ʟᴏᴠᴇSTAY ֶָ֢𖹭 ˢᵏᶻ ᵃᵘ

¹⁹ 𖹭 'ʷᵒˡᵛᵉʳᵏᵉʸⁿᵉ'?

「 ʷᵒʳᵈ ᶜᵒᵘⁿᵗ 𖹭 ⁸,²⁶³ 」
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╔══⋅˚₊ ‧ ˖ ݁ 𖥔.꒰ঌᰔ໒꒱.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ‧₊˚ ⋅══╗
❝ 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅
𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕
𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 ❞
╚═══ ⋅˚₊ ‧ ˖ ݁ .꒰ঌᰔ໒꒱. ݁ ˖ ‧₊˚ ⋅ ═══╝
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⋅ POV⋅
⋅⊰ MEI ⊱⋅

"Do you think it sounds okay? I'm extra stressed about Chan's birthday," Hannah's voice emitted from the one earbud I had hidden in my left ear, shorter strands of my hair from my low updo falling over it.

"I think it sounds wonderful, Hannah; he's going to be so surprised and it'll be so fun," I assured with enthusiasm, though I kept my voice a little quieter than normal as I multitasked.

My hands worked to mix and blend several different orders at once, my co-worker calling out sick at the last minute, but I didn't mind working alone. It was only a few hours prior that I had been at Hannah's place with Felix and Jisung, my shift today in the late afternoon; she texted and asked to call me once she'd come up with an idea for Chan's birthday.

"Okay, cool. I just feel so bad he can't be home with our family for the occasion so that's why I wanted to stay longer and do something really big, you know?" The girl responded, her stress over the situation clearly coming through in her tone of voice. "I know Chan and I give each other a hard time but he's seriously one of my best friends and I just want the whole day to be perfect."

Nodding my head subconsciously to her understandable ranting, I called out the order names of the drinks I completed before taking a brief moment to turn and wipe down the counters as nobody was approaching the cash register at the moment.

"That's completely understandable. I don't have any siblings but I imagine there's a bond there that makes you want to ensure they're happy," I decided to say, momentarily curious as to what it would be like to have a brother or sister; I supposed Koji was like my brother in many ways, though it wasn't exactly the same.

"It's both wonderful and the absolute worst, simultaneously," Hannah informed me, and I laughed at her answer that surely was only half-serious. "Anyway, how's work going? I hope I'm not totally screwing you up."

Giggling to myself, I assured her, "No, not at all. There aren't many customers here. My shift is over in like thirty minutes."

"Oh, okay, cool. So now that I have your approval on the b-day idea, I think I'll buy the tickets before they get more expensive..." the girl continued on, her voice trailing off as the sound of keyboard and mouse clicks led me to believe she was on the event's website. "So what're you doing after wor– OOOH, Mei, the group passes are on sale right now!" She added, cutting herself off with a sudden burst of excitement in the form of a gasp and squealing.

Involuntary laughter left me at her antics as I bid polite farewells to the last few customers that disposed of their trash and left the shop.

"That's perfect timing! And I'm going to meet Koji and the girls later tonight for drinks," I responded to both subjects of hers with a little amused smile.

The sun was setting and I quietly admired the orange and pink hues airbrushing the horizon through the glass entrance, reminding me of the starfish painting I'd made for Koji. As Hannah began to speak again, I busied myself with cleaning off the countertops of customer tables.