Solarium

Garota de Ipanema

Generally speaking, happiness comes from the sense of satisfaction and balance between pleasant and unpleasant memories.

“Pleasant, and unpleasant…”

Chirping birds gather outside the window as the phone rings among the smoked bacon and freshly toasted bread. It is going to be a hassle to get rid of them, even after considering the droppings that can become difficult to clean after several days. Her faint purple locks ruffled as she had a hard time deciding between continuing her reading or getting to the egg.

“Scrambled it is, then.”

She resists another temptation to put her eyes again to the words in the paper while focusing on an attempt to not waste any of those precious eggs. The phone just keeps ringing tirelessly as she finally braves herself, cracking her knuckles dramatically and picking it up with an answering hum.

There was a muted silence as she listened.

After putting the phone down, she adds scallion and sprinkles a salient amount of salt into the omelet, slurping it straight from the pan, while repeating the words from the paper. She points her index finger upward and lifts it to create a dividing line across her head by tracing the hair line, muttering the words continuously like a mantra.

“The balance between pleasant and unpleasant memories…”

--

“Thank you. Please come again.”

The convenience store is just not a really ideal place to contemplate, yet she always found herself dozing off behind the counter. Her hands felt clammy as she flipped the cash drawer, excluding the line of sweat shaping inside her uniform hat. A reminder to file that in the report for tonight.

“Yongsun-unnie…”

“Hm?”

“Can I have a break outside just for a bit? Real quick.”

Her partner’s face for the day was scrunched into remarkable disgust; it was almost comical.

“I thought you had already stopped smoking!”

“Yeah, I’m not lying I swear…” Moonbyul grin uncomfortably. “But I’m just feeling so antsy today…”

“Then scratch that itch and be done with it.” She hissed and was obviously not interested in continuing this conversation further.

“Oh, that one is already taken care of…” One of her brows waving mischievously. “I can even feel extra muscles around my triceps already. You should try it sometimes!”

A loud groan could be heard across the counter. “Gross!” Yongsun slaps her shoulder multiple times as the skinny girl’s laugh becomes a continuous wail. “Stop being such a crybaby. I didn’t even hit you that hard. If anything, it is my hand that hurts! Am I slapping a human being or bag of bones? Do you even eat properly?”

“It sure packs a punch, unnie…” She keeps rubbing her shoulder before sporting a twinkle in her eyes. “Ah! No wonder men ran away from My Dearest Yongsun-unnie!”

Another slap can be heard echoing in the store with a louder groan.

--

“Are you done with the report?”

“Yes. I don’t know though. This has been the 4th reports we submitted to HQ and the cooler’s still a piece of junk.”

“It’s fine, Byul-ah. What matters most is that we already list it in the report.”

“Then…” Zipping her bomber jacket shut, she did a double recheck on her bag as Yongsun walked with her to the motorbike. “A cleaner in the morning, construction worker at noon, cashier for night shift…” Yongsun sighed. “Seriously Byul-ah, I haven’t seen you munching anything besides three sticks of tanghulu. You need to put a proper diet for yourself you know.”

“I can only eat peacefully after I finished though.” The young woman proceeded to cover her head in a black helmet. “Just message me if HQ has any questions regarding that cooler. And ah, one more thing, you can call me.”

“What for?”

“Just in case you miss me, of course.”

“Just go you freak!” Before another slap crushes her helmet in two, Moonbyul quickly retreats on her bike, and her vivacious laugh can be heard in the distance.

--

She really shouldn’t be reading the journal until 4 AM last night. Now her eyes can barely keep up with the words in front of her. Moonbyul took another sip of coffee and kept the liquid swirling in her mouth before swallowing it slowly. It tastes exactly like a four-hundred year relic that should be annihilated, which would be really effective if one is about to pull another all-nighter. The thought of taking more sips sent shivers to her neck, but she decided to focus on her readings.

Is today supposed to be one of those slower days?

Make sure you didn’t doze off. If you miss even one call then you can kiss that paycheck goodbye. Words from her employer come to her mind as she twirls a pen that was neatly placed inside the can. It just happens to be a job she took on a fluke. A salaryman that keeps complaining in the store for having to act as a stand-in for late-night phone calls, just waiting for potential customers. After endless rantings that were done in a volume that is not exactly low, Moonbyul cut him and asked whether a helping hand was needed.

For a price, of course.

The man didn’t even exactly specify what kind of calls they could be about nor the manual on how to answer them properly. The bloke just needs someone to punch the absent machine thing, of course. Just a punch every day to keep a man away from being fired for a decent pay. Fair enough.

Ring!

Moonbyul has to check whether her hearings are failing her. Well, a drowsy girl just has to do what she’s gotta do.

The persistent ringing is a sign that she is not hallucinating.

“Hello?”

Nothing can be heard across the line. Is this a prank?

“This is Keongangie Ltd, Human Resource Department. How may I help you?”

“...”

Okay. Now she is almost sure this is a prank. “The manager is not here at the moment. If you happen to have any message I will certainly pass it on to him. If there isn’t any at the moment, have a good day.”

A shuffling sound could be heard from the other line before a voice cut.

“Sorry… I was supposed to call for a pizza delivery…”

Moonbyul certainly did not expect a voice that was so velvety to the point of sul- Wait. She is an employee now. Professional, professional. “Well, I am afraid you have the wrong number then. This is a publishing company.” She also adds a sweet smile at the end of her sentence. Talking to someone on the phone? No one knows why. “Well then, if there’s no more questions then, have a good night, mi-”

“Wait.”

It was followed by a minute of silence until someone decided to break it.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“I thought you were going to say something?” Moonbyul reminds her nicely, still getting into her 'professional' persona.

“Oh, nothing though, it’s just… I forgot that any kind of delivery wouldn’t be available at this time. Why are you working so late?”

Moonbyul scratched the nape of her neck, unsure of how to answer.

“Well miss… miss, isn’t it?” She can hear a confirming sound. “I am not exactly the employee here, per se. I'm just replacing one of my… colleagues, for a week. Today is the first day.” Man, she was never good with impromptu stories.

“That’s fascinating.”

Moonbyul finds herself pulling a smile for no reason. Is it weird that the voice sounds kind of familiar to her?

“What’s your name?”

“Ah sorry miss, my colleague told me not to put my name when receiving the calls.” She can hear her apologetic tone echoing across the line. “Just to make sure the higher-ups wouldn’t find out, or such.”

“That’s fine, we can just go with pseudonyms.”

“What?”

“Pseudonyms. Fake names? The authors use it to disguise themselves from their readers.”

“Ah, fake names…”

“And so, my name is Maria.” There is no mistaking the tone that gets softened when she utters that name. “What’s yours?”

She has to weigh the risks for a moment. This wouldn’t get her in trouble, would it?

“Moon.” She answered after a while. “You can call me Moon.”

The moment she uttered the name is the exact time a faint singing sound could be heard across the other line. Her ears caught some fragments of the lyrics.

Tall and tan, young and lovely,

The girl from Ipanema goes walking,

And when she passes, each one she passes goes-

Ah…