The young man opened the shop with a yawn.
It was a small shop really, just a few records here, some stationary here, and a nice little coffee bar to set it apart. It was in a neighborhood a few miles away from the city. There was a small TV in the left hand side of the entrance just above the bar for customers. The man's hair, held up in a loose man bun that showed his his undercut buzz was a dark black. The weather that day was cold, and the circle rimmed glasses matched his dark sea blue sweater and black jeans on that day.
He stifled yet another yawn as he switched on the coffee machines and put on the news. The news, he thought, always played the same thing over and over again. Nothing ever happened in this part of town anyways. With his expresso being made, the door jingled open and his friend walked in.
"Hey Jinu, how are you doin?" Called his friend as she walked into the store.
Jinu simply ignored her as she put on her apron and joined him at the coffee bar on the working side. Jinu sat down on the stool.
Jinu's friend was a childhood friend from elementary that he had met only just recently again in college. They spent their college years on the same campus and even now lived in the same area. The smooth golden name tag on her apron read Atiena, and her natural brown hair was pushed back by a hairband. The lights of the coffee bar reflected off of her dark skin that resembled the bitter coffee grounds she was organizing.
"Good." Was all Jinu said.
Atiena hummed a bright ditty as she welcomed in the first few customers and Jinu moved to stand behind the counter of the store side. In the early morning a student changed the channel to the news, and took a sip of her coffee.
On the TV a young woman's picture popped up, her black hair in waves stopping just above her shoulders. Her eyes were bright and she was smiling as if she knew a secret no one else did. Jinu took a couple of seconds to take in her look before turning to the high schooler waiting to get checked out.
As the TV began to transition into an interview, Jinu bagged the pen and envelope set for the girl.
"Now, Miss Xingyi, I have to ask. In a company such as yours, how do you keep your voice above others?" The reporter leaned in to ask.
Jinu sipped his drink once more.
"Oh well," Xingyi started, her face lighting up despite the seemingly suggestive question. "You can refer to me as Miss Zhao, not my first name." Although the sentence was seemingly rude, Xingyi's face remained in an amicable smile.
"There's nothing much different from my company to the next, perhaps the work ethics and the backgrounds are different, but the way we work is all the same."
Jinu noticed that the reporter was starting to fidget, and that Atiena was eyeing him strangely.
"Of course, Miss Zhao, with how successful your company is right now, what kind of life would you like to be living?" The reporter asked.
"Are we sure that reporter knows what they're doing?" Atiena asked from her coffee corner, to which the customers and Jinu shrugged to.
Xingyi simply gazed at the reporter with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Are any of us here living the life we wish to be living right now? Free of discrimination and free of worry for our lives? Well, some in this room seem to be living the life they wish to."
Atiena let out a shout in laughter and clapped her hands, as did some of the other women in the store.
The reporter, Jinu saw, was starting to sweat. Very visibly.
