Chapter Text
“And then I heard that there was something in the basement, and ooh I couldn’t stand it! I just had to shut the TV off.”
“Mm.”
“Then after that, I was getting ready for bed and I was terrified. I’m telling you, it was awful, how the house kept creaking and groaning like that.”
“Yeah.”
“Bong-Soon-ah!” Kyung-Shim smacked the counter. “I traveled all this way to visit and you keep ignoring me.”
Bong-Soon paused, then realized her friend was right. She had been absentminded all day, a concerning trend she had noticed at work. Last night had marked one month before the programming contest’s submission deadline and the dread of failure had snuck in alongside it. Because of that, she stayed up far later than normal. The bags under her eyes could probably hold groceries, or at least they felt that way.
“Yah!” Bong-Soon winced. She had spaced out again, hadn’t she? As she began prepping her shift drink—hopefully that would wake her up—, Kyung-Shim kept talking. “So? Where’s your hot friend I’ve heard so much about?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Oh—“ The grinder roared. “You know. Reasons.”
Searching her friend’s face, Bong-Soon decided, “Gook-Doo told you.”
“Mm. Now,” Kyung-Shim said. She tossed her hair dramatically and put on a pout. “Tell me all about it.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Are you sure? You certainly look like you couldn’t get someone off your mind last night.” Bong-Soon stopped tamping the espresso, wiped off her hands, and glared at her friend.
“I have not and will not lose sleep over that man.” Brandishing the tamper for emphasis, Bong-Soon continued to build up steam. “Yes, I did get terrible sleep, but this face? It’s because I am working and I cannot slow down, not now. Not when I’m so close.”
She set the espresso machine. As she kept ranting, Bong-Soon grabbed a towel and began vigorously wiping down the counter. “You know this. You’ve heard me talk about how important getting a foot into the programming industry is to me. And you want to stand here and tease about a boy?”
“Fine, forget I said anything.” Kyung-Shim sounded mad, but Bong-Soon didn’t bother looking at her to check. She was too busy fuming.
“Was that the only reason you visited?”
No answer. She poured her drink, finally adding the last bit of milk. The smell wafted up, fragrant, warm.
Bong-Soon looked out at the coffee shop. In the haze that often settled in shortly after the lunch hour, people lingered over their coffee and pastries. Their work often sat in their bags, unappealing compared to the welcome relief of a quiet moment midday. She breathed in, soaking up the rich air. The familiar blend of coffee and lemon its own kind of rest.
Then— “I’m sorry, you know.”
Bong-Soon looked up. Kyung-Shim’s shoulders hung beside her, limp like cut strings. She was sincere, then. Well. “Okay. I’ve got more work to do, so please move.”
“Bong-Soon-ah, hey—” Kyung-Shim stretched out a hand, pleading— “don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Try to brush me off with work. You always do.”
That cut her to the core. But Bong-Soon would always give as good as she got, so she shot back, “How can I always do it when you’re never here? How does that work, hm?”
“Fine,” Kyung-Shim snapped. A customer walked up, eyeing the two of them nervously.
Still, they broke the tension, sending the two girls giggling—Bong-Soon trying to be quiet and Kyung-Shim being unhelpful in that area. After they settled down and the customer had been served, Bong-Soon admitted, “…You might be right, though. About my feelings, I mean.”
“Really?”
Kyung-Shim’s eyes widened. She leaned in closer and Bong-Soon could tell she was resisting the temptation to pry. She decided to offer another white flag. After quickly scanning the room to make sure the wrong person couldn’t overhear, she told her everything that happened thus far. “I won’t say I like him, but he is definitely cute. Plus, there’s definitely something…”
“I knew Gook-Doo was right!” She crowed.
“Yah, there’s no need to rub it in.”
They stayed a bit awkward for the rest of the shift, but the two friends knew they would be alright. They always were. And besides, they had bigger things to worry about—like the programming contest Bong-Soon was all worked up over.