Unforgettable

“What the hell is this? Is this what you call a proper document?!”

You stood there silently with your head down, hurting your ears with your boss scolding you for your mistake in your work. Again. These past few days were repeating itself over and over again, and it feels like fate was really not on your side.

“How the fuck did you even get your degree if submit trash like this?!”

All her words were going into your right ear and out your left ear. At this point, you were almost at your limit. But you had to resist since the job paid well and is a job in your field of study.

“It’s useless for me to waste my breath on a person like you. Just…get out of my office.” You quickly grabbed the files that she slammed on the ground, all the while making a mental note on how to improve them.

“Yes, miss Chungha.” You turn your back and head towards the door behind you to leave the office.

After you close the door, you walk to your desk slowly. You felt all the stress building up inside of you and weighing you down. Each of your co-workers that passed by looked at you with concern until you reached your desk. They know that you have been scolded a lot, but they have never seen how much it truly affected you. Sitting down on your chair, you stared at the literal void of the blank screen on your computer. With a big sigh, you turned it on and started to revise the files for the fourth time this week.

Several hours later, you felt the need to grab a drink. Opening the door to the break room, you were relieved that no one was inside. You wanted at least some time all to yourself. With your favorite mug in your hand, you grabbed a coffee pod and placed it in the chrome finished machine. You took out your phone as the machine started to brew the coffee, checking some notifications you missed while working. While you were distracted, someone came into the room without you realizing it.

“Boo!” The person surprises you from behind by putting her hands on your shoulders.

Nancy Jewel McDonie, the only co-worker that you are close with in the company. Both of you go way back, taking some of the same classes back in university and unexpectedly, as fate willed it, both getting accepted to the same company - even the same department no less. From having meals together regularly to hanging out at each other’s place during the weekends, it was clear that you both were inseparable. But surprisingly, your relationship never quite transitioned into being intimate with one another.

Your phone flew in the air as you were startled by her sudden appearance. While you desperately tried to catch it, Nancy placed her hand on her stomach and laughed hard at your antics. She always loved to tease you, sometimes annoyingly - like any best friend would do. You were used to it at this point, felt that she had her moments where it could get too far.

“Goddamnit, Nancy!” You said after successfully catching your phone and having a mini heart attack at the same time.

“Hehe, sorry!” Nancy replied and let out a little chuckle. Like always, only she was happy to be teasing you.

“Rough day?” She then asked you as she gave you your mug that was filled with the now finished coffee.

“Yeah, I got scolded by the boss again. Third time in two days.” You answered after taking a little sip of the coffee. The amber colored liquid helped calm your nerves further.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure you’re doing okay. You just need to fix up a few things here and there and you’re good!” Nancy assured you while making her own cup of coffee.

“…I guess you’re right. T-Thanks.” You said, sighing.

“Oh yeah, about our dinner tonight…” Nancy said, reminding you about the plans you made earlier in the day.

“What about it?”

“I…can’t go. My parents are coming over to my place and I gotta prepare stuff for them. My dad goes on and on about having a giant ham with mashed potatoes and a bunch of side dishes.“ Nancy said with a hint of disappointment in her tone, tilting her head down. It had been a while since the two of you hung out, so you understood why she was acting that way.

“Hey, it’s fine. There’s always another time.” You reassured her by pinching her right cheek as she sipped on her coffee.

“So then, what are you gonna do tonight?”

“I guess I’ll play Genshin. It’s been awhile.”

“You mean that game where everyone spends their money on a literal JPG? And didn’t you spend all of yesterday’s lunch break playing it? It’s all you ever talk about whenever we hang out.”

“Nancy, please. It is an action role-playing game of epic proportions. I’m not sponsored by them, though.”

After a wholesome conversation with Nancy, you returned back to work until it was time to go home. Being the last person to leave the office, you realized that you were about to miss your train. Quickly packing your belongings, you sprinted out of the office and company building to reach the train station. Luckily, you were able to make it with seven minutes left to spare.

The train ride was dull like usual - everyone on their phones including you and only the faint voices of people talking was heard. During the whole entire ride, you were only thinking about relieving the day’s stress by playing video games. Once the train came to a halt and reached the stop that was near where you live, you gathered your thoughts and prepared to disembark the train.

Walking out from the train and through the train station, you started to reminisce about your day. You got scolded by your boss for the fourth time this week, not to mention the Mount Everest sized amount of files and documents that you still needed to work on. The very thing you were looking forward to - dinner with Nancy was now canceled because of her parents coming over to visit her.

‘Ah, what a bad day today…’ You thought to yourself and began to drag your lifeless body home.

As you walk even further to the exit of the station, your ears then catch a familiar voice.

“Seems like everybody’s got a price, I wonder how they sleep at night”

‘Wait…isn’t that-’ You walk a bit faster and the angelic voice gets louder with each step you take.

“Why is everybody so serious, acting so damn mysterious”

‘Right - she’s here again today!’ You continued on, almost hitting a few people on the way as you knew who the owner of the voice was.

Well, not really.

“Everybody look to the left, everybody look to the right”

After walking up a set of stairs, you finally left the station and instantly, you look towards your right. With the help of a small crowd already forming around the bench near the stairs, you smiled and quickly joined the crowd to see the performance.

“It’s not about the money, money, money, we don’t need your money, money, money”

Every day on your way back home, there was always a girl that busks near the stairs down to the underground train station. At first, you weren’t that interested and assumed she was one of those usual “struggling artists who felt misunderstood by society”. But once you hear her singing, it immediately warms your heart and makes you feel calmer on the inside. This was especially true when you were having a bad day - which seemed to be pretty much everyday so far. Her honey-like voice is so pretty and soothing that you would have believed she’s a real angel if someone were to tell you so. And if that wasn’t enough, she has a unique striking visual too. Eventually, you become a regular crowd at her busking and would always donate a bit of money to her as a token of appreciation before going back home. It’s safe to say that the girl has helped you to stay sane when you’re feeling down and regain your confidence to get through the next day.

“Wanna make the world dance, forget about the price tag, yeah”

As the girl ends the song with a final strum on her guitar, the crowd then claps at her outstanding performance and the girl bows a few times towards the crowd. As you were clapping alongside them, you thought to yourself how her singing was a bit off today. It wasn’t bad no, it felt like there was…a faint trace of sadness in her singing.

‘Maybe I’m just overthinking again…’ You thought to yourself as you pulled out your wallet to give her some donation.

‘Hmm, I feel like I should give her more today…’

‘But, it would be weird if I suddenly gave her more than usual right?’

‘Nah, I don’t think she would notice…’

‘Awh, I really don’t want to look like a weirdo in front of her…’

“Uhh, oppa?” The girl suddenly comes up to you while you were debating with your own thoughts in your head, making you startle and blush in embarrassment.

“Ah, y-yEs?” Your voice suddenly cracks as you talk, making you blush harder.

“I…want to thank you for always coming by my performances…” She said while running her fingers through her straight dark brown hair.

“…and also, I have something to tell you, since you’re the one who’s always here.”