She Slept on a Couch

I am so tired. My feet hurt. The lobby was busy.

Hye-jin pulls Ji-woo off the Cha floor today. Moves her to breakfast. No ask. Dong-hyun runs to Im. First time this season Im says he will look into it. First time.

Ji-woo has nowhere to go. She sleeps on Hye-jin's couch.

I sit at my counter tonight. Blue pen. I write: ji-woo is a person. cha is a billable line.

I keep turning that over. At work we move people around like bags. This floor, that floor. No one asks the bag. That is how the hotel runs. That is how I do my job for years.

But she is not a bag.

Aigoo. I smile all day at rich people. I remember their tea. And I never once ask my coworkers what they need. Not really.

That is the ugly part. I am part of the machine. I am the smile that makes it run.

I chose this job. My family did not get it. Some nights I wonder too. But tonight I am not wondering about the job. I am wondering about me.

Am I kind? Or am I just good at looking kind?

Fairy lights on. Plants in the dark. Ji-woo on a couch. Me here.