my annoying neighbour || ryeji

1

Riiiiiiiiiiingg! Ryujin smashed her alarm clock until it stopped ringing. She stretched in various positions and proceed to lay in bed for another 15 minutes before leaving her bed and took a quick shower. After a few moments, Ryujin came out of the shower feeling fresh and energetic. She put on her pastry chef suit and grabbed her belongings and ready to go to work. She thought today is going to be a good day.

Sadly, her reality is the other way around. The whole kitchen is a mess and her three loyal workers are all covered in flour. Ryujin took a deep breath with her eyes closed before facing the three. "Do any of you care to explain why the hell is my kitchen in a mess AND all of you were covered in flour?" The youngest chef nudged the oldest among them to explain the situation to their boss.

"Why me? You tell her."

"You're older than us."

"Yeah but not mentally!"

Ryujin cleared her throat and raised a brow towards them making the two snapped out of their little fights. "Chef Lee, tell me or I'll cut your pay again for this month." Chaeryeong widened her eyes upon hearing that. She can't get a pay cut again for this month and so she told the truth. "I apologized boss but Chef Choi sneezed when she ripped open the new flour sack. Due to her clumsiness she accidentally tossed the flour at the two of us. About the mess..." Chaeryeong paused to take a look at Yuna and Lia who shook their heads a little, signalling her not to tell Ryujin about it.

Ryujin sighed heavily and asked, "The two of them playing flour fights again?" Chaeryeong nodded her head while the other two chefs had their heads down while nudging each other to take the blame. Ryujin shook her head, feeling annoyed over the fact that she had to buy new stocks since the latest one was now wasted but a part of her felt entertained with her chefs comical behaviours.

"Clean this mess, guys. Today we're not going to bake anything since our stocks is now well you know wasted so considered today as your free time at work. Do I make myself clear, chefs?"

"Yes, chef!" The three saluted at her and were dismissed to clean the kitchen. Ryujin checked her pastry stocks in display and is relieved that they had enough to sell. She then sat at a vacant table near the window with a mocha bread in her hand while people watching over the passersby that walked past her bakery. Being too amused to witness various behaviours of strangers, Ryujin was brought back to reality when her chefs knocked on the table.

"Can we sit with you, boss?" asked Lia who's smiling cutely with her eyes. Ryujin hummed and nodded her head. The three took off their chef hats and joined their boss doing her favourite activity. People watching in silence. Chaeryeong nudged Yuna to say something to break the awkward silence between the four of them.

"What am I supposed to say?"

"Anything! Say something, idiot!"

Yuna leered at Chaeryeong and after awhile of practicing by herself and gained courage to talk casually with her boss, she said "Hey boss, what's on your mind?"

Ryujin turned her head to face Yuna with a stoned look. "Nothing much. Just random thoughts on how much should I cut your pay for this month." The three chuckled nervously upon hearing the news. "Haha that's funny boss. But are you for real?" asked Lia. Ryujin laughed and shook her head, "Dumbass! Of course I'm not. I was just thinking about a new place to stay. Now that I mentioned about it, do you know a place where its peaceful, has an amazing view from the bedroom window, nice and friendly neighbours. Yea, nice and friendly neighbours. Do any of you knew a place like that?"

"Eh? What's wrong with the apartment you lived in now?" asked Yuna, perplexed.

"Nah, everything's fine with it but I just wanna move into a better place where I can find inner peace, you know what I'm saying? I wanna meet new people. Its been 7 years since I lived in that old apartment after my parents left me so I think its time for me to have a brand new start of my life and forget the past."

The three froze in their spot in silence. They knew about Ryujin's sorrowful past, their boss had been through hell of living with abusive parents and tragic teenage years where she was bullied everyday in school and was left hanging without proper farewell by her now ex girlfriend. They knew it all about their boss.

Chaeryeong cupped her own face with her hands. Her eyebrows met each other as she was thinking hard about a place her boss had described earlier. Like a shot, she snapped her fingers repeatedly and with a beaming smile on her face.

"I think I know just the right place for you, boss! I'm sure you're gonna love it there."