𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎 ‎ ϟ ‎ ˢᵏᶻ ᵃᵘ

ྀ 1 : ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ ɪᴄᴇᴅ ᴄʜᴀɪ

≻ 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 ⇾ 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆

≻ 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕⇾2,590

𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏:
[𝑪𝑯 - 𝒂𝒚] - 𝒔𝒂𝒊
𝑺𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒚𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 "𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒊" 𝒓𝒉𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 "𝑺𝒂𝒚"
𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒚𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 "𝑺𝒂𝒊" 𝒓𝒉𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 "𝑩𝒚𝒆"

ϟ

ϟ

ϟ

┌─⸉꒷꒦⸊─────────────┐
𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘
𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒊
└─────────────⸉꒷꒦⸊─┘

Pushing through one of the double glass doors casually, the chime of the bell above my head let everyone in the shop know of my arrival, including my boss, who seemed unhappy I was late. It was hard to tell if the elderly woman was genuinely angry with me or if this was one of her "I'm just joking, but don't let it happen again" expressions.

My red headphones secured over my head prevented any noise other than my music from flooding my ears, which caused Soonja to gesture for me to remove them. I paused before reluctantly doing so, my steps quickening towards the back counter where she stood as the sounds of the customers surrounded me.

"I think this is the first time I've seen someone arrive to work late despite their bed being less than fifteen feet from where they take orders," Soonja quipped as I passed by her with an apologetic smile, her voice hinting that she wasn't upset, and she was simply teasing me. "Be ready in five minutes," she added with a chuckle as I disappeared behind the curtain separating the cafe kitchen from my bedroom.

If I were the type of person to be late constantly, I would understand if Soonja wanted to scream at me about changing my habits, but I typically was early to begin my shifts. Usually, I only went to the aquarium in the late afternoons of my days after my shift had ended, or on my days off. Today was an exception because I needed to catch up on time while I was there watching my new friend Geunhae work with one of the rescues.

Stripping myself of my sweatpants and hoodie, I substituted them for a pair of jeans and a Post Malone T-shirt, throwing a button-up over it for warmth. I tied my hair out of my face into two braids that were a little messy due to my hurry as I slipped my boots back on.

I nearly forgot my nametag but quickly snatched it up and pinned it onto my shirt where "Chai Sai" could be legible to customers.

There was only time for some concealer and powder over the acne on my face before checking my reflection in finalization and heading out to the cafe. I rolled my eyes at Soonja standing directly on the other side of the curtain with her eyes directed to her watch.

"Four minutes, fifty-three seconds. Well done," she stated.

"Really?" I scrunched up my face in disbelief.

"No, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention to the time," Soonja responded flatly before approaching the counter to greet a new customer that had just walked in.

Secretly, I sent the old lady a dirty look in response, as she and I knew each other well enough at this point to know our arguing wasn't serious, and I got to work as she handed me the customer's order sheet.