Work Text:
Jaehee sighed, shuffling her papers around on her desk. Jumin should be in any minute. He decided to come in early today to prepare for the slew of meetings on his calendar, which meant Jaehee needed to be there at least an hour earlier. She had missed her morning coffee run to the Queen Bean.
She shook her head. No use in thinking about what she had missed. Besides, the shop was open 24/7. She could go there on a break. If she got one. She rested an elbow on the desk and rubbed her forehead with a sigh. It was going to be a long day.
The doors at the end of the room opened and Jumin came striding in. He was looking at his phone – probably still texting his wife, if the slight smile and softened features of his face were anything to go by. A small butterfly of hope began to wiggle inside Jaehee's chest. Mrs. Han always made sure Jumin treated her fairly. Maybe the day wouldn't be as long as she had thought. Maybe she could at least get some coffee that wasn't the awful stuff in the break room.
“Assistant Kang, pull up the papers for the investor's meeting this afternoon,” Jumin said, moving swiftly towards the door to his office.
Faintly, Jaehee heard the elevator ding. “Of course, Mr. Han. Our first meeting of the day is with the Arabic oil men. Should I call up a translator just in case?”
Jumin considered this for a moment. “Yes, please. Good thinking, Assistant Kang. Oh, and –”
“Excuse me?”
Both Jaehee and Jumin turned to look at the interruption. A young woman with hair dyed a riot of colors, dark blue fading into purple burning into bright orange stripes tinged with pink and yellow, stood by the corner of Jaehee's desk, a bright smile on her face. Her leather jacket was adorned with patches sewn on with delicate stitches, and her boots tapped nervously on the floor.
She waved awkwardly at Jumin. “Sorry about the interruption, Mr. Han.”
“What can I do for you?” he asked coldly, looking her up and down. Jaehee could tell from his body language that he didn't appreciate the intrusion, and that he appreciated the intruder even less.
“You?” she asked, surprised. “Um, nothing. I just brought something for Jaehee is all. I wanted to get in before you all got too far ahead of me.” Her grin was crooked, and she turned to Jaehee, eyebrow piercing glinting in the light from the window. She held out a large coffee in a to-go cup from the Queen Bean. Her other hand, adorned with silver rings, played nervously with the strap of her leather shoulder bag. “You didn't show up today, and I wanted to make sure you could stay awake.”
Jaehee took it with an unsure hand, blinking several times. “Oh. I... uh, thank you.” She gave the other girl a smile, sure that a soft blush was tinting her cheeks. No one did things for her.
The woman's grin grew even wider, and her hand wrapped around the strap of her messenger bag. “No problem. I'll let you go back to what you were doing, but if you ever wanna say hi, I'm at the Queen Bean every morning.”
She started walking away, and Jaehee scrambled for her wallet. “Wait, let me pay you back.”
“It's a gift,” the stranger called over her shoulder. She stepped into the elevator before Jaehee could respond, and waved as the doors shut.
Jaehee remembered her hair. She sat at the counter of the Queen Bean, near the register, always on her laptop. Jaehee had never realized she had been listening to Jaehee's orders and her comments about work. The thought both embarrassed and warmed her.
Jumin brushed the incident off, returning to the day's itinerary of meetings. Jaehee smiled as she took a sip of the coffee.
It tasted wonderful.