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Chapter Three

Haerin isn't able to get the night off.

She never expected she would, truthfully, but she still made an attempt. Fake coughing into the phone, however, had only caused Hanni to laugh, tell her to drink an entire bottle of cough syrup and harden the fuck up.

Haerin's not exactly mad, or disappointed. She knew there was no way Hanni was gonna let her take the night off, unless she was on her deathbed, and even then, Haerin's pretty sure Hanni would kick down the door of her apartment with chicken soup in her hands to help speed up the healing process.

Hanni does, however, inform her that Sullyoon is now working for them as a busboy, which surprises Haerin, but also makes her happy. Sullyoon's a good person, and besides, less work to do...

Haerin yawns tiredly, stretching her limbs out like a cat as she stares up at the ceiling and winces at the sound of car horns honking angrily outside the window. She hasn't moved from her bed in over an hour, and she's been staring at her phone for about fifteen minutes now.

She's contemplating whether she should text or call Danielle to give her the bad news. Haerin's always sucked at texting, because she hates replying and hates the long wait for someone else to reply. But Dani could still be asleep or busy, and she didn't want to disturb her...

But she can't exactly not tell Danielle that she can't make it, and it's getting closer and closer to when she has to start work, so she needs to tell her as soon as possible. She can't sit here all day contemplating whether to text or call.

A phone call was more polite, right?

Ah...fuck it.

She sighs, pressing down on the little phone icon underneath Dani's nickname. She still can't believe she said 'sunshine' in front of Dani, she's such an idiot...

The phone rings for a long time, and Haerin frowns, unsure if she's going to even answer until finally, on the sixth ring, she does.

"Calling so soon, Haerin? It's only been half a day." Dani teases. Haerin bites back a smile, her heart pounding at the sound of Dani's voice, which she silently criticizes herself for, before clearing her throat to answer.

"Guess I missed the sound of your voice." she teases back, scratching the back of her neck subconsciously as her teeth gnaw on her bottom lip nervously.

"How sweet, kitty kang" Dani says with a chuckle, but there's an air of sincerity in her tone that has Haerin's heart pounding a little faster, and there's the sound of a pen shifting on paper echoing through the phone before Dani says something that's slightly muffled, but Haerin still catches it.

"Thank you, Sunghoon. Can you push my three thirty for fifteen minutes? This is an important call." Haerin grins at that, unable to help herself as she throws the covers off herself and grabs her cigarette pack on the bedside table.

An important phone call, huh?

Got her right where you want her, Haerin.

She tries not to think about how Danielle has her in the exact same predicament as there's a murmur of agreement on the other side of the phone and the sound of a door closing.

"Busy?" Haerin asks, running her fingers through her hair as she makes her way to her window sill. She grabs a cigarette from her pack and places it between her teeth as Dani sighs loudly.

"Business as usual."

"Did you get any sleep?" Haerin asks with concern, the words slightly muffled as the cigarette bounces between her lips. Haerin quickly lights it and pushes the window up, blowing the smoke she sucks in out quickly.