Sunmi POV

That stupid jerk. How dare he underestimate me? He thinks he’s better than me?

Psh. I learned from my aunt, who worked in a French restaurant for 12 years. The food of the rich is a familiar concept to me.

Jongdae scowls and reluctantly struts out of the room. When he’s gone, I place the dishes on a cart and roll them into the elevator, and then take them upstairs to the dining room. SPAZ, a middle-aged lady who is presumably his wife, and Jongdae are sitting at the long, rectangular table in the center of the room. Candles burn at the center of the table, and crystal silverware sit in front of each of the three people.

Fancy.

I take a deep breath and roll the cart inside. Placing the dishes on the table, I explain one by one what they are.

"The first one is Salmon a Scallops a la Nage. It’s a salmon dish with vegetables for garnish. The second one,” I continue, pointing to a circular yellow tart, “is Quiche Lorraine. It’s basically an egg, heavy cream, and bacon filled pie.”

SPAZ and his wife look considerably impressed.

Jongdae looks shocked. Ha.

"These last two dishes are Coq au Vin, which is braised chicken in wine and garnished with pearl onions and mushrooms, and for dessert, classic chocolate mousse.” I bow deeply. “Please tell me what you think of them.”

“Spectacular!” SPAZ beams. “This looks great!” He grabs a serving spoon and immediately begins helping himself. His wife spoons on food to her plate as well.

Jongdae, on the other hand, tips back in his chair and eyes the food suspiciously.

“Jongdae, eat,” Mrs. Kim whispers to her son.

He sniffs and reluctantly slices a piece of the Quiche Lorraine for himself. I watch his expression carefully to see how he reacts.

“Not bad,” he admits, taking a bigger bite of the tart. A large, triumphant smile appears on my face. So even wealthy little Kim Jongdae admits that my food’s good.

“You should sit down, Sunmi. Feel free to eat with us.” Mrs. Kim grins. I nod gratefully and pile on the Coq au Vin.

After a few minutes of chewing, SPAZ stands up. “Well, Sunmi, we’ve made a decision. We’re hiring you as our chef!”

I shoot up from my chair and shake his hand vigorously. “Thank you, thank you so much!”

“You’d have thought she’d won a sweepstakes or something,” Jongdae snorts. His mother shoots him a look.

“You start work in two days, when we leave for Tokyo on Monday,” SPAZ smiles. “My agent will book your ticket and-,”

“Wait a minute, sir,” I interrupt. “This… Monday?”

“Yes,” he smiles.

That means I’ll have to find a place to stay for 2 nights.            

I’m almost out of money, so I won’t have enough to stay at the sauna again.

Oh crap. Oh crap, crap, crap.

“Is something that matter?” Mrs. Kim asks me concernedly. I fake a smile and shake my head slowly.

“No, everything’s fine!” I say in a chipper voice. “Yeah!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jongdae staring at me with an eyebrow quirked. Does he know why I look so pained? How embarrasing. 

“So it’s confirmed, then!” SPAZ claps his hands. “You may go home now, Sunmi. Thank you for coming, and I’ll see you-,”

“I think Sunmi should stay with us.” Jongdae blurts.

My jaw hits the floor.

SPAZ rolls his eyes. “Jongdae, if this is another one of your efforts to get with a girl-,”

“Calm down, jeez. I’m just being nice. Plus, she’s going to be living with us for the next few months. She might as well start now.”

After exchanging a glance with his wife, SPAZ shrugs. 

"Sure. Sunmi, you can stay in the room next to Jongdae." he says. 

Jongdae is an .

Jongdae is stuck-up.

Jongdae is a moron.

But Jongdae has just saved my .