October, Seoul Korea

Peak hour at Szechuan Palace - the last place in the world I wanted to be at this time. Well, the second last place. Being homeless would definitely worse and that’s what I would have been if I hadn’t grovelled for my old job back. Bouncing back into the groove at the restaurant had been relatively easy, well at least with Fei screaming in the back ground. Balancing three plates on a tray, I cursed as my hips bumped into the edge of the counter again.

“Amber, take table five’s order!” Fei went off again so after serving the dishes, I swerved towards the said table, with my best waitress smile, whipping out the notepad and pen in my apron’s pocket.

“What’s cooking, good looking?” The handsome man at the table directed his smile straight at me. “It’s been some time, Amber.”

It was nice to see a friendly face instead of a grumpy customer at the restaurant but I guffawed loudly at the cheesy greeting from Junsu. Who would have guessed that the elegant man could be so corny? Then again, this situation was much less tense than our last encounter.

“Junho, this is Amber.”

The man sitting next to Junsu was healthy and whole, a stark difference from the last I had seen him in hospital. Damn these gangsters were strong.

“I’ve met her. Hello again, Miss.”

I was amazed at Junho’s memory, I had only but met him briefly once and we had been introduced in a dark car.

“I never forget a face, especially one as cute as Amber’s,” The man seemed to have read my mind as he winked. Embarrassed, I looked down at my notepad, poised to take their orders.

“Hyungs, stop hitting on Amber.” With a slap on Junho’s head, Jin Woon announced his arrival.

Even though the musician had started his habit of picking me up from work again, I had no clue that he was meeting his friends at the restaurant that night. I still had to pinch myself when the tall boy appeared like a ray of sunshine, just a few months ago, I would have never thought I would have seen him again.

Junsu patted on the empty seat to his right, signalling for the newcomer to sit down, “And why can’t we, Jin Woonie?”

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” echoed Junho. “Why are you getting your in a bunch?”

“A cute girl is always fair play,” Junsu reasoned smoothly, “Unless Amber is your girlfriend?”

Jin Woon’s eyebrows furrowed, he was struggling inside internally, probably wondering whether to succumb to his friends’ teasing. Both of us had been spending plenty of time together - as much as his trainee schedule and school would allow - but we haven’t put a label on our relationship.

I couldn’t resist ribbing on the poor boy though, it was rare to have any form of entertainment at work. “Yeah, Jin Woon, it’s not like I’m anyone’s girlfriend or anything. Oppas, let me know when you are ready to order.” I quickly escaped before my laughter burst out.

The guys ended up staying until closing although I was kept on my feet the entire night due to the crowd and couldn’t get a breather to socialise. Fei would be pleased though, the three men ordered enough for 10 people to eat and Junsu kept the jug of beer full on the table - drinks especially alcohol had the highest profit margins for restaurants.

“Goodbye Amber, it was a pleasure to see you again,” winked Junsu when we were all standing outside Szechuan Palace when the shutters had come down.

Throwing an arm around Jin Woon’s shoulder, Junho leaned towards me, “Let me know when you are free. I’ll take you out somewhere else will be the waitress.”

My past experiences with the triple Js were more along the line of the Kkangpae variety and high strung. It was heartening to see how they were actually ordinary men who liked to hang out with their friends in a laidback environment.

“Don’t do that,” said Jin Woon as I enthusiastically waved goodbye to the other two.

“Do what?”

We had walked to the back alley where I spied the now-familiar scooter parked. Like every other entertainment company, Juke worked its trainees hard, Jin Woon was no exception. Yet he took the effort to pick me up after my shift even if he return to the studio and continue training. It had been easy for Kris to fly around the world to surprise me because of the resources that Mr Wu had. But knowing how hard it was for the musician to include me in his already cramped schedule was touching.

“Be so nice to those idiots,” grumbled Jin Woon as he passed me the helmet.

“Why? They are your friends, aren’t they?”

Another scrowl appeared on his face, “I don’t like it.”

Initially, I was puzzled but now Jin Woon’s little tantrum made sense - he was jealous.

“OK, OK, I won’t talk to Junsu and Junho oppa next time ok?” I squashed the temptation to continue teasing the poor boy - he rarely expressed his emotions verbally.

Instead of putting on his own helmet, Jin Woon sighed and took a sideward glance at me.

“In the past, it wasn’t in my place to be jealous. I know you just came out of a long relationship and it’s not fair to expect you to commit to another so soon. I’ve been trying to go with the flow and just enjoy each moment I have with you. I don’t know whether it’s too soon, you had been away for six months and just got back. But I really need to