A Dangerous Friend

5

[ The Morning After ]

Ryujin entered the diner, to find that its erstwhile waitress had been replaced by an untidy brunette heap snoring gently on the counter.

"Hey."

Yeji remained resolutely face down. "Umf," she managed, indistinctly.

"You know, I'm surprised you don't get more customers in here, what with your sunny disposition and sparkling repartee."

"ut up." Yeji's arms wrapped themselves tighter around her head.

"So is it self-service now, or should I come back later ?"

"Do you remember," said a muffled voice,
"When you drove me through the desert on the way to school ? And you were going to kill me with a shovel and bury me there ?"

"Well, I wasn't really going to-"

"Could we do that now, please ?"

"Ah. Got a little hangover, there, Miss Hwang ?"

"No, I haven't got a little hangover," Yeji said, grimly, prising her cheek away from the plastic surface and laying it down again on a cooler spot. "I have got the worst hangover ever experienced by any living thing, ever, since time began."

"You know what's good for a hangover ?"

"What ? And if you say 'drinking heavily the night before', I am going to stab you in the face with my order spike." An arm unfurled itself from around her head and felt around on the counter. "If I can find it."

Yeji saw it, and carefully moved it out of reach.
"Come on," she said. "It can't be that bad. I feel fine."

There was a low gurgle from the pile of hair and arms on the counter that constituted the mortal remains of Hwang Yeji.

"I hate you, Shin Ryujin," it said. "With a passion you can only dream of."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Ryujin said, cheerfully.
"Come on, I'll buy you lunch."

"It's lunchtime ?" Yeji finally peeled her face off the counter and stood upright, the look of horror on her face visible beneath a mass of tangled hair and mayonnaise. "Oh, no ! I'm supposed to be at college !"

"When ?"

Yeji glanced at her watch. "About five minutes ago!" She disappeared into the kitchen for a short argument with her employer, before returning clutching her bag and coat and trying to fit all of them through the doorway at once.

"I'll drive you."

"Are you sure ?"

"Of course I'm sure. Come on."

They sat in Ryujin's car as Yeji tried to wipe the mayonnaise from her face with a spare napkin.
"I must look a mess," she groaned.

"Yep."

"Thanks."

Yeji gave up on wiping the mayonnaise off her face, and instead concentrated on trying to brush it out of her hair. After two minutes of pointlessly janking it around, she turned to Ryujin. "How do I look ?"

"Like you've been dragged backwards through a condiment bush. Why on earth didn't you wipe the counter before you decided to sleep on it ?"

"Dang it !"