The sun was starting to set, while Kang Sae-byeok was leaning against a wall across the street from your workplace. It had become a routine for her, something she secretly looked forward to every evening. She didn’t have to be there, but she wanted to be. Walking home with you, even if they didn’t live together, had become the highlight of her otherwise tumultuous days. Her hands were tucked into the pockets of her worn jacket, and her eyes remained fixed on the entrance. She watched as employees exited one by one, exchanging laughter and small talk, but none of them were you. The anticipation gnawed at her, but it was a feeling she had grown accustomed to.

—“You’re late."

She said, her voice flat but not unkind. She glanced at you, who was animatedly recounting something that had happened at work. Sae-byeok wasn’t really listening; her mind was elsewhere. She thought about the comments she’d overheard—the whispers of your coworkers, your friends, even strangers who saw them together. She knew that no one saw her well, she wasn't proud of being a pickpocket and making a living this way, but it was one thing to mess with her, and it was quite another to mess with you.

—"How was your day?"

Ask to talk, to get out of her mind, to avoid thinking that maybe she shouldn't be with you.