Chapter 1 – Get a job

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Sulli was in very desperate stage of need. It was a case if she didn't got a job really soon she would find herself very much in the streets. Well, maybe that was a little too dramatic but she did have problem suffocating her to die, like the bills were piling up, she had her college loan to pay and with her mother's illness, there was no more time and she had to get a job now.

So Sulli found herself in the front steps of "Sweetlove", one of the coolest, hippest Bakery shop in town. This was the first place she had tried to get a job interview last time but had been summary dismissed by the owner's secretary. And she didn't feel like to give up that early.

Sighing deeply, Sulli moved forward and crossed the door into the restaurant, just to be immediately stopped by a tall man yelling, "It's closed."

"Oh, I know." Said Sulli, steeling her voice as much as she could. "It's just that I heard this shop is looking for a new pastry chef and I've been trying to get an interview last time but Mr. Choi is always otherwise occupied so I decided to come by myself and see about it." She was babbling and she knew it but she always did when she was nervous.

The man stared at her. "Do you have any experience?"

Sulli nodded quickly. "Yes. I used to work at the school's bakery for the last two years to help pay for my tuition. And…Iwasawaitressatacertainbar." She murmured blurrily at the last part.

"What did you say?" The man asked her again.

Sulli blushed, swallowed and repeated in a tiny voice. "I used to work as a waitress at a certain bar."

She knew that it wasn't the best of all references but that was also considered an experience. Mr. Jung, the owner of the bar had been extremely flexible with her shifts. Plus, the owner's daughter had been Sulli's best friend since the third grade so….

"I'm sad to say, Miss, but that kind of references won't earn you an interview in any well respected restaurant in the city." Said the guy in a mocking voice.

Now, Sulli could stand for a lot of things but being mocked by a complete stranger while asking for an honest job was too much. "Don't you think I know that? But I'm a damn good pastry chef! I have more than two years of experience and I'm perfectly capable of cooking any kind of pastry, bread or dammed tortilla that has ever been created!" Snapped Sulli out of anger.

"Geez! Lady, no need to yell." Said the guy.

"Look, I'm not going to waste my time any longer with you. Is Mr. Choi here?" Asked Sulli, somewhat impatiently.

"You're talking to him now." Answered the guy with a smirk and in a superior tone that making Sulli utterly blush.

"Er…well… I…" She began to sputter. So much for her job interview, right? She had been so unprofessional, cursing and yelling and, God, now even blushing.

"So you wanted to apply for the pastry chef job?" Asked Choi Minho, the very image of professionalism and composure, save for the evil gleam in his eyes, he was clearly enjoying her distress.

But truly it wasn't as if he was enjoying her distress. Well… maybe a little. The way she had stormed into his restaurant was certainly amusing. It had been a long while since he had found anything amusing. And the first thing before anything else, she had already been arguing with him.

With him!

Most of the staff at Sweetlove was terrified just by the idea of talking to him, much less argue. But this young woman didn't seem to mind it at all, well, at least until she had figured out that he was Choi Minho, the owner of the restaurant that had gotten only starred reviews since it opened two years ago.

He knew all that there was to know about the restaurant business and if fancy took him, he could see this little miss would never get another job in town. Simple as that. And Sulli knew it, Minho could see it in the way her eyes widened in shock, her pale skin blushed and she began to sputter.

Suddenly, the girl's nerve returned. Sulli steeled her spine, raised her chin and answered, "Yes, I'm here for the job." And to her credit, her voice waved only the tiniest bit.

Well, Minho had to give it to her, she was brave. So he figured, letting her try for the job wouldn't hurt, at least for a small period of trial.

Not that he didn't think for a second if she was qualified. Minho needed an experienced pastry chef, the girl in front of him had to be fresh out of school, even if she had that little experience, that didn't mean a damn thing in the real world. Plus, Minho assumed that she couldn't be a day over twenty yet. The girl in front of him was practically in dippers. But still, if he let her try, no one could say he wasn't fair.

"Did you fill a job application?" Asked Minho, eying her brown envelope briefly before watching her face to see her eyes began sparkling.

"Yes!" Sulli answered brightly and handed him her resume.

"Choi Sulli." Muttered Minho, reading her résumé as her name written with clear. She even went to Culinary Institute for two years and graduated in the top of her class in Chocolate confections, European Desserts and Bread. She also had high recommendations from her teachers. And wait…she was 23 years old.

Minho raised his gaze to see Sulli. She looked much younger than 23, yet, as he looked at her more closely, he could see lines of tension and strain in her face as if she hadn't slept a night through in months and her eyes had a hard, disenchanted expression. And Minho suddenly knew, she desperately needed the job. Badly.

And so, he decided to let her try.

"I think the headchef has arrived already, if he's not too busy I'll ask him if he can test you for the job." Said Minho as he closed her résumé.

"Thank you!"

"I'm not giving you the job. Just saying you may try. But I warn you, both Mr. Kim and I are impossible when it comes to food. Anything less than perfect and you'll be on the streets."

Sulli nodded and followed him through a door off the side of the bar.

"Key!" Called Minho to his best friend and the head chef.

"Minho." Answered Key, acknowledged his presence without lifting his eyes from the product's list of To-Buy.

"I got someone. Says she can cook every kind of pastry, bread or dammed tortilla that has ever been created." Said Minho, copied and pasted her word perfectly to his friend.

Key finally adverted his eyes from the produce list to look inquisitively at Minho who rarely ever cursed and then to a young woman who was blushing furiously, which lead him to believe that the last few words from Minho had been a rather accurate quote.

"Oh." It was all Key said though.

"Got time to test her?" Asked Minho.

"Sure thing." Said Key as he smiled and then he focused on Sulli. "Alright, so I want you to make…." Sulli inched forward slightly, eager to hear what her test would be a biscuit or any fancy type of cake? "Strawberry Cheesecake!"

Sulli was silent, waiting for Key to continue but then she realized that it was all he said. "That's all?" Asked Sulli in surprise, more so when Minho began to shake with laugher. She looked at him with a frown. "What are you laughing about?" She asked, not liking the meaning behind his laugh that seemed mocking at her.

"Ah, Miss Sulli, it's just that I know something that you don't. Though on all truth and fairness I shall tell you now. See Mr. Kim, our head chef here? Well, he happens to be a cheese expert and he happens to love Cheesecake above all else. Mess up one little bit and you'll feel his wrath."

Key was nodding and smiling rather wickedly and Sulli suddenly felt her knees go weak. But it wasn't as if she had any other options and well, once you reach the end of a rope you tie a knot and hold on.

"How much time do I have?" Asked Sulli.

"An hour and a half." Key replied as he briefly checking his watch.

"You might help yourself to the ingredients here." Added Minho over his shoulder, already retreating from the room. He had other things to do.

Minho always had things to do. And to top it all, he had to take Hannah to her therapy session at exactly six in the afternoon.

Minho sat at his desk and got ready to work. He had much to do and certainly no time to worry over what was going on in his kitchen, yet so, he kept thinking on how Sulli had looked when she crossed the front door of his restaurant. She was tall, young, though her clothes were neat and clean but they weren't exactly do any flattering. Her hair was put in a bun as she allowed her untidy fringe covered her forehead. Her entire appearance almost reminded him of his evil third grade teacher.

But then her temper had flared and her eyes had grown huge in her face. Sulli's eyes, Minho decided they were her best feature. They became large and round when she got upset and that when she smiled, that was the sweetest thing ever.

"Oh, snap out of it!" Minho hissed at himself. And afterwards he managed to concentrate in his work for a while.

- - - -

Sulli wasn't sure what to do. She knew several cheesecake recipes but how to know which one was the best to use? She just couldn't decide.

Sulli darted a look in Key's direction, he seemed engrossed with his ever growing product list, almost as if he had forgotten she was there but she wasn't fooled. She was being tested and she better aced this test.

Closing her eyes, Sulli took a deep breath and suddenly she knew just what cheesecake she wanted to make.

- - - -

Minho worked for a good long while, humming to himself a silly song he had heard that morning as he drove Hannah to his mother's house. It didn't escape to him that he usually worked in complete silence. But he suddenly felt on a damn good mood for some unexplainable reason.

And at the moment, his mother arrived the restaurant with Hannah.

"Hello, sweetheart." Said Minho gently as he pushed his chair back from his desk and reached to pick Hannah up and settle her on his knee. As usual, the five year old girl didn't speak at all but she reached into her pocked and took out a crumpled piece of paper and smothered it over Minho's desk. "You did it?" Asked Minho and with Hannah's nod he added, "It's lovely."

It was a good enough drawing, a childish representation of a park with a mary-go-round and some swings but even if it had been something incredibly wretched, he would have called it magnificent.

Hannah pointed at the drawing and Minho smiled. "Did your Grandma take you to the park?" The little girl nodded again. "Did you have fun?" This time she rewarded him with a big grin. And then she opened the top drawer of Minho's desk, took out a fresh piece of paper and some crayons and began drawing. Minho smiled gently, smoothed her hair back and kissed her temple.

Hannah was a big reason why he had opened Sweetlove, the restaurant g