SAHYO IMAGINES

LIST

"seriously, jihyo? it's your job, not mine."

jihyo pressed her lips into a thin line, but tried mightily to keep the rest of her face blank. she and sana had circled through several shorter versions of this same argument all week, so her tolerance levels were lower than usual.

"i understand that," she said, struggling to keep her voice steady, "but this is the company's holiday party. the board members know i'm partnered, so i'm expected to bring a plus-one. it's just the way the culture is in my workplace."

"so bring mina." sana doused the palette she was working with in turpentine, splashing it angrily over the globs of paint and causing several drops to spatter across her workspace. she mixed it in with angry jabs of her paintbrush, still muttering. "you know i hate the assholes you work with. stuck-up one percenters buying their dumb superyachts with backtrades..."

jihyo resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. "we're a nonprofit, sana. the ceo and the board members make the same salary as me — and you know my salary is reasonable."

sana slashed her brush across the canvas, filling in a faint, penciled-in section of her sketch with deep purphyoh-red lines. "hmph. doesn't change the fact that they're rich assholes."

"besides, i can't bring my cousin to this kind of party. my coworkers know you're my girlfriend , sana. you've met them before."

"exactly," sana declared. "and you wonder why i don't want to go to your dumb party."

jihyo held back a sigh of frustration. "i warned you this was coming a month and a half ago."

"see?" sana waved her brush, sending more flecks of paint across the table. "warned. subconscious word choice. deep down, even you know how much this sucks."

"sometimes, we have to do things we don't like. it's my duty to the company. god, i feel like i'm explaining responsibility and basic social etiquette to a child."

sana plunged her brush back into the paint, swirling half of it with a different color to make it darker. "well, maybe you're too much of an adult. you take your job way too seriously. and 'duty to the company'? that's some capitahyot bullshit right there."

jihyo hung her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. despite her efforts to remain calm and neutral, sana was really getting on her nerves. "and you don't take your job seriously? you wouldn't remember to eat half the time if i didn't remind you. by the way, they'll have punch at the party, so—"

"oh no," sana said with a bitter laugh. "you can't ply me with booze. i can drink at home, without squeezing into a dress that won't hold my boobs and forcing my feet into heels that could double as a torture device."

"you'd be more comfortable in heels if you went to a nice shoe store and took the time to properly size yourself instead of ordering cheap knock-offs online at the last minute before an event," jihyo pointed out.

sana threw down the paintbrush, spinning in her chair. "and waste hours of my day trying on crappy, overpriced shoes that i hate?"

"it's not a waste of time or money if it keeps your feet from hurting."

"i don't believe you." sana busied herself untying her smock, throwing it over the back of her chair.

jihyo blinked. annoyed though she was, the passion behind the gesture caught her attention in an unexpected way. she had to admit, sana looked pretty sexy like this, hands smudged with paint, hair pulled back into a messy bun, brown eyes crackling with electricity. she shook herself. "excuse me?"

"i said, i don't believe you. i know for a fact you hate these corporate shindigs as much as i do, maybe even more. but you always go. grow a backbone and ditch for once, why don't you?"