“Thank you. Come again,” I said with a smile as I handed the customer his change.

I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself, having just mastered the register a few hours prior. Donghae proved to be a very patient and tolerating guide, correcting me when I was wrong and never once raising his voice when he chided me for making a mistake. Thankfully, as temporary cashier, I was only required to learn the basics; the rest, such as counting the money and recording the day’s profit, would be done by the full-time cashier, a young man by the name of Kyuhyun who Donghae told me had requested to come in the late afternoon due to unforeseen circumstances.

As for the rest of the boys, they were assigned to different jobs. Kris had to work at the serving counter. Since they already had someone to prepare the food, Kris’s job was to only pop things into the oven and wrap up take away meals. Tao was assigned as barista. Due to his lack of training, he wasn’t allowed to prepare the coffee, but Tao surprised everyone when he demonstrated his artistic side in the form of latte art. Even Donghae admitted to being impressed by the steadiness of his hand and his attention to detail. The other barista on the hand couldn’t be happier that he could relegate what he considered to be a tedious job to a younger enthusiast.

Joonmyun got to serve the tables. I had to admit, Donghae’s eye in business exceeded his years. Joonmyun’s sweet and polite nature charmed most of the customers into ordering refills and purchasing desert. He had a knack with people in general, I noticed. Even if he didn’t know them, he spoke to them as if they were a close friend, joshing around sometimes to ease furrowed brows and flashing that signature smile everywhere he went.

Joonmyun worked with another waitress (an attractive girl in her twenties) and they had established a system wherein Joonmyun would greet the customers and place their menus when they came in, while she would tend to more complicated things pertaining to customer satisfaction. It was a good plan; almost everyone walked out with wide smiles on their faces.

Donghae himself had a wide grin plastered on his face. “One of the most productive days we ever had,” he told us while we were taking a short break. “I was right to hire you four.”

The hours passed by more quickly than I realised; it was soon noon. I had served so many customers that their faces now looked liked undefined blurs. Break time wasn’t until another hour, but I could tell that the others were starting to feel the toll of their jobs. Kris had beads of sweat on his forehead and Tao had complained to me twice that his eyes were starting to strain. I myself was starting to feel numb on the legs after standing for so long. Joonmyun was the only who still looked fairly enthusiastic, attending the customers with his signature smile that never seemed to wane.

There was another half an hour until our break when she sauntered in, head held high, as if she owned the place. Her clothes were fashionable and expensive, daringly ostentatious now that she was no longer bound by the school rules. Her eyes swept the room lazily, before they flashed with newfound amusement when they met mine.

Inwardly, I grimaced.

“Hello, Aeri,” she chirped when she approached me, her voice low and mocking. “I didn’t know you work here. In fact, I didn’t know that you were that desperate to the point that you had to work.”

Although I knew that Donghae was a patient boss, I doubted that he would tolerate my being rude to a customer, no matter how much of a slithery snake she was.

“No, Kris specifically asked me to help him out,” I told her with a triumphant smile. Her eyes flashed again; she was annoyed with the fact that I had a connection with one of the hottest boys in school.

“I don’t see him,” she said, keeping herself in check.

“He’s at the back. Should I tell him you’re here? Wait, does he even know who you are?”

She froze. Her lips were contorted into some variation of a smile, and I could practically see the venom dipping from it. Her eyes radiated hatred, hatred that I was so used to seeing that I could meet it straight on without flinching. Choi Minhee terrorised everyone in the school, but she seemed to have developed a special form of hatred for me –for what reason, I still had yet to comprehend.

It was unfortunate timing on his part that Joonmyun chose that moment to pop up in front of me with a request for a check.

“Table 14,” he told me as he rested an elbow on the counter. He hadn’t taken much notice of Minhee yet.

I punched the register with more vehemence than I expected, but Joonmyun’s presence had a calming effect on me. I was still able to return his smile as he thanked me for handing him the check.

“He’s here too?” Minhee said wonderingly, jarring me back into reality. I shot her a dirty look. She returned it with a smirk. “Today keeps on getting better and better.”

She whirled around, her hair sweeping behind her and almost slapping me on the face. She chose a table, one that happened to be in plain sight and facing me. She flashed me another devious smile before catching Joonmyun’s arm as he passed by, looking up at him with an absolutely angelic expression as she requested for the menu.

I gritted my teeth. This was going on hell of a long day.

“You know, I think it’s coming out of your pay check if you damage anything here.”

I whipped my gaze away from the scene and shot a dark glare towards Tao. He met my eyes calmly, barely even flinching as he leaned his body against the counter. His sleeves had been shoved up, showing a pair of tanned arms that was toned from years of training in martial arts.

“You’d give her more satisfaction showing that you’re jealous,” he stated calmly.

I managed to extricate my fingers from the dishcloth that I had been wringing and forced myself to calmly set it away. “I’m not jealous.”

Tao snorted. “Try saying that again, ‘cause I don’t believe you.”

“I’m not jealous,” I repeated, calmly this time. I turned towards the cash register, pretending to punch in some numbers.

“It’s obvious that you like him,” Tao stated, making me whirl around to face him again. “Don’t worry,” he said after seeing my alarmed expression, giving me a lopsided grin. “I doubt that Kris knows, and Chanyeol is painfully oblivious to these kind of things. It’s just me.”

“Is it that obvious?” I said with a grimace. Although I wasn’t really keen on this discussion, talking to Tao did provide me with a legitimate excuse to stop watching Minhee trying to flirt with Joonmyun.

Tao nodded. “Yeah. Plus, I overheard you talking to Yixing and Hyunji about it.”

Me and my big mouth, I thought drily and heaved defeated sigh.

“I don’t think he likes her though,” Tao remarked, looking over my shoulder. “He doesn’t look to comfortable with her.”

I glanced at them and noticed that Minhee was trying to reach for his hand. I felt a swipe at my heart and looked away. “He’s smiling though.”

“Joonmyun smiles at everyone,” Tao said. “He’s probably keener to do his job than entertain her.”

A loud, tinkling laugh drifted towards where we were standing and I winced. “When is that Kyuhyun guy coming to take over? I don’t think I can take this much longer.”

Tao could do nothing by pat me on the shoulder sympathetically.

Another painful two hours later, I was finally able to consign my cashier duty to its rightful owner. The others, too, had finished their shifts and were changing their clothes in the staff locker room. Tao was already out and was busy chatting with me. Kris was still nowhere to be seen, probably with Donghae to settle the matters pertaining to our wages. Joonmyun still hadn’t come out.

“I can’t believe she’s still here,” I remarked to Tao, who was casually sipping his free iced latte –a little gift from the barista for doing such a fine job.

“Think she’s still waiting for Joonmyun?” Tao asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Obviously. She’s intent on infuriating me until the very end. If this gets worse, I’m walking out. Tell Kris that I have something important to do.”

“Okay,” Tao said with a shrug.

At that moment, Joonmyun popped up in front of me. Although he was still smiling, the look in his eyes showed that he was tired –from his job or from being pestered by Choi Minhee every few seconds or so, I had no idea.

“Kris told us we can go ahead,” he said. He looked like he dressed in a hurry; his hair was sticking up slightly and he still hadn’t pulled on his jacket.

“You two go ahead. I think I’ll wait for him. I want to know if it was worth my time today,” Tao said, waving us on. I rolled my eyes. Trust him to be concerned about such matters.

Joonmyun didn’t wait for Tao to say anything more. He grabbed me by the wrist and tugged me out. “Come on, Aeri.” He sounded extremely urgent.

I stumbled after him, surprised and unused to the physical contact. I could feel the heat of his hand travel up my arm and to my cheeks. Of course, we couldn’t really leave unnoticed.

“Joonmyun!” We heard a chair scraping and suddenly, Minhee was standing next to us. “Are you leaving already? Why not have lunch with me?” She shot me a glare from the corners of her eyes.

Joonmyun smiled at her apologetically. “Sorry, I can’t. I promised Aeri I’d walk her home.”

Minhee’s jaw dropped and so did mine. I surely didn’t recall this arrangement being made.

“So, um,” Joonmyun looked awkward, “later then.” Without waiting for Minhee to return his farewell, he tugged me out of the door.

“Sorry about that,” he said once we were outside, running his fingers through his hair. “I just don’t think I could hang around in there any longer.”

I was still a little surprised. Kim Joonmyun practically rejected Choi Minhee in the face. I had never seen other boys do that before. Choi Minhee, although a devil at heart, was still immensely popular for her looks.

“I just felt... suffocated,” he continued, flashing a tired smile at me.

“You’re not... going to try to get to know her better?” I asked curiously. This was still strange to me, and I couldn’t seem to process everything that had happened.

Joonmyun shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think she’s my type anyway. And...” he paused, hesitating, “I sorta have a heads up that she isn’t really all that she appears to be.”

I blinked in surprise. I suppose Kris briefed him on more things besides classes and sports.  

“So anyway, it’s this way to the subway right?” he said, starting towards the right.

“Wait,” I called after him, brows furrowing. “You’re really taking me home?”

Joonmyun cocked his head amusedly at me. “Of course I am. You don’t think I was just making that up, did you?”

“I, um –I –” I blushed as I stumbled with my words.

Joonmyun laughed. “I did mean it. I can’t let you walk all the way alone. By the way, I’m starving. How about we eat first?”

I was a little bit dazed as I trailed after him. The shock of him rejecting Choi Minhee still hadn’t disappeared, and I couldn’t help but feel a giddy at the thought that he had chosen me to go with instead. Joonmyun was different from the other guys, just as I thought –and I think I’m falling harder and harder for him day by day.

Dear diary,

I got what I wished for: a ride on the subway with Joonmyun. Today was both bitter and sweet. Bitter because of Choi Minhee; sweet because Joonmyun chose me. I still can’t believe it. He rejected her in the face and lied that he had other arrangements concerning me! You have no idea how fast my heart was racing. I know that his choice may not be based on any feelings towards me, but rather general irritation for her repeated pestering. However, I still can’t help but relish the fact that for the first time in her life, Choi Minhee got rejected by a boy.

And besides, he walked me home. Another moment that deserves recognition. I’m still nervous when I’m with him, but not as much as before. My capacity in speech had extended to actual answers instead of one-word replies such as ‘really?’, ‘um’ and ‘sure’. I think it’s safe to say that Joonmyun and I have to come to stable grounds in friendship. Now if only feelings can be developed just as easily.

Love always,

Aeri