ʟᴏᴠᴇSTAY ֶָ֢𖹭 ˢᵏᶻ ᵃᵘ

¹³ 𖹭 ˢᵖᵉᶜⁱᵃˡ ᵍⁱᶠᵗˢ

「 ʷᵒʳᵈ ᶜᵒᵘⁿᵗ 𖹭 ²,⁹²⁹ 」
‎
‎
‎

⋅ POV⋅
⋅⊰ MEI ⊱⋅

"I'm so glad you changed your mind. I, however, will be taking full responsibility for it," Hannah casually informed me while she played with the thick straw in her boba drink. She then flashed me a sarcastic grin when she could feel me giving her a blank stare, causing my facade to break and I chuckled along with her. "Felix and Jisung are gonna be glowing, I promise you," she added to further assure me that it was a good thing I decided to go through with the handmade presents.

"Well, I hope so, but still, I'm including you in the present-making so I feel less weird," I giggled under my breath a bit nervously, already feeling a little guilty that the presents would be late.

"Got it. But I know they'll love it regardless, so don't stress," Hannah spoke affirmatively, giving a nod as she watched me prepare several boba drinks at once for the customers who last ordered.

It had been two days since the surprise party Hannah planned which just so happened to be the first day of my period. I was still on my period but was experiencing much less pain and discomfort now that it was the third day of my cycle, deciding I felt okay enough to return to work. Given that Hannah and I had exchanged schedules, she knew I had work today, provided I felt well enough, and we both planned for her to come into town and keep me company for the last hour of my shift before we hang out that evening.

Once I'd finished mixing and shaking the combination of desired ingredients, I ensured the drinks had a desirable presentation visibly before calling out the names of the customers who ordered them. I could feel the weight of Hannah's eyes on me as I did so, feeling a little self conscious about how I prepared the drinks.

"I bet you'd be an awesome bartender," Hannah commented, causing my eyes to cast over towards her after the customers whose names I called came to collect their beverages. "You look so cool while blending the drinks," she added in explanation, causing an involuntary laugh to leave my chest as I shook my head.

"Sure," I responded with slight sarcasm lacing my tone as a few new customers entered the shop and I took their order.

This was pretty much the only repetitive content of my last hour of work while Hannah cheered me on from the side of the counter as if my job were extremely complicated. I was grateful, though, that the time seemed to go by quickly as I was eager to spend my evening with Hannah outside of my work schedule's confines. Her and I's combined chattiness and similar sense of humor made my job feel new and fun again.

"I'll be right out, just need to change my clothes and clock out," I told Hannah with an excited smile as I finished serving my final customer of my work shift as I began untying the little apron around me.

"No rush," Hannah returned the grin as she pulled out her phone to busy herself while I headed through the door marked 'Employees Only.'

Once I'd slipped into my old denim overalls and plain white tank top, I tied my long dark hair up out of my face into a low knot. My phone buzzed from inside my locker with a few new notifications that made my heart jump as I squeezed into my oldest yet favorite pair of sneakers. I hadn't put much makeup on for the day given Hannah and I's plans, though I still wasn't quite secure enough to go bare-faced around her- or anyone but Asuka, Yukiko and Koji for that matter. Overall, my new appearance was casual and comfortable, nothing special, but I still felt presentable and cute, smiling at my reflection.

Grabbing my phone, I began checking my notifications as I blindly shut my work locker and grabbed my shoulder bag. My feet had automatically begun their journey back towards where Hannah had been sitting, but I came to an entirely shocked halt at what was on my Instagram's notifications tab.
‎
____________________
‎