"Hey Taeyeon. Are you here to see me or here to eat lunch?"Kwon Jiyong asked as he put down the table cloth. Taeyeon smiled sheepishly as she slowly took a seat at one of the tables. "What? Your face is telling me that you have a favour from me."
"Well..."she trailed off, not sure how to ask him for a job. This restaurant is owned by Jiyong's mother. Jiyong and his two older sisters work here, and also a few other workers his mum hired as waitresses.
"You can ask me anything."Jiyong said.
"I want to work here. I need money."she blurted out.
"Are you having a financial crisis?"he asked her, looking concerned. "I am okay with you working here, but I need to know why you suddenly need a job."
"My father is probably going to lose his job. He's stress about it and I don't know how we can survive with my expensive tuition fees if he quits."Taeyeon sighed.
"Is his boss going to fire him?"
"No. But his boss is waiting for him to quit himself. He mistreats him and orders him to do work that is impossible to finish."Taeyeon said. "My father is so stress over it and he has been bearing it for a year. And my parents are fighting every night."she said, starting to tear up. "My mother doesn't want him to quit his job, because then she will be the only one working and the whole family has to rely on her."
"You can work here."he said. "Hopefully it will help your situation."he continued, patting her head gently.
"Thank you so much."She thanked him. She felt very grateful towards him. She wanted to say more to express how grateful she is to have this job, but she doesn't know how to accurately express the exact level of gratitude so that he is able to completely understand how much this job means to her.
He just smiled as he stood up and grabbed the table cloth. "I would wipe that tear off your cheeks, but my hands are dirty."
It made her laugh and it felt like her stress temporarily vanished. She remembered just crying alone in her room last night while her parents fought in their bedroom. She hates seeing her parents fight, they always fight because of money and it always made her think that it's her fault.
"Cheer up. Things will get better. I promise. You can start working tomorrow."Jiyong assured her as he left the table to continue his work. Taeyeon sighed in relief, she finally got a job.
-
Taeyeon decided not to tell her parents about her part time job, because she knows that they will tell her to focus on her studies first. She decided to arrange her class schedule to fit the available working time slots. It worked out perfectly and she got used to working as a waitress pretty easily.
Jiyong's older sisters guided her and treated her pretty nicely, so Taeyeon was grateful to work under such a friendly environment. She wiped the tables clean and rearranged the chairs. The customers are gradually decreasing as the restaurant is about to close for the day.
The bell of the door rang as two customers stepped in. Taeyeon welcomed them on instinct and quickly went to grab the Menu for the two customers. She widened her eyes when she realised that the customer is Byun Baekhyun and he came with another girl.
She silently placed two Menus on their table and took a few steps back to give them some space. Jiyong was sitting at the counter when he realised that Taeyeon looked troubled. He glanced at the customers and recognized Byun Baekhyun.
"Taeyeon-a, I can take it from here. You can go and help out in the kitchen."Jiyong left the counter and walked towards Baekhyun's table. Taeyeon nodded and quickly went into the kitchen to help the others.
She can't help but wonder who is Baekhyun with. That girl is so pretty and when she walked in just now, she looked so elegant. She's definitely in Baekhyun's league and compatible with Baekhyun.
"Why are you biting your fingers?"Jiyong's older sister, Kwon Dami asked her. Taeyeon quickly turned around to face her.
"Sorry!"
"It's okay. What's going on out there? It's my first time seeing my little brother serving the customers himself. He's lazy ass is always on the counter."Dami said as she looked through the glass that separates the kitchen from the eating area.
Taeyeon felt guilty for letting Jiyong do her job. She would be okay to serve Baekhyun's table, but she knows that she will get distracted because of the girl he is with and ended up causing a clumsy mess.
Finally after Baekhyun and the girl left, Taeyeon went to the counter and thanked Jiyong for taking over for her.
"Things are awkward between you two?"Jiyong asked as he sat at the stool, counting money.
"Yeah. We never talked for two years now."Taeyeon sighed.
"Just ignore him. He was the one who only hung out with you because he was bored."Jiyong said bluntly. "You don't deserve to be treated like that. That jerk has tons of friends, he wouldn't choose you over his friends."
Jiyong was very mad back then when he heard about what happened from Taeyeon. He even had the urge to march to his company and call him out to punch him.
"I don't know Jiyong-a. It hurts that he's ignoring me completely now."Taeyeon said, fearing that Jiyong will think that she is pathetic and desperate.
"I thought you hate him."Jiyong said.
"After seeing him, I am not so sure about that anymore."Taeyeon sighed again, running her fingers through her hair. "I want to talk to him again."
There was a momentary silence between them as Jiyong just stared blankly at the notes in his hands.
"You really like him, don't you?"he asked quietly, without looking up.
"I guess..."Taeyeon trailed off, leaning towards the counter and resting her elbow on the surface. "Is it bad that I think about him more than a friend although we haven't seen each other for two years?"
"I don't know Kim Taeyeon. It's your feelings, you have to figure it out yourself."Jiyong said and bounced off the stool, leaving her alone at the counter. "I am in no place to interfere."he said over his shoulder before entering the kitchen.
"Yah Kwon Jiyong."his sister called his name as soon as he entered the kitchen. He looked up to see his sister putting the stuff into the fridge. "Just confess already. What are you waiting for? Waiting for that other guy to make his move?"his sister asked, looking annoyed at how long her little brother has been dragging his confession for years.
"She only sees me as a friend. What is the use of telling her?"Jiyong groaned.
"Give it a try. Maybe she will fall for you if you start to pursue her romantically."said Dami. "No brother of mine will get turn down under my watch."
"No one is getting turned down as long as no one starts confessing."Jiyong said as he grabbed the two large garbage bags and went out the back door. Dami heaved a heavy sigh and shook her head in dismay.
Is he waiting until the girl gets married to another guy? Gosh.
-
a/n : short update. this chapter is more about Jiyong and Taeyeon. The way jiyong is portrayed in this story so far, he sounds like a really great friend, which is why he gets friendzoned all the time. Poor Jiyong.
anyone wondering who the girl is? the one with baekhyun? ;)
anyways in this story, he has two older sisters (he only has an older sister in real life).
stay tuned~
hint for next chapter : B+K+D+K = G
