“Huh? What?” I stared into Yesung’s wide eyes. He was pointing at my forehead, and when I touched it I felt something drip between my fingers. It was definitely blood.

“G-Get a tissue or something,” he said, panic rising in his voice. He started looking around the table, picking up the sauce bottles and clumsily dropping it on his foot, painting the floor red with ketchup.

I was blinking rapidly while staring at my hand. My mouth opened as I gasped and inhaled short breaths. “Oh no,” I blurt out. I honestly felt my mind swirling as I froze in panic. “O-Oh gosh—”

“Erika?” Yesung called to me as he looked up. I couldn’t respond and he panicked even more. “H-Hey, relax, okay?” he told me and patted my shoulders. He it in and thought. “Do we need to get you to the hospital?”

I was about to protest, when something pressed against my forehead.

Yesung looked to my right.

“Sehun-ah,” he exclaimed.

I wanted to stand and turn around, but was pushed back down.

“Keeping pressure on it stops the bad from coming out, keeps the blood in.” Sehun turned to Yesung. “Holding it for a while should do the trick. Later on just wash it off and dab some antiseptic.”

I flinched as he set more pressure on the wound.

“Ow,” I said.

He looked at me guiltily. “Sorry. But it’s the only way.”

Yesung continued to watch, until Sehun lifted the tissue. I curiously leaned over to peek and felt the ice cream I ate travel up my throat and I turned away immediately.

“Huh,” said Yesung, nodding in relief. “You came just in time.”

I raised one eyebrow, and it hurt whenever I did any activity with my forehead, such as frowning. “What are you doing here?” I looked at Sehun and asked. I realized it sounded like a stupid question. But I was curious.

“I came to see Yesung hyung,” he told me nonchalantly. He then turned around and bowed at Yesung. “Sorry I’m late, by the way. Got a little sidetracked.”

As they talked, I put my arms on the table and rested my chin. “This is just not my day…” I told myself and whimpered silently. A minute later I chugged down the water from the bottle and stood up from the table. “I’m going to start working now,” I said, not bothering if anybody even heard me.

Sehun whirled around. “Oh, Erika,” he exclaimed. “You’re working at Yesung hyung’s café?”

I froze for a moment, but then replied weakly, “Yeah.”

Yesung suddenly slapped the back of Sehun’s head. “What did I tell you about formalities?” He raised a brow at the young boy.

Sehun laughed as he rubbed his head. “Uh, sorry, hyung.” He looked at me with a curious look. “But, um… I don’t know what to call her—”

“Noona, Sehun, noona,” Yesung spat, knocking on the boy’s head repeatedly.

Sehun winced and laughed. “Arasso, arasso,” he said, holding his hands up.

“Aishh,” I heard Yesung sigh, and he crossed his arms. “You should know how to be a little respectful.”

“Sorry,” he pouted childishly.

I started walking towards the back of the café, until Yesung stopped me. “Wait, you’re not going to work with only one shoe, are you?” he asked me.

I paused to think for a moment, and then I nodded. “Ah, right.” I took the last shoe off of my foot and tossed it to the side. “It’d be weird if I go around wearing only one shoe, wouldn’t it?” I said and walked past him to grab my apron.

He scratched his head, wondering to himself. “That’s just as weird as walking barefoot…”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I picked up the last tray and cleaned the rest of the used tables until my hands and feet ached from all the wiping, sweeping, and not to mention walking all over without shoes. No one bothered to glance below, and I was thankful for that—except there was one couple that was staring at me (or my feet) oddly.

While wiping one of the tables, I almost fell asleep. My eyes were getting heavier and heavier by the minute, and I swore I had dozed off for a couple of seconds, until Yesung crept up behind me, yelling, “BOO!” and I jerked back and shot my head up. I bet it was amusing for him, ‘cause he was laughing maniacally nonstop. Sehun was still there, sipping his drink at his table, watching us. I could see he was trying hard to hide his smile when I slapped Yesung on the head with the damp cloth.

I stomped past the turtle and brought my hand up to check the time, when I realized I’d lost my watch to the drain, and I groaned loudly in frustration. That watch was my favorite Emporio Armani, bought with my birthday money from three years ago. And it had been merged with vomit. My day wasn’t going well, and I saw no light at the end of it.

“What’s wrong there, shorty?” Yesung asked me as he made his way over.

“Nothing,” I muttered.

I looked at up the wall instead and saw that it was almost six. In three seconds my shift would be over.

“I’m heading back,” I said with a weak tone. I didn’t know why I was announcing my leave anyway. Like it would even matter to anyone there.

“Okay, walking barefoot in a café, not a good idea,” Yesung said to me as I took off my apron. “Walking back to the girls’ dorm,” he said, emphasizing his words, “will get people thinking you’re a nut job.”

“Yeah, been there already,” I said while casting a sarcastic smile. “You’re a little too late, buddy.”

He sighed, and the look on his face seemed grave and restless. I guess he wasn’t joking with me.

“Look, it can be, uh, good for the environment,” I said. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“What does not wearing shoes have to do with the environment?” he raised his brow and asked.

“Saving trees?” I guessed. “Water?” That wasn’t right. I waved the thought away. “Ehh, there’s got to be some use to it,” I said as I made my way over to the door.

Yesung put his hand on the knob, forbidding me to leave. He closed his eyes and bit his lip, seeming like he was fighting with himself.

“I’ll… send you back,” he said.

“Boh?” I spat. I didn’t know how else to respond to his sudden offer. But I could’ve at least thought of some other way than staring at him wide-eyed. “What are you going to do to me?” I said in horror, my voice slightly rising.

It was a mistake for me to just blurt out in public like that.

Yesung put his hands in front of him and waved them frantically, his eyes bulging out at the wrong idea. “N-No, no, no! I meant…” He slapped his forehead and ran his hand down his face, massaging it gently. “I meant I’ll give you a lift,” he said.

I blinked. “You would?”

“If anything happens to you along the way, Kyuhyun’s going to bug me because you’re walking out from my place,” he said.

I wiggled my nose at the thought. “Fine then,” I said. “But I’m not paying any fees.”

“I didn’t ask for you to pay up the fuel, shorty,” he said, tapping my head slightly.

“And stop calling me ‘shorty,’ would ya?” I groaned and slapped his hand away from me. “But stop the car a little further from the apartment, okay? I don't want anyone seeing me with you.”

"Am I that bad to be seen with?"

I rolled my eyes. “Just to be safe. Jessica still doesn’t know.”

He nodded. “Yes, yes, now come on.” He opened the entrance door and waved for me to go out first. He turned to the back of the café. “Sehun-ah, I’ll be back soon,” he said. “Just going to send this kid back.”

“You don’t have to if it troubles you,” I said while gritting my teeth.

“I want to,” he insisted, grinding his teeth as well at me.

I sneered and looked elsewhere, then caught Sehun eyes on me. I smiled at him. “Sorry, this idiot’s just going to send me back for a few minutes,” I told him while apologizing.

He shook his head. “Not a problem,” he assured.

“It’s nice to meet you, by the way,” I said. “Hope to see you soon.” I waved right before I left, and I caught a glimpse of him smiling right before Yesung pushed me out the door.

It was a quiet drive back. Or more like awkward. I fiddled with the hem of my shirt as Yesung drove past the street lights. He was the first to break the silence.

“So…” he began as he steered to the left. “Your sister still doesn’t know?”

I looked up, a bit dazed after being deep in thought. “Oh, um, yeah,” I murmured and looked back down at the hem of my shirt as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

He steered back to the right. “What about Krystal?”

“She knows practically nothing.”

It turned silent again.

“So what exactly happened?” he asked. I didn’t get annoyed with his question. Anyone around me would be confused over the current plot I was living.

“I trust that you don’t want to know, or even have the time to listen.” I closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat, trying to block out the topic that was slowly developing, and I didn’t want that.

He shifted in his seat and paid more attention to the road. I guess he got my hint.

Just ahead was the girls’ apartment, and Yesung quickly stopped at the side.

I clicked open my seatbelt and pushed the door open. “Um, thanks,” I said, my voice almost too soft, and I worried whether he even heard me.

I closed the door shut and walked down the sidewalk, and when I looked back he’d driven off.

I reached inside the apartment, rose up the elevator, and found myself already in front of the girls’ dorm. I rang the bell once, and didn’t have to wait at all till Taeyeon opened the door.

“Erika,” she smiled.

I smiled back at her as she brought me inside. I didn’t like the feeling that was going on inside me. The problem is, I was still just a person that was staying there for the time being, and I hated it. I promised to myself, once I get my first salary from working at the café, I’d move out as soon as possible. The cut would be just enough to rent a room somewhere in town.

When I entered the living room I saw Sunny lounging on the couch, Seohyun watching the television beside her, and Yoona just walking in from the kitchen.

“Erika,” she beamed and skipped over to my side like an angel. “You’re back,” she said. “Where’ve you been?”

My mouth opened to answer. “Out,” I said. “Just out. Shopping. Looking around.” I kept on blurting