“Aish, where is she?” I mumbled while pacing around in the small space of my bakery.

            “She should be here by now,” I said while glancing with the big white clock on the wall.

            “Did anything bad happen to her?” I freaked by myself while looking at the empty street outside the display windows.

            “Ah!” I exclaimed nervously. “Maybe she’s busy today,” I came up a lame excuse to cover up my disappointment. Tired of hasting around all day, I gave up and slouch down on a chair to wait for the next customer to come… if there are any. After zoning out at the cold winter streets of Korea for thirty minutes, my eyes threatened to close itself right on the spot. As a response, I suddenly jerked up to prevent myself from falling asleep at work. Abruptly, I grabbed my jacket on the rack and head toward the door while murmuring under my breath, “I should look for her.”

            As my hand reached for the handle, the door slammed back with a blunt force; scared from the impact, my eyes slowly move upward to look at the door-kicking ninja. In front of me, stood a happy-looking Bom, smiling like an angel.

            “Sorry for coming late; I had some errands to run,” she breathed out in apology. “You’re leaving?” she asked after seeing my coat.

            “Ani,” I shook my head. “It’s just cold,” I tried to laugh off the awkwardness. Hopefully she didn’t notice my stupidity.

            “Come on in,” I invited her inside and walked back behind the bread counter. “What can I get you today?” I asked cheerily as usual.

            “Nothing,” she smiled cheekily while hugging a brown paper bag, which I assumed coming from a market.

            “Why are you here then? The Bommie I know doesn’t have free time to hang out with a lame baker,” I joked.

            “But the Bommie I know says the opposite,” she smiled proudly at her comeback. “I got something for you.”

            “What is it?” I questioned right away.

            “Christmas present just for you. Open it,” she commanded while handing me the paper bag.

            “Corn?” I let out a shy chuckle.

            “I’ll make corn bread for you,” she exclaimed excitedly and jumped over the counter.

            “Why?” I sniggered at her cute actions.

            “Because it will help you attract customers. You know what they say; once a customer, always a customer,” she explained thoroughly while preparing the ingredients.

            “I think you’re going to be the only one eating that, Mrs. Cornbreadlover,” I as I help her mix the dough.

            “Tsk tsk, just watch my master skills,” said Bom. “But at least I’m your loyal customer. I even drive here to buy bread when it’s snowing outside.”

            “That’s the reason why this bakery is still standing,” I flashed a sincere smile. “What’s the purpose of making this then?” I asked curious