But while Thunder and Suzy were at T.O.P. Mall, Jieun was tiredly working.

From 4:15-6:15pm, Jieun was at a book shop. From 6:30-7:30pm, she was at a restaurant. From 7:45-8:45pm, Jieun worked at an ice cream store. And from 9:00-10:00pm, she was at a café.

As soon as classes were finished at 4:00 pm, she rode on her broken bike to the local bookstore.

"Annyeong haseyo!" she called to the ahjummas who ran the place.

"Oh, Jieun is here!" Mrs. Song exclaimed. She rushed over to hug Jieun. The other ahjummas did the same when they saw her arrive.

Jieun was the only young person who worked at the bookstore. But she couldn't really understand why, because the pay was fairly high and the employes were treated well.

All of the ahjummas doted on her and treated her like she was their daughter. They would help her in times of trouble, they'd cheer her up on bad days.

She really did appreciate it, because after all, her own parents were too busy to see her or talk to her much. The ahjummas and ahjusshis she worked for in all of her jobs were like, extra family.

As soon as they stopped fawning over her, Jieun went to change into the bookstore uniform. She helped the many customers with a smile as bright as sunshine.

Jieun didn't notice the ahjummas secretly glancing at her every now and then.

"Her personality is very optimistic," Mrs. Lee said quietly.

"I agree. She's probably so tired all the time, but Jieun always smiles cheerfully," another ahjumma replied.

"I can't see how she does it. Her family is so extremely poor, yet Jieun doesn't sulk around."

"Yes, that's our Jieun."

Pretty soon, two hours passed and Jieun changed back into her normal street clothes.

"Good-bye!" She waved to the ahjummas and bowed before leaving.

It was now 6:15 pm, but it wasn't extremely dark. Jieun briskly headed to the fancy restaurant she worked at. She left the bike in the back of the bookstore because she didn't want to let the restaurant workers see the thing. It took Jieun around ten minutes to walk there.

This restaurant only hired people with waiter or waitress experience, or cooking experience. Luckily Jieun had both of those. She had been working as a waitress and chef at many different restaurants starting from her first year at high school.

She quickly changed into her waitress attire and smiled brightly again.

Only around four more hours of work left. Jieun, you can do this! Fighting!

She stepped out of the dressing room and immediately took her role as waitress. Jieun had pretty good memory, so she didn't need a notebook to jot down the foods customers ordered.

This restaurant allowed the customers to request their waiter or waitress, and their chef. Jieun wore her chef cap along with her uniform to show that she could do both.

"Hello and welcome to G.P.K.F! Also known as Great and Perfect Korean Food," Jieun greeted a middle-aged man and his wife. "Are there two people in your party?"

The man and his wife gaped at her. This girl, she really looks like Madam and Master Shin, they thought.

The lady quickly regained her senses.

"Ah yes, we have two. We would like a table near the window, please."

"Yes, of course. Please follow me this way," Jieun replied and smiled, causing them to stare at her again.

Her smile... really reminds me of Madam Shin's smile, the man thought.

"Excuse me, but is anything wrong?" Jieun confusedly asked them. They're acting a bit weird...

"Hm? Ah, no," the man quickly replied.

"All right then, here is your table." She pulled out the seats for the couple. Once they were seated, Jieun handed them the menu.

"Please take your time. You may call me when you're finished with picking your dishes."

Jieun smiled again and bowed before heading back to the front where she greeted more customers.

"Doesn't our waitress look a lot like Madam Shin when she was alive?" The lady quietly asked her husband.

"That's exactly what I was thinking! Remember, Madam Shin and Master Shin did have a daughter who got kidnapped," he replied.

"Do you think this could be her?"

"It is possible. But there's only a tiny probability. If we tell Wang and raise his hopes, he might get disappointed if she's not the one he's really looking for."

"Let's just tell him after we find her name, address, and a little more about her," she suggested.

"Fine, sure. I guess," he consented.

They called Jieun over to order their dishes.

"Your order consists of Kimchi (fermented cabbage), Bibimbap (mixed rice), Bulgogi (like beef BBQ), Japchae (like stir fry noodles), Tojangguk (soup with seafood), Sikhye (a sweet rice drink), and white rice. Correct?" Jieun asked.

"Yes, that is right," the man replied.

Our waitress didn't even write our order down. She seems to have a pretty good memory, too. Just like how Master Shin did, he thought.

"Who would you two like to be your chef?" Jieun asked politely.

"Anyone is fine. Oh, are you one of them?" the lady asked.

"Yes."

"Okay, then. Could you?"

"Sure."

"Thank you, Miss Jieun," they thanked, reading her name tag that said 'Lee Jieun'.

I'll keep this name in mind, they simultaneously thought.

Jieun bowed and headed to the kitchen to wash her hands. She rolled up her sleeves and started preparing the dishes.

She was fast and talented at things related to cooking. Jieun loved to cook and eat. Luckily for her, it never showed. She never really gained weight since her metabolism was extremely high.

Jieun had perfect taste and smell. Sort of like the perfect pitch in music, but for cooking and eating. Just by sampling or taking a long whiff of a dish, Jieun could instantly tell what ingredients were used in the making of it.

The food she made was normally perfect and delicious. None of the other chefs could compare their talents to hers.

After around ten minutes, Jieun appeared from the kitchen and brought the steaming dishes.

"Wow, that was fast," commented the lady.

"It looks delicious, Miss Jieun," her husband complimented.

"Thank you very much. Please enjoy." Jieun smiled and bowed before heading off to attend to the waiting customers.

The couple ate slowly and carefully watched Jieun. They discussed how to find information about her.

After a hour, the couple finished their leisurely eating and Jieun's shift was mostly over.

The couple paid for the food and each gave Jieun a generous tip of 30,000 won (or about 30 U.S. dollars, or about 22 euros, etc).

Jieun thanked them for coming and for the tip. She cleared their table. The couple continued to sit there as Jieun left the restaurant.

When they were sure that Jieun was out of sight, the couple talked to the manager about her.

"May we see our waitress's resume? Lee Jieun," requested the lady.

"Did something happen? Did Jieun do something wrong?" Mr. Cho worriedly asked.

"Ah, no. Not at all. We just like to know some background of all the waiters or waitresses that serve our food. Is that okay?" she asked.

"Uh actually," the manager hesitated. "We aren't really allowed to give out information like that. Sorry, ma'am."

"Hmm. Maybe that is the case. But I'm sure you know of Wang, our king of South Korea, correct?"

"Well, yes. Everyone does," he replied. 

"And I'm sure you must have at least heard of his friends and allies. And especially, those closely tied with him," she continued. 

"Well, yes."

She took out her wallet and flashed her I.D. card, causing Mr. Cho to flinch a tiny bit.

"Now may I see Miss Jieun's resume?" she asked again in a slightly colder tone that radiated with authority. 

"Uh, sure then. I'll just go make a copy of it. Please wait a moment, Madam."

He returned a minute later with a copy and handed it to the couple. "Jieun is one of our most talented and hardworking employees. If you have any questions for, just call the restaurant. You'll want extension 94."

"Thank you," her husband said. The couple left through the doors and into a waiting limo.

"Please take us back home," they requested.

Their driver nodded and did so.  

----- 

Meanwhile, Jieun was already at her third job, an ice cream shop. She had greeted the previous worker who left after his shift. Jieun changed into the store's uniform and put her bag in her locker.

Jieun liked this job because normally, there weren't too many customers during her shift, 7:45-8:45pm. She was the only worker during her shift.

Jieun took out her textbooks, notes, and homework. She sat at the counter studying and waiting for customers.

And when they showed up, Jieun always had a positive attitude that seemed to be contagious to her customers. Everyone who came seemed to leave the shop either smiling or laughing.

After finishing serving the customers and after her shift ended, Jieun left for her final job at the café.

At the café, she worked for an hour, from 9:00pm all the way until late night at 10:00pm. Like her previous job, customers left in high sprits and good moods.

After finishing serving the customers, Jieun cleaned up the place. She knew that it wasn't required that she do that, but the manager paid her extra when she did.

Jieun wiped the tables and seats with a damp towel. She dusted the counter and organized the cashier box. Jieun recorded the profits gained by the café and how many customers she served during her shift.

Finally, Jieun locked up the shop and walked to the closed bookstore where her bike was.

Jieun had been doing this almost everyday for three years already. Luckily, she hadn't ever gotten kidnapped or injured too badly.

Jieun rode her bike for a while. She had to stop multiple times to fix the tires or seat. But finally, after a long half-an-hour, Jieun arrived at her home.

She left the bike outside and didn't bother locking it up. Jieun knew that no one in their right mind would steal the hideous thing.

But then, there were a lot of people who lived in her neighborhood, that weren't in their right minds. They were insane, homeless, and according to her parents, took advantage of young people.

Jieun shuddered and trembled a bit at that thought.

She quickly took her keys out and headed to the front door. Jieun bumped into some cardboard boxes and some large metal thing.

Where did these come from? I'm pretty sure they weren't here this morning. And appa and omma never really order things, Jieun thought.

She shrugged, and dragged the boxes and metal thing into the dinky house.

"Omma? Appa?" she called, but there was no answer.

They're probably still working at that music company, she thought.

Jieun flipped on the single light and saw that the metal thing, was actually a new blue bike.

Who does this belong to? she wondered.

The boxes were all addressed to her from somewhere in the United States. She opened them and found clothes, shoes, bags, and many school supplies.

IU picked up a note with typed words on it.

To: My Lee Jieun
From: Your Secret Admirer
The things in the boxes and the bike is yours! Have a good day! <3 Muah!

IU frowned.

This act was way too familiar to her.

This had happened before. Quite a few times before, actually.

It was most definitely not a secret admirer. Not at all.

In fact, she even knew the name of the person.

It was...

"BAE SUZY!! I TOLD YOU NOT TO HELP ME!!"