SMOKE & PEPPERMINT ‹𝟹 LIPSOUL

Two

"Congrats on beginning your morning smoke-free!" Jungeun said a little too loudly, her voice rang in Jinsoul's ears like a bell—a very obnoxious bell. It also didn't help that Jungeun started applauding her, causing her to wince from all the head pain.

She didn't wake up in the best mood this morning. Jinsoul remembers getting out of bed and looking in the mirror at someone nearly unrecognizable. Bloodshot eyes, dry lips, and sunken cheeks. One may have thought Jinsoul was deathly sick. Truth is, she was just a miserable soul.

It's been three days since Jinsoul agreed on "no morning cigarettes" and although she can smoke whenever she wants later on in the day, the absence of that usual one or two cigarettes took a toll on her. Just as breakfast is the most important meal of that day, so was Jinsoul's morning smoke.

It's not an exaggeration. It's a fact. Her face was evidence of that. Of course, she always looked much better later on in the afternoon. But in the morning, oh the morning, it was oh-so painful.

"Yay..." Jinsoul says with obvious sarcasm.

Jinsoul takes a seat on the bench as she rubs her temples for some relief. Last time she checked, they had about fifteen minutes until the bus would arrive.

Fifteen minutes to wait for the bus.

Another thirty minutes until she would arrive at her stop. And lastly, a five minute walk to work.

She has to wait nearly an hour before she can smoke and as Jinsoul can feel her lips constantly going dry, she's not sure she can make it. It'd be no surprise if she happens to pass out on the bench right now.

Shoot me now.

"Jinsoul!"

Jungeun's high-pitched annoying voice disrupts her thoughts. Jinsoul looks at the girl who happened to be sitting next to her now. When did she sit down?

"What?" Jinsoul weakly replies.

"I've called your name at least ten times now," Jungeun cocked her head to the side with furrowed brows. "You didn't hear any of it?"

And Jinsoul's not sure if she was delirious or not but there may have been a hint of worry in Jungeun's voice.

"No," she replies with a heavy sigh. "Why didn't you just hit me or nudge my shoulder to get my attention?"

Not a second later and, "Ow!" Jungeun strikes.

"I'm not that violent," Jungeun pouts, seemingly offended but Jinsoul knows the latter is quite the actress.

A mild throbbing at Jinsoul's temples has her squinting and she tries her best to ignore it as she looks at Jungeun with disbelief.

"Really? You just punched my arm!" She emphasizes by directing Jungeun's attention to her newly sore upper right arm. It actually did kind of hurt. But then again, everything was hurting for Jinsoul right now. The light hurt her eyes, her throat itched, her lips were unbearably dry, her chest felt constricted, and she couldn't stop fidgeting. God, she needed to smoke so bad. Jinsoul licks her lips again, trying to hold on.

"I only did what you just suggested," Jungeun scoffs, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she stares back at Jinsoul. Plus, I'm not violent all the time, I can just be a bit aggressive."

It was Jinsoul's turn to scoff.

A bit? That was definitely an understatement. "I totally agree—"

"I'd be careful if I were you, Jeong Jinsoul," Jungeun warns, quickly cutting the smoker off with both her words and killer smile. "Say too much and I may end up doing something you may not like."

Jinsoul's starting to get very familiar with that smile. So far, whenever Jungeun smiled like that, it brewed trouble for Jinsoul—the kind she wanted to avoid but always got caught up in.

"You know, you shouldn't smile when you say stuff like that. It's scary," Jinsoul admits as she scoots away, putting some distance between her and the smaller girl. Close proximity equals higher chances of getting assaulted by Jungeun. She'd rather not have that right now. Honestly, it was taking all of Jinsoul's strength to just sit up and even talk. To defend herself against Jungeun would be impossible.

"Oh? And why do you find my smile scary, Jinsoul?" Jungeun coos, undoing Jinsoul's previous action as she slides herself towards the smoker but of course not too close. Jungeun still had that sensitive nose of hers and even if Jinsoul hadn't smoked yet today, she still had the lingering scent. Still, the unexpected movement has Jinsoul surprisingly flustered and a bit scared in fact. There was no telling what Jungeun might do.

Jinsoul quickly puts her hands up in defense, "I take it back! You smile like an angel!"

Jungeun tilts her head and stares at Jinsoul, or at least it seems like she's staring?