Salon Aespa

Giselle's Hair Emergency

The second day at "Chic & Sleek" started with cautious optimism. After surviving the first-day chaos, Aespa had regrouped, strategized, and vowed to do better. Karina had even watched a few hairdressing tutorials online, trying to grasp the basics, though her enthusiasm wasn't exactly contagious.

As the girls entered the salon, it was quieter than the previous day. Hana was already at the front desk, sorting through client bookings with a calm efficiency that made everything seem slightly less disastrous.

"Okay, today's not too bad," Hana said, handing the girls their assignments for the day. "We've got a few haircuts and one color touch-up. Oh, and Giselle, there's a kid coming in for a basic trim. You can handle that, right?"

Giselle blinked. "A kid?"

Hana smiled encouragingly. "Yeah, just a simple cut. No dye, no perms, just a snip here and there. Easy!"

Giselle stared at her hands, which still bore faint traces of yesterday's neon dye disaster. "Sure, easy..." she muttered, but the doubt in her voice was hard to miss.

As the day began, clients trickled in one by one. Karina and Winter, still riding the awkward tension of their flirty banter from the day before, ended up working side by side at two adjacent stations. Winter had somehow been roped into shampooing clients again, while Karina was attempting to master the art of a basic blow-dry without tangling the brush in someone's hair.

Meanwhile, Giselle anxiously awaited her turn with the child. When the door finally opened, in walked a mother and her young son, who couldn't have been older than seven. He was a cute kid with a mop of dark hair that fell into his eyes, making him look like he had just rolled out of bed.

"Hi there! You must be Giselle," the mother greeted cheerfully. "This is Minho. He just needs a quick trim. Nothing fancy."

Giselle smiled as convincingly as possible. "Of course! No problem. I can handle that."

Minho, however, didn't seem as enthusiastic. He crossed his arms and plopped down into the salon chair with a scowl that rivaled a rock star who'd just been told he couldn't have his favorite snack in the green room.

"So, Minho," Giselle started, trying to sound friendly as she grabbed a comb and some scissors, "how about we get you looking sharp, huh?"

Minho glared at her through his shaggy bangs. "I don't like haircuts."

Giselle froze, comb halfway through his hair. "Uh, okay. Well, this won't take long, I promise."

She began cautiously snipping away at the ends of his hair, doing her best to keep things even. But Minho, clearly not enjoying the experience, started squirming in the chair.

"Hold still, buddy," Giselle coaxed, trying to keep her tone light. "Almost done."

Minho wriggled again, and before she knew it, snip!

A large chunk of hair fell into her lap, much more than she'd intended to cut. Giselle stared in horror at the uneven patch on the side of Minho's head. The kid reached up, felt the bald spot, and immediately started wailing.

"Mom! She's ruining my hair!" Minho screamed, tears welling in his eyes.

The mother, who had been peacefully flipping through a magazine, looked up in alarm. "What's going on?"

Giselle panicked. "Uh, nothing! Everything's fine! We're just... almost done here!"

Karina, hearing the commotion, glanced over from her station, trying to suppress a smile. Winter leaned closer to Karina, whispering, "This is gonna be good."

With Minho now sobbing uncontrollably, Giselle desperately tried to fix the haircut. But the more she snipped, the worse it seemed to get. The uneven patch on the side of his head grew larger, and soon his hair looked like a lopsided mess.

"I'm never coming here again!" Minho yelled through his tears.

Giselle's heart raced as she tried to salvage what little dignity she had left. "Okay, okay, hold on. We can still fix this... I think?"

Hana rushed over, sensing the emergency. "Oh no... Giselle, what did you do?"

"I don't know!" Giselle wailed, staring at the uneven mess she'd made. "He wouldn't sit still, and then... this happened."

Hana sighed, gently guiding Minho out of the chair. "Don't worry, I'll take over. You go... uh, maybe clean up the back room."

Giselle nodded miserably and shuffled away, feeling utterly defeated.

As she slunk into the back room, she could hear Minho still grumbling to his mom about the "worst haircut ever." She slumped onto a chair, running her hands through her hair, and let out a long groan.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps and looked up to see Ningning walking in, holding two cans of soda. "Hey, thought you could use this," Ningning said, handing one to her with a sympathetic smile.

Giselle took the soda, cracking it open. "Thanks. I think I just traumatized a seven-year-old."

Ningning laughed, sitting down next to her. "He'll live. Besides, it's not like we're professionals. We're literally pop stars pretending to run a salon."

"Yeah, but I can't even handle a simple trim," Giselle grumbled, taking a sip of soda. "This is way harder than it looks."

Ningning nudged her shoulder. "Hey, don't beat yourself up. Yesterday, I nearly set a woman's hair on fire with that perm machine. You don't see me quitting."

Giselle couldn't help but smile a little at that. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We're all pretty bad at this, huh?"

"Disaster squad," Ningning said with a grin, clinking her soda can against Giselle's.

They sat in companionable silence for a moment before Ningning looked at her thoughtfully. "You know, you're pretty cool under pressure. Even when things go horribly wrong, you don't freak out."

Giselle raised an eyebrow. "Uh, you didn't see me when I snipped off that kid's hair."

Ningning laughed. "Still, you handled it. I think that's kind of... admirable."

Giselle's cheeks warmed slightly at the compliment, and she glanced over at Ningning, feeling an unexpected flutter in her chest. Ningning, oblivious to the shift in the atmosphere, just sipped her soda, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Thanks, Ning. You're pretty cool too," Giselle said, trying to sound casual, but there was a softness in her voice that hadn't been there before.

Ningning shot her a sideways glance, smiling. "Of course I am. I'm Ningning."

Giselle laughed, the weight of her disastrous haircut lifting ever so slightly. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a hairstylist, but at least she had friends like Ningning to make it all a little more bearable.

And as the two of them sat there, chatting and joking about their salon misadventures, Giselle couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more between them than just friendship. Something that made even the worst day at the salon a little brighter.