Jamais Vu

Chapter 13

May 2018

Sunhee stretched her hands out as she was done putting the baking equipment away for the day. Sehun was done mopping the floor and threw the rubbish outside. Haewon was done cleaning the coffee machine and wiping the counter clean.

The other 2 new staff, Choi Yong a skilled baker who is three years older than Sunhee, a mother of a cute girl that Sunhee couldn't get enough of; and Kim Dowon, an eager to learn guy in his early twenties, also a fresh graduate from the local culinary school. Between three of them, the bakery could cater to the growing demands of sourdough and gluten free bread. The future of the business looks promising.

She had a meeting scheduled for the day with the design consultant. She finally chose one of the consultants whom Hoseok recommended. The quoted price was within the budget and what Sunhee like the most about the consultant was they would be handling the construction and remodeling works at the same time. It was a package deal and they would be able to convey the idea straight away to the site. They were supposed to meet in about an hour and since the baked goods were sold out fast, the shop could close earlier. The timing was perfect.

Choi Yong, Dowon and Sehun said their goodbyes, leaving Sunhee and Haewon to continue with the daily closing balance calculation. They were done when the door chimed signaling someone entering the shop. Sunhee paused and looked at the clock. The consultant was early, she thought. She hoped it wasn't a customer. Did Haewon-eunnie forgot to turn the sign to 'close'?

"I'm sorry, the shop is closed," Sunhee heard Haewon said.

"I'm here for Sunhee sajangnim," said a familiar voice.

"Jung Hoseok sajangnim, what a surprise! Welcome back," greeted Sunhee.

She knew Hoseok was in town but he didn't tell her if he was dropping by. She kept their communication business related. Their conversation just circulated about the design, the staff and the sales. She didn't dare to ask Hoseok about what he was doing or if he was taking care of himself well. She wanted to but she's afraid that she might breach the partnership boundary. She knew she's glib and flippant all the time. That happens when she gets comfortable with someone. She really do hope that her mouth won't run that far before her brain could compute what she already said where Hoseok is concerned. She was not kidding when she told him he was valuable.

Haewon blinked and looked at Hoseok. She then looked at Sunhee, puzzled. Sunhee could tell Haewon had too many questions running in her mind at the same time that she couldn't be coherent.

"Haewon-eunnie, meet Jung Hoseok. He's the new partner, your other boss. Jung Hoseok-ssi, meet Cha Haewon, our front of house manager," introduced Sunhee.

"Hello, Cha Haewon-ssi. Pleased to meet you. Sunhee told me a lot about you," said Hoseok warmly, extending his arm out for a handshake.

"This is not a prank, right?" asked Haewon to Sunhee, looking back to Hoseok again as she shook his hand.

"Not a prank, he's your boss," clarified Sunhee.

"Didn't you tell the staff about me?" questioned Hoseok.

"I did," replied Sunhee.

"She only said her new partner is a businessman named Jung Hoseok. She never said you're the Jung Hoseok, J-Hope of BTS," said Haewon accusingly to Sunhee.

"He is a businessman," defended Sunhee.

"Among other things," Haewon sniffed. "Pardon my manners sajangnim. I can tell you I'm usually not as star struck as this if someone could give me a heads up," she apologized to Hoseok.

"Haewon-eunnie, it's not as if we've never had idols coming in here as our customer," reminded Sunhee.

"That's different when one of them is your boss," said Haewon.