Chapter Text
ERROR.
Haru sighed, and spam clicked the return button on her keyboard. Theoretically, she should be able to fix the glitch, no problem. It's a simple input error, it must've come from one of the kids' parents typing their age in the weight field again or something. Really, just restarting the computer ideally should get her back on track.
But theoretically, she should be top of her class for coding, but here Haru was at a dead end internship. Haru had been doing computer science work perhaps from the moment Haru was born. Haru worked her fucking ass off her entire life just to enter the Seoul National University, and now she can barely scavenge for passing grades.
Whatever. This puts food on the table. Haru's mother had been quick to remind her of that fact. Haru practically had to beg to go abroad for her studies just to get her nagging mother off her back.
What did it matter that Haru loved dancing since the moment she could walk? What did it matter that her search history since 12 years old consisted of the best dance academies? Haru needed to get Haru's life in order. At least, 945 kilometers away from her mom, that's what Haru keeps telling Haruself. Working at a kids dance academy will probably the closest she'll get to that long lost idea.
"Harusita~, Is baby getting tired?"
Haru jolted upwards and blushed. She didn't even notice that she was dozing off. Rui, one of the dance instructors, had stuck her face right above Haru's sleeping figure on the table.
Rui giggled. "I think you just made love with your keyboard. Look, hickies!"
Haru immediately put a hand to her face and felt her cheek. Sure enough, there were indents of keycaps textured there. She could feel every letter, ASDFGH. How long had she been knocked out?
Sighing, she turned away from Rui's beaming face to her computer, just to see the error notification duplicated over 100 times. There's no way those parent permission forms were recoverable at this point.
"Are you getting enough sleep? Or were you up all night looking at those boys you follow on Instagram? Ha, I'll never understand you straight people~"
Haru really hated looking at Rui's piercing eyes, but reluctantly looked back up. Rui was a slender Taiwanese woman in her early 20s, with an impeccable fashion sense and hyperactive personality. Haru always told her that she should get checked out for having ADHD, but as Rui correctly noted, a diagnosis wouldn't do anything to change her behavior in the slightest.
Rui used to be a professional ballet dancer, but decided that a life of performances wasn't it for her in her current stage of life. Perhaps Haru was projecting, but she did want to see Rui perform.
"Unnie, why don't you try out for that contest down on the block? It's not only limited to kids, you know."
"That sounds like a lot of fun!" and Rui would immediately turn away and scramble to find something else to occupy her time.
Rui looked more carefully at Haru's wandering eyes. "Baby, are you sure you're doing well? I told you I can help you with your homework if that's becoming too much of an issue?"
Haru rolled her eyes and winced in pain from the dryness. She should invest in eyedrops.
"Unnie, if you even come an inch closer to my computer, I will deck you. You can make any system malfunction just by being in the same building, its no wonder the lights aren't flickering right now."
"You're soooooooooo disrespectful, what an arrogant-" SMACK. Rui bent away giggling again as Haru slapped her away.
"Fine, I won't help. But at the very least, ask Muti unnie to babysit you. You clearly need adult supervison, I saw that grade point average last week."
Haru bristled. "I'll have you know that I got first in my region for developing a company site! In under an hour, no less! While you can barely even type a sentence without mistakes!!" her voice gradually increased in pitch until Rui was sure only dogs could hear it.
"Calm down baby-" "DON'T CALL ME THAT." "Calm down Haru, it's so not that deep. And wasn't that like, 2 years ago? You clearly don't give a shit about this."
Haru paused her tirade. For once, Rui was actually right. Did she really care about this? About computers? Would it really be her entire life focus?
Wait. How did Rui even know when that competition happened?
"Girl, it's the third time you've zoned out while your elder is speaking to you. Go home and sleep. For a full 12 hours. That's enough work for today."
Rui didn't wait for a response from Haru before shoving all her stuff into her threadbare backpack and subsequently pushed Haru out the door.
"Wait, I didn't even clock out yet! Do you WANT me to go broke?!?"
"Just goooooooo, I'll do it for you!" Rui grinned. "Don't forget to join us for dinner in a couple days!! BYE!!!"
Haru sighed as the studio door slammed behind her. Rui wasn't going to do shit. She turned to look to the glass doors to see Rui immediately resume her dance to Gabriela by KATSEYE. Despite Rui's unserious nature, her face expression and body control is impeccable.
After staring for a few minutes longer than she should have, Haru trudged along to her old Toyota Corolla, her fur boots dragging in the thin layer of snow that coated the sidewalk.
Her feet were already stinging from the wetness and cold by the time she threw open the car door and tossed her ratty old backpack in- only for it to rip apart and her books to spill out onto the backseat. Haru was so goddamn tired that she couldn't even react. I guess I'll have to ask Muti unnie to sew it up again….
Haru slumped down into the driver's seat, but didn't start driving home yet. Her small, cheap studio apartment could hardly be considered a home, with most of her stuff still in boxes after nearly 6 months of living there. She instead pulled out her phone and opened WhatsApp.
ruru 🦊: im in distress.
ruru 🦊: im dead.
ruru 🦊: i hate life i wanna kms why me
ruru 🦊:…
ruru 🦊: fake friend istg
hyunnie 💞: are you done
ruru 🦊: yes
hyunnie 💞: ur so cute
ruru 🦊: stfu
hyunnie 💞: lmao
hyunnie 💞: you should come over, its too dangerous to drive all the way home
hyunnie 💞: i have bedsheets an everything
ruru 🦊: why? did that guy ditch
hyunnie 💞: he didnt DITCH girl, he's sick today. was out playing soccer in the freezing cold
hyunnie 💞: and don't call him "that guy", shik is a lovely person, my poor baby
ruru 🦊: im throwing up
hyunnie 💞: you'll come around :) start driving bbg
Haru reluctantly put down her phone and gripped the steering wheel. The paint was fading, and stained her hands with grey. Her neck gave out and Haru hit her head onto the horn, letting out a long honk that was for sure going to get her in trouble. She just didn't get what her best friend saw in that dude.
Like, for sure, he's tall, attractive, does cross country, popular, all the ingredients for a perfect boyfriend.
Did she mention his height? Because the dude was TALL. Haru sighed (she'd been doing that a lot today) and leaned again the car dashboard, turning the key into ignition. Maybe that's why Hyun was into him. She was six foot, and complained an awful lot about having to look down on people, and Shik being a mere inch taller must've done the trick. Haru wouldn't have minded being that tall, personally.
What Haru wouldn't give to look down on people for a change…
"HARU! YOU'RE STILL HERE? GET GOING!" Haru jolted up from her stupor at Rui screaming at her through her car window. Her face had already turned red from the cold, and was looking incredulously at Haru.
"You've been sitting there for like, 15 minutes? GO!! Before I get the spray bottle!"