SMOKE & PEPPERMINT ‹𝟹 LIPSOUL

One

"Uhm, you know you don't have stand all the way over there? There's plenty of room over here. It's just me."
                   
Jinsoul motions towards the unoccupied bench behind her in the bus shelter. It was raining buckets but for some strange reason, this girl didn't seek refuge beneath the bus shelter as Jinsoul did. Instead, she held firmly onto her umbrella, struggling to keep herself as dry as possible. She had this look on her face, some kind of scowl and Jinsoul's not sure if it's directed towards her or if it's because the girl's uncomfortable as her clothes were starting to get soaked.
                   
Jinsoul takes a puff of her cigarette and the smoke swirls and dissipates with the rainfall.
                   
She's familiar with the girl, she's here every morning. They were the only two who were at this bus stop in the early mornin. Every day, for some odd reason, she kept her distance, never getting within fifteen feet of where Jinsoul was and the latter didn't care. But this time, Jinsoul just couldn't ignore the poor girl. What if she ended up getting sick from staying out there?
                   
"Hey!" Jinsoul called out once again. The girl was still scowling. Was her face permanently like that?
                   
Jinsoul takes a deep breath, "Stop being stubborn and just come over here so you can stay dry! That umbrella isn't doing anything for you!"
                   
"Put it out!"

Jinsoul blinks, shocked from the girl's command, "What?"

"Put out your cigarette and then I'll go over there!" She yells back.
                   
Jinsoul sighs in frustration, it was her first cigarette of the day, a necessity for her early mornings. But it looked like the other girl was serious as she didn't budge an inch. Jinsoul could practically feel the girl's eyes on her hand where her cigarette rested between her two fingers. She sighed in defeat, there was no way she could ignore the poor girl and leave her in the pouring rain. Jinsoul drops the cigarette and quickly extinguishes it with the bottom of her boot. Looks like she'll have to wait until after the bus ride to work for her morning smoke.
                   
"It's out!" she yelled back, disappointment evident in her voice.
                   
And for the first time, the girl enters the bus shelter with Jinsoul. Upon closer inspection, she was quite small but had nice proportions. Her hair was a golden brown but some of it was matted together thanks to the rain. She tucked her hair behind her ear and Jinsoul was baffled when she saw her up close. She was...
                   
"...so pretty" Jinsoul unknowingly mutters.
                   
But when Jinsoul sees the girl glaring at her, she chokes a bit.
                   
"You stink. I hate the smell of smoke," she blatantly states as she covers her nose and steps away from Jinsoul, trying to get as far as possible while staying inside the bus shelter.
                   
"Wow, that was very straight forward of you." Jinsoul laughs. She definitely wasn't expecting that.
                   
"Ugh, it absolutely reeks in here," the girl coughs, her eyebrows tightly knitted as she fans the air before her.
                   
Jinsoul rubbed the back of her nape, not quite sure how to react, but she apologizes anyway, "Sorry—"
                   
"Stop. Eat one of these before you start talking again," the girl suddenly commands two feet away from Jinsoul, her arm outstretched offering a box of mints.
                   
All of this bluntness was starting to irritate Jinsoul, she normally liked it when people were frank but maybe it was the missing cigarette between her fingers that was making her easily frustrated. She bit her lip and decided to indulge the girl; she opened the tin box of mints in the other girl's hand, popping one into her mouth. The mix of smoke and peppermint was strange. Jinsoul let out a heavy breath.

"How's that?"

Judging from the unwavering disgust on the girl's face Jinsoul didn't pass. "Take two—no, take five more."