Chapter 43: 33-1

I take a seat at an empty table and proceed to scroll through social media on my phone. Jaewook is nowhere to be seen, but the other employee from yesterday is at the table beside me. "How are your drinks?" He asks a group of three girls with a wide smile. "Good." "Really good." "Great. Is there anything else I can get you?" He asks this seemingly innocently, but by the way he's leaning on the table with his palms and the glint in his mischievous eyes, the intentions are clear. "Uh—" one scrambles, her eyes zoned out on his as if she's trying to think of a way to keep him there longer. "Let's get a cheesecake guys," another one quickly proposes as she takes out her wallet. This makes the barista smile even brighter, his eyes now crinkling so that they are barely visible. I roll my eyes and focus back on my phone. That's one way to sell your food. "Oh, it's you." I look up in surprise when he stops in front of my table. "Are you here for Jaewook?" I simply nod as he walks off and prepares a plate with a slice of cheesecake. He delivers it to the girls elegantly before returning to me. "He's taking stock right now," he says as he sits down. I watch him in blatant annoyance. "Don't you need to do something else?" "It's quite dead at the counter right now, there's no harm in socializing. In fact, it's encouraged." The sly smile on his face irks me. "What's your name?" "Destiny," I reply without looking at him. "No surname, Destiny?" "None that you need to know of." His eyebrows raise in response to my sharp response. "Well then, nice to meet you Destiny, I'm Park Hansoo." I simply nod as I continue to look through news articles of the day, despite not being one to check the news often. "So what do you do?" I sigh. This guy isn't going to let up. "I'm a medical student." "Oh?" His eyebrows raise, eyes widening in surprise. "Why is that a shock?" I ask with an eyebrow raised. "I assumed you were a brand model, something like that. You have the look for it. Foreigners here are usually either a teacher or a model. You don't strike me as the teaching type." How ironic since I've basically been your co-worker's teacher. I laugh obnoxiously. "You're good at your job. And I'm not a foreigner." "My job? You're not?" "Flirting with customers in order to make girls keep coming back here. And no, not every non-Asian you see is a foreigner. I've lived here my whole life." He slightly nods his head in response to my nationality, clearly coming up short on a rebuttal. Until he falls back on what I first said. "Ah but Destiny, you're not a customer. You're sitting at a table and haven't bought anything. Really, I should ask you to buy something or leave since you're taking a table away from precious customers." The sugary sweet smile on his face leaves me speechless. "Are you and Jaewook a serious thing? He is younger than you right?" I slightly squint my eyes as I try to decode this guy's intentions. I've dealt with enough disgusting korean guys who fetishize black and white girls. "We're serious." "Hmm," he taps his fingers on the table. "Well, if that changes let me know." "Why? There are hundreds of pretty girls that gawk at you in here." I look around the café, and of course, there are a few girls watching him and even one guy. "It's not exciting when they take the bait so easily." Or when their skin colour matches yours. "Well, I'm not taking your bait because I'm taken buddy." He smiles at me. I can't fathom how a man with such a sweet face can be so relentless in his flirting. "Again, that's too bad." He taps his fingers on the table again as he looks at my hands. "Well, you can wait for him in the back then. This is a valuable table for customers only." The pretentious smirk on his face leaves me speechless as he gets up. What a sly bastard. I can't help but contrast his blatant confidence and ease in flirting with Jaewook, a boy that took four months to confess to me despite his obvious crush on me. With a clenched jaw, I get up and walk behind the counter. I don't know where he would be, but I walk assuredly to the back of the café as Hansoo watches me. I catch the broad, familiar back of Jaewook in what looks like a food storage room. He's putting something up on a shelf. I hug him from behind and he coughs a bit in surprise. "Noona?" "That Hansoo guy is trouble," I mumble. "I think he's nice," he innocently says. "And if I told you he's been trying to flirt with me?" "Really?" His eyes widen. He looks past the storage door, his demeanour suddenly changed. He starts walking away but I block him. "Relax, I can counteract. Don't lose your job by picking a fight with your senior." He begins mumbling obscenities. "Jaewook, Jaewook," I can't help but giggle at his anger as I push against him with my hands. "Baby boy," I coo at him and he falters, a hint of a smile forming on his lips. "Baby," I hold onto the hem of his white button up, as I baby talk to him. His hidden smile soon turns into giggles. "You're the cutest," I hold onto his face so that he looks down at me. "Even when you try to act all macho and superior, you're just adorable. Like a cute puppy trying to appear bigger by growling." "What are you saying? I am big. Bigger than you'll ever be." "You know what I mean baby." I let go of his face. "You can wait for me in the locker room," he points to a small room across the hall. "I just need to bring this to the counter." I head into the room and sit on the bench. Lockers line the walls in a small, square room. Someone walks down the hall but they move backwards when they catch my eye. "Who are you?" He raises an eyebrow. "Uh," I grow flustered for some reason. "I'm waiting for Jaewook. He said I could wait here." "Ah," the man nods his head. He looks like the oldest employee here, with shiny black hair and handsome features. "Oh, you've arrived," Jaewook appears in the hall and immediately bows to the man. "No need to be so formal," the man laughs lightheartedly and pats his back. He has a very kind manner. "Is this your girlfriend?" "Yeah," he looks down. "Sorry, I told her she could wait here." "No need to be sorry new kid," he laughs again. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kim Seungmin." I nod my head and introduce myself. "He's the café owner," Jaewook tells me. My eyes widen and I stand up. "You didn't have to say that Jaewook," Seungmin says. "Thank you," I say all of a sudden without initially knowing why. "What?" He asks with a confused smile. "Thank you for hiring him," I say. "Of course! He's cute—which is good for our target customers, and he's a hard worker—which is good for me!" The man's positive attitude and easy going aura put me at ease. I think Jaewook chose a good place to work. Bosses can make your life a living hell, but this one seems to be wonderful. "Well, I'll see you in two days Jaewook!" With one last smile, Seungmin heads to the counter. Jaewook walks in and closes the door. "Your boss seems really nice. He owns a café at such a young age?" "Yeah, he just opened it a month ago but it's doing really well." "Man, I bet you're getting paid more than I am," I grumble. "No," he says unconvincingly. I raise an eyebrow and he looks away as he opens his locker. "Yeah, you're probably right." "Why can't there be such thing as flower girl cafés? I want to make money by making coffee and talking to guys who have no chance." He snorts with laughter. "It's because all girls are flowers." "Wow, smooth. It seems Hansoo's rubbing off on you." I cross my arms as I sit back down on the bench. "So all girls are flowers the huh? I'm just the same as all the others?" I tease.