I was rolling on the floor from too much laughter when I heard the kitchen doors open.

 

“Unnie, what are you doing down there?” CL-roo chuckled, the amusement was obvious in her voice. I wiped my tears caused by too much laughing and looked up. I saw CL-roo watching me with amusement while the manager was lurking behind her looking at me like he’s the one who’s been found in an embarrassing situation.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m just too happy,” I chuckled, standing up.

 

“You’re really weird, unnie,” CL-roo chuckled again.

 

“Hehe. Yeah, that’s me. Err, what are you two doing here anyways?” I asked. I saw CL-roo’s amused expression changed into a serious one. She then turned to the new manager before answering.

 

“Oppa got something to say to you,” she said. I looked at Mr. Kwon and I saw that it was awkward for him and it was obvious that he doesn’t like what he’s about to say. I think I’ve got a pretty good idea as to what he will say but let’s see if he will have enough guts to say it out loud.

 

“Mianhe, Ms. Park,” he apologized.

 

“Err, what? I didn’t catch that,” I said in a pretend-innocent tone. Ooh, this is fun! I fixed my face, trying to stop another round of laughter as I saw his face. Any moment now, he’s going to explode. And I bet you, CL-roo wouldn’t like that.

 

“Mianhe for what I said, Ms. Park,” he said a little louder.

 

“Come again?” I asked. His eyes turned into tiny slits.

 

“I’m sorry for everything I said, Ms. Park. I regret every word I said to you.”

 

“Oh! That’s nothing, it’s fine,” I smiled brightly at him.

 

“You two should shake hands,” CL-roo added, making the both of us stare at her in disbelief. Then, we looked at each other with wide eyes.

 

“Oppa, shake hands with her,” CL-roo insisted. Mr. Kwon looked at her, face going all shades of color as if he’s not breathing anymore. Then he sighed and turned to me, putting a boyish smile on his face as he raised a hand. I shrugged and accepted his handshake. The moment our hands touched, I suddenly drew a sharp gasp. I looked at our hands and stared at it.

 

Ji!

 

My heart went frantic as my mind screamed that name. I suddenly pulled my hand out and looked at him, stunned.

 

This is making me confused!

 

~o~

 

 

CL’s POV

 

I rang the doorbell. After a while, it opened and I saw Dara unnie peeking through the door. I smiled cheekily at her. Ah, she’s just so cute and adorable! “Dara unnie!” I chirped.

 

“Cl-roo! What are you doing here?”

 

“Why? Am I not allowed to visit you anymore?”

 

She looked at me hesitantly, trying to look over my shoulders. “Err, well it depends if you brought someone along with you.”

 

I frowned for a moment, and then my face brightened up as I realized who she was talking about, the exact person that brought me here, actually. “Don’t worry, I’m all alone,” I chuckled. “And, oh, I brought some carrots and some snacks too!” I added, lifting some bags of snacks. I laughed lightly as I saw her grinned widely at me.

 

“What are you waiting for? Come in. Hurry!” she urgently said, opening the door widely for me.

 

 

Ten minutes later. . .

 

I dropped myself on the couch as I was munching some snacks. “Unnie! What’s taking you so long?” I called.

 

“Wait! I’m almost finished with these carrot slices!” she called back.

 

I shrugged and continued eating. Then, I looked back as I heard some footsteps. I saw unnie looking so excited carrying a plate of carrot slices. She took a seat beside me and startled attacking the carrot slices.

 

“So, unnie, how are you and Minhwan?” I asked. She pouted in return.

 

“There’s no Dara and Minhwan. He’s like a younger brother to me.”

 

“He’s cute, though,” I shrugged. Unnie looked at me suspiciously. “Ya! Don’t give me that look unnie! He’s not my type! I’m just stating a fact.”

 

“Sounds the same to me,” she answered.

 

“I already have Jingyo oppa with me,” I proudly remarked, “so there’s definitely no truth in what you’re thinking.”

 

Unnie suddenly turned silent.

 

“You don’t like him, do you?” I asked.

 

“No, it’s not like that. He just . . . he just reminds me of a very close friend who . . . who p-passed away.”

 

“Oh!” I mumbled. I saw unnie blushed lightly as she choked at her last words. “I’m sorry.”

 

SILENCE.

 

“Do you have a picture of that friend?”

 

She chuckled. “No, I left them at home.”

 

Awkward silence passed between us again.

 

“First time hearing you talk about your life before we met,” I quietly started.

 

“So,” she cleared , “how did you and JINGYO met?”

 

I rolled my eyes. “It was pretty boring, actually.”

 

“I’ll try to not sleep from too much boredom,” she joked.

 

“Oh, well, we just met at a party, you know, with Dad’s associated friends or whatever you want to call that. The guests were all within the age of Mom and Dad. It was really pretty lonely for me, with no one to talk to. That’s when I noticed someone my age in the room and well, we were introduced by our parents and the rest was history. It’s really funny how he said that it was love at first sight for him considering I wasn’t wearing a dress at that time.”

 

“Yeah, I agree. It was pretty boring,” unnie chuckled.

 

“Yeah, it was,” I smiled.

 

“OMO!” unnie suddenly burst out. I straightened up and looked at her worriedly.

 

“Why? What’s wrong?”

 

“You are so smitten with him!” she accused, making me blush.

 

“Ya! You don’t have to overreact like that” I mumbled.

 

“I can’t believe this!” she breathed.

 

“You’re talking like you’ve never been inlove before,”I stared at her. “Aigoo! Don’t tell me you haven’t had a boyfriend?”

 

“What did you like in him anyways?” she asked instead. I looked at her for a while. There she goes again, pulling away, protecting herself. I wonder what made her like this.

 

“Oppa… Jingyo oppa’s really kind and sweet. And mind you, he’s the first person who looked at me more than, you know a friend.”

 

“You’re still young CL-roo. You’re going to meet some other guys in the future. Believe me, with that cuteness of yours, sooner or later, boys will be swarming over you.”

 

“Oppa’s pretty decent and Mom and Dad like him, so. . .” my voice trailed.

 

“Are you two together already?” she asked.

 

“No. Well, at least not yet,” I mumbled shyly. Ugh! I really with this kind of talks! It’s really awkward for me.

 

“What’s holding you back?”

 

“Err, I kinda overheard him and his mom talking about someone, never heard the name, though. They were arguing as to whether they should tell me or not. I asked him about it but he just said ‘past is past. What’s in the past should stay there’. So I stopped asking about it. I’m kinda thinking that he still got some unsolved issues.”

 

“He’s right, though. Past is past. You’re the present,” unnie patiently stated.

 

“Should I. . . Do you like him for me? I mean, do you think I should give a shot with him?”

 

Unnie looked at me for a while, as if contemplating.

 

“He’s not that bad, really, once you get to know him.”

 

She looked like she’s thinking hard. Then, she smiled. “Well, if he can make you happy, I’m all for it. BUT that doesn’t mean that we’re going to be good friends, too.”

 

“But, can you at least give it a try?”

 

 

JIYONG’s POV

 

I heard a knock on my door. “Come in,” I quietly said. I looked up as I heard the door creaked open. I saw the girl entered my office with a bright smile.

 

“Good mornig, Mr. Kwon! Park Dara reporting for duty!” she cheerfully stated and saluted. Then, without waiting for any response, she went out already.

 

“Hey, wai-” I stopped as the door closed. Why that ungrateful little rabbit! I stood up and marched grumpily towards the door and opened it. I stepped out of my office and looked around. The place was a bit crowded but my eyes immediately landed on her like she’s some sort of a magnet. I smiled a little. The uniform suits her. I’m starting to accept the fact that’s she one of the reasons why this café is always crowded. She looks so jolly and entertaining, like she haven’t experience a single problem in this world. But her eyes say different, though.

 

“Hey, the loverboy’s here,” I heard Daesung said to Bom noona.

 

“Oh, really?” the girl brightened up. She turned her head towards the left side of the café. I followed her gaze and saw that the boy was really there. “Poor him. He won’t be seeing Ssantokki that much starting next week,” Bom noona clicked her tongue.

 

“Oh, yeah. Dara’s in the night shift, right?”

 

“Neh.”

 

“Oh, so he doesn’t know she’ll be in the night shift?”

 

“Nope, I don’t think so. Hmmm. Maybe I should tell him? So he can adjust his schedule in that way, he can visit Ssantokki,” noona thoughtfully said.

 

“You like torturing people, don’t you?”

 

“No, I’m not. I’m actually trying to help him. If I inform him about the shift, think of the possibilities,” noona beamed.

 

I went to them and cleared my throat. The two turned their heads towards me. Dae gave me an apologetic smile and returned to his duties while noona gave me a long look, as if she knows something, a frown slowly creasing her forehead. I looked at her with raised brows. She just shrugged it off and resumed her duties, too. I shook my head as I watched noona’s back. Then, my eyes darted to Dara again and I saw her taking Minhwan’s orders with a very bright smile on her face. The boy must have said something funny because the little rabbit chuckled lightly. As Dara was about to go, I saw her tap the boy’s shoulders lightly. My eyes automatically turned into tiny slits. Ugh! She’s clearly not following my policies! But I can’t confront her right now, maybe later.

 

 

Later. . .

 

The girl served the boy’s orders. And again, my eyes squinted as I saw her stayed a little while at the boy’s table, talking to him, standing in front of him looking rather stupid.

 

“Ms. Park!” I called. The girl looked up and her smile quickly faded as she saw me. She grimaced then walks purposefully towards me.

 

“Yes, Mr. Kwon?

 

“What are you doing?” I asked.

 

“Working?” she raised her brows.

 

“I hope you understand that YOUR LOVERBOY is not the only customer here. And I thought you perfectly know that you have to be fair to everyone to keep your business running. But what are you doing? You’re giving special attention to just one customer.”

 

The girl smirked. “Well, I’m sorry, Mr. Kwon. It won’t happen again,” she calmly said and bowed. Then she walked away as someone called for an order. I was left stunned, I didn’t expect her to say sorry. Then, I retreated slowly to my office as I saw the glares some of the customers were giving me.