Ji Hye cleared and tried to mimic the older woman, “Aigoo, you live alone? Let me teach you some simple dishes so you can have home-cooked meals once in a while.”

She didn’t sound remotely like Hanee, but it was enough to make the older woman snort.

“Fine.” She picked up some of the things that Ji Hye brought with her, “You already have something in mind that you want me to teach you?” 

“Kimchi Jiggae? Or Stir-Fry Pork? That would be easy enough for me right?”

Hanee gave Ji Hye a long look, just a little bit too long, enough for Ji Hye to start fidgeting under the scrutiny before she hummed and started instructing Ji Hye on how to prepare the dish.

“Put your phone away, I don’t use measurements. So gochujang around this much if you want to make for one and this much if it’s for two. Salt. Pepper. Sugar. Always remember to taste in between.”

Ji Hye couldn’t believe that Hanee actually measured with her own hand, but she was too afraid to comment that their hand sizes are way too different, so she just nodded and prayed that she could guess the measurements correctly.

Hanee took out her homemade Kimchi instead of the pre-packaged one that Ji Hye bought, muttering something about homemade ones tasted better and that Ji Hye should help out in making them later on before cutting and feeding them to Ji Hye, “How was it? Good?”

Eyes bulging wide from the explosion of taste inside , Ji Hye could only nod enthusiastically. Guess she will have to learn to make Kimchi too, Hanee’s Kimchi was so delicious it need a Michelin.

“Don’t cut the pork too thin, you need to be able to bite into them. Here, like this. Yes, that’s good enough.”

Grabbing a couple of Cheongyang Chili Pepper, Hanee sliced them into tiny pieces and add them to the jiggae, “Jung Woo unnie prefer to have Cheongyang Chili with them.” 

“Ah okay, got it.”

Ji Hye literally froze only a second after the words left her lips. She tried to look at Hanee’s reaction from the corner of her eyes and cringed when she realized that the older woman was looking at her with a stern expression.  

“I knew it!” She smacked Ji Hye’s arm. 

“Unnie, Unnie, knife!” Ji Hye warned her after she saw that Hanee was about to hit her again while still holding the knife in her other hand.

Putting the knife away, she once again smacked Ji Hye, this time on her , “Ya! Tell me honestly, you are learning this for Jung Woo unnie, aren’t you?”

“Ouch Unnie, it hurts!” rubbing her stinging arm and , she pouted at Hanee until the older woman melted and sighed.

Ji Hye could see it in her face, Hanee unnie might think that she could hide it well, but she couldn’t. She wore her heart on her sleeves and it showed. She was worried, might be feeling guilty that she was the force that rolled their dices, the very extension of the universe’s hands in making sure that her path and Jung Woo’s collide.  

 “We’re just friends.”

Hanee scratched her eyebrow, seemed to be lost in thought for a while, and then simply nodded to herself.

“She’s a good friend to have.” She started cutting the chili pepper again and suddenly chuckled, “Maybe I should be more worried about you. Jung Woo Unnie has this ability to you in and made you fall for her without meaning to and… she could be oblivious sometimes.”

Ji Hye nodded, knowing exactly what Hanee meant.

“Just be careful with your heart.”

It was short, straight to the point, a typical Hanee’s advice yet the weight of it formed a dent into Ji Hye’s heart.

“Yeah…” She sniffed, there was a slight pressure building on the back of that went up to her nose and resulted in a slight glimmer in her eyes that she managed to control by blinking her eyes.

Hanee looked at the flush on Ji Hye’s face and muttered lowly, “Jung Woo likes to eat potato jeon with hand-pulled Sujebi on a rainy day. Stir-Fry Pork and a spicy jiggae when she is stressed out, basically anything spicy to help her sweat it out. She could only eat Samgyetang when she feels a little under the weather…”

Ji Hye blinked and listened in amazement as Hanee listed out Jung Woo’s likes and dislikes until she almost felt like clapping with the amount of information that Hanee knows about her, “Wow Unnie, you sounded like you raised her or something.”   

A throaty laugh was her answer, “I knew her and Hyo Won since they were still starving design students trying to make it out in Seoul. Me too, I was still learning how to cook and they both were the best target practice because they literally would eat anything I gave them. So, I guess, in a way, I did raise those two.”

She couldn’t connect the youngster in Hanee's story with the confident glamourous woman that she now knew, but it just felt like another avenue that she wanted to explore, “Tell me more.