Pursuit Of Fate

Chapter 6

"Welcome!" Seong Im shouted from the counter as she heard the bell attached to the cafe door, rang.

She wiped her wet hands on the apron and turned around to face the customer but froze upon seeing who it was. There wasn't only one customer that she thought there would be. Instead, there were three; the three of them. She ought to be fearful of them but the weird thing was, she wasn't.

"Why are you guys here?" she blurted out but not loud enough for her boss who was in the pantry to hear her.

Dong Hoon scanned around the surrounding, looking at the shelves that were filled with mini potted plants and then the ceiling.

"We are humans too. Is it illegal for us to be in a café?" Jong Kook questioned with a hint of sarcasm. He picked up a handful of marbles in the glass bowl located at the front of the cash register and dropped them one by one back into the bowl. "So are you going to take our orders? If not, I can just ask your boss." he continued.

"Geno café boss! Yoo Jae Suk ssi!" Dong Hoon and Hee Gun shouted, drawing stares from the other customers. The door to the pantry room slid opened as her boss stepped out. He looked at Seong Im and glanced at the three customers. "Why is it so noisy? What's going on?" he asked.

"You must be the boss. This ahjumma. I mean, your employee, is not willing to serve us. Is this how you train your staff?" Dong Hoon replied, letting out a smirk. She bit her lower lips in frustration and held out her fist, only to quickly bring it back down when Jae Suk suddenly turned around.

"Cheon Seong Im! Customers are always our priority. How can you choose which customer you want to serve?" Jae Suk rambled on. Seong Im stood beside him and nod her head in response to every word that he said.

"Eun Ri will take over. You, go and take out the trash." he instructed and turned to apologize to the three men. Seong Im shot a glare at them before walking away to the back of the café. She picked up the three-quarter filled trash bag, cursing and swearing along the way as she headed to the back alley where the huge rubbish bins were located.

"Hee Gun, you need to relax that stoic face of yours. We're out here to have fun." Jong Kook nudged at him with his elbow and said.

"Hyung, don't you know that he has that face on 24/7?" Dong Hoon commented. Hee Gun wrapped his arm around Dong Hoon's neck and pulled it back, choking him.

"Mianhae hyung!" Dong Hoon gasped, hitting his arm frantically. He coughed and stroked his neck as Hee Gun slowly released his grip. Jong Kook shook his head at the two childish men. Noticing that Seong Im wasn't back after more than ten minutes, Hee Gun excused himself to the washroom and walked towards the back door.

He found her, alone, sitting on the kerb with her knees bent. She was massaging her ankle with one of her hand. "It still hurt, doesn't it?" he asked, squatting down beside her.

Seong Im ignored his question and continued massaging her ankle. "I told you to rest but seems like you didn't heed my advice. Working a day after you got injured. " he continued.

Seong Im looked at him with frown. "You were spying on me?" she remembered seeing someone who looked similar to him appearing outside the cafe two weeks ago.

"You can say so." he replied without explaining further why he did so. She frowned even more and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Hee Gun grabbed her wrist, releasing quickly when she turned and glanced at his hand.

"Back to work. If not, what else?" she sarcastically replied.

"Is this how you're going to treat someone who save your life twice?" he tucked his hands into his side pockets. Only his thumbs were exposed.

"So what do you want me to do? I'm penniless. I have to scrimp and save to repay the debts." she pointed out, trying to make it obvious that she was in no position to treat him to a meal to thank him. Not like as if she really wants to treat him.

"A kiss will do." he replied. The way he said it with his expressionless face made Seong Im's brows shot up.

"In your dreams." she stomped on his foot, totally forgetting about her sprained ankle, and walked back into the cafe. Hee Gun looked at his feet, moving it up and down. He looked at the back door that Seong Im walked through. "Cute." he mumbled.

As soon as she figured that she was out of his sight, Seong Im hobbled towards the storeroom and leaned against the wall. "Aish! Jinjja!" she rubbed her right ankle gently.

The door swung opened. "Yah! Why are you still follo-" she shut her mouth upon seeing that it was Jae Suk.

"You're shouting at your boss now?" Jae Suk yelled.

"No. I thought you were.." her voice trailed off. She immediately bowed her head down and apologized. In her hurry to leave, she bumped into Hee Gun as she made her way out of the storeroom.

Jae Suk came out soon after and noticed that she was still outside. "Why are you still standing here? Get back to work!" he shouted. Seong Im nodded her head and hurriedly walked back while bearing the pain.

"What took you so long?" Jong Kook questioned as Hee Gun walked back to their table.

"My zip got stuck." he lied while stealing a few glance at Seong Im who was busy taking a customer's order.

"Eyy hyung. Don't lie. I went to the washroom and didn't see you in there. " Dong Hoon leaned closer towards Hee Gun. "Were you with that ahjumma?" his eyes were closely scanning his face.

"Hee Gun-yah. You should know that you will get yourself into a deep trouble if you fall for a debtor. Don't forget the rule." Jong Kook warned him.

Hee Gun looked at Jong Kook and pushed Dong Hoon's head away. "Hyung, don't listen to his nonsense. I know the rule." He glanced at Seong Im and she saw him looking at her. Their eyes met. "That's good. I don't want to see any of you getting beaten up by boss." Jong Kook said.

"Ne, hyung." Hee Gun softly replied and drank his coffee that was already cold.