Mission: Retrieve Lee Ji Eun

No One's POV.

The school bell rang loudly, signalling the end of school for the day. IU waited inside the school lobby until the front entrance had cleared immensely, and walked out, head moving left and right to check for bullies. She creeped outside, her feet in a bit of a rush.

Sunbaenim forgot to pay me my salary this week, so I don't have money to buy food for Yoseob and I to eat, she thought worriedly. I have to run by the cafe and receive my pay, and THEN I have to run to the supermarket... She shrugged. Yoseob's just going to have to wait a while for me, she thought, smiling a little.

Too absorbed in her thoughts, IU failed to notice a crack in the sidewalk, which was uneven. She tripped on it, giving a loud yelp.

Where is that girl, Hyosung? Kikwang wondered, leaning cooly against a tree in front of the school. There were hardly any people; just a few students who were lagging behind. He and Hyosung, his partner, had agreed to meet today to work on their project.

Kikwang lazily took at his phone and scrolled through his contacts list. Hmm... I have her number... Should I cal- His thoughts were interrupted by a loud yelp.

Kikwang turned to his left, looking for the source of the sound. He tilted his head slightly, eyeing the girl on the floor. "Jieun-ssi, is that you?" He asked, walking towards her.

IU squeaked, pushing herself up onto her feet. "Uhm, Kikwang-ssi! Anyounghaseyo!" She bowed, her hair in a mess and everything. IU dusted off her jeans and pushed her glasses up her nose, while Kikwang bowed back to her.

"What are you doing here, Jieun-ssi? I thought you were going to meet Yoseob," Kikwang questioned.

IU giggled lightly. "You can call me IU, Kikwang-ssi. And about Yoseob, I have to head to my workplace before I meet him. OH! Kikwang-ssi, do you have Yoseob-ssi's cell phone number?!"

Kikwang nodded. "I'll give it to you." IU handed him her phone and he quickly typed in Yoseob's phone number and saved it. "I put my phone number into it too, so if you ever need help or you just want to talk, just give me a call," he smiled.

IU smiled widely. "Gomawoyo, Kikwang-ssi!"

Kikwang grinned. "Call me oppa."

IU grinned in reply, and then checked the time on her watch. Her eyes widened with surprise, and she gasped. "Oppa, I'm kind of in a hurry, so I'll see you later, okay?"

Kikwang gave her a thumbs-up, smiling cheekily. "Sure! Go make sure Seobbie does his project!~"

IU quickly bowed before running down the street, looking both ways before jaywalking. She panted hard, and stopped for a while, her head lowered with her hands on her knees.

After 15 seconds or so, she began running again. IU released sharp breaths and continued running for four blocks until she reached the Sweet Cafe, bursting through the door. Random customers who had been sitting down peacefully and eating and chatting as well as the customers lined up to give in their orders stared at IU for her sudden intrusion.

IU breathed in and out in uneven breaths, walking towards the counter. "W-Wooyoung sunbaenim," she panted, as Wooyoung looked up at her. "Do you-"

"IU-SSI!" He screamed. Wooyoung quickly walked around the counter and grabbed IU's wrist, dragging her to the kitchen, where Thunder and Bom were busily decorating some cakes. Wooyoung continued lugging IU to her workstation, where he quickly tied an apron around her waist.

"S-Sunbaenim!" IU cried in protest. "I'm only here for my salary from last week!" IU desperately jerked her hands downward, causing Wooyoung to release his grip on her. "I really need this money, sunbaenim!" [A/N: OMGEE, THANKS TO MY FRIEND SAM WHO HELPED ME FIND THE WORD I WAS LOOKING FOR TO DESCRIBE THIS ACTION. it was the word 'jerk' btw. THANKS~]

If I don't have the money, I won't be able to buy snacks for Yoseob and I to eat while we work! That is unacceptable! It's impolite and rude to not offer anything to eat when someone comes over! IU nagged herself.

Wooyoung's eyes were wide with panic and fright. "IU-ssi, I'm sorry, but we really need your help today! We have a huge order of cupcakes due in a couple of hours and rush hour is here, and there are more customers than usual!" He blurted out, anxiety coating his voice.

"U-U-Uh, but Wooyoung sunbaenim," IU stammered. I've already made plans with Yoseob! What should I do?~

Wooyoung clasped his hands together into a pleading motion and gave IU his puppy eyes. "Pleaseee?~" He begged, pouting.

"O-Okay," IU stuttered, by reflex. Her hand flew onto , and her eyes widened upon realizing what she had just complied to do. Oh my god, what did I just say?!

Wooyoung's eyes lit up. "Gomawoyo, IU-ssi! Thunder-ssi and Bom-ssi will give you further instructions, okay?" Wooyoung gave her a smile and a thumbs-up, before dashing away to the cash register to deal with the seemingly never-ending line of customers.

IU's mouth was hanging open, her eyes looking confused and panicked. Shaking her head to wake herself up, she her lips and quickly got ready for work. Placing her bags down onto a counter near the back door, she swiftly took her cellphone out of her pocket while walking to Bom and Thunder in order to text Yoseob about the change of plans before I turned off my phone.

From: IU

To: Yang Yoseob-ssi

Hello Yoseob-ssi, this is IU. I'm sorry, but something came up and I have to work for a while. I will call you after I'm done.

Sorry for troubling you.

[To the park, where Yoseob is waiting] Yoseob's POV

I stood around, leaning against the fence of the basketball courts. Glancing at my cellphone, I checked the time. School ended 8 minutes ago.

Where is this girl? I thought, annoyed. I don't know why, but girls who aren't punctual irk me, and those who break promises as well. It's not like this girl is actually worth waiting for. She's such a nerd...

I'd heard at school that she was impolite and rude. Rumors that she was a socially awkward had flown throughout the halls since elementary school. In middle school, she was established to be a sociopath, and everyone avoided her, even the other nerds.

In these last 3 years of high school, she was still a loner. Honestly, the fact that she's making me wait right now proves that she's a total jerk.

I crossed my arms, after changing the position of my backpack to make it more comfortable, and leaned onto the fence once again. My eyes flickered from left to right, scanning the area once more for Ji Eun.

Is this girl not coming or what? I thought angrily. I bit my lip, trying hard not to snarl at myself. Suddenly my phone beeped, signaling me that I had received a text message.

I swung my phone out from my rear pocket and stared at the unfamiliar number. Who the hell's this? I snorted. It better not be some random stalker girl from school.

I pressed my fingers against the 'new message' icon to read it. As my eyes scanned through it, I felt somewhat annoyed.

From: Unknown Number

To: Yang Yoseob

Hello Yoseob-ssi, this is IU. I'm sorry, but something came up and I have to work for a while. I will call you after I'm done.

Sorry for troubling you.

If this girl didn't want to trouble me, then she should have just skipped work. It's not like work is a necessity for her. At the moment, I'm supposed to be a top priority, I thought grimly, my lips curling into a shape of disgust.

Okay, then what am I supposed to do now? I wondered, beginning to walk towards the busier side of town. I could look for Ji Eun, and then convince her to leave work... Or I could just forcibly make her leave... Either way is fine.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets and walked across the basketball courts, listening to the rhythmitic drumming of basketballs being dribbled. As I walked past the playground and the swings, I noticed little children frolicking around and running crazily.

As I neared a certain child with his mother, I couldn't help but listen to their conversation.

"Ok Taecyeon! Just where did you get that cupcake?" The angry looking mother demanded, her hands on her hips.

"Ji Eun noona gave it to me when we went to pick up appa's cake!" The little boy whined. His mother cracked a small smile.

"All right then. Make sure you say thank you to her the next time we go!"

Ji Eun... Could she be the same Ji Eun I'm looking for? I stopped walking, and considered asking the mother where this bakery or whatever was.

I shook my head and tried to think it over logically, and walked past the little boy. It might not be her, I told myself. It probably isn't... Although it is quite coincidental that two Ji Eun's would be working at the exact same time in the same area...

I quickly my heel, hoping to catch the mother before she and her child walked away. "Ahjumma!" I called.

[Back to IU] IU's POV

O-Okay, squeeze the cream onto the cupcake, veeeeery carefully...

Nervously, I squeezed the icing bag into a swirl on the cupcake, keeping it neat like Bom had told me. I felt someone peeking over my shoulder, and my eyes glanced at the person.

Bom giggled from behind me. "Did I scare you? Sorry!" She apologized, her face changing into a sheepish smile.

I smiled lightly. "It's okay. Did you come to make sure I iced it right?" I laughed heartily. Bom laughed along with me, rubbing the back of her head.

"It's not that I don't trust you!" She explained, waving her hands in denial. "I just don't want you to get in trouble if you don't do it correctly. I heard this order is for some government official, and if that person complained to Wooyoung sunbaenim, you might get scolded!"

"I see," I grinned. "Thank you, unnie! Did I do it correctly though?"

She nodded. "Absolutely!" Bom replied cheerily. "It looks really good, and you were nervous at that time too, because of my presence!"

"Wahh," I clapped my hands together excitedly. "Thank gosh! Well, I better get crackin' on those other cupcakes!"

"Mhmm!" Bom nodded her head, agreeing. "I'll go bake another batch of the cupcakes now, seeing as you can properly decorate them."

With that, Bom walked away and I turned to the batch of 99 more cupcakes that I still had to ice, and remembered that Bom just said that she had another batch coming up. I sighed, my shoulders starting to slump.

This is going to take a while...

[10 minutes later... with Yoseob]

Yoseob ran down the main road, heading for the Sweet Cafe which Ji Eun worked at and had located with the help of the kind ahjumma. He stopped to catch his breath as he reached a red light for pedistrians. Panting hard, Yoseob raised his head and looked left and right to discern exactly how close he was to the cafe.

A certain supermarket caught his eye, and he remembered that the ahjumma had said that the cafe was just 2 stores down from the Hanyang Market. [A/N: Yeahh, just the first korean market that came to mind.]

[A/N: random note - OH MY GAWD. I JUST ACCIDENTALLY CLICKED THE CLOSE BUTTON AND CLOSED THIS WINDOW BEFORE SAVING IT. OH GAWD, THANK GOODNESS IT'S STILL HERE, AND THANK GOODNESS FOR AUTO-SAVE♥]

Sighing with relief and grinning at the sight of his destination, he trudged through the door, extremely tired. Ignoring the awkward stares of sitting customers, he walked right up to the person working the cash register. He rudely cut the people in front of him, which caused them to glare at him with looks of hatred and poison. Yoseob glanced at the name tag on the person's shirt who was across the counter.

"Excuse me, Wooyoung-ssi," Yoseob began, forcing himself to act polite. "Is Lee Ji Eun here?" He asked, making sure that the ahjumma and him had been talking about the same Ji Eun.

The man's brows furrowed and he frowned. "Are you a friend of Ji Eun's? She's busy working right now." He replied.

Patience was not a virtue of Yoseob's and it was written across his face, and his lack of it caused his manners to disappear. "Look, I'm kind of in a hurry right now. We made plans and it was ruined because of her your fricking work emergency," he said, his eyes cold.

Wooyoung's eyes hardened. "Excuse me, but as you can see, I have customers to attend to," he said as he motioned his hands towards the line behind Yoseob. "And Ji Eun-ssi is busy as well," he motioned to the kitchen. "So kindly leave so that I may continue managing this shop."

Yoseob gritted his and spoke. "I'm not in the mood for games!" He hissed. Glaring at Wooyoung viciously, Yoseob deftly walked around the counter and into the kitchen. From behind, he heard shouts of protests from Wooyoung warning him to leave as he burst through the door.

"Lee Ji Eun, come out!" He yelled, standing defiantly at the entrance to the kitchen. Thunder and Bom stared at him weirdly while standing still at their work stations. Then he heard a loud gasp from his right. Turning to the right, he saw Ji Eun with her hands covering her mouths and her eyes open wide.

"Y-Yoseob-ssi-" She stuttered, before Yoseob interrupted her.

"Are you kidding me?!" He yelled angrily, ignoring her sentence. Ji Eun flinched when she heard how furious Yoseob was. Yoseob grabbed her wrist. "Come with me," he demanded.

Suddenly a hand shot out to grab Yoseob wrist which was holding Ji Eun captive. When Yoseob and Ji Eun looked up to see who it was, they saw Thunder.

"Let go of her," Thunder said in a deadly, threatening voice. His eyes glared harshly into Yoseob's also angered eyes.

"T-Thunder-ssi..." Ji Eun whispered, slightly surprised with her eyebrows raised a little. She had never seen Thunder show such intense emotions. He had always appeared quite cheerful to Ji Eun, and she assumed that he was one of those people who just never got angry.

Yoseob and Thunder continued glaring at each other with eyes of resentment while Bom, the look of fear written across her face, gently placed a hand on Thunder's shoulder. "Thunder, calm down," she said softly.

Thunder showed no reaction to Bom's words and simply repeated his threat once more. "Let go of her," he reiterated with a serious and demanding tone, as well as a slight edge of hostility.

Narrowing his eyes, Yoseob obeyed and released IU's wrist, while Thunder released his grip on Yoseob's wrist. Ji Eun gingerly massaged the wrist that Yoseob had gripped, and Bom immediately ran to Ji Eun and asked if she was okay, to which Ji Eun weakly smiled and nodded.

However, the quiet but serious atmosphere was still among Yoseob and Thunder. Bom's eyes flickered from Yoseob and Thunder and back, and she quietly walked to Thunder. She gently linked their arms together and looked at him with a light smile. "Come on, let's let IU and her friend talk alone," she said, walking him over to their work stations.

Yoseob was glaring at the floor. Upon hearing the word 'friend,' he had flinched slightly. Why the hell do they call her 'IU?' And, 'friend?' He thought to himself, and gritted his teeth. They obviously don't understand that that girl and I have no relations.

"Y-Yoseob-ssi..." Ji Eun hesitantly and shakily said.

"How much time do you need?" Yoseob growled, glaring at Ji Eun. Ji Eun couldn't stand looking at Yoseob's furious eyes and her vision immediately flickered to the floor and she let her head drop.

"Just a half hour more. Please?" Ji Eun asked, biting her lip.

Yoseob rolled his eyes. "Can I sit down at a table and wait?" He asked, purposely speaking with an annoyed tone.

Ji Eun nodded, when suddenly, Wooyoung barged through the kitchen door. "IU-SSI!" He yelled.

Ji Eun bit her quivering lip and held her hands up hesitantly to calm him down. "Wooyoung-sunbaenim!" She stood inbetween him and Yoseob.

Wooyoung jabbed his finger towards at Yoseob and glared at him. "Do you know this man, IU-ssi?" IU nodded hastily.

"He's a classmate of mine's, Wooyoung-sunbaenim," Ji Eun said nervously. Wooyoung-sunbaenim hardly ever gets mad, and the same goes for Thunder... How does Yoseob-ssi keep pissing them off so much? She asked herself worriedly. "Him and I have plans after this, so may he wait here?"

Wooyoung huffed. "Well, he'll have to wait somewhere NOT in the kitchen," he said his eyes flickering to Yoseob and then away. "I don't need him to be a distraction for you right now," muttered quietly enough so that Yoseob couldn't hear. "Your friend can sit at one of our tables," he jabbed his chin to Yoseob. "Follow me," he motioned to door leading outside.

Yoseob fixed the shoulder strap of his backpack so that it was comfortable and furtively snuck a glare at Ji Eun as he followed Wooyoung out the door. As soon as they passed the door , Wooyoung pivoted to face Yoseob, while Yoseob jumped back, nearly crashing into Wooyoung.

"Listen here," Wooyoung said seething with anger. "If you expect to get away with being disrespectful towards me, then you're dead wrong. You're Ji Eun-ssi's friend so I don't want to do anything, but don't let me experience your filthy attitude again, understand?" He spat furiously.

Yoseob gulped. "A-Arasso," he said. Although he had started the fight, he knew he wouldn't be able to handle Wooyoung. Not even taking to account the difference in size and age, Wooyoung had had a very dangerous and wild look in his eyes just now.

Wooyoung clicked his tongue. "Tchh... Just sit at any table." Wooyoung turned around and walked away to the counter without another word, where he then plastered a kind smile onto his face.

Yoseob released a sigh of relief as soon as Wooyoung walked away, and trudged to an empty table near the shop window. He placed an elbow on the tabletop and leaned his chin against it, his eyes looking outside. The sky was clouded with white puffs but a little sunshine still peeked past them. Bored, he took out his phone and stuffed his earphones into his ears.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, IU hurriedly frosted those cupcakes. Carefully, but hastily, she squeezed the frosting into nice swirl with a cute tip. She took a quick glance at the number of trays left and was surprised to see just one more, with 24 cupcakes.

Assa, I'm almost done!~ IU thought cheerily. The anxiousness to be over and done with frosting already encouraged her to work even faster and IU was frosting fast enough that she could finish a billion cupcakes in an hour.

As she finished up the last cupcake on her current tray, she carried it over to Thunder's station who was placing the decorations on the already finished cupcakes. He was gently dusting the tiny pastries with white and light pink circular sprinkles as IU approached his counter. Gently, she placed the tray on top of the counter and retreated back to her own station where her last tray of freshly baked goods sat.

IU grabbed her trusty frosting bag and began to squeeze a swirl of icing onto the cupcakes. After 23 cupcakes, she grinned happily at herself as she frosted the final pastry of her tray. Ecstatic, she grabbed the sides of the tray and began walking funny towards Thunder. As she approached his counter, IU clumsily stepped on her shoe and tripped on her own foot. Eyes widening, she watched the floor go closer and closer. Time seemed to slow down and IU felt as if she had been staring at the cream colored tiles for too long.

"IU?" A voice called curiously. Finally did IU realize that someone was holding onto her elbow. IU mumbled a word of confusion before turning her head and looking up at Thunder's face.

"Are you okay?" Thunder asked, concern subtly placed in the last word. IU laughed embarassedly, and straightened herself.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" She grinned. She was conciously aware of Thunder's constant grip on her arm. Trying to laugh off the awkwardness, IU placed the tray on Thunder's counter. "Sorry Sunbae had to give you extra work even on your off day." She gave Thunder a sheepish smile.

Thunder gently released IU's arm and spoke with a pleasant smile and voice. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault!" All of a sudden, his fingers curled into shaking fists and he began to bite his lip. "But you did it for that guy... Is he your boyfriend or something?!" The words came out harshly as Thunder's face scrunched up with confusion.

"Yoseob-ssi? My boyfriend?" IU exclaimed in surprise. "Of course not! No way! I've spoken to him, like, once. Besides, a popular boy like him would never be my boyfriend."

Thunder relaxed and smirked. "You never know IU! I think you look pretty cute!" Inside, Thunder was surprised at his confidence and personality. Wahh! I'm acting so comfortable and cool! I feel like I'm full of confidence and radiating cocky smiles! Kyahh!~

IU turned pink and blinked twice before shyly staring at the floor. "T-Thank you," she stuttered. "Not just for the compliment. I'm grateful for you helping from falling just now, and for before with Yoseob-ssi. Ahh! Speaking of him, I have to go now!" Her head shot up, and she smiled brightly. "See you soon, Thunder-ssi! I promise to treat you to coffee next time!" She yelled, throwing her messenger bag upon her shoulders and running out of the kitchen.

"Okay. Bye IU," Thunder said, subconciously exhaling as his soft eyes lingered on IU's retreating figure. "IU," he mumbled softly.

Ji Eun scanned the cafe area for Yoseob, her heading swiveling right and left, before focusing on one of the window tables. She paused for a second to analyze the situation. Based on his previous outburst, she assumed that Yoseob's mood wasn't very good right now and that she had to please him so that he would be encouraged to work harder today.

Noticing that Wooyoung was staring at her for simply standing frozen at the center of the room, their eyes met. Wooyoung jerked his head toward Yoseob with eyes that sparkled with encouragement to approach Yoseob. Ji Eun coughed awkwardly and then walked towards Yoseob slowly, stepping lightly so as not to make clicking sounds on the cream colored tiles.

Ji Eun continued to think as she grew closer to Yoseob. He still hadn't noticed Ji Eun coming to his table, and he stared outside through the clear glass walls. I should probably apologize, and look earnest while apologizing. Hmm... Should I act with a cheerful attitude? That's probably not a good idea since he'll think that I'm not really sorry for being late. Aishh! Ji Eun banged the side of her head lightly with her fist. She exhaled deeply and finally arrived at Yoseob's table with a clear mind, or rather, an EMPTY mind.

Without thinking of her next action, she tapped Yoseob's shoulder. Yoseob immediately whipped his head at Ji Eun's direction, eyes opened with slight curiousity. Ji Eun's mouth was slightly opened. She was going to begin speaking, but the innocent look on Yoseob's face had briefly stunned her. He didn't have eyes like a jerk. They were open, warm, and amiable. As quickly as those childish eyes and other facial features had come, they left. Yoseob's casual attitude reappeared on his face with a flash, and he averted his eyes from Ji Eun.

Ji Eun cleared and closed tightly, eyes gazing down to the floor to avoid Yoseob. "Um, I finished working. We can go to my house now," she said without much joy.

"Fine," Yoseob spoke flatly.

They began to walk out the door, which Yoseob didn't hold open for Ji Eun, when Ji Eun made a yelping noise. Confused and somewhat irritated, Yoseob turned to look at Ji Eun with a raised eyebrow. She looked a bit panicky with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

"Give me one second," Ji Eun said, holding up one finger. Her face had a frown plastered on it, her eyes seemed to say sorry. She quickly walked back inside the store and spoke to Wooyoung.

Yoseob huffed. "You better not be working again!"

After several exchanges were made between Wooyoung and Ji Eun, (Yoseob didn't bother watching or paying attention because it didn't interest him) Ji Eun came out with a bright smile.

"Why are you so happy, huh? And why'd you go back in?" Yoseob asked with a casual tone. He wasn't very interested, but he was curious about why Ji Eun had gone back.

Grinning, Ji Eun held up a white envelope to her face. "Payday!" She yelled happily.

Yoseob immediately scoffed and shook his head. Should a teenager be THAT happy about receiving money? What a disappointment...

"Come on, Yoseob-ssi! Let's go to the supermarket and get some snacks!" Ji Eun said enthustiastically, pointing at Hanyang supermarket.

Yoseob shrugged and sighed cooly. Watching a teenager be excited about going to the supermarket was a bit weird, and Yoseob didn't really know how to react. He followed the joyful girl, walking at his own slow pace.

A/N: okay guys, it's apology time. i am SO sorry that i haven't updated in like 54354585116872685 days. ): i swear i've been trying to type up this chapter for a long time! I started writing this chapter like 3 months ago, and i've just been adding to it every couple of weeks and i wanted to make it long. T_T it's not as long as i wanted it to be, but i hope it's lengthy enough to apologize and appease to you guys :c

and so, the reason i wanted to do it today: TODAY IS B2ST'S 1000th DAY AFTER DEBUT! :DD CONGRATS TO MY OPPAS! saranghaee~♥ but, i live in the states, so the time and day thing might be a bit wrong ._. anyways, so i just felt like i really needed to update this.

ANOTHER THING I MUST SAY. so i have SATs coming this year. that means english, which means vocab, which means i'm screwed. TT______TT so i might throw in some sophisticated vocabulary now and then cuz i need to practice using them in my writing. i apologize in advance to those who i confuse cuz of those words ): if you want to find out what the word means, you can just ask me, but if you dont wanna ask me you can use the internet or google. lol

okayokay one more thing. my last apology(: sorry to those who've commented, but i haven't replied to! i've been a jerk for some time now. and i promise to respond to comments as of now. also, i haven't properly thanked all those who have recently subscribed, so i'll just yell it out now: THANKSS:D heehee! seriously though, thank you so much(: i write these stories cuz i enjoy writing but you guys make me enjoy it more! ;D oh, and i finally came up with a (lame) title as some of you may have noticed :] yeah, it's a stupid one LOL but i hope it gives off sort of a cutesy mood!~ heheh

allright, so that's it for this chappie(: expect the next one within 2 weeks (i'm scared to promise that i'll finish it within a week >.< ) the next chapter should have some iuseob moments. not really romantic, but bonding i guess. oh and i lied, one more apology lol. sorry that hyokwang hasn't really showed up lately :c they're more of a minor couple, so sorry to those who subscribed just for them. i understand if you unsubscribe cuz of it, although i'd rather you don't ):

OKAY GUYS:D that's really it. i hope you enjoyed the chapter; comment and subscribe!