Remember me?

Part 3

"Hayoon ah, why are you hiding down there? Come help me out." Chaeyoung whispers at me from the front of the counter.
"I-I'm not hiding. I just- I just need to tidy up a few things in this cupboard. Haha." That sounds unbelievable even to my own ears.
"You can do it later. Come on, get up from there!" She hisses.
I have no choice but to slowly stand up.
He won't recognize me, will he? It's been so long after all & my appearance has changed a lot. Yeah, I don't think he'll remember me, but just to be safe..
I quickly took off my name tag, put it inside my pants pocket, suck in my tummy & put on my most commercial smile.
My heart beats so fast that it feels like it can explode any moment as I watch Jimin strolls closer & closer to where I'm standing.
Then, he arrives right in front of me, browsing the wallet selection in the display counter.
My manager sends me a look, signaling me to ask him if he needs help in finding anything. So I reluctantly open my mouth.
"Good afternoon Sir, are you looking for anything in particular?" I try to sound as calm as possible.
Please please please don't let him recognize me.
He instantly lifts his eyes up to meet mine upon hearing my voice. The smile on my lips freezes as panic begins to rise in my throat.
Shit, does he know who I am?
He stares at me with his light brown eyes, his brows furrow slightly.
"Ehm.. D-Do y-you need help with anything, Sir?"
For God's sake, stop stuttering Y/n!
I force a wide grin on my face as my temple & armpit begin to perspire uncontrollably.
He looks me up & down, then pinches his chin with his fingers.
"Are you-" He's about to ask something but he stops mid sentence.
"Y-Yes?" Oh God, please don't let him recognize me.
"Nevermind. You look lik- Nevermind, that's impossible." He waves me off before he steps toward the other section.
I breathe a deep sigh of relief, not realizing that I've been holding my breath while sucking my tummy in all this while.
The abrupt muscle relaxation stretches my tight blazer to its limit. As a result, the metal button on my belly pops off & drops onto the floor with a noticeable 'ding'.
The sound makes him turns back around & never in my entire life have I wanted to disappear into thin air so badly.
"Oops. Sorry, haha. This button has been loose for some time. I have to stitch this back on now. So, excuse me. Haha. Please continue browsing." I mutter awkwardly as I scramble to pick up the button. Then, I immediately scurry to the back, not even daring to look at him again.
"Lee Hayoon, where are you going?" My manager approaches me on my way to the staff room.
"I- I need to-" Shit, what do I tell her?
"Didn't I tell you to- What's wrong with your blazer?" Her eagle eyes squint at my belly.
"I-It got caught on one of the drawers' handle, so- I can fix it quickly though, I just need to stitch the button back on." I cross my fingers praying that she'll believe my lie.
"Oh my God, how can you be so clumsy? That blazer costs a fortune! I told you to take good care of it when I handed it to you back then, remember? Go fix it quickly, we don't want our VVIP to think that our standards have declined." She clicks her tongue in annoyance & dismisses me.
At this point, none of her words register to my brain. All I want to do is just to get out of there, so I nod agreeably to every word she says. I'm about to reach the door when she suddenly calls me again.
"Wait. Did you gain weight again? Didn't I tell you to lose weight? Hayoon ah, look at your colleagues. They all take good care of themselves, we have an image to uphold. Huh... I'm beginning to regret taking you in."
Her last sentence makes my heart drop.
I can't lose this job. How will I pay my bills?
"Manager nim, please give me one more chance. I'm currently going on a diet, I'm sure you'll notice the result soon. So please give me another chance."
"Huh.. Fine. But consider this as your second warning. If I don't see your effort to change or if you do one more mistake, you're out, got it?"
"Yes. Thank you manager nim, I promise I won't disappoint you." I say while bowing at her.
Hayoon ah, pull yourself together. You can do this.

The next few days, I diligently follow the fad diet to the dot even though I'm so hungry at night that I can't sleep soundly.
"Woah, Hayoon ah, your diet seems to work. You've already lost some weight, haven't you?" Chaeyoung says to me in the changing room at the beginning of our shift.
"You notice? Yeah in fact I've lost 4 kgs since I started this diet last week." I smile happily at her.
"Good for you! But you look a bit pale. Are you sick or something?"
"Nahhh, I'm fine. I'm just sick of eating sweet potatoes all the time. Anw, don't worry about me, I'm happy as long as I lose weight." Which is true, I'm so thrilled to feel the waistband of my pants not biting into my waist anymore. Maybe seeing Jimin again wasn't so bad after all, it has given me the last push to get on a diet.
I think about all the cute outfits that I'm going to be able to wear again soon once I've reached my goal body weight & I can't help but smile at myself.
You can do this Hayoon! See, dieting isn't that hard.
Suddenly, my stomach begins to rumble.
Ughh.. Those damn sweet potatoes.
The sound of door opening breaks my daze & I immediately turns around to greet the customer.
"Welcome to Cha-" The last part of the word gets caught in my throat once I see the the customers who are stepping through the door.
Park Jimin & his equally famous girlfriend, Yeonhee.