A ROSE'S SEVEN THORNS

CHAPTER 01

"Delivery Gone Wrong"

•••

Lee Jangmi could not pull her work jacket off fast enough as she raced around the break room, gathering her things. Quickly making her way out of the door, she stopped to shoot a two-finger salute at Mr. Ahn, an ahjussi who was in charge of the kitchen. He was a man of few words that was incredibly snarky and full of sass, but he meant well.

“See you later, ahjussi,” She told him.

He waved the young girl off and grunted. “Yeah yeah, go home already.”

She chuckled lightly as she reached the back door. Then she pulled open the door and lifted her foot to walk out.

“Jangmi-ah! Wait!” Abruptly, she froze in her steps at the frantic tone of her boss, Mrs. Shin.

Still standing on one foot, Jangmi turned her head around in question. Her boss’s voice sounded far away so Jangmi assumed she had been in the front. And judging by her tone, she could tell she was bustling around quickly in search of her.

A tiny bit afraid and hoping she was simply frantic because she hadn't told her bye or handed Jangmi a random bonus, the young girl responded back meekly. “Yes, ahjumma?”

Please just tell me bye.

Please just tell me bye.

Appearing from behind the door, Mrs. Shin caught sight of her. She breathed in relief and hurried towards the copper haired girl. “Ah, Jangmi-ah, I'm so glad I caught you.”

She caught sight of her outstretched foot and frowned. She looked away dramatically and motioned the girl out the door. “Oh. Never mind, you were already a foot out the door.”

“Literally,” Mr. Ahn muttered.

Jangmi reluctantly put her foot down and smiled, “What is it, ahjumma?”

“Oh, nothing,” She turned away as she put her hand out to the young employee melodramatically. “Don't worry about it. I'll just handle it myself.” Then she rubbed her lower back and said, “Aigoo, my poor back.” As she rubbed her back, she gave her a smile, “Go on with your day!”

 The young girl held in a groan at the older woman’s attempt to make her feel guilty. She always did this when she needed a favor. Honestly, Jangmi would do the favor without this painful act. Mr. Ahn has told her many times, but apparently when Mrs. Shin was younger she took acting classes and they stuck. She was kind to Jangmi and treated her fairly, so she let it slide.

“No, no, ahjumma,” Jangmi told her as she walked over to her boss. “I'll do whatever to help.”

“But you must want to go home,” She gave a wistful sigh as she turned again dramatically. “You're off the clock.”

“I want to help,” The brunette told her as she grabbed her arm, stopping her midway in another dramatic turn. “Tell me.”

She beamed up at Jangmi and her eyes teared up on the spot. As she dabbed her eyes, Jangmi shook her head at her boss’ antics.

“Aigoo, you're such a good girl,” She cooed at her as she softly patted her cheek. Then she snapped into boss mode. “Okay so, I have five pizzas ready for delivery, but the next worker said they were running late. I need you to make one last delivery before you go home.”

Okay sure, Jangmi really wanted to go home and sleep forever, but this didn't seem like a big deal to her. She could simply deliver the pizzas and then head on home. It wasn’t like she lived that far, so it wasn't a problem. Hey, maybe she would get a raise for this.

Just as Jangmi was about to accept, Mrs. Shin was back at the act again. She faced the young brunette, but her eyes grew sad as she looked at the floor. She was attempting a pitiful look.

“I would do it myself, but uh aigoo,” Another lower back rub. “I've been in so much pain, but really Jangmi-ah, I can do it.” She moved away and hissed as she clutched her lower back, “Ah don't worry about me, Jangmi-ah.”

Said girl could not stop her eyes from rolling. This woman was completely shameless, but her acting was very amusing to watch, she wouldn’t lie. Jangmi grinned at her back and moved past her into the kitchen. Then she grabbed the pizzas and headed over to Mrs. Shin, “What's the address?”

She teared up again and grasped her arms with a bright smile, “Oh Jangie, you're too pure for this world!”

Wow. She was laying it on thick tonight. Jangmi thought as she smiled at her. Then Mrs. Shin gave her the address, thanked her dramatically once more, and waved enthusiastically as she rode off on her bike.

“You're a terrible actress,” Mr. Ahn stated as he cut up some dough.

She looked at him and huffed, “I don't know what you're talking about, grumpy old man. I do have pain.”

“A pain in the a—”

She glared sharply at him. “Less talking, more working.” He merely sneered at her, but did as she said. With that, she went to the register and flipped her hair sassily. “I'm a wonderful actress. He doesn't know real talent. Hmph.”

•••

The address wasn’t very far from the pizzeria. It was around fifteen minutes away on bike and Jangmi liked to think she was a fast rider, so of course she would get there sooner. After all, she liked to believe she was the best delivery person ahjumma had. Not like that snarky coworker of hers who liked to come in late every Tuesday.

As the copper haired girl slowed down at a stoplight, she caught sight of some kids running around in a neighborhood. A wistful smile appeared on her lips as she watched them and then her eyes drifted towards the houses behind them. Among the many houses, she found the one that held fond memories of her childhood.

Back then, it had been a chocolate-brown colored house but now it was painted a cream color. While it was her childhood home, the outside gave it a completely different feel. When she had returned from Busan to Seoul, she honestly didn’t even recognize the house she had grown up in for thirteen years. It seemed many things could change over six years.

Just before the light turned green, she glanced at the house next door and the one in front of it. The colors had remained the same over the six years, only repainted to make it look newer. While they both looked just the same as when she left, she knew they were completely different.

The light changed and she began to pedal once more.

When she returned to her hometown six months ago, one of the first things she did was visit her childhood neighborhood. It was then that she realized nothing could ever remain the same. Her old home was changed and, along with the two other houses, they had new families living there.

Jangmi grew nostalgic as she thought of what could’ve happened if she didn’t move away six years ago. Granted, it really wasn’t her choice to leave. But still would things have stayed the same? Would they still be living there? This made her question if she had been the catalyst that caused the detachment between her and them.

She had tried to keep in touch with them, but life seemed to have gotten in the way. One day, they had stopped messaging and then she didn’t bother anymore when her mother cancelled her cellphone plan. That was around four years ago and not a day went by that Jangmi didn’t hate that they had grown apart. When she got another cellphone a year ago, she tried to contact them – she had memorized their numbers – but they were both disconnected.

Then she came back and visited their old homes, but they were nowhere to be found. Six months had passed since she returned to Seoul and not once had she caught sight of her childhood friends. It was like they had vanished into thin air and now all she had was memories.

Honk!

She jumped in her seat and pedaled faster as the driver behind her rolled their window down and started to complain about her slowness. Then she moved over to the sidewalk and bowed her head at the driver, who sped past her, as she muttered lowly, “Should’ve let them hit me, I could use the money.”

It seemed that she had gotten so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize she had started cruising slowly down the lane. And apparently, the driver behind her had gotten fed up and honked at her, which woke her up from her daze.

Glancing at the street name, she realized she was about a minute away from the address according to her phone’s GPS. Following the road, she made a right turn and her phone dinged, indicating that she had reached her destination.

The destination was, well…

“Talk about sketchy,” Jangmi thought out loud as she approached the address her phone had led her to. Stopping her bike, she placed a foot on the ground to balance herself. She glanced around and frowned at the lack of houses.

The area surrounding the address had no actual houses, but just a bunch of deserted and rundown buildings. It was as if no one had bothered to take care of them. Frowning, she peered at the closest building and realized it was where she was supposed to deliver the pizzas.

But it was as deserted as its surroundings and it seemed like no one was waiting around. She was confused. Was this some kind of prank? How immature.

I mean what kind of monster would waste perfectly good pizza like this? Jangmi thought as she propped her bike on its kickstand. She refused to believe someone was that cruel. Whoever ordered it had to be around here.

“Ahjumma said that this address was one of her regulars,” She muttered to herself as she adjusted her grip on the pizzas. “But who the hell would have pizza de