because i remember | jjk

nine

it had been a few weeks since jieun had began work.

soyeon had been ecstatic when she found out that jieun was going to be her coworker-- to the point where jieun could not walk through the front doors of the establishment without being greeted with her screaming her name very loudly.

jieun had proven herself as a very efficient waitress, and the entire staff had come to recognize that. taking orders left and right quickly, reporting them back to the kitchen, grabbing pastries, dealing with unruly customers-- she did it all, and all with a smile on her face.

news of the bakery hiring a cute waitress had been the talk of the town. new customers came in just because of jieun, but she paid them no heed.

one night, jieun had just finished thanking an elderly couple for coming as they left through the doors when a middle aged man stumbled through the doorframe.

jaebum took his order as the man sat down, asking jieun to bring him his desired beverage as he went to go grab the food he ordered.

"here you go, sir." she said, "one café latte."

the man eyed jieun up and down before smirking. "what are you doing tonight?"

jieun looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows. "excuse me?" she mentally gagged at the smell of alcohol radiating off of him.

the man let his eyes wander all over her body frame without a sense of embarrassment. "a pretty lady like you should have a little fun," he said, grabbing her hand as he stood up. "let's go."

jieun slapped his hand away before he could tug her away. "sir, this is very inappropriate."

the man attempted to cover her mouth and grab her arm again when another arm reached in and pushed the man away, standing in front of jieun.

"i'm going to have to ask you to leave in the next ten seconds or else i'll be forced to call the police." jaebum said with a tone of seriousness that jieun had never heard him use before.

the man laughed, causing him to cough a mucus filled cough. "it was just a joke, man. don't tell me you wouldn't fuck someone with that body." the man said, almost salivating while trying to peek at jieun, who hid herself behind jaebum's back even more.

"leave!" jaebum shouted as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. 

"yes, i have a man here who is attempting to--"

"whoa, whoa man! calm down! i'll leave, jesus christ." the man said, walking towards the door, never taking his eyes off of jieun.

jaebum sighed, semi-grateful that he was the last customer of the day. he pulled his phone away from his face and put it back in his pocket.

"what about the operator?" jieun squeaked.

"i never called them in the first place. just wanted to scare him away." jaebum turned around and engulfed jieun in his arms. "are you okay? i'm sorry. i shouldn't have asked you to bring him his order in the first place." he said, stroking her hair.

jieun nodded. "i'm okay. it wasn't your fault."

they didn't move from their position for a while.

and for some reason, jieun didn't mind.