Lately, Yookyung's noticed that her father has become more tired. His hair is more gray, there are wrinkles visible on his once young looking face and he has dark circles.
The door clicked and in walked Mr. Lee. He sighed while taking off his shoes and gave Yookyung a weak smile, "Yookyung-ah, how was school?" She put on a small smile, "It was pretty good. Appa, I'll cook dinner tonight."
He looked at her and shook his head, "Aniya. You should do your homework. I'll cook." She grabbed his arms, "Appa, I already finished my homework. You need to take a break. I'll cook. Besides, Byunghun is gonna help me." He gave her a warm smile, "Komawo." He walked into his room and shut the door quietly.
At that moment, the bell rang and Yookyung ran to open it. L.joe stood there with a his hands in his pockets and he was looking at the ground. She raised an eyebrow and he looked up, "Hey." She let him in and he looked around, "Where's your dad?"
Yookyung sighed, "I made him rest for a bit. He's been really tired lately. Wanna help me with dinner?" He shrugged, "Fine with me. But I'm not that great of a cook." She chuckled, "It's fine. I'll be doing everything and you'll be my assistant!"
The two of them entered the kitchen and started cooking dinner. An hour later, kimchi stew, bulgogi, seasoned vegetables and japchae were set up on the table. Yookyung put her hands on her hip and looked at the food in admiration. "It turned out a lot better than I thought it would!"
L.joe put the last bowl of rice on the table and looked at her, "I never knew you could cook. I always thought rich people had chefs cooking for them." She looked at him, "That may be true, but we like to learn how to cook dishes ourselves since it's fun. By the way, you did pretty good too." He chortled, "All I did was chop the vegetables and get bossed around. You're the real chef."
She smiled and walked to Mr. Lee's room. She knocked lightly, "Appa, it's time to eat." The door opens and Mr. Lee walks out looking a bit more freshened up. He saw the food and gasped, "Yookyung-ah, you made all of this?!" She rubbed the back of her neck, "Neh, but Byunghun helped out too!" L.joe dipped his head, "Annyeonghaseyo Mr. Lee. Please sit and eat."
Mr. Lee pulled out a chair and sat down. The two high schoolers sat across from him, staring at him. He looked at the two of them. They motioned to the food and he nodded. He sipped some of the stew and his eyes widened. He tried the rest of the dishes and looked up at the both of them with an unreadable expression. "How is it?"
He smiled, "It's so good! Yookyung-ah, Byunghun-ah, this is delicious!" L.joe smiled, "It was Yookyung who did everything. I just helped out." Yookyung lightly slapped him, "Stop it, you're embarassing me." Mr. Lee gave her his infamous eye smile, "Gomawo Yookyung. It reminds me of your mother's cooking." She smiled and they all started eating.
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Yookyung walked to school while looking at the newspaper. She was searching for a job. She thought if she could help her father out, he would be a little more at ease. She circled a bunch of job openings and looked carefully. Then, she walked into someone.
She bowed, "Sorry. I didn't see where I was walking." Mihyun stared at her, "Yah, are you okay?" Yookyung looked up, "Oh, Mihyun-ah." The latter raised an eyebrow, "So now you recognize me."
She apologized, "Mian, I was just looking at something." Mihyun looked at the newspaper and saw red circles around possible jobs. "You're going to get a job?! But why?" Yookyung sighed, "It's a long story. I just need a job to help out my dad. I'm thinking of going to interviews after school. So can you stall Teen Top while I leave school grounds?"
Teen Top has been overprotective of Yookyung ever since the bullying incident. They were so overprotective to the point where they would follow her to the girls bathroom. Mihyun nodded, "Okay, you can count on me!" Yookyung smiled, "Thanks."
The bell rung and the two girls rushed in to the respective classes. Yookyung plopped down onto her seat and sighed. Changjo stared at her quizically. *What's wrong with her?*
School passed by quickly and Yookyung slowly packed her things. She looked around the room and saw that Teen Top was out of sight. Mihyun popped her head in and nodded. Yookyung got her signal and carefully followed her out. Mihyun ran out and started distracting Teen Top, "You guys should go ahead first! Yookyung is gonna be a while since she needs to talk to a teacher."
Niel raised an eyebrow, "Really? Which one?" Mihyun's eyes widened and she started looking around, "U-uh, her math teacher!" Mihyun quickly glanced at her and subtly nodded at the school gates. Taking in a deep breath, Yookyung ran out of the school and passed by Teen Top without them seeing her.
She leaned against the wall and poked her head in. She saw Mihyun and mouthed a thank you. She left and started heading to Hongdae for job interviews.
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"You're too young." "You don't have enough experience." "Sorry, we're not hiring high schoolers."
Yookyung sighed and crossed out the 4th job. She headed to a park and sat down on a bench massaging her legs. She blew air out of her cheeks and looked at the sky. She got rejected from all the job offers because she was either too young or didn't have enough experience.
She looked at the newspaper and looked at the next job she circled. *Starlight Cafe. Hope this one goes well.* With a grunt, she pushed herself off the bench and started walking to the cafe.
She pushed the door and a little bell above it rang. A young boy around his 20's behind the counter turned around and smiled, "Welcome to Starlight Cafe. How may I help you?" She walked in and looked around, "Is your manager here? I wanna talk to him about a job opening." The boy smiled, "Hold on. I'll get her for you."
The cafe(just imagine the layout like that) was pretty big. It was really cozy with a bunch of trinkets around the place and small paintings of the night sky.
A middle age woman came out of the back room and behind was the young boy. She seemed like she was in her mid 30's, she was petite and she has a warm smile on her face. "Are you here for the job opening?" Yookyung turned around and she bowed, "Neh. Annyeonghaseyo, Lee Yookyung-imnida." The woman smiled, "Follow me."
The two walked into her office and the woman gestured for her to sit down. Yookyung sat down and looked around. There was a picture of her family and the room was kept neat. The woman stuck her hand out, "I'm Mrs. Park, owner of Starlight Cafe." Yookyung shook her hand, "Pleased to meet you."
Mrs. Park crossed her hands, "Tell me, why do you want to work here? Aren't you still a high school student?" Yookyung bit her lower lip. "Well you see Mrs. Park, my father seems to be having a hard time after what happened to our family. I thought he might be able to relax a bit more if I help out as well."
Mrs. Park leaned closer, interested, "Really? Do tell. Sorry if I'm being nosy." Yookyung shook her head and told her about the company and everything that happened. She took a deep breath and exhaled, "You must've been through a lot of hardships then." Yookyung shook her head, "It wasn't that bad since I have my father. My mother died when I was young."
The owner nodded. She clapped her hands together, startling Yookyung. She smiled, "You got the job." Yookyung's eyes widened, "Really? Thank you so much!" Mrs. Park patted her shoulder, "Come back tomorrow and we'll work out your schedule." The girl bowed repeated, "Thank you so much! Thank you."
Mrs. Park laughed, "Okay okay, you don't need to keep on saying thank you. Just be sure to be here after school and we'll start teaching you the basics." Yookyung nodded and smiled brightly. She bowed once again and left the store, jumping around in happiness. People stared at her and she stopped, her face burning. She did a little fist pump and she walked home happily.
