yoonji
"you okay over there?" i ask riki, who seems to be intrigued with the book he's been reading.
"i was just flipping pages of this book, which is about this dreamer who imagines extraordinary adventures in everyday places." he replies, causing me to start getting all curious.
"ooo, that sounds promising ..."
"so what's it about?" i ask before he shyly shows the book he was just holding.
a kid's book? oh i definitely did not expect that. this dude looks like he reads poems or horror.
"it's about this woman who sees magic in the mundane. you see this girl? this is who i was just talking about." he says, pointing out the stick woman. like i haven't figured that out yet.
he started showing me pictures of this book, and i'd have to say that it wasn't as childish as i thought it would be. in fact, this was so deep.
"i've always been drawn to stories that could like- transport you beyond the ordinary, where anything is possible." he says, making me nod.
as much as i'd love to bring up some of the stories i enjoy living in, they're super duper silly and nsfw. these delusions of mine must be kept in someplace safe. should i write fanfics based on them?
"have you ever had a dream that felt so real, it stayed with you long after you woke up? i once had a dream where i was just wandering through a forest filled with glowing fireflies ..."
"it felt so vivid and magical, like i was exploring a hidden world straight out of a fairy tale." he says, before going in awe. his dream's too innocent for my liking. it definitely needs a bit more spice, like—he was just being deceived and played around by a bunch of psychopaths. he's actually being treated as a lab rat for research purposes and laughs. none of that was real. he would then have an existential crisis, to add some drama. oh and he'll meet this one girl who was actually also being treated like an experiment and-
"you're living in your head again." riki says before giving me a light shake, causing me to snap back to reality. noooo, why would you do that ... now we both have to go back to work.
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eunjin
"so, jake, the key to constructing a beautiful bouquet is balance and harmony."
"we start with the larger flowers, like these roses right here, and then fill in smaller ones, like these." i say, taking the baby's breath flowers before looking back at jake, who's just making an ooo expression.
"in wrapping the bouquet, you have to take note about securing it tightly, without damaging the stems of course ..."
"that's one of the main reasons why people prefer buying our stuff." i add, seeing him follow through in just seconds. i'd have to say, he's such a natural.
he doesn't even look nervous, damn.
"okay so uhh, now we have to prepare some more flower arrangements for the window display." i start as i start showing him photos of our previous window displays (that i'm super proud of).
"this part's gonna be a bit more intricate. you're gonna need to think about color harmony and umm varying heights." i say, watching him pick all the flowers he's chosen and hear him talk a lot about what he's already thought about doing.
what the actual fuck. he's an actual genius.
"sooooo, what do you think?" he asks with a smile on his face.
fuck, it must run in the shim genes.
"that's ... really good, jake." i say, causing him to let out a giggle betore he replying with a shy "thank you."
"what else can i help with?" he enthusiastically asks, suddenly making me freeze and not know what else to say to him.
"maybe we should take a break for now ... you've picked up everything really quickly so i'm not really sure." i say, not liking how i'm hearing myself before forcing a laugh to kind of ease how i'm feeling right now.
"eunjin, just be honest ... did you feel threatened by him?" yoonji's question still lingers in my train of thoughts. what if i just can't seem to admit that i did—and still do? does that make me a bad person?
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hyejin
usually, people would already try to promote their business ahead of time—even when it's still under construction. i couldn't help but keep going back to what's about to be built in front of this café.
"i'll go ahead, hyejin." jungkook says, waving and smiling before heading out.
he recently opened up about wanting to go back to busan, his hometown. though i saw this one coming, i didn't think this was gonna be the year that i have to say goodbye to him.
he had always been so transparent about how much he misses walking around the southeast coast everyday. i feel like he was just waiting for a sign to come back.
when he was told that his aunt could no longer take care of his parents, that seemed like destiny.
jungkook worked with my older sister, who's actually the previous owner of this café. he's the type to go where his heart takes him. my older sister's said nothing but good things about him, which made me want to have him in my team as well.
he was once receiving huge paychecks from being a songwriter and producer of many big artists. then all of the sudden, he thought he's much happier getting paychecks from a café shop that's probably just a quarter of how much money he was earning.
that's really inspiring and all, but it would feel so weird to no longer have him around here. he literally had so much more experience working here than i did.
also, he's like the older brother i never had.
"i'll be right back, my mom's calling." i inform hanni, as she responds with possibly the cutest smile that i've ever seen.
"hi, mom."
"how's the café?" she directly asks, making me nervous for a bit.
she doesn't usually ask about what's been going on with the café, especially if it's through a call. this is definitely the first.
"oh uhhh, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster. business is good, but i think the finances are in a bit of a mess ..."
"we're still trying to figure it all out." i say, before clearing my throat.
"i thought you have a person for finances?" she asks, hearing some hints of annoyance from the way she asked me that.
"she is! and she's been very good, double-checking is the only thing this needs." i respond, hoping that she won't keep going on about this.
"okay, but i need you to trust your instincts okay? and keep your eye on everything around there." she advises as i let out a sigh of relief.
"i will."
