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"Enjoy your meal," I smile at the old couple sitting at the table and turn to head back into the kitchen.

The restaurant is finally picking up more customers—thanks to the revamped menu. My experimentation with dishes ended up passing Seulgi's test, and her mom agreed to let me try out my recipes. She is cooking in the kitchen and my dad is taking stock of ingredients. Seulgi is at school still so I am here to help wait the tables.

"Who knew all this time I just needed to upgrade my recipes," she says while impressively moving a heavy wok with one of her frail hands. "Or maybe it's because we have a pretty employee now." She looks at me with a smile as she says this. I brush this off with a laugh.

"No, no. I think you just needed new motivation." I grab a plate of cooked seasoned meat and move back into the dining area. We upgraded a few more small things, including the TV that hangs in the corner and the chairs. The place is looking less like a run-down restaurant likely infested with rats and more like a cute and delicious mom-and-pop restaurant; one people might call a hidden gem.

"Enjoy," I smile to another customer.

"Thank you young lady." The woman smiles back at me. I feel good when I hear her "mm" in the background, commenting on the taste of the food.

The bells of the door ring again. I turn around with a smile.

"어서오세요 [welcome]!" My eyes are met with familiar ones. "Oh—"

He comes right up to me, hands immediately attacking my hair.

"Look at my little part-timer, you look so cute with your uniform," Taeyoung's hands continue to harass my hair and I become aware of the customers watching us.

"Hey, stop that," I whisper-yell at him, pushing his arms down. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to surprise you." His wide smile elicits a smile on my own face.

"Take a seat then."

He does and he watches every step I take as I grab a menu and pitcher of water.

"What would you like to drink?" I try to ask professionally since the other customers can hear us.

"You." My face burns in embarrassment.

"Taeyoung, stop it." I whisper-yell at him again, softly hitting his arm.

"Water is fine," he laughs as his eyes crinkle.

I frown as I leave to get a pitcher of water.

"Do we have another customer?" Seulgi's mom asks.

"Yeah," I hesitantly say before swiftly leaving. They've never met Taeyoung before.

"Here." I put the pitcher of water down hastily.

"Ooh, my waitress is a bit rude."

I sigh, trying my hardest to not roll my eyes at him.

"What would you like to eat," I say between my gritted teeth. "And don't you dare say—"

"너 [you]" He smiles at me mischievously.

I take a deep breath before turning on my heels. I'll just have to choose for him.

I decide to ignore him until his food is ready, much to his despair. He shoots me a puppy-dog pout every time I walk by him, once even sneakily grabbing my butt when I walk by. The look on my face I'm sure was priceless.

"Here, eat it and leave me alone." I place his plate in front of him.

He tsks at me, chopsticks already in hand.

"Very bad service, zero out of ten."

I can't help but laugh at him, but quickly stop.

"My waitress is quite naughty." The smirk on his face makes me want to kill him.

"I'm serious now."

"What? They can't understand what I'm saying."

Sure enough, we are talking in English and the older customers in here clearly have no clue what was going on.

"Still," I mutter, crossing my arms.

He takes some noodles into his mouth, slurping them up. His cheeks are puffed out now as they're filled with the food, his mouth chewing.

"Good, ten out of ten, you've redeemed yourself." He says between bites, throwing two thumbs up at me.

I smile at him, "thank you."

The door rings again and surprisingly a group of young guys walk in, about our age. Usually, only older people visit.

I bow, "어서오세요 [welcome]."

"Oh hyung, they were right," one guy nudges another's arm, "She is pretty."

I pretend that I didn't hear the last comment as I grab a few menus. "Please take a seat," I gesture to a table by the windows.

They lightly nod their heads at me, all three following my direction and taking a seat. I can feel Taeyoung's eyes on my back.

"Can I get you something to drink?" I ask, feeling a bit uncomfortable under their penetrating gazes.

"It's getting late," one says to another, "maybe beer? Or soju? Let's just do 소맥 [soju + beer]."

I end up bringing beer and soju to them before saying goodbye to the old couple.

"저기요 [over here]!" I hear Taeyoung yell out and I grimace a bit. Why is he calling out to me in Korean?

"Yes?" I respond.

"More water please." His expression is unreadable. I stare at him for a bit before grabbing the pitcher and filling it with more water. Then I brace myself for taking the orders of the three men.

"What do you recommend?" One asks. I thank my lucky stars that I practised this in Korean many times before.

"The seasoned beef is very good, so is any of the soup, especially the pork bone soup." I lean down a bit to point at a few other items on the menu. When I look back up I realize that they were checking out my cleavage the whole time. I stand up straight and clear my throat.

"We'll get all of that."

"What?" I say out of surprise.

"Everything you said, we'll have all your recommendations."

"Hyung?" A younger one looks at him in shock.

"I'll pay for it, don't worry about it. I'm getting my paycheck tomorrow, it's going to be a big one." He leans back comfortably, showing off to not just his friends, but to me. I crinkle my nose in a bit of disgust before finalizing the decision.

"Yeah, don't worry. I have a lot of money." He's looking at me now, a sly smirk on his face. A not very handsome face I might add.

"Okay." I turn and walk away.

I stumble when a hand grabs my wrist.

"Sohee—"

"What?"

Taeyoung pauses and swallows a bit uncomfortably. "Um, can I have a bowl of rice?"

"Sure," I give him a puzzled look before heading back into the kitchen.

"We're so busy tonight!" Seulgi's mom calls out excitedly.

I nod in response as I scoop rice into a silver bowl. When I return to the dining area I notice that the guy's table is progressively getting louder.

"저기요 [excuse me]!" The arrogant guy calls out.

I give Taeyoung his rice and walk over.

"Three more bottles of beer and one bottle of soju please."

Their eyes are getting glossed over now, their speech more relaxed than before. As much as I wanted to deny them, the alcohol is what brings the restaurant a lot of money.

I nod and do as they ask. When I return the arrogant one asks me, "So what are you doing later?"

"Excuse me?" I grow uncomfortable and a bit sheepish. No one told me how to handle drunk customers yet. He is sitting with his legs spread out, taking up most of the room on his side of the table. He is clearly trying to present himself as the dominant male of his group and he is staring at my chest again—this time not even trying to hide this fact. Reminder to myself to buy a bigger sized blouse.

"Later. What are you doing." He obnoxiously pronounces each syllable as if I can't understand. Eyes moving up to look at me. His hands casually hold onto the end of my apron, fingers fidgeting with it.

"I don't know," I mumble as I open the bottles. He snickers at his friends and they laugh with him.

"Then hang out with me tonight."

"No thank you," I open the last bottle and turn to leave but he grabs my hand. It feels wrong, his hand in mine. I yank it out but he swiftly grabs my arm now.

"I'll tip. I'll pay a big tip if you agree to come to a hotel with me." His friends "ooh" in the background. I feel myself convulse a bit. I've heard enough about the notorious love hotels in Korea to know what he's implying.

I'm about to say something when someone else speaks for me.

"Get the hell away from her."

. . .

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Sooaura