- Eun-Sung's POV -

"Oh, if it isn't Miss Eun-Dumb", said the devil teasingly with a smirk on his face. Aggghhr!!! I just want to-to-

"How many people?" asked Kai professionally.

"Five." Key answered for the whole group.

"Yes. Please, this way." said Kai as he lead them smoothly to a table of five. I was still in shock to see who the first customers were. Why- why had my classmates decided to show up and eat at where I worked- most of all, why had that idiot also chosen to come here of all places?

I started to shift away uneasily, hoping that I could avoid having to serve him.

"I-I'll go and see if Lady Lee needs some help in the kitchen.." I made an excuse and scurried towards the kitchen with my back turned. There was no way I was going to stay in the target radius of that devil and get myself killed.

"I'm thirsty! Can I have some water please, waiter-nim?" I heard someone from the table yell across the room to me. Oh, great...Now there's no way out. I was planning on staying in the kitchen until they left.

"Y-yes?" I turned around slowly and saw that Taemin was the one who had asked for the water. Why couldn't he have just asked Kai serve him? It's like he knows that I don't want to be there, but he's still trying to get me involved on purpose.

"Omo! Look! It's Eunnie Noona!" Taemin pointed to me excitedly and shouted at the members.

"Hi guys!" I waved to them awkwardly and made sure that I didn't make eye contact with the devil. The devil was sitting at the end of the small table and I was glad that he had chosen the spot furthest away from me.

"Can you please bring all five of them water first?" Kai said as he looked up from his orders. He made a 'sorry, but I'm a little busy' face at me.

"Sure." I reluctantly bowed and told the group that it would be ready in just a moment.

I hurried into the kitchen to prepare their water.

Then I started thinking evil thoughts. Well..if I'm going to do this anyways, why don't I make it a little more fun? I snickered to myself as I looked around the kitchen for something to use.

Aha! I spotted a plump, juicy-looking yellow lemon in the fruit basket that was sitting on the counter beside me. Carefully, I plucked it from it's place in the basket and used a knife to cut it in half. Haha! This will be so good..too good! I just can not wait to see his face when he drinks this. Even before I made an attempt to squeeze them, I could already smell the acidic juices coming from the exposed halves. It made my mouth pucker just from thinking about the taste.

Before I squeezed in the juices, I looked around to make sure that nobody was looking. Good, Mrs. Lee is busy cooking..I leaned to the side and cocked my head. Good, Mr. Lee is busy with the cash register..Ok! Coast is clear.

Like the smart person I was, I was sure to squeeze out only the juices into the cup, without letting any pulp or seeds fall in. Then, I deviously poured all the liquids into semi-clear glasses and added a lemon slice to each for the final touches.

Good! Now to serve it.. I placed all the cups onto the tray and headed back to the table. Kai was now gone to take orders from another group of customers that had just arrived.

"Taemin..Key...here you are.." I said as I slowly and carefully placed cups in front of the two closest to me.

"Thank you Noona" said Taemin. "Thanks Eun-Sung ah" Key also said. I welcomed both of them politely, still keeping my professionalism.

"Minho..and Onew ssi." I reached over and handed  the glasses to Minho who was sitting next to Taemin and Onew who was sitting at the far end of the table.

Minho just gave a slight grunt in thanks and Onew gave me a polite thanks.

"And..here you go, Mr. Kim Jonghyun ssi." I turned my head downwards to hide my creeping smile and placed his adjusted glass in front of him carefully. I retreated carefully to the side of the room and pretended to tend to the order lists.

After ten seconds, I was sure that they had all sipped their water, and slowly peeked towards the devil's direction to check for his hiarious reaction. Nothing...nothing?? Why had his face not changed at all? Now I leaned back harder to get a clearer view of his face. Maybe he didn't drink it yet..

I looked again and saw him lift the cup to his face and take several large gulps. Still no reaction. Poker face? The whole group, including that idiot chatted on as if there was absolutely nothing wrong. Huh? What happened to the extra sour water? I looked from face to face now, not realizing that I was looking like a crazy fan-girl.

*chills*

Erk... I accidentally made eye contact with Jonghyun and realized that he was glaring at me with a smirk. Uhhh.. I started turning away awkwardly as If he was just another psychopath and tended to the orders again. Don't meet eyes with him. Don't meet eyes with him. Just don't look at his direction again, Eun-Sung ah. I panicked as I felt him staring at the back of my bare neck.

*cough! cough!* *blerggrararaph!!*

I turned around and looked to see where the sound had come from. I saw Onew crying with his lips puckered and head slightly down.

Oh no! What have I done? Did I mix up the cup order? I don't think I did...

"I have never tasted anything so sour before in my whole life!" Onew whimpered with his lips still puckered.

"There, there.." Jonghyun said as he handed Onew his own glass of water and patted his hyung's back. He looked really sorry for some reason.

"What happened, hyung?" asked Taemin with worry.

"He said that his drink was really sour." Key answered him.

"Onew hyung, don't be such a baby. You are supposed to be our leader." Minho told him.

Jonghyun looked over at me and smirked as I rushed over. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" I bowed my head profusely as I picked up Onew's cup and placed it onto my tray, "I think I accidently misplaced one of the cups with the lemon extract from the kitchen!"

Key looked at me strangely. "You.. what?" he asked me, "How could you mix that up with water? They don't even look the same."

I repeatedly apologized to the whole group again, looking like a complete fool. "I'm extremely sorry for this! It won't happen again."

"I think she needs a punishment.." said the devil with evil intentions, "As a payed waiter that is supposed to professionally serve us customers, I say she needs to pay us back for what she did wrong. ...How about- "

"Uhmm..Isn't that going too far, Hyung?" Taemin interrupted uncomfortably, "Eunnie Noona is our friend after all, and she probably already feels sorry for what she did. Can't we just forgive her? She already apologized to us for her mistake too."

"Sorry my !" Jonghyun spat at me with a grin. "She may be your friend, but she made our leader cry. Just a simple apology isn't going to be enough to make it even!"

I gulped and thought of all the possibilities of the punishment that awaited me. The horrendous things that this devil could think of.

"No! Please, no!" I begged him regretfully, "I said I was sorry! Please forgive me! Onew ssi?" I turned to Onew's direction. He was still looking down and wiping his mouth with a wet tissue.

Oh no! Someone, help me?

"Yah! She's already apologized to us. Just let her go already. It wasn't such a big deal anyways. I don't get why you're so worked up this time." Key argued.

"Ye-yes! Please just let me go!" I nodded my head in agreement to Key's heroic words of wisdom.

"Don't worry. It's not going to be such a harsh punishment." assured Jonghyun, "Just what she deserves."

Ahhh! What did I deserve??

"Drink up!" said the devil cheerfully as he handed me the cup of sour liquid after mixing in a spoonful of hot sauce from the table.

"Uhh..." said Minho.

Oh, heelll no. I am not drinking that..

"I-I'm not going to!" I said as I backed away from the gross mixture.

"YES. YOU. ARE!" Jonghyun pulled me back by my collar and held the disgusting liquid near my face.

"It will be delicious!" he said evilly. The glass neared my mouth. It was only a few centimeters away now. I was struggling to get out of his grip, but it was just too strong. I don't even know what will become of me if I drink that!

*chug*

Ughh..my tongue...my throat!

"S-Sour!! Spicy!! Ahh-stings!!" I shouted after I was forced to take a gulp.

*cough* *cough*

"Blehhh!!!! Cekk!cek!!"

My eyes started tearing and I felt my tongue shriveling up.

"Ha ha ha! This reaction! So- so hilarious!" the devil screamed in joy as he laughed at my pitiful suffering.

"What's going on over there?" Owner Lee said as he walked over to our noisy corner and looked us up and down.

Jonghyun sat back down in his chair and pretended to look innocent.

"What was with all of that racket, Miss Eun-Sung ssi? Why weren't you working like you were supposed to be?" Owner Lee asked with a stern voice.

"It's okay, dad. She's our friend and we were just having some fun." Onew looked up and told him.

"DAD!??" I looked at the father and son pair from face to face. I didn't even notice! How could I have not noticed their similarities?

"Oh, did I forget to mention that I had a son around your age? Well, it looks like you already know him, so I don't have to introduce you two." Mr. Lee looked proudly at his son.

"Uhm..y-yeah..." I replied awkwardly.

"Well, since you guys looked like you were having fun, I'll just leave you guys to be." Mr. Lee turned around to leave.

Kai spotted our huge group and walked over.

"Hey, Eun-Sung ah what are you doing here? Did something happen?" He asked me.

"Oh- N-no, not really, they were just asking when the food was going to arrive." I lied.

"Oh." Kai looked disappointed, like he knew I was hiding something from him.

"I think the food is ready! I'l go into the kitchen to get it!" I quickly told them and hurried away.

*sigh* This was going to be such a long night.

`

The shift ended well without any further problems. I mostly tended to the other customers while Kai took care of shinee until they left.

I got a ride back from Kai and waved goodbye to him until he drove away. Then, I walked to my front door with the eatery's menu in my hand.

Woah..the house..is so dark. Mom and dad are still not back yet? I unlocked the door using my own keys and stepped inside the house. The darkness was overwhelming. I had never seen my house looking so dark and empty before. The creaky door hinge added to the creepyness of my hollow home.

"Heello??" I yelled out just to make sure that nobody was there. It echoed back to me again.

Just don't think about it. I told myself. This is your own home after all, so you shouldn't be afraid.

But I still was.

I took off my shoes and then all the lights in the house to make it feel like daytime. Monsters don't appear in the morning, right?

I was beginning to feel happier because of all the light in the house. I didn't care if I was wasting electricity or not.

With nothing to do, I trudged upstairs and brushed my teeth after taking a nice, hot shower. I brushed away the taste of the revolting liquid that I been forced to drink earlier.The soothing shower made me feel refreshed and content. I changed into my pajamas and plopped down onto my bed with the menu, ignoring the blackened window on my wall.

Hmm...Lee's Joyful Dine..What a nice name..

I scanned the menu and it's prices.

"Fried chicken strips with vegetables and white rice....Fried chicken deluxe..Chicken noodle soup with kimchi side dish...Grilled chicken over fried rice...roasted chicken..chicken tenders- Wow! How are all of these dishes related to chicken in some way?" I laughed to myself at the menu, "This place is just plain ridiculous. I didn't even know that there were so many ways to prepare a chicken! Then, I laughed as I remembered about the slogan that was printed onto the front of the green aprons. It read: "Got chicken?" in big letters, and then "Eat chicken. Eat Happy." right under that in smaller print. The owner must be a chicken addict or something!" "No, their whole family must be addicted to chicken." I thought , as I remembered how Onew was so carefully caressing his friend chicken and then rapidly devouring it at school that day.

What have I brought myself  into? I chuckled to myself, momentarily forgetting that I was still alone in this empty house.

*Flicker-flicker*

I froze in my spot and looked up from my menu.

*Flicker*

The lights started to blink unstably. No way...This can't be happening to me! Just so much bad luck can happen in one day, and I believe I've already had my share!

*flicker flicker flicker*

S-Stop!! This only happens in movies! Come one! P-Please, s-stay on! I clasped my hands together and begged the heavens to keep the lights on for me.

*cricket cri-cket*

The noises from outside got louder.

Ommaa.....

*Flicker-stop*

The lights were silent now, and I looked up to my ceiling. I stared for a whole minute, but the lights seemed to be stable now. Phew! Thank the heavens for protecting me!

I still shivered in my spot on the bed and put the menu aside. I'll just go to sleep, and when I wake up, my parents will be there making my breakfast for me. They'll smile at me and ask me if I had a good night's sleep. I nodded to myself and started pulling up the cold covers over my body. I shut my eyes with the lights still on and tried to fall asleep.

*cri-cket cri-cket*

But I couldn't sleep at all. Not only was I not feeling sleepy, but I was also so scared that I felt wide awake.

Uhmm... How about counting the sheep?

One little sheep, two little sheep, three little sheep....fifty little sheep...

I was on my 104th sheep before the phone suddenly rang. I jumped out of my trance and glanced towards the door. I could hear the eerie ring of the old phone echoeing from downstairs. I swallowed as I decided whether to run downstairs and pick it up or to just stay in my room and wait. I gulped as I imagined the dark, undecorated hallway where I had switched off the lights before coming into my room.

The phone rang a couple more times before it stopped.

The heavy silence drowned out my quivering thoughts.

Then it started up again persistently.

Maybe it's my parents...I'd better go get it.

I tiptoed out from my covers and felt a cold draft of air hit my skin. Goosebumps formed on my skin and I could feel all the hairs on my body standing straight up.

If I could just run past that dark hallway, I could easily get down the stairs where I had left the lights on and successfully answer the phone!

I grabbed my stuffed pig rabbit plushie and hugged it tight to my chest. Then I opened my door to the hallway and I was met with an unending darkness. It was so silent that I could hear my own heart beat, my heart thumping rapidly out of fear.

I can do this! I will do this! I urged myself.

But as I neared the end of the hallway, my legs started feeling shaky and my mind was imagining things popping out of the darkness. I didn't want to continue running in fear that I might fall down the stairs, so I placed my shaking hands on the wall and traced it slowly to the stairs.

*thump*

I thought I heard something, but it was only my heartbeat.

`

`

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I arrived at the top of the stairs.

I quickly ran down them into the safety of the lighted living room.

Stubbornly, the phone had started ringing again, and I went into the kitchen to pick it up. The phone was also making a strange, abnormal noise that sounded like fizzling static, but I tried to ignore it.

Slowly, I picked the phone up from it's receiver with a 'click' noise and the ringing stopped abbruptly.

"H-hello?" I answered shakily into the receiver.

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A/N: Hello again! Hoped you had a good read! ^-^ Don't forget to comment or subscribe and wait for the next chapter~