"Dear passengers, we will soon be landing, so we advise you to follow the safety guidelines and listen carefully to the flight attendants."

The voice coming out of the speakers broke Jinsol out of her contemplation. The blond sighed, looking back at the small pile of paperwork in front of her. She'd been working for nearly whole duration of the flight, only taking 10-minute naps as breaks. She looked through the window, staring at the cloud-free sky.

Suddenly, Jinsol felt someone tap her shoulder. It was one of the flight attendants. They informed her that she should slowly make herself ready. Seeing how the rest of the passengers were doing it already, Jinsol decided to clear her things. She glanced once again at the window. She could already see the landscape taking shape.

She was finally home.

Upon landing, the first thing she did was secure her luggage. Once that was taken care of, she moved to the exit, looking for a taxi for a ride to her hotel. Jinsol sighed at the thought of spending those first few weeks in a hotel. She hated hotels. They always felt so impersonal, so cold. The first thing on her to-do list was to find a new apartment.

Engrossed in her search for a taxi, she didn't notice someone approaching her from behind. Before Jinsol knew what was happening, someone had engulfed her in a tight hug. The action made the woman jump in surprise. Jinsol quickly disentangled herself, ready to curse the shit out of whoever had dared to touch her without her consent, but her anger dissipated when she saw who the culprit was. "Shit, Haneul! You scared the shit out of me."

"Nice to see you too, Sol." Haneul, her oldest and only friend, retorted, unfazed.

Jinsol rolled her eyes, picking up her suitcase, which had fallen on the ground during the whole hug-thing. "What are you doing here?" She asked the shorter woman. "I wasn't really expecting a welcoming fanfare."

"What can I say," Haneul shrugged. "I missed my best friend." With that said, she directed them toward a black Hyundai. They put Jinsol's suitcases in the trunk and hopped in. They sat in comfortable silence for the first 25 minutes with Haneul behind the wheel and Jinsol in the passenger seat, her eyes closed. She regretted not sleeping during the flight as she could feel a headache forming. "So, how was Europe?"

Jinsol opened one eye and peeked at Haneul, whose eyes were still tightly glued on the road, before closing it again. She shrugged despite knowing that Haneul couldn't see her. "Okay, I guess." She answered monotonously.

Haneul didn't let her friend's lack of enthusiasm affect her. She tried to chat her up and hype the woman's achievement throughout the ride, but after the umpteenth one-word answer, she gave up and let Jinsol have her peace. They'd known each other their entire life, and while Jinsol had always been a reserved child, it was only after the accident that she became this closed-off.

Haneul had joined her in the UK for their studies, but returned right after her Bachelor's. Jinsol had chosen to stay, finish her studies, and ultimately, work there. Haneul had been worried it'd strain their relationship, but even the distance hadn't been able to break their bond.

Sensing Haneul's defeated energy, Jinsol, for her part, felt guilty for giving her friend the cold shoulder. They'd barely seen each other in person in the last six years. And Haneul had gone out of her way to be there for her. That and the fact that the woman was practically her only friend. "Sorry, the flight was really tiring, and I'm exhausted. I haven't slept properly in days."

Haneul gave her an understanding look. That wasn't surprising coming from her workaholic friend. "Hey, don't worry, I understand. However, " She glanced nervously at Jinsol, and the blonde could feel that she wasn't going to like what came next. "Your father requested your presence. He has something to discuss with you." There it was. Jinsol groaned; her day couldn't have gotten worse. Haneul gave her a look of pity. "You know if you don't want to, I can..."

"No, it's okay, Hani," Jinsol interrupted her. "I can handle this." Jinsol knew that besides putting herself in trouble, Haneul's intervention wouldn't have had much of an impact.

Haneul asked her multiple times if she was sure and insisted she didn't mind talking to her father, but Jinsol refused. "I swear it'll be alright. Although I don't think I have the energy for it. Can we make a detour to grab some coffee?" Haneul agreed.

As they continued driving, they passed a coffee shop that looked good enough. Haneul parked the car, and they made their way toward it. Unfortunately for them, the coffee shop seemed popular as it was packed, mostly with students. Being already there, they made their way through the waiting line, which was a long one.

They had almost reached the counter when suddenly Jinsol felt something hot run down her shirt. When she looked down, she found her white shirt with a large coffee spot. In front of her stood a waitress with auburn hair and seemingly younger than her, profusely apologizing while trying to wipe out the stain.

Under normal circumstances, Jinsol was a reasonably calm person who hated causing a scene. But seeing as she was running on an unhealthily low amount of sleep and the prospect of a particularly unpleasant meeting with her father, she snapped. "Can't you fucking watch where you're walking!" She let out in frustration, taking the cloth from the girl to wipe the spot herself. She didn't know what was worse, the stain or the burn.

The girl seemed taken by surprise by the sudden outburst. "I-I'm sorry, I swear I.." She tried, but Jinsol didn't let her finish.

"You what? You didn't see me standing? Are you blind or something?!" Her loud tone attracted the other patrons' attention. A man, seemingly the manager, came running, alarmed by her voice. With a forced smile, he asked if everything was alright.

The waitress opened her mouth, ready to explain, but Jinsol beat her to it. "Your employee just poured a hot cup of coffee all over me. She ruined my shirt." Perhaps all Jinsol wanted was to let off some steam, and that poor girl was now at the receiving end.

The manager looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. He looked at the damage and immediately bid his apologies before turning to his employee, scolding her for her mistake. After that, he assured Jinsol that the girl would pay for the damage. The younger girl hadn't said a word yet, seemingly intimidated by her.

In actuality, Jinsol couldn't care less about her shirt or money. She just wanted something or someone to pass her nerves on. Deep down, she felt sympathy for the young woman. She had half a mind telling them that she was ready to let it go when the girl -who didn't seem that afraid of her, after all- muttered something under hr breath. Unfortunately for her, the blonde heard it perfectly. Anger gradually increased. "What did you just say?!"

She expected the waitress to apologize or deny saying anything. Instead, the redhead raised her head and looked her straight in the eyes as if to challenge her. "I said; no need to behave like an asshole; it's just a little coffee stain. It's not like it'll ruin your life."

Jinsol was positively floored. The younger woman didn't even seem sorry. If anything else, she looked angrier with Jinsol. The blonde couldn't believe her eyes; she was the one who got a steaming cup of coffee dumped on them, but this girl had the nerve to be angry with her. Her? Any pity she'd felt towards the waitress melted like snow under the sun. "I'm sorry. I was of the impression that when one makes a mistake, it's customary to apologize and show remorse."

She was still trying to give the girls an out. She could simply apologize, and all would be forgiven. But the waitress didn't seem ready to back down from this fight. "I already apologized profusely. What else would you have me do? Kneel before you and kiss your feet?" Jinsol was getting angrier by the second. The manager tried, unsuccessfully, to tell his worker off, but the woman had her eyes strained on Jinsol, seemingly waiting for the blonde's response.

The blonde stepped closer to her, passing the poor manager. She found herself slightly towering over the waitress. Good, she thought. Jinsol leaned in, taking a closer look at the woman's name tag. "Jiwoo, trust me when I say that this shirt alone costs more than your mere existence."

Once again, the Jiwoo didn't back down. Instead, she stepped closer too. By now, the two women were almost touching. "I get it. You're rich, so what? Your life must be really miserable if the best you can do with your time is bully an honest worker." She bit back without missing a beat.

The tension between the two was electrifying. Everyone's attention was trained on them. Some had their phone out, recording the interaction, waiting patiently for Jinsol's response. The blonde scoffed 'honest worker' my ass. For some reason, the more time she spent in the presence of the gremlin, the worse her temper got. By now, she was practically in the shorter woman's face. "Listen, you littl-"

Before Jinsol could fully let her words out, she felt someone tug at her arm. Haneul, who had stayed behind the entire time, had finally decided to come between them to prevent the situation from escalating into a full-blown fistfight.

Something by the look of both women's eyes told her that it was more than likely. She dragged Jinsol out of the coffee shop. All the blonde could do was glare as a victorious smile crept on the waitress' lips. She, oh-so wished that she could wipe it off her face.