Salon Aespa

First Day Fiasco

The next morning, the Aespa members stood outside Minji's hair salon, staring at the "Chic & Sleek" sign above the door. The cozy salon had always been a relaxing place for them to visit after a long day of rehearsals, but now it felt like they were walking into a war zone.

Karina took a deep breath, trying to psych herself up. "Okay, it's just one week. We can do this."

Winter shot her a look. "You said that yesterday, and I still don't believe you."

The door swung open, and a cheerful assistant named Hana greeted them with an eager smile. "Oh, you must be Aespa! Thank you so much for coming! I know Minji is so grateful you're helping out."

"Helping out" sounded so much less terrifying than "running a salon," but the girls nodded in unison, forcing smiles. Hana led them inside, where a handful of clients were already waiting in the chairs, flipping through magazines or scrolling on their phones. The soft hum of hair dryers filled the room, along with the faint smell of shampoo and hairspray.

"Okay, so we've got a pretty full day," Hana said, handing Karina a clipboard with the schedule. "Nothing too complicated, just some trims, a couple of color touch-ups, and one perm later."

Karina glanced at the schedule and felt her stomach drop. "Wait... what?"

"I'll handle the more technical stuff," Hana added quickly, "but I'm going to need you girls to do some basic things—shampooing, applying color, maybe a few simple cuts if the clients request it."

Winter let out a groan, already dreading the inevitable disaster. "I can barely brush my own hair without a problem. Now I have to cut someone else's?"

But before anyone could protest further, the first client—a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length hair—stood up and waved. "I'm ready!"

Karina plastered on her best fake smile and gestured to the nearest chair. "Right this way!"

The woman sat down, completely unaware of the chaos that was about to unfold. Karina, still holding the clipboard like a shield, stared at the scissors on the nearby station. They looked a lot more intimidating when you actually had to use them.

Hana handed her a comb and pointed to the woman's hair. "She just needs a quick trim. Nothing major. Just follow the shape she already has."

Karina nodded stiffly, holding the comb like it was a foreign object. She picked up the scissors and approached the woman's hair like it was a wild animal that could attack at any moment. "Okay... here we go..."

Meanwhile, Winter was tasked with shampooing another client, a young man with a head full of thick hair. She led him to the shampoo station and immediately ran into her first obstacle: the chair was too high, and she couldn't figure out how to lower it.

"Um, Hana?" Winter called out, struggling to push the chair down. "Is there a trick to this?"

Hana, who was already helping Giselle figure out how to mix hair dye, waved her off. "There's a lever on the side! Just pull it up!"

Winter yanked the lever too hard, sending the chair plummeting downward so fast the guy nearly hit his head on the sink. "Oops! Sorry!" she squeaked, trying to play it cool as the client gave her a wary look.

Things weren't going much better for Ningning, who had somehow ended up in charge of setting up the perm machine. She squinted at the tangled mess of wires and rollers, trying to figure out what went where. "This looks like something out of a sci-fi movie."

"Are you sure that's right?" her client asked nervously as Ningning wrapped a roller around her hair, not entirely sure if she was doing it correctly.

"Totally! I've seen it done a million times," Ningning lied, flashing a confident smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

As the day went on, the salon descended into chaos. Karina's "trim" ended with the client's hair being uneven on both sides, requiring Hana to swoop in and fix it. Winter accidentally sprayed shampoo all over the back of her client's shirt, and Ningning had to quickly redo the perm after the rollers nearly fell out halfway through.

But the worst disaster of the day came courtesy of Giselle, who had taken on the challenge of mixing hair dye. The client wanted a soft chestnut brown, but somehow Giselle ended up with a shade that looked suspiciously neon green. The second the dye touched the client's hair, a strange chemical smell filled the air.

"Uh, Hana?" Giselle said, her voice rising in panic. "Is this supposed to smell like this?"

Hana rushed over, eyes wide as she sniffed the air. "What did you mix?! That's not even the right dye!"

The client, who had been peacefully scrolling through her phone, looked up in horror. "Wait, what's happening? Is my hair okay?!"

Giselle tried to hide the bowl of neon green dye behind her back. "Oh, it's fine! Everything's fine! We'll just, uh... rinse this out. Right now."

But as the client was rushed to the shampoo station, the other clients started exchanging nervous glances. The rumor spread quickly: Aespa had no idea what they were doing.

By the end of the day, the salon looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Hair clippings littered the floor, several clients had been offered free services to make up for the mistakes, and one very angry woman with neon green hair stormed out, vowing never to return.

Karina collapsed into a chair, burying her face in her hands. "This is a disaster."

Winter flopped down next to her, shaking her head. "I can't believe we still have six more days of this."

Ningning leaned against the counter, exhausted but trying to stay upbeat. "Hey, we didn't burn the place down. That's a win, right?"

Giselle groaned, holding up her neon-stained hands. "I'm never touching hair dye again."

But despite the chaos, Karina couldn't help but crack a smile. "We're definitely not cut out for this. But... we'll get better. We have to."

Winter laughed, nudging her shoulder. "Let's hope so. Otherwise, we might end up on the news."

As they all sat there, catching their breath, Karina glanced over at Winter. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and despite everything, there was a shared sense of accomplishment—and maybe something more—between them.

Ningning and Giselle, meanwhile, shared a quiet chuckle from across the room, their own playful energy unshaken despite the day's chaos.

It had been a disaster, yes. But somehow, it was a disaster they could all laugh about. And as they locked up the salon for the night, they couldn't shake the feeling that the next few days were going to be even wilder.