Thorned Rose // chae hyungwon (#31)

Two

HyungWon

I bit the ends of the chilli pepper and took a mouthful of rice and the fried egg, there is nothing else than the two food combination that I usually have for my lunch, sometimes I would stain the rice with soy sauce to go with it. This is what I would have on a daily basis, I don't have the money to afford meat all the time, meat is way too expensive for me to have.

A coworker got into the workroom and took a look at what I am eating he scoffed. "You're having rice and chilli again?"

Do you have any problem with that? I shot him a glare and went back to eating, it is best that I ignore him and pretend that he doesn't exist. It is best that I make no conversation here with any of the coworkers, I need not communicate with them since we are just business partners.

"Hey! Did you hear what I am saying?" He kicked the chair that is in front of me to make me feel scared but I made no move, I continued to eat my food, there is not enough time if I were to fight with him and I don't want any trouble for me here. "You punk! Don't think that you work here longer than me and is younger than me that you can disrespect me like that."

"Sorry then." I gave a slight nod and picked up my spoon from the lunchbox. "You only have 25 minutes left for the lunch break and I bet that is not enough for your smoke break as well, you better hurry up."

This time, he flipped the whole table, my food is completely on the floor and my lunch is wasted. I have barely touched the food and it is gone already, what kind of bastard would do such a thing to someone?

I stood up in rage. "How could you? That is only my meal for the rest of the day and you ruined it just like that. How can you be like this?" I walked up to him and wanted to grab him by the collar but I couldn't, I would get fired.

"I dare you to throw me a punch towards my face right now." The guy came closer to me, his eyes are full of greed. He is tempting me to punch him so that I will listen to him, I would get into his trap and I would get fired as a result. There is no way that I will get fired by the boss, there is a special reason why.

The door opened with a bang, a tall male enters the room looking confused. "What is happening here?" He takes a look at the both of us and then the table that has been flipped over. "And why is the table flipped?"

"Nothing, the tornado came in and flipped over everything else including my ultimate rice and chilli combo. Is there any leftovers in the kitchen?" I asked him.

"Just take my share, I cooked way too much. It is the one with the blue cover. I have to deal with this matter." He told me and I left the room. I went over to his office to take the lunchbox that he had for me, he is a chef and the owner of the restaurant. He would take the leftovers from what he had cooked for the customers and bring it home for dinner.

I opened it and it was carbonara pasta with bacon, I took a few bites of it before closing the lid on. I can't do this to my friend, I can't bring myself to finish half of his share when he is willing to let me eat all of that. He is always that generous and kind towards his friends which includes me, the poor friend who barely has anything to eat on a daily basis. I feel so bad sponging on him so often, I feel like I'm such a bad friend but I have no choice.

I finished work in the next few hours in a happier mood, the guy came back and looked sadder than usual. I bet that the boss has given him a warning on not to stop any fights in the restaurant, fights between coworkers are absolutely permitted in this restaurant, you will get fired on the spot if the boss knows about it.

He even tried to give me a smile, something that he doesn't do on a daily basis, or at least something that he hasn't done ever since coming here. I wished that I had that moment of him smiling at me recorded for research purposes, that a nasty thug like him can actually bring out a friendly smile just like that.

I got home and it is in a mess, he didn't clean it when he left earlier. He is always like that, always leaving his mess to someone to clean up after him. How did he even graduated culinary school when he is so messy?

I let out a loud sigh and picked up that dirty shirt that was on the floor, it may be clean to someone like him but the shirt needs cleaning if it has been worn more than 2 times. The door clicked open and he had that apologetic face on, he immediately put his bag down and ran to me. "Hyungwon, stop moving. Let me save that shirt, I have only worn it once."

I showed him the shirt. "But what the hell did you even do it with? You ran in it right?" He nodded. "Which means that it is very dirty and smelly, it has to be washed right away to prevent any more bacteria from getting into it. Got it, Yoo Kihyun ssi?"

"Yes, sir..." He looked at me sadly. "Right, I bought a packet of sausages, you can cook that for breakfast and lunch tomorrow."

I nodded and did all the laundry with him messing up and not knowing how to use the washing machine when I have already taught over a thousand times, hung up all the laundry and I went out for a jog as part of my workout routine. I would jog almost every day unless it rains and I don't want to get sick because of the rain, I must be the healthiest youth in this world so I can work all the time.

The restaurant job is not the only job that I'm doing right now at the age of 25, I have also had a few part-time jobs here and there, I have a job at the convenience store on weekends and the paper delivery person which I do every morning before I go to work. And out of all the work that I have to do, there is still the housework that I have to do instead of the house owner himself. It just sucks that he is talented in cooking but he is no brainer in doing housework and keeping his house clean.

"Help! There is someone who drowned! She is dire need of help, she is going to die really soon if no one helps her!" And now I have to save this woman.