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Nail Shop Paradise
The smell of kimchi and old cleaning water soaked on her jeans sickened her. Sohyun tossed her gloves aside and massaged her thighs from the cramps she garnered while crouching to wash trays and other dishes. She never thought she would work at a restaurant, let alone get hired so quickly. When they immediately hired her she was almost depressed more than thankful. But she had been managing for a whole week now and the job wasn't as hard as it was annoying. The customers were more intolerable than she imagined and the staff were pretty nit-picky too.
"Sohyun we need you out on the floor!" Someone else, who was barely in charge, ordered her around, which was starting to become the norm. Sohyun just did what she was told, whether it was a manager or floor cleaner, they had all been working there longer than her.
The dining hall was packed, and more customers were spilling in at the entrance. Sohyun managed to catch a group of males that followed in who she feared were people she recognized.
"It can't be..." She instinctively ducked and shifted some dishes on a already occupied table confusing the customers. She had no choice seeing that it was the Anti Trinity along with Sungjae and Peniel entering the restaurant. They sat at a table, composed and well mannered, quite the opposite of how Sohyun saw them during after hours at Paradise Nails. To Sohyun's dismay they were sitting at one of her stations so she prolonged attending to them as long as she could.
"Ahjumma!" She turned her head at Changsub's voice, and he was looking at her, smiling his ugly up-to-no-good smile. She grimaced and walked over. "I thought that was you." He was way too excited for her liking. The other boys seemed overjoyed as well, the Anti Trinity more than the others, the latter just happy to see Sohyun.
"It's good to see you found work." Peniel pointed out sincerely. Sohyun could only force a smile.
"Well it's a job." She noted.
"Good for you!" Changsub teased and then yelped out in pain. He looked at Peniel menacingly who pretending like he didn't just stab his foot into his senior's shin. Sohyun smiled for real and got ready to take down their orders. They proceeded to be simple about it, all but one of course. "I don't really know what's good here." Changsub acted like he'd never eaten at a Korean restaurant before and that caused the whole table to be annoyed.
Even Eunkwang complained, "Don't take all day."
"Ahjumma," Changsub addressed Sohyun again, "What are you specials?"
"Don't call me that." She fiercely demanded but couldn't get a chance to wipe that stupid expression off of Changsub's face in time. A staff member suggested that Sohyun go back to washing dishes because she was taking too long with the orders.
"Have fun with the dishes." Changsub got his last laugh in and then let out another yelp right before Sohyun departed back to her little red tub of dirty water and dishes. She didn't notice she was crying for the same reason that she was too angry over the fact that her job , her life , and those boys .
✮✮✮
"I'm sorry, but unfortunately Ms. Kwon doesn't work here anymore." Peniel apologized to another customer who requested Sohyun. The female pouted.
"Really? I wanted to see if she could do my re-fill. She did a decent job the last time I was here." Peniel apologized again and did everything to convince her to stay even though the shop was packed and the wait was around 20 minutes but the customer shook her head and stated she'll just go somewhere else.
Minhyuk, who was even at a station working, exchanged looks with Ilhoon. As if having a silent conversation they agreed upon what would happen next.
"That was her fifth customer. That means all of her customers have returned and requested her."
"What?" Minhyuk's customer asked. He couldn't stop smiling to himself and quickly finished his design on the customer. He threw off his working blouse and asked Peniel where Sohyun was currently working at.
"I can't remember the name really...Korean something..."
"Really? That's the best you can come up with?" Minhyuk threatened to fire him but he knew the general area of where to look. "I'll be back."
"Hyung! Where are you going?" Changsub called after his senior, outraged that they were being abandoned at rush hour.
Minhyuk yelled back while running out the door "I'll be back!"
It took him two hours. He was going to murder Peniel for not giving him enough information to go off of because there were literally a hundred restaurants in the area Sohyun was spotted to work at. Eventually he found her by chance while she was throwing trash into a dumpster. Minhyuk approached her in time to assist her throwing the rest away.
"Mr. Lee." Sohyun greeted him with a bow, shocked to see his presence and almost embarrassed that she smelled like rotten take out. "What are you doing here?"
"We need your help. The shop is in chaos. Your customers are coming back."
"Does that mean I'm hired?" Sohyun interrupted with the most serious expression she could come up with. Still out of breath Minhyuk heavily nodded. Sohyun didn't say another word, she snatched off her apron and ran away with Minhyuk.
✮✮✮
Paradise Nails was mahem. Customers swarmed every available station there was, most just waiting and complaining. Peniel was rushing back forth, refilling their coffees and offering free treats to keep them remaining. The boys worked diligently under stress and pressure. Minhyuk's abrupt disappearance left them almost disarrayed but Ilhoon always began managing in his absence, calmly and cool headed. He finished his sixth acrylic set in the two hour time spam Minhyuk was away.
"Attention please!" Minhyuk's voice came from the middle of the room. Beside him Sohyun stood nervously completely dressed in the shop's uniform. Changsub muttered under his breath asking what that was all about. When the room fell completely silent and had the eyes of every customer and staff member Minhyuk continued, "I would like to introduce our newest staff member, Ms. Kwon. Now I know she's a female, making her the first female staff member at Paradise Nails. Due to her exceptional skill and performance she is an official hire. Please welcome her." Peniel was the only one who applauded while everyone else went back to work. Sohyun bowed to her co-workers who looked displeased, and when she got to her station beside Ilhoon, she swore she may have caught a glimpse of a smile on his face.
She worked diligently and efficiently, getting through more customers since they had been waiting for a while. By the end of the day they Toed the Line, waiting for Minhyuk's judgement call. He thanked everyone for their hard work and noted that it was one of their busiest but most successful days.
"Sohyun averaged the same amount of customers as the rest of you. For that, and her willingness to come back and help us in such time of need, she is officially hired."
"Hyung, does that even make sense?" Changsub spoke out. Sohyun knew he would be the first to voice out his improper opinion on the matter. "How can you hire a female when we're strictly 100% male staff? What about all the other female nail techs that applied for the job?"
"This really is unfair." Sungjae piggybacked on the rejection. "With all the unnies you've discriminated until now, why do you decide to hire a female?"
"And a ugly one at that."
"Yah!" Minhyuk raised his fist and readied to swing but Sohyun finally stepped in.
"That's right. I'm a female, I'm probably the first female to ever be hired here and I'm probably going to throw off the demographic of who we might serve since a lot of the females come here for ulterior reasons; however...who are you to say I shouldn't be here? Do you own the shop? You're just my co-worker that I respectfully call sunbae-- no, you're not even my sunbae. I've clearly been doing this longer than any of you-- if this was a regular nail salon half of you would have been let go because even if you have the skill or the charm you're too incompetent."
Mihyuk called out her name, the mood tense and things clearly getting a bit out of hand as Sohyun's word crossed the line just a bit but she had the room's attention and would take every opportunity to defend her stay.
"I work...I work just as hard as any of you. For some of you it's just gaining popularity or you have nothing to do, but for me it's more than that. It's what helps put food on the table. It's what makes me happy because I'm actually good at it and I'd rather paint nails than bus tables." Changsub avoided her gaze. "I want to work here...so I'm going to work here." She left the room quickly to change and leave. Minhyuk violently cracked his clipboard over Changsub and Sungjae's heads.
"Idiots."
"Aish really!" Changsub yelled. "Who does she think she is? She clearly just said she was better than all of us. What load of BS!"
"But she's right." Ilhoon said, making the males direct their attention towards him since he usually never had anything to say if it didn't concern him. "Her first day here I watched her. Her station was right next to mine and she did such an exceptional job on the customer...the customer said I could have done just as good or better. I didn't say anything back then, but Sohyun is definitely better at this than any of us."
Changsub rubbed the knot forming on the top of his head and his teeth. He and the others didn't say anything else as they went to go change.
"Sohyun." Ilhoon's voice came from the parking lot. Sohyun had just made her way out of the shop, closing the door behind her after telling Minhyuk goodnight. Ilhoon sat coolly on his bike, his helmet rested on the crown of his head before he would completely pull it down to ride off. Sohyun bowed and waved nervously. He was smiling, but more than usual. "Don't worry about the staff or the customers." He told her. "Just work hard, and you'll win them all with your heart. Goodnight."
"Good...night." Sohyun said over the roar of the engine. Ilhoon tapped the top of his helmet to drop on his face, and he rode off.
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