- Da In, I can't believe you're leaving! You're like the elder of our department, how can you abandon us like this?

- Da In noona, don't go, there will be no one I can ask for help if you're not here anymore!

Da In smiled warmly and put the box full of her stuff on the desk.

- Come on, guys, you're making it much harder than it should be! I'm leaving to take care of my health, so please don't be so upset.

This was one of the rare moments when she was happy to work here. It didn't matter how hard the work was as long as those people were around her.

Da In was about to leave the office when she stopped in front of Dong Wook's door. She stared at it for a while and then opened it with a slam.

- What is the meaning of this?!

Dong Wook was caught by surprise and jumped off his chair.

- I decided to step in and say goodbye in person. After all, we're quite close, you and I.

- What are you trying to say?

Da In's loud voice attracted the attention of her coworkers and they gathered in front of Dong Wook's office.

- Let's see, what am I trying to say? Maybe I'm trying to say that you are an unqualified kissass? Or maybe that it's been a shithole of an office since you started here? Or maybe that you stole my raise by claiming the last project I worked so hard on?

- What? Are you out of your mind?!

- But sir... You did take the complete project from her and even removed her name from it, we all saw it.

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

- We all have been present at that presentation and Da In's name was not mentioned even once.

Da In exhaled and looked straight into her ex-boss's face.

- I don't care how you're getting through life with that attitude of yours, but I'm sure that you're not gonna last long. You better try and rectify this situation soon because I can practically sue you for stealing my intellectual property. I have all the original files and the support of people in this office. Good luck with your crappy life, I hope it'll only continue getting worse!

Da In turned around, smiled at everyone, and left. She knew she did the right thing because she immediately felt 200% better about herself.

"I don't care anymore. Of course, I can't really sue him for stealing my presentation but that should have given him a good scare. Now that there's zero respect left for him in his team, it's only a matter of time before he'll be fazed out. Good luck from now on, shithead."

When she left the building, Seong Woo was already waiting for her with the car.

- What is this fancy service? Where did you get the car?

- Courtesy of the one named Ha Neul, I believe she is your friend?

- She lent you her car? How did you even get in touch with her?

- I got her number from your hospital chart, she was listed as an emergency contact. She was more than happy to give it to me, though.

- Yeah, she is a good friend. But I don't even have so much stuff with me!

- ... Da In, are you okay?

- Yeah. I'm totally fine. Let's go home.

That evening Da In decided to spend with herself. She had a lot to figure out and one important thing to do - have a talk with her mother.

"How should I even tell her this? She's gonna lose it again. Uugh, whatever, I just have to do this."

She dialed the number and waited for someone to answer it.

- Da In?

- Hi, mom. How is everything?

- It's all the same here. Why are you calling?

- I quit my job.

Silence.

- Mom, I quit my job.

Silence again.

- I won't be able to pay the bills for some time.

- Da In, you're driving me crazy, for God's sake. Fine. Is that all?

- Yes.

- Okay then.

- Mom. Are you even faintly interested in why I did that?

- Am I supposed to? I thought we had established the nature of our relationship already.

- I was hospitalized a week ago.

Silence. Da In felt tears running down her face.

- Bye mom, I'll let you know once I'll be able to pay again.

She threw her phone on the bed and wiped the tears.

"Why do I always do this? I should not care anymore. I have no family, I just have people I owe money to. Stop being stupid, Kang Da In."

Once she calmed herself down, Da In decided that she needed some fresh air. She got dressed and went for a walk around her neighborhood.

"With all this mess around me, I didn't even notice that it's almost Christmas already. Everything is decorated so nicely, seeing all this snow makes me crave ice cream for some reason."

Just like by magic, she found herself in front of a small grocery store. She picked 2 packs of the most expensive brand of ice cream she could find and went to the cashier to pay for them.

- Da In?

Da In turned her head and saw Ji Hoon standing right in front of her.

- Ji Hoon! What are you doing here?

- I was walking home from work and stepped inside to buy some cigarettes.

She looked at his hands and saw him holding two packs of cigarettes. She recognized one of them, it was the brand Seong Woo liked to smoke.

- Are you eating ice cream in this weather?!

- Oh, yeah... I am one of those people who eats more ice cream during winter than summer.

She laughed awkwardly and paid for her ice cream. They left the store and started walking back to their houses. Da In opened her ice cream.

- Jesus, I am freezing just by watching you eat it.

- Oh come on! You're such a huge dude and you can't stand this cold?

- It has nothing to do with my size! Anyway, why did you come all the way to this store just for ice cream?

- I was just walking around and decided to buy some all of a sudden. Do you want another one? I feel kind of bad for eating alone. Let's trade my ice cream for your cigarettes! I'm really worried about you guys smoking so much.

Ji Hoon looked at Da In for a while and smiled.

- Well, it's really just me now. Seong Woo quit a couple of weeks ago. I bought his cigarettes out of habit, I guess I'll have to throw them out.

Da In looked down at her feet.

"He quit? I didn't even know. God, I was so self-invested, I guess I didn't notice a lot of stuff about people around me."

- Ah, whatever, can I have that ice cream, please?

- Sure, here you go!

- Wow, it's pretty tasty. Is this your favorite?

- Nah, I like the plain chocolate one, I just grabbed the most expensive one they had. I don't know why I did that.

They walked in silence for some time and Ji Hoon felt that something was off.

- Hey, is something wrong?

Da In widened her eyes.

- Why do you think so?

- I don't know, you look upset. Wasn't today your last day at work?

- Yeah. It went fine, I'm not upset about that.

- So what is it about then?

- Ah... I guess it just hit me that I'm jobless now and I need to look for something again, worry about money, start from scratch, and all that.

- Well, I don't really know what happened, but I'm somehow certain that leaving that job was a good thing. I was terrified when I saw you at the hospital back then. You looked... lifeless. I'm sure there are much better opportunities for you out there. You just need to get some rest and figure out what you want to do. And hey, we are always here for you, all of us, we'll try to help you however we can.

Ji Hoon smiled and scratched his head as if he was embarrassed that he said that much.

"Right. I have my friends with me. I'm not alone like before, they are my family now."

Da In stopped in front of Ji Hoon and looked right into his eyes.

- Ji Hoon, do you have plans for Christmas?