[CONTENTID1] Warnings: substance use, language [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Arctic Fox Fur Coat[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3] chapter i [/CONTENTID3]

[CONTENTID4]

Just a single response. That was all Seulgi wanted.

Just one. And it would make everything better.

Or would make the matters worse.

It had not been long since her boyfriend replied—five hours outmost. But five hours felt like an eternity to her. She got so used to quick replies, that it’s driving her crazy as to why she wasn’t getting any response even after sending her boyfriend messages and giving him calls.

'He’s mad at me.'

She couldn’t help but think, and it was making her weak. She never liked the feeling when someone was mad at her, it was never a pleasant feeling. Especially if it was him.

Plea

She stopped typing. She shouldn’t bother him, he could be at work. She shouldn’t annoy him. 

'He must be annoyed.' 

She wasn’t at work; it was her rest day, leaving her alone with her thoughts and her uneventful phone. All the things she might have done or might have said haunted her. There was nothing worse than overthinking. 

She dug her face into her phone, praying to the gods to make a miracle for her. Put an end to her miserable state.

She waited…

And waited…

No response still.

Maybe staring at her mobile screen would make a difference. So she did. She stared at every icon she could look at—Facebook, Youtube, Settings, Contacts, and even an icon she had never seen before. She scrolled from left to right, hoping a notification would pop out.

'Why am I lying to myself?'

She was nearly 30 but she could still be naive at times. She was a high school dropout with divorced parents.

Divorced? That was what she thought then, but they didn’t have the money for such a thing. Her parents only lived separately and a lot of things were too confusing for her to understand ‘grown-ups’. She ran away from her home at the age of 17 and began to find ways to survive and live on her own. 

However, things never worked out for her, still broke at the age of twenty-eight. She was renting a small, cheap apartment. She also owned a third-hand car that needed constant maintenance. Her job was at the convenience store near where she was staying, only a 15-20 minute walk.

Kang Seulgi considered herself a good-for-nothing and was only working to survive. The only thing that was giving her happiness, even at the slightest dose, was her boyfriend’s affection. And that person that was making her happy was mad at her.

She heaved a deep, sorrowful sigh as she dropped her head down to the table where she was sitting. On the brink of losing hope and helplessness, her heart jumped when her forehead felt the vibration of the table coming from her phone.

There was no time to waste for Seulgi. She didn’t wait until the last minute and tapped on the notification without checking who it was from.

But she froze in her position the moment she read that the message was from her carrier, reminding her that her phone bill’s due date was approaching. She never felt more disappointed. 

'This man, now this.'

Her grip on her phone loosened, feeling hopeless—she could hear her heart beating against her chest, hurt. She felt like she was losing her mind.

A picture of her wallet flashed across her mind, remembering exactly how much money she still had before her next pay. $43.05.

Her phone bill usually cost $45.

Seulgi didn’t want to check her wallet again, it was too heartbreaking for her. She didn’t want to face the bitter truth of how broke she is. She recently spent a lot of money buying her boyfriend a nice dinner for his birthday. She also bought him a new pair of shoes—a pair he didn’t like. That’s why they’re in a fight now. He didn’t seem too happy with her gift and he hadn’t talked to Seulgi since. It may seem shallow but Seulgi had promised to buy him the shoes he liked on his birthday. She hadn’t bought a new pair in a long time. As long as she could use her good old sneakers, she’d be fine. 

Seulgi pressed her eyes closed, thinking about what she should do to pay her dues and how to make up with her boyfriend. Her feet kept tapping on the floor, thinking hard of a solution. But she couldn’t think of any. All of this was too painful to bear for her.

“Money can’t buy happiness?” She muttered to herself. “Bull.”

She stood up from her chair and threw her phone to the sofa to release some stress that she was feeling. Even a tiny bit. She needed a break.

She started walking circles in her small, cramped place, thinking of different things or solutions on how to earn enough money to at least pay the bills.

Seulgi never turned her head so fast when she saw her phone screen blink white from her peripheral view, hearing a vibration from the sofa. A notification. Her feet dragged her fast towards her brown sofa and grabbed her phone from it.

Seulgi clenched her jaw from, once again, the disappointment. It was from her friend, Kim Yeri. 

I’m coming to your place.

Seulgi’s stomach clutched, still disappointed but now pissed. She was hoping it was from someone better—her boyfriend. “I don’t need you to come,” she muttered to her phone as if Yeri would get her response.

Within seconds, a rapid knuckle impatiently knocked on Seulgi’s door. It paused for a quick while, but then started knocking again. Very impatiently.

Seulgi already knew who it was. She stomped her way to the door to stop the noise.

The grin on Yeri’s face drops flat the moment Seulgi showed her narrowed, irritated gaze. Yeri cocked one brow, “What’s with the face?” Her green, dry hair was in a ponytail, and she was wearing a tacky pink shirt that had a ‘SAVE MOTHER EARTH’ print on it, and denim pants. 

Without waiting for an answer, Yeri made her way into Seulgi’s place without permission and went straight to the living room.

Seulgi followed Yeri with a glare, closing the door. “What are you doing here?”

‘What a stupid question,’ Seulgi quickly realized. Yeri only visited Seulgi for one reason, and one reason only—to sniff drugs.

“I’m telling you, Seulgi. You should break up with Chanyeol. He’s just playing you,” Yeri said as she pulled out her cheap snuff set from her bra inside her shirt, and placed it on the glass coffee table. 

Yeri already figured out what was bothering her friend, especially when Seulgi made a face like what she was wearing. It was always about men.

But Seulgi didn’t like anyone minding her business, so Yeri only watched her be stupid. Yeri had seen this many times. She got used to it.

Seulgi ignored Yeri’s statement and changed the topic. “Hey, when are you going to take home your shot. It’s taking up a lot of space in my fridge.” Seulgi only had a mini-fridge where it could only fit a few drinks and food.

“For as long as I don’t need it,” Yeri blatantly answered. “I don’t want my dad seeing that. Mom and dad would start asking questions.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Seulgi waved her off. “You already said that.”

Yeri still lived with her parents since she spent a lot of her money on things she liked to snort. 

Seulgi pulled a chair on the dining table and watched her friend do her thing. 

Yeri pulled another object from her bra that seemed to be inside her cleavage. An airless balloon.

“How many things can you fit in your bra?” Seulgi commented snidely. 

Yeri raised a shoulder sassily. “You’d be surprised.” Then she winked. 

Seulgi knew that the deflated balloon contained a powdered drug. Yeri untied the balloon and sprinkled a small portion of white power on Seulgi’s glass table. Yeri pulled a card or a plastic ID from her pocket (she didn’t even have a wallet) and scraped the powder with it to create two thin lines. She swiped the remaining powder on the edge of her card with her finger and it. She then took a rolled-up bill from her kit. Her nose made a loud, sharp noise when she snorted the powder. She twitched both of her nostrils and sniffed again, just to make sure her system received that well. Her eyes became slightly watery from the mild burning sensation that went through her nostrils. She cleaned the white dust excess on the table with her finger and brushed her gums with it. Every milligram counted.

Yeri sighed, resting her head against the sofa, satisfied. 

Watching Yeri sniff distracted Seulgi from her miserable thoughts. What made the scene more entertaining was Yeri was wearing a ‘SAVE MOTHER EARTH’ shirt as she snuffed her way out. She found it out of place and the irony of it all.

“What was that?” Seulgi asked.

“Heroin.”

Despite all that, Seulgi remained to be a traditional woman. Drugs never interested Seulgi. She had tried a pot, but it was never for her. She had seen people around her do it, and she didn’t like what it did to them. Besides, those substances cost too much.

“By the way,” Yeri lifted her head lazily and pointed at Seulgi, “I told boss you’re gonna take my shift tonight.”

Seulgi’s mouth opens agape. “What?” Yeri also worked at the same convenience store as Seulgi’s, that was where they met. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you. I have a rendezvous tonight.” She winked mischievously—obviously up to something no good.

Seulgi thought she’d have a rest day for herself. But then she remembered her bills. And of course, her boyfriend. It meant extra bucks.

Maybe she needed that shift.

 x x x 

“Breaking news: Kang Sungmi filed a divorce. The fifteen-year-old allegedly—“

Snapping fingers diverted Seulgi’s attention from the television back to her manager who was in front of her at the counter. The manager pointed his pen to Seulgi and said, “That news will stay for a while, customers don’t.”

Seulgi nodded lazily.

It was past 3 AM. She was on her second cup of coffee but she still felt drowsy, her eyes wanting to close themselves. Besides that it had been a while since her last graveyard shift, she was not used to it, unlike Yeri who could do any shift at any time of the day. Seulgi had barely any rest and still had another shift, her original shift, at 11 AM after her 4 AM shift. She would have less time for sleep but a little more money for her. She needed every cent.

‘Less than an hour left.’

There weren’t many people at the store, so she was pissed off at her boss for being such an uptight motherer.

She couldn’t wait for her shift to end, she missed her bed. But she missed Chanyeol a lot more. He was still not talking to Seulgi, ignoring her calls and messages. She was beginning to think of the worst things. 

‘Has he found another woman?’

She didn’t know how to make him notice her again.

‘I’ll pay him a visit after my shift. I’ll be there before breakfast before he leaves for work. He’ll be surprised and see my sincerity and effort,’ she thought.

The idea washed away her sleepiness in a snap. She got