FOUR.

Hyoyeon counts the bills in her hand, disbelieving. One, two, three four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven fifty dollar bills! She stares up at her boss, feeling the tears about to spring. He holds up his hand, indicating that he wants no waterworks, for Suzy is already sobbing, clutching the bills so hard Hyoyeon fears she will tear it.

“I just want to thank you all, for making this place better than it has been in years. You guys deserve this,” he says, and then pats them awkwardly, before going out.

The place erupts as sixteen employees cheer, chefs, waitresses, and waiters alike. Suzy is blubbering into Hyoyeon’s shirt, and Victoria comes to wrap her arms around the both of them. Hyoyeon feels a huge bubble of happiness rising in her, and she allows her tears to flow as well; she can finally pay rent, buy more food, and maybe even buy new clothes!

“Okay, okay, no more crying,” a red-eyed Victoria says, and as usual she takes charge, telling everyone to go home and get a good rest, since the boss has decided to give them all an off day.

“I’m going to give this to my mum, right now,” Suzy says.

“Go on then, Su!” Victoria says. “Good for you!”

Suzy beams, and then rushes off, the door swinging violently close behind her.

“Buy yourself something nice, Hyo,” Victoria says, as they walk out together and Victoria locks up.

“You, too Vic,” Hyo says, elated.

“I sure will!” Victoria says, back-pedalling, and gives her usual two finger salute.

Hyoyeon waves, and as Victoria disappears from sight she stares at the bills in her hand, feeling overwhelmed, still. All of a sudden, she has so much money, and she doesn’t know what to spend it on first. She makes her way to a supermarket, and takes her time in picking apples, grapes, cabbages, tomatoes, potatoes, anything she can get her hands on. She picks up a peach and sniffs it, inhaling the lovely smell of it.

“You like peaches, eh, Miss Kim?”

Hyoyeon turns, and smiles upon seeing Hyukjae.

“I do, as a matter of fact. Fancy seeing you here!” she says.

“Mineral water,” he says, holding up the bottle.

“Ah,” Hyoyeon says.

“And you?”

“I got my paycheck today,” Hyoyeon beams.

“Good for you, Miss Kim!”

“Would you care for some fried rice, then?”

“Fried rice?”

“Yeah, I could whip up some for you!”

“The garage doesn’t exactly have cooking essentials, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“At my place, silly!”

“Being very generous today, aren’t we?”

“Like I said, I got my paycheck!” Hyoyeon screams, completely off the hook, and Hyukjae laughs, calming her.

“Okay, okay, your place it is!”

. . .

Hyukjae sniffs the air hungrily as Hyoyeon sets down a plate of freshly cooked fried rice in front of him. He dives into the platter, gobbling it up. In five minutes, he is done with the entire platter, and Hyoyeon laughs, rising to get him another plate.

“Ghishishyealyood,” he mumbles between mouthfuls, and Hyoyeon laughs again, putting a spoonful of her own creation into her own mouth.

Hyukjae eats about five plates before he is satisfied, and Hyoyeon is honestly flattered by the endless stream of compliments he has for her cooking. She had learnt from her mother, who had learnt from her grandmother, and so on and so forth. She has always prided herself on being a good cook, and it was her secret wish that one day she might open her own eatery.

“You should be a cook, not a waitress,” Hyukjae says.

“I wish.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, don’t tell anybody, but I’ve always wanted to be a cook since I was a little girl.”

Hyukjae smiles, a sly smile that has Hyoyeon frowning.

“What?”

“This is about the first time you’ve told me something personal about yourself.”

“It is?!”

“Yup.”

“Wow.”

“Yup.”

“Alright, you get three questions.”

“Man, I wish you would get your pay check every day!”

“Yeah, well, so do I.”

Hyukjae grins. “Okay, three questions. Number one, why do you live alone?”

“Of all questions?”

“Yup.”

“Well, I was actually adopted, and my foster mum died three years ago. I moved here to stay with a relative, but we didn’t like each other much, so I decided to move out.”

“You were adopted?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I’m actually ashamed of myself right now.”

“Why?”

“I don’t see you blubbering like a fool like I did back then.”

“But it’s different, I guess. Your mum left you without reason, but when my mum left me I knew she loved me. As for my real parents, I have no real interest in them. I don’t have any memories of them so I’m not exactly crying over them, but you had memories with your mum. It takes memories to make a relationship precious, you know.”

“And where did you learn to be so wise?”

“Oh, I was born with it.”

“Well, Miss Kim!”

Hyoyeon laughs, a tinkling laugh. “Kidding, kidding. Move along!”

“Okay. Question two, why did you jump back the way you did when all I did was place my hand on your shoulders?”

“Oh, right,” Hyoyeon says, obviously edgy now.

“Miss Kim?”

Hyoyeon sighs. “Are you ready for my grim tale?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Okay,” she says, taking a deep breath, for she has to remember the past, something which she does not like, but she owes him an explanation. “I used to work in a bar, as a server, but I was like, a dirty server, if you know what I mean. We had to flirt with the customers, but I drew the line at that, trust me. It was the reason my hair is dyed blonde, apparently blondes are more attractive than brunettes, or so said my then boss. I was never happy there, and sometimes when I got home I would just cry and cry because I felt as good as a e.”

Hyoyeon has to keep back her tears, and this time it is Hyukjae who reaches out and takes her hand, twining his fingers with hers.

“So one day, there was this guy, he wouldn’t leave me alone, kept insisting for me to stay. I told him I wasn’t going to stay, lashed out at him right on the spot, but I didn’t realise he was drunk. He dragged me to the wall and banged me against that hard concrete, and ripped my dress apart and wanted to take me like some wild animal. But people restrained him, but do you have any idea how humiliating it was to be just ripped apart like that in public? I quit that night, and grew wary of everybody around me, then. But things got better, of course, when I met Suzy and Victoria. In a way, they managed to heal me,” Hyoyeon finishes, swallowing back tears.

She looks into Hyukjae’s eyes. “Do you despise me now?”

Hyukjae looks at Hyoyeon, speechless, shocked that she could think such a thing. And then he does something that surprises Hyoyeon, and surprises even himself. He goes over to her, puts his arms around her, and hugs her real tight, real, real, tight.

“I don’t despise you, Miss Kim,” he whispers. “Not at all.”

The tears fall then, and Hyoyeon cries silently, dampening his shirt, but finally she feels like she can trust again.

“Last question,” Hyukjae says. “Think you know me now?”

Hyoyeon has to laugh between her sobs, and she buries her head further into his chest.

“Yeah, I think so,” she says, her voice muffled, and Hyukjae laughs.

. . .

Hyukjae is watching Hyoyeon sleep, after letting her cry her heart out. Her chest rises steadily in tune with her breathing, and her lashes curl delicately around her closed lids. For the first time since he has met her, he realises with a startle that she is actually beautiful, actually this beautiful. An urge to touch her seizes him, and he reaches out a finger tentatively, not quite sure if he is doing the right thing. His finger rests lightly on her cheek, and he smiles. Tucking behind a lock of hair behind her ear, he feels dizzy, and a weird explosion of emotions erupt inside him. He lets out a breath, startled by these new emotions. He gazes once more at Hyoyeon, and then tears his gaze away, feeling like he really will explode if he looks at her a second longer.

Rising from the chair, he goes out, switching off the lights.

“Goodnight, Miss Kim,” he says softly. He has a job to look for.

 . . .

^{You made me laugh, sugarsong! It made you teary-eyed? /wipes tears away AWWWWWWH NISA, you're far too nice! /drags you out from corner Hello, LonelyStar25, thank you so much, I'm glad you're enjoying!! Hi Violynn, you weren't? Well then, I'm glad I was able to prove you wrong ^^ I think, sometimes, people aren't all that complex inside, that maybe sometimes, even with complicated past, they take things in their stride; maybe they're even simpler than us! I don't think I'm making sense now, mooeysmiley, heh! Hi, hyohyukbias! I'm really glad you are XD Good day to you, her-reality! I'm really glad I'm able to have you as a reader, your comment really pinpointed what I was trying to put across, so thank you very much! I love you already XD Awwwh haruma2911, at least you've found this now! I will, thank you very much! ^^}