| some days later, marsh-lee houshold |
"Nonsense, lie down again immediately," Hyein scolded Danielle in an unusually stern tone and immediately pushed her back onto her bed. The 26-year-old looked anything but well. Her hair was a mess, she was all sweaty and she was coughing like there was no tomorrow. Nevertheless, she insisted on going to work because it was oh so important that she had to show up today of all days. Hyein clearly disagreed, however, because she certainly wouldn't let her sister out of the door and was putting herself in danger of falling ill. "No matter how much they need you, you're no help to anyone in this state," it may have sounded a little harsher than it was meant to, but the younger girl obviously just wanted her to take some time to recover. Without further ado, the house phone was in her hand and the work number was dialed. Danielle was powerless, she couldn't fight it, how could she? She wasn't exactly strong anyway and now that her arms were like rubber, it didn't help her any more. And between you and me, there wasn't really anything important for her to do at work at the moment, apart from the now daily love drama surrounding her.
The phone rang for quite a while and just before Hyein was about to give up, a voice on the other end rang out: "You're talking to the CEO Kim Minji, how can I help you?" Somewhat confused, a few small sounds stumbled out of the little sister's mouth; she hadn't expected her of all people to answer. "Oh, ehh, sorry. I just wanted to let you know that Danielle can't come to work today, she's ill," she tried to convey with more control in her voice and only got a very stoic response. When she hung up, she looked back down at Danielle, who was also looking up in her direction: "So?" Hyein sat down on the edge of the bed and wiped her gaze away from her again: "Well, she just said oh, ok in a calm tone and hung up." That was really all? To be honest, Danielle would have expected more than that calm reaction. But she probably just had too much on her mind or she wasn't alone in the office? ...why was she worrying so much just because her reaction seemed too weak? "Then everything's fine? ...you should get out of the room too, not that you'll catch it." Besides, Hyein had to go herself, she certainly couldn't keep the other girl any longer.
The moment Hyein had said goodbye and stepped out of the apartment, she immediately fell into Haerin's arms. She was about to ring the bell, but her quick reflexes and the frantic Hyein were able to adapt, which is why nothing worse happened. "Oh, hey Kitty~" a smile graced Hyein's lips and she found herself back on her own two feet, raising an arm and pointing her thumbs at her apartment door. "I'm afraid the lady of the house has fallen ill, best to let her rest. I'll bring her some medicine later and-" she stopped her sentence and watched as Haerin turned on her heel and disappeared into her own apartment without saying another word. A questioning look spread across her face and with a shrug of her shoulders, the younger sister simply went on her way again. A few stairs later and outside the building, she bumped into another familiar face: Hanni. "Oh hi!", the two waved to each other in a friendly manner and she told her the same thing that she had told Haerin in the corridor earlier. Hanni also reacted unusually calmly to the news, which also made Hyein wonder. Weren't they all crazy about her? It seemed really strange to her that they were so unnaturally calm... especially Hanni, who usually almost exploded over every little thing.
Somehow it all seemed a bit strange to her. It wasn't anything earth-shattering that Danielle was ill, it happens to everyone. The only thing was that none of the three of them were worried? They seemed so indifferent in their reaction to the news, as if they didn't care. Minji just hung up, Haerin literally left her standing in the hallway and Hanni was so quiet she could have heard crickets chirping. Hyein could literally smell the stench! There was definitely something fishy going on. She would have loved to get to the bottom of the case, but unfortunately she also had her obligations. Work was calling, a small job at the pharmacy and she was already running a little late anyway, so she'd better get on with it. To add to her misery, she had to miss the bus, of course. She stamped her foot on the ground and just looked after the bus as it drove away, but a honking horn snapped her out of her thoughts before she could launch into a tirade about public transport being overly punctual. Her gaze drifted to the source of the noise and of course she recognized the car immediately, it was Haerin's. She was just sitting at the wheel and had the passenger window down: "Get in, I'll drive you there."
| on the road -> pharmacy |
What luck that she wouldn't be late after all. Especially as she hadn't had the job that long. Even if it was just a little side job to earn some extra money while she was busy with her studies, she still wanted to do everything right and not inconvenience anyone. "Thanks for driving me... but don't you have to go to work yourself?" Her question was answered with a shake of Haerin's head as soon as she finished. "I'm off today and since I was heading in the same direction anyway..." Haerin's tone became softer and softer towards the end of her sentence, but an amused grin spread across Hyein's face. She knew something was up! In other words, Hyein didn't need to buy the medicine with her money, Haerin would take care of that. As mysterious as she could be, Haerin couldn't hide certain things from her. Besides, it was really far too obvious: "Oh, are you going to take care of Dani?" Haerin tightened her grip on the steering wheel and cleared her throat as if she had just been caught out cold. Her facial expressions didn't give anything away, but Hyein noticed immediately. "I..." Haerin cleared her throat again and coughed feignedly, "...just something for my cough, that's all." A poor attempt to talk her way out of it, even if she didn't really need to. Hyein just grinned for the rest of the ride.
After they finally reached their workplace, Hyein ran ahead so that she could get ready for her shift. She waved to Haerin, still grinning with amusement, and disappeared behind the glass door of the pharmacy. Haerin looked after her and you'd think she actually had a little smile on her lips herself. Something that Hyein could no longer notice, however, because she was now fully in work mode... well, actually that just meant that she was standing behind the till waiting for someone to want to buy something. Working in a pharmacy could get a bit boring. Nevertheless, she was the one who could catch Haerin wanting to buy anything. "Haerin! Are you sick too? I thought you just had a cough!", the 23-year-old teasingly mocked, scanning the products before packing them into a paper bag and placing them in front of her friend. Haerin didn't respond to the obvious provocation, but simply held her credit card up to her face so that she could pay. Defeated, Hyein took the card and after her work was done, she said goodbye to Haerin.
Time passed slowly during her shift. Not that she was complaining, but customers always seemed to be in short supply here. A good thing? After all, she wouldn't wish anyone ill. There was only one customer who had been here for a while now, looking around. A pharmacy wasn't that interesting, was it? Normally, people knew what they needed when they came here. Still, nothing exciting. In her opinion, something could be happening and as if she had summoned it, another familiar face stood in front of her with a broad smile on its face. "Hey, I didn't know you worked here," came the voice of none other than Hanni herself. The corners of Hyein's mouth immediately popped up; this seemed like another funny situation. Had she been expecting this? Maybe, but it was even better that it was actually happening. Hanni wanted to buy exactly the same medication that Haerin had bought before. Now the only question was... should she tell her? But on the other hand, you couldn't really have enough in stock, could you? She happily took the order and made the other pay for it A small hug across the counter initiated the farewell and before Hyein knew it, she had sunk back into the maw of boredom. What would she do to make the time pass more quickly?
As expected, more time passed and it felt slower than before. At times, Hyein even had to be careful not to fall asleep at the checkout. In fact, the one customer from the beginning was still here... should she perhaps go and ask if she could help? It wouldn't be wrong, after all, it was part of her job. She straightened up and came out from behind the counter. Her gaze fixed on the customer and her legs carried her to her, who only realized at the last moment that she now had company. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Hyein asked in her friendliest tone and with a warm smile as she looked over at the other lady. Her counterpart felt a head shorter. She had long black hair that came out from under a cap and when she looked in Hyein's direction, her eyes avoided his gaze. No answer, so Hyein tried again: "Is there anything I can do to help? Are you looking for something specific?" The customer's eyes seemed to drift everywhere but in Hyein's direction. As she was about to start a sentence again, the customer turned on her own axis and marched towards the exit: "Sorry... sorry ... I'm sorry" Completely confused about what had just happened, the 23-year-old stood rooted to the spot. At the same moment as the customer disappeared, someone else came in.
"Huh... is she sick too? ...maybe I should check later," the new customer said, turning her head in the direction of the woman running away. Apparently they knew each other? At least it brought Hyein out of her state again and she waved off what had happened with a short laugh. She positioned herself behind the till again and turned her attention to the new customer, who was already walking purposefully towards her. At least someone knew exactly what they wanted, just as it should be in a pharmacy. Interestingly, she also bought exactly the same things as Hanni and Haerin. Was Danielle's illness running around the area? "Seems to be a trend right now, huh?" a pitiful attempt by Hyein to start a conversation, but luckily it wasn't taken negatively. All that followed was a nod and she was handed another credit card. The card looked quite expensive... could credit cards look expensive? At least it was fancy and the name was in gold. Kim Minji ... Kim ... Minji ... wait! "Kim Minji!?" without restraint, Hyein cried out momentarily, which also got a skeptical look from Minji. A nervous smile stretched across her lips and Hyein cleared her throat before swiping the payment and handing the card back to her.
Minji left it at that and said goodbye to her and she also disappeared from the store. Hyein leaned on the counter with both arms and had to take a deep breath. "...wait, wait a minute," she began, turning on the spot and looking at the shelf behind her, even though she wasn't actually concentrating on it, "does that mean that all three of them want to see her now?" It was at this very moment that the realization hit her and she ran both hands through her hair. What a bummer, maybe she should have done something after all? "What am I going to do now? Dani, I'm so sorry, I should have at least stopped two of them, shouldn't I? ARGH!" A thought that lingered for the rest of the working day and was unlikely to leave her any time soon. Hyein couldn't even imagine what was going on at home right now, hopefully they hadn't killed each other! Well, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but the jealousy would certainly have filled the room, Hyein could say that for sure. After her closing time finally rang, the young sister naturally wasted no time and stepped up a gear so that she would get home quickly: "I'm coming to help Danielle!"
. . . a dark cap peeked out from behind the corner of a building. Long black hair fell over the person's shoulders and a sweet smile adorned the woman's lips. The customer who had run away a few hours ago looked after the cashier: "...next time I'm sure I'll have the courage..."
Author: Well, well, well ... how are you doin' my fellow coping people? Took me a while to write a new chapter, but now it's done. And what i've done, ha. Any thoughts about this? Next time, we're going to find out, what's happening back at Danielle's House. Just how much chaos should we embrace, huh? Tell me.
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