The One

Chapter 2

Lilly Min:

"Lilly, please serve table two!" my mother yells from the front desk, taking payment for an order.

"Yeah," I mumble as I pick up my notepad and head to the table. As I reach them, I notice it's the husband and wife from a small local Korean family we always serve.

"How are you tonight?" The mother asks in Korean as I reach them, pen and paper ready.

"I'm good Mrs Choi, how are you?" I respond. Her husband claps appreciatively.

"You're getting good, Min Lilly,"

"Thank you," I beam, "Now, what are we ordering today?"

They place their order, exactly what they always order when they come here. The wife sighs and looks around the restaurant.

"Finally, a night without the kids. You're not too busy tonight," She giggles.

I look around the restaurant. She's right, only 4 tables out of 20 are taken tonight. But that's pretty usual for a Monday. But it's boring, and I wore my favourite uniform combination tonight.

I am wearing my favourite black jeans with a comfortable, stretchy white blouse. It's the most comfortable and professional-looking outfit in my entire closet.

I am also wearing a fair amount of makeup tonight. I allowed my cousin to practice a little before I started work. But it looks really decent, a lot better than my attempts. I don't feel like I have to wear makeup, but there is nothing wrong with dressing up and trying new things, right?

Of course, the only people who have been able to see my new look are a couple of drunk older men, a few families, couples and an Irish travelling group. It was almost not worth it.

I thank them and move towards the kitchen, order in hand.

"Nan, I have an order for table 2," I beam, passing my grandma the slip before I turn back to my mum, who is in charge of the front counter.

"I'm just going to take a break and have some noodles, okay?" I don't wait for an answer. I pout happily as I enter the kitchen, grab a bowl, and take 2 spoons full of whatever my grandma has cooking in the largest pot and some utensils.

I take the bowl out the back and into the staff room. As I sit down, I remember him again. Earlier today, I took Tahlia to the Harbour Bridge. When we turned down that street, I noticed the foreigners were going that way as well.

It was strange, but I had a feeling one of them was watching us as we walked back to our car.

All of a sudden, a random girl started screaming something at them. Tahlia and I both stared at each other, shocked and slightly startled.

Then, a whole mob of people began charging towards them. I didn't recognise them from anywhere, so how could an entire group of all types of people be flocking to these foreigners? What do they do that is so amazing, so intoxicating, that non-Korean people are interested in them too?

Are they Korean musicians? Is Korean music being recognised internationally now because of the internet, and I just wasn't aware because I don't keep up?

The only Korean boy group I ever knew was Big Bang, and that was only because they were very popular when I visited Korea when I was young. But even if this group was Big Bang, I wouldn't have recognised them. I wish I could say that I have always been a devout VIP, but I really struggled to keep up with all the content.