Over the next few days Mr Park finally decided to hire me. I quickly phoned Grandpa to tell him and he congratulated me sounding at least as excited as I was. MinSeo and I had lunch together at my expense to celebrate.

“I’m really happy you’ve landed your first job in Korea! How do you feel?” she asked before slurping a bunch of the seasoned noodles on her plate.

“Excited. And relieved. Working in a coffee shop was never really on my mind, but I was starting to actually need a job, so…”

“I know it wasn’t, but it’s a good way to start in a country that isn’t yours.”

“Yes, and besides, I actually feel myself looking forward to come to work every day. I wake up and I seem to have a sense of purpose,” I said pensively looking down at the glass in front of me. “That hadn’t really happened since my mother’s accident and me moving here…”

“I’m sure your mother would be very proud of knowing you’re being able to move on and making a life of your own, even if it’s not exactly how you planned it to be from the beginning,” she said wiping her lips with the napkin.

I simply nodded in response.

“So,” she spoke in a much lighter tone. “Is there any other reason why you’re happy to be coming to work?”

“What do you mean…?” and I was honestly clueless.

“Well, you don’t really have to play fool with me. I was listening the other day behind the door when your favourite customer came.”

“And…?”

“Geez, Grace,” she rolled her eyes. “He was so obviously trying to flirt with you!”

“Being snarky and demanding equals flirting? Is that a cultural thing I’m unaware of?”

“It isn’t, you silly,” she laughed. “But he has never talked any more apart from the necessary words with any of us.”

“Well, he talked last Saturday with you, when it wasn’t my shift,” I retorted.

“Only to ask about you! You’re so slow sometimes, aren’t you?” I swear people in this country are so blunt it hurts. “Also, haven’t you noticed he lately comes into the store for whatever drink he’s having and then he sits to have it inside instead of leaving?”

“We have seats and tables for people to sit in and all that…”

“He has never ever done that.” I really didn’t think she could be able to roll her eyes any further.

“It’s such a strange coincidence that he starts changing his habits just after he tried to sass his way into a conversation with a waitress he’s never met before. But don’t believe me, just wait and see. I’m sure he will be around again this afternoon.”

“You’re just like a nosy old lady.”

But once again, MinSeo was right. Around five thirty he came in, greeted me in a much nicer way than usual and sat at the sofa that was further away from all the occupied seats. As per usual, I made his drink and placed it on top of the counter from where he would pick it up, but this time he didn’t.

MinSeo, who was very interested in proving her point, somehow was managing to do all her duties perfectly and still keep an eye on what was happening at the same time. Just as her head popped out of the kitchen door I ran to her and whispered:

“He isn’t taking the drink, what do I do?”

“Of course he isn’t taking it, he is facing the window and not the counter,” she whispered as well, with a tone of exasperation in her voice.

“What if I drop a glass to make him turn and notice…”

She gave me a dead look and then pushed me hard in that direction.

“Just go and hand him the freaking drink!”

I hurried in his direction holding the drink so I could stop MinSeo from getting any more impatient. She was feeling it so much and we hadn’t even made bets on it.

When I finally made my way up to his table he noticed me and sat up on the sofa, but it was me who didn’t notice the kid walking around aimlessly while looking down at his portable console, who got too close to me to fast, making me lose my balance. I tripped forwards and managed to grab a hold of the table, so I did not fall over, but spilled the juice I was carrying everywhere.

The mother made appearance and took her child’s console away from him. She looked like she wanted to give her kid a good spanking, but as everybody in the shop was staring at us, she bowed while apologizing profusely and then went away as fast as she could, grabbing a hold of his pouting son’s arm.

That’s when I turned around to face Sehun and saw that not only the juice had spilled all over the table, but also all over his trousers. My face turned red as red can be. I tried to clean the table with the cloth I was carrying in the pocket of my apron, but then I remembered about his trousers and started scrubbing them with the same cloth, only making a bigger mess than it already was, all of this while blabbering every apologetic word I knew in Korean.

“It’s okay, Grace, stop,” he managed to say between laughs as he held my wrists to make me do so.

“I am very sorry, sir. I will go look for the stain remover and…”

“Don’t. It’s just a bit of juice; it’ll go away in the washing machine.” He was actually the one trying to make me calm down after having a drink spilled all over himself. “And if it doesn’t, it’s okay. They’re just a pair of trousers. Not that important.”

“I want to make it up to you,” I kept on trying. “I will go and make you another drink at no charge.”

“That would be nice, but just call me when it’s ready rather than bringing it yourself,” he chuckled.

In that moment I could only think about the hell of a good time MinSeo was probably having at my expense while hiding in the kitchen.

“Again, I am really sorry, sir,” I repeated while bowing. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Yes, stop calling me sir. I’m not much older than you and you already know my name, don’t you?” I nodded silently. “And don’t make that juice. Come have dinner with me.”

“What?” That caught me off guard and my voice raised involuntarily.

“Come have dinner with me. Whenever you want, wherever you want,” he repeated. He didn’t seem to be joking. I was not able to answer a thing. “You want to make it up to me, don’t you? This is what I request. A ruined pair of trousers in exchange for a dinner. Seems fair to me.”

“Hmm, okay.”

“It’s set then. Now, go back to do your thing. We’ll exchange numbers later.”

Startled as I was, I made my way to the kitchen to change my stained apron for a clean one, and as I was expecting, just as I came in, MinSeo started laughing.

“If I had known you were going to be so clumsy I would have handed that myself,” she uttered, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

“I have a date.”

“What!?” It’s surprising how completely different people sometimes react the same way.

“He asked me out to dinner. He wants me to go out with him to make it up for that.”

I just grabbed the apron and went back from the kitchen leaving a for once speechless MinSeo on her own. When I looked around the shop, Sehun was nowhere to be seen, but in the top of the counter I found a piece of paper with his name and his number, a bill and the empty juice glass I hadn’t brought back from the dirty table on top.

******

“Do you really think all of this is necessary? It’s not really like I’m auditioning or such…” I hissed when MinSeo pulled a lock of my hair as she was taking out a roller. After getting over the initial shock, she had quickly assumed the role of making me look presentable. And there she was, three hours before the date, trying to make my pin straight hair fall into loose waves instead the simple ponytail I usually wore every day.

“Of course it is. You’re really pretty, but have a tendency to dress down,” she replied with her brows furrowed in concentration. “Here people like to put a little more effort into their appearances.”

“I do so too when I need to. I just think it’s too much for every day and prefer to be comfortable over fashionable to go to work,” I reasoned.

“And that’s okay, but this is a special occasion and you should try making the most of yourself. I’m sure he will be waiting for it.”

“I don’t think he will be waiting for anything, considering how our encounters have gone until now.”

“That’s just why you have to make a good impression today,” she said, rolling her eyes. “So you make it up for him. Wasn’t it the reason she invited you?”

I simply went silent and looked around the room. When I had told MinSeo that I planned to wear my normal jeans and a blouse to the date, she had invaded my home to take a look at my closet. Then, she came to the conclusion I did need a shopping trip soon, but as time was tight, she would lend me something to dress. Luckily, we were similar sizes. And that’s what I could see in my room. My bed was covered in multiple pieces of clothing I still had to try on and model for MinSeo to decide what I would be wearing and right beside the night stand, there was a pile with all the discarded items I wouldn’t fit or look good in. Luckily, she had agreed to let me do my own makeup.

“So, do you have any advice at all for me?” I asked.

“Yeah, start looking for shoes online, because you don’t own any high heels and your feet are too big so they probably won’t have your size in the stores here…”

“I was asking about the date, MinSeo.”

“Oh!” she laughed. “Yeah, have you dated before?”

“I hung out with a couple of guys back home, but I’m never really been the outgoing type…”

“Okay, so if it is anything like what’s in the movies, you are going feel a bit awkward.”

“A first date always feel awkward,” I interrupted.

“More so if you don’t know how to behave. We don’t really know where he plans to take you, but in any case, don’t expect him to let you pay or split the bill.”

“Isn’t that a thing here?” That seemed strange to me, as back home people usually paid half and half, or one paid the movie ticket and the other paid for dinner because well, equality and stuff. There were also stories of guys who wouldn’t want to pay for their lives, so that was a novelty.

“Now things are changing and men aren’t supposed to be the only ones to maintain the family and such, but the habit of having the man pay on the first date is still on. And they actually like it; I guess it makes them feel like they’re taking care of us.”

“That’s kinda cute.”

“It is.” She took out another roller from my hair. “But I guess that if you insist, he wouldn’t mind having you pay for something…”

“You know, I don’t think paying for dinner is going to make a hole in his account.”

“It probably won’t,” she laughed. “I don’t know. To be safe, try to keep the conversation in the same lines he does. Don’t get too personal if he doesn’t but make him see you’re interested in whatever he’s telling you.”

“What did you talk about with Lee when you first met?”

“It was easier for us, because a common friend introduced us to each other, so we already had that to talk about. Then we talked about our jobs, about our families, etc.” She looked thoughtful. “Just keep it casual. Ask him about his job, but let him explain. He’s a public person and he knows you probably already know some things about him, but bringing it up yourself would be…”

“Creepy. Yeah, I get that. Anyway, I haven’t really looked for much information. I’ve just seen the music videos.”

“Then he will have stuff to talk about.” She smiled with a cheeky grin. “And you know, girls in Korea are mostly expected to not having had before marriage, but you’re not really Korean, so…”

“Oh my god, MinSeo. I don’t even know if I like him!” I yelled, looking at her with wide eyes as she laughed silently.

“Okay, okay. I’m just telling in case your first date goes really really well,” she was still chuckling. “On the other hand, know that PDA is fine, but full on making out in public is not as much appreciated.”

“MinSeo!”

“I’m older than you, so I can make as many dirty jokes as I like,” she replied grinning and taking the last roller out of my hair. “But really, don’t worry about that, it’ll come if it has to. Now, go on trying on clothes, we still don’t know what you’re going to wear. Plus, you’re being so whiny about all this; are you sure you want to be a model?”

I rolled my eyes as I disappeared through the bathroom door with a dress in my hands. She was kind of right, but I find myself able to separate what I like doing while working and what I like in my real life. When I’ve got to do modelling work, I’ve enjoyed the fact of trying on stuff and having my face erased and painted back on, because I like pretending to be someone I’m not. But in that occasion, I was still meant to be me, wasn’t I?

After what seemed an eternity of me trying not to get stuck in MinSeo’s clothes, we finally found it. It was a blue knee-length dress, which was tighter at the waist, but loose around the chest and hips, so it was perfectly fitting. The medium shade of blue paired well with my reddish hair. I also wore dark tights and my own pair of flats. I did my makeup so it looked put together and flattering, but not too over the top, which earned a nod of approval from MinSeo before she told me to change my lip colour.

“See, I told you we would find something good. Elegant and dressed up but still casual,” she told me handing me my coat as I looked in the mirror. “He’s going to like it.”