"What happened last night?" asked Yongguk.

Wiping down the table, I then turn over to face him with an arched brow. "What do you mean by that?" I question, feeling somewhat confused.

He frowns a little, "I heard from a few people that you hit someone, or something?"

At the mention of the word 'hit', the image of that Himchan guy falling down onto his behind, appears in my mind. I let out a small laugh, as the amusing memory comes flowing back, and with a wave of my hand, I try to reassure the blonde male that everything is fine.

"Oh, that was nothing," I say with a casual shrug.

Moving towards the next table, I then begin to pile up on the finished dishes, with Yongguk's eyes still on me. I can tell that he isn't fully convinced, with how his eyebrows are slowly knitting together.

A small sigh comes out of me, as I stop my task once more to face him. "Honestly, it was nothing," I reassure.

"But why did you have to resort to violence?" he queries.

I couldn't help but let out a scoff, thinking of how Himchan had his sleezy arms around me. "The guy was asking for it," I mutter, with disgust.

Due to my soft reply, Yongguk didn't quite catch what I had just said. So with a tilt of his head, he leans a little closer, and requests for me to repeat my words, until a worker waves me over.

I give Yongguk a quick wave, "I'll talk to you later."

He frowns, but has no choice but to surrender anyway. "Alright, see you,” he reluctantly says. “Have fun with work."

A small smile forms on my face. "I'll try," I mumble, just thinking about some of the very unpleasant customers.

Chuckling, Yongguk soon leaves, as I approach my work colleague, to ask her what was wrong.

Subin nods towards a table on my right, and then tells me to go and take their orders, since her hands are currently filled. I give her the affirmative, and watch as she quickly scatters away, to deliver the freshly cooked meals. Making my way towards the said table, I swiftly take out my pen and notepad, to prepare myself. It was a couple, and I greeted them with a friendly smile, asking them what they would like to order for the evening, only to have my jaw drop at the end of my sentence, as I recognise a familiar blonde haired male, sitting before me.

His eyes also widen with recognition, as he lets out an overly dramatic gasp.

"It's you!" we both yell, in unison. "What are you doing here?!"

Rolling his eyes, Himchan lets out a scoff. "Yah, stop copying me!" he sneers.

Hearing that, I can't help but make a face, and then mimic what he had just said, but in an overly ditzy way, just to push his buttons. It works though, because he lets out a growl, and then begins to rise up from his seat.

"Listen here, missy," he snarls, while turning his eyes into vicious slits. "You still owe me an apology, and I expect it right now."

I'm well aware that he is much taller than me, and with the way his eyes are glaring down at me, I can tell that they were capable of burning me into a crisp. But maybe I'm just as equally stubborn, because the threatening act doesn't seem to be having an effect on me, whatsoever. Psh, who does he think he is, to demand something like that from me? He couldn't take no for an answer, and then proceeded to touch me inappropriately, so an apology is the last thing he deserves!

"Or else what?" I challenge, with a cross of my arms.

Himchan gnashes his teeth together at my response, as I continue to stand my ground. I can feel the eyes of the various people around the place, just staring at us, as we continue our electrifying glare battle. Suddenly, someone clears their throat, causing us both to break the tension-filled stare, and I suddenly remember that he had brought along some company. The girl awkwardly avoids both of our gazes, as she tucks a long strand of her maroon dyed hair, behind her ear, with a look of displeasure.

Himchan takes the hint, and then exhales rather loudly.

"Come on noona, let’s go to a better place, with better waitresses, for better service," he spat.

"Good," I encourage, "We don't want you here, anyway."

The two eventually leave, but even so, there are still a few people's eyes on me. I brush off the attention, and then head back to do my job, which eventually makes everyone go back to what they were doing.

When I head into the back to grab a new cloth, Subin instantly asks me about Himchan.

"What the heck happened out there?" she worriedly asks, with a fling of her hands. "You're so lucky the boss wasn't there to see that, or you would have been in big trouble!"

I shrug, "People are crazy these days."

And with that, I take the new cloth in my hand, and then head back outside, leaving a puzzled work mate behind me, in the kitchen.

———————————————

Pulling out the curtains, I smile to myself to see the sunlight enter into my apartment home.

It's a brand new day, and the weather seems to be perfect, for my needed grocery shopping. Humming a soft tune, I go to change out of my home clothes, just before heading outside. My gaze instantly lands on my bicycle nearby, and I'm more than happy to unlock it, and wheel it out with me. It's been a while since I've ridden my bike, so I can feel the excitement slowly build up within me. It’s a gift from my father, who I very rarely ever get to see.

Thanks to his stupid gambling addiction, he has been on the hunt from various loan sharks, which is why he chose to keep his distance from me, in fear of my safety.

Since I hardly ever get to see my father, I'm sure it was probably the main reason why he went and bought this for me. You know, to remind me that he still loves me and such. I'm still uncertain where he had managed to get the money to purchase this, and even though he won't admit it, I have a feeling that it was probably from the money that he had 'burrowed'.

No matter how many times I would scold him about it, he would apologise, and then somehow change the subject. I still remember the day when he had just randomly showed up here, and presented this bike to me. It kind of scared me, actually, with how he had casually sprung out from nowhere. He was probably worried that my dislike for him would further grow, for not being able to have a parent around, so it was most likely his way of up to me.

There actually was a time, when I was sick of this, and just wanted to go on with my life, without having to feel like I was being held back, by my father and his addiction.

I really wish my mother were still alive, because not only was she the kindest person in the entire world who I miss so very much, but then maybe, just maybe, she would have been able to help him overcome this problem. Even though my father had always liked to gamble, it was obvious that he had spiralled more into this trap, at the result of my mother's illness, which resorted to a death. In the beginning, he seemed so confident that he would win a huge amount of money at the casino for her treatment, but bit by bit, it just got worst, until it pretty much turned into his second home.

But no matter how tiring this whole thing is, my father is the only family I have left, since all of our other relatives had decided to cut all contact from us, in fear of the loan sharks hunting them down, for their money.

Suddenly, a loud honk snaps me out of my thoughts, and due to the startling sound, I end up swerving my bike in a really awkward angle. My hands tightly grip onto the breaks, as I hastily plant both of my feet down onto the ground, to stop myself from falling over. I then whip my head to the right, and with my heart hammering against my chest, my eyes begin to search for the idiot that had almost ran me over. The tinted window of the driver’s seat smoothly lowers, and a strangely familiar male, pops his head out of it.

And as soon as he removes his designer sunglasses, my jaw finds itself clenching together with an explosion of anger.

I don't hesitate to yell at him; "Yah, what the hell is wrong with you, watch where you're going!"

"You again?!" barks Himchan, with just as much disbelief. "Are you stalking me, or something? And more like you should watch where you're going!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Excuse me?" I shriek, "You almost ran me over!"

He lets out a scoff. "Well it's not my fault that you just appeared out of nowhere!" he retorts, while flinging his arms out into the air, to emphasis his anger.

Letting out an infuriating growl, I was about to snap back at him, but another angry voice beats me to it.

"Hey, what's the hold up, up there?!" yells a random male driver, parked behind Himchan's car. "Move it already!"

Hearing this, Himchan grits his teeth together, and wasn't afraid to turn around, to fire a death glare at the person. "Be quiet, old man!"

The man’s face blazes with rage. "Who are you calling an old man, you disrespectful punk!" snaps the elder.

As the two of them slowly enter a heated argument, I took the opportunity, to take my bike over to one of the bike rakes, and lock it in. When I finish, I look up to see that the two males were still yelling profanities at each other, and I shake my head. Thank goodness I managed to escape. Ignoring the two, I then casually make my way into the grocery store, trying to figure out what I could buy, until my next pay check would arrive.

Sheesh, people these days really are crazy.