Chapter 7

Three days had passed and his mood had gone downhill terribly. Every day since then, every morning, he’d been standing by the counter, few minutes passed since flipping the basket shaped ‘Open’ board on the door, watching passer-by walked on and jumped at the sight of any women with long striking wavy locks and brow coloured coat. Lee Soonkyu, who often be the person who does not easily show his emotion through his exterior, was failing miserably at it. His blank stares, mindless actions and act of seclusion were uncountable. One moment, he’ll be at the front of the Sherbets, counting up the inputs of days before. Next thing, he’ll be in his office, way at the back of the restaurant with the door locked, telling his employees that he’s doing some paperwork. The way he said them may be deemed as believable but the employees of Sherbets known the young Chef so well. It was no secret at all that the young Chef was fighting so hard with his own feeling and the unanticipated arrival of the third person, or was it more of the second person.

Up front, worried over this gloomy atmosphere of the Sherbets; Kim Shinyoung bid the last customers a warming farewell before flipping the basket shaped board to ‘Closed’, ending its service hours. In a time like this, it was the young Chef who would greet the last customer for the day but instead, he was locking himself up at his office. Shinyoung moved over to the table by the counter where her peers gathered, taking a plate of leftovers cheese cakes along. She found a seat next to the maknae of the Sherbets and let out a sigh.

Goo Hara picked up a fork, dug out a small portion of the cheesecake and quickly popped it into . “It’s been three days… what are we gonna do?”

“Beats me.” Said the eldest of the group, Mr. Koo, as he put down his cup of chamomile tea onto a saucer. “That kid is funny when you least expect it. First he’s all calm and all smiles and now, geez… he’s a handful.”

“Do you think it got anything to do with Jung Jessica?” said a motherly looking woman, making her voice sounded like a hush while her eyes cautiously stared at the back of the restaurant. “I haven’t seen her in a while since that rude man came along.” She shook her head. “Don’t know about you guys but I seen the way Soonkyu-ssi looked at the author… I never seen him smile like that before… and, Jessica-ssi was… well… giving out the same vibe…”

“Unnie.” Goo Hara added, holding her hand out for the older woman. “I saw it once too… it’s a pity we’re not gonna see him like that again.”

At the back, Lee Soonkyu came out, head down, jacket zipped and beanie down at his eyebrows. Stepping out into the quiet place, he then fished out a set of keys and placed it onto the table where his employees sat enjoying the cheesecake. “Lock the place up. I’m going out for some fresh air.”

“Soonkyu-ah…”

“Goodnight.” He addressed them, no turning back as he exited the Sherbets. Through the window, the employees looked on, getting worried than ever. Mr. Koo got to his feet, planned to go after the young Chef. But the Sherbets’ Pastry Chef held him back.

Shinyoung looked up. “At least he’s not staying in his office. Let the kid be.”

**********

Rehearsal period had gone overboard. Down at the grand hall of the TREX building, the selected models were gathering on the stage after spending the last thirty minutes parading their summer attires prototyped. Seeing them no longer on their respective mannequin, fashion designers – most that were given opportunity to joined the summer collection showcase – were rushing to backstage, met up with their models and racking their brain to adjust their creation.

Im Yoong was standing still on a circular platform, watching the reflection of the fashion designer pinning up the hem of the pants. He yawned. “Noona.” He called, staring at the fashion designer’s reflection in the three screened mirror. “Is this really the finished product?”

Hwang Tiffany got up to her feet, now adjusting the cuffs to her half-finished blazer. “Not yet, Yoongie. There’s a lot for me to work on. Just hang in there. Ok?” She then gave the model a smile before standing onto the platform, watching the reflection of the model in the mirror and let her hands fiddled with the collar, brushing off the little threads. “This is half from what I pictured it. If ‘someone’ wouldn’t bother me with his stupid singing, you’d be wearing the finished product by now.”

The latter chuckled. “So…” Yoong started. “Is this Kwon Yul guy really bothering you that much?”

“You have no idea.” Tiffany scoffed. She quickly smooths out the tie and added, “He might be good at his job, you know, keeping me from getting hurt, but he’s a nuisance.” She sighed.

“But I heard he’s a charmer.” Yoong stated, letting the latter now taking the blazer off. Pulling his arm, watching Tiffany putting it onto a mannequin, he then continued, “He’s been making the folks crazy for the guy. Stealing my thunder too. Hard to find that you do not like him like the others, even Luna-ssi fond of him.”

“Well…” Tiffany retorted. “You’re obviously haven’t listen to the crap he’s saying. Never judge a book by its cover. Damn straight that’s true.” She then sat down on the platform, patting the space beside her, prompting the model to join her. Yoong followed. Once seated, Tiffany helped herself by leaning onto the young man’s shoulder and let out, “I really shouldn’t hire him in the first place. I mean, there’s never a day where we do not argue.” In the past three days, thinking of Kwon Yul as a rather caring man after showing that side of him when Tiffany got into that little nasty accident with the mannequin was absolutely rubbish. For once, Tiffany actually considering him ‘normal’.

Nevertheless, days passed, her office was more like a warzone where there were bombs dropped in once in every hours of a day.

That image of a calm Kwon Yul faded so fast and Tiffany found so many things to hate the man. First round had her next-door office mate coming in asking them to keep the ’noise’ down. That didn’t last long. Second round had the receptionist up front asking them for the same thing. It worked a little but peace crumbled instantly over a pair of scissors sticking out of the side of the couch. That didn’t work so well. People literally were scared for their lives back then. And then, just yesterday, the third round could actually be the apocalypse of the TREX Company. The current President, Ji Sukjin, had to come down from his office on the top floor just to stop the crazy bickering of the pair.

Gladly today, Tiffany hasn’t seen the fire-fighter around the grand hall. She was thankful for that even though the President was taking it hard on her, warning her that if she and Kwon Yul fight again, she will get cut off the showcase. Who cares where he’s now. Tiffany likes the idea of peace with someone like Im Yoong by her side, listening to her trouble.

The model gazed at the fashion designer calming expression and said, “Hang in there, Noona. When all this is over, everything will be normal again.”

He really shouldn’t say that. Not at all.

Just when the pair was about to relax, a loud crashing sound was heard. It came from inside the grand hall. Alerted, noting the boiling look on the latter’s face, just as she snapped up from his shoulder; Im Yoong hurried to his feet and followed Hwang Tiffany out of the backstage area to the front. Exiting at the side door,  where now the other designers had gathered to see what the fuss was about; just standing few inches from the end of the aisle, Kwon Yul was struggling to get up to his feet, holding his head with a thick wire tangled around his free arm.

Once he got up to his feet, he looked up at the group and casted a pitied look. “I can fix this!” he said, holding up the wire. Instead of intending of fixing the mess he made – a speaker hung above the aisle crashed to the ground – he ‘accidentally’ made another speaker fell, making him jumped in the process. Static sound was heard echoing throughout the grand hall, piercing their ears harshly.

“YAH PABO!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?” Yelled Tiffany, marching off to the front of the group, glaring hatefully at the fire-fighter. Luckily, Im Yoong and Kim Hyoyeon, who stood by, held the top designer back just when the President and the now Producer, Choi Sooyoung, walked in, looking rather worried by the noise made earlier on.

Seeing the speakers crashed by the aisle, Ji Sukjin groaned before stepping up to face the fire-fighter. “Everyone get back to work.” He ordered his employees. “Give me and Mister Kwon Yul a time alone please.” Everyone did what was told, even the furious Hwang Tiffany.

Just when the grand hall started to get quiet, another static-like noise erupted in the speakers making everyone shut their ears and cringed at the spine-tingling sound.

“SORRY!!” Yul grimaced, waving his hands at the stares from the technician at the booth. He gulped when President Sukjin crossed him arms and glared at him through his thick-framed glasses. Yul slowly dropped the wires and politely bowed at the latter. “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

While the atmosphere up front was slightly heated, backstage, Hwang Tiffany felt like she was on cloud nine as she joyfully skipped into the dressing room and landing back onto the platform. She sighed and for once, she was smiling wide, along with her eye shaped up into crescents. At the door, Im Yoong laughed. “Enjoying that a bit too much, don’t you think?”

Tiifany turned to him. “So what? He’s actually get into trouble without ‘my help’. Hallelujah!”

**********

It was now late night and since he exited the Sherbets, Lee Soonkyu had been wandering off absent-minded. He bought a can of beer and had been sipping it all the way to an empty playground where lovers were seen at the benches, swing sets enjoying a private moment in the dim lighted area. Finding himself now seated in the middle of a see-saw, Soonkyu drank up the entire can and put it down by his feet. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. The sight of a couple sharing an intimate moment at the corner of his eyes made him picked up the empty can, crushed it in his hand and got up to his feet. “GET A ROOM!” he shouted, throwing the can at the couple. The couple was startled by such act from a man who appeared so calm and easygoing. “WHAT!? YOU DON’T HAVE A PLACE OF YOUR OWN? HERE! TAKE MINE!” He fished out his keys and threw it at them.

The couple stared at Soonkyu strangely before hurried off out of the playground. Soonkyu sat back down. He then buried his face in his hand.

“So this is your new hiding spot, eh?” came a voice. Kim Taeng came along, picked up the thrown keys along the way, and looked down at his best friend, who decided to return to his sorrowful phase he’d been in years ago. The latter looked up. “God, you looked pathetic.”

Soonkyu smirked. “You’re not bad looking yourself. Are you wearing new insoles in those sneakers of yours? Suit you well.”

Taeng chuckled. He then grabbed a seat right next to the young Chef. “These were actually your insoles.”

“Take em! It’s a waste…” the latter mumbled. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you, ain’t it obvious?”

“Sure, you found me. Now go home.”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on.” Taeng spoke up, grasping the latter’s shoulders hard, shaking him from the coldness of the night. “Seo was worried… which makes me worried… wanna talk about it?”

Soonkyu sighed.

“Come on, kiddo.” Taeng insisted. “Spit it out.”

The latter sighed again.

“Soonkyu-ah! Come on.”

“I—“ Soonkyu started. “I think I’m in love with some guy’s fiancé… there! I said it!”

“Let me guess…” Taeng started. “Is she… the one that kept on coming to your restaurant? That author?”

The latter nodded. “Go ahead. Laugh it out. After you kept pointing out how she resembles so much of Hyosung, I even kept thinking of her like that. You and your polluting words. Why do I even listen to you!”

“Because you need to move on!” Taeng pointing out. “That’s why I said it in the first place… You were so down in dumps when Hyosung left you and now… another writer… with a better personality, I thought she’ll suit you well.”

“But Jessica is engaged. You should look up on that.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s in on it.” Taeng assured. “Last time I heard, her fiancé cheated on her… now just waiting for the time to break it off.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“I have my source. Someone closer than you think.”