Act III: 친구

Kyungsoo noticed Mae's distress and patted her back. He then walked over to Jackson and shook his hand.

"Hey. Welcome to the shop. I'm Kyungsoo." Jackson looked back and forth between the elder and Mae. He shook his hand and smiled.

"I'm Jackson." He looked over at Mae who still was distracting herself with the dog. "Hey, Mae." She only turned around to cut her eyes at him. Jackson sighed and directed his attention back to Kyungsoo. "Is there anything I should do?"

"One second, I'll go get Halmeoni and let her know you're here." With that, Kyungsoo left to go into the break room where halmeoni was.Jackson nodded and sat at the counter, watching Mae bathe the small dog. He sighed and looked down.

"Mae, I'm so-"

"Why are you here?" His head snapped back up to see that Mae was now facing him while drying Monshi with a towel in her arms.

"To get a job."

"Why this one? You think you own this place too?"

"No... you said I'm selfish and spoiled. And looking from the perspective of someone who only sees me when I'm at school and only goes off of what other people say about me, I'd think the same. So, here I am. Helping take care of animals because that's what humble and nice people, like you, do." He made sure the sarcasm was clear at the last part. 

"Right," Mae rolled her eyes. She walked over to Monshi's dog bed and laid her down before giving her a treat. She turned around and looked at Jackson with her arms crossed.

"Can't you work at a nursing home or something? Just anywhere but here?"

"Actually..." Jackson walked past her and grabbed the bone from the dog. "I'm quite fond of animals."

"What are you doing?"

"This bone is too big for her." He put the bone back inside the bag and grabbed another pack of dog bones, except smaller. He gave it to Monshi and she happily took it after his hand. He smiled and looked at Mae smugly. She rolled her eyes and marched away into the break room.

"Halmeoni..." Mae grunted, approaching Halmeoni and Kyungsoo who were sitting at the table. "Don't hire him. He's a nuisance."

"What? How?"

"I don't know. I just can't work with him."

"Well, you're going to have to learn how to. You too Kyungsoo." She stood up and left the two pouting teens and walked out to attend the boy. Mae looked at the male and sighed. They stood up in unison and crept towards the door, peeking through the crack and eavesdropping on the conversation.

"You're welcomed to work here. Kyungsoo and Mae will be delighted to train you."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Call me Halmeoni, I'm everybody's halmeoni around here." The woman giggled and grabbed a uniform T-shirt off of the shelf and handed it to him. "You can go change into this. But tomorrow make sure to wear tennis shoes. You don't want to ruin your dress ones." 

"Thank you, Halmeoni."

"No problem, sweetie. The bathroom is right over there. I'm going to go get some lunch for me and the other two. Would you like something?"

"I don't want to trouble you."

"It's fine. I'm only going to go get some sandwiches at the deli. I'll grab you one. Bye bye now. Tell me if Kyungie and Mae are mean." She patted Jackson's shoulder and left the shop after flipping the sign to 'open'.  Kyungsoo sighed and facepalmed at the nickname. Jackson walked over to the bathroom to change. The other two finally stepped out.

"Wait... isn't it school hours right now? Why is he ditching?" Kyungsoo asked in a hushed tone.

"I called him a prince then he got mad and walked out." 

"Nice." Kyungsoo walked to the register and waited for customers to come in. Mae stood beside him behind the counter, resting her chin in her hands. They heard the bathroom door open behind them when they turned around to see Jackson stepping out of the bathroom with his blazer and dress shirt in his hands. He was wearing the shop's T-shirt and to Mae's surprise, it looked nice on him.

She had only ever seen Jackson in their school's uniform. Her eyes outline his muscles through his shirt before turning back around with red cheeks. Kyungsoo noticed this and only rolled his eyes at the man.

"So... what should I do? Is there any way I could help around here?" Jackson asked, walking around the counter so the two would face him. Mae fiddled with her bracelet and looked anywhere but at Jackson. 

"You can go outside and bring in customers," Kyungsoo suggested. "That would help a lot." He smiled friendlily at him.

"Thanks Hyung." Jackson returned the smile before turning around and walking out of the door. Mae looked up and glared at the back of the male's head.

"What a-"

"Prince?" Kyungsoo looked at her and cocked an eyebrow.

"Precisely." She rolled her eyes and went back to fiddling with her bracelet. Kyungsoo bit his bottom lip, wondering if he should ask her something.

"Mae..." he started, causing the girl to look up at him. "Why did you blush when you saw Jackson?" The girl's cheeks reddened once again.

"I wasn't blushing. Why would I?" She lied before averting her gaze to the boy outside of the shop, stopping strangers and speaking to them. "He's a jerk."

"Oh... alright." Kyungsoo stared at the girl for a few moments, hoping that she was telling the truth. "...alright," he repeated, reassuring himself that she wouldn't lie. He turned his head once a pair of girls came in. "Welcome."

"Thank you for coming. Bye Monshi." Mae planted a kiss on the fluffy dog's head and smiled at the woman holding it. "Have a nice day." she said with a smile as she waved the last customer goodbye. Jackson came back inside, running his fingers through his blonde hair. Mae clenched her jaw and turned around, grabbing her stuff from behind the counter. 

"Why are you leaving so early?" Kyungsoo asked, locking up the register.

"The shop's closed. And we already ate so there's not much for us to do. Thanks by the way, Halemoni." she said as she directed her attention to the woman refilling the food bowls.

"No problem sweetie. Go home and get some rest." Mae nodded and turned around, accidentally bumping into Jackson.

"Bye Mae." he said softly.

"Hmph." She raised her chin before walking out fiercely.

"Aish. Bye Halmeoni. I'll see you tomorrow." Kyungsoo said, grabbing his stuff as well. "Good job today, Jackson." he said as he patted his shoulder. 

"Thanks.." the boy replied.

"I'm out." Kyungsoo quickly ran to Mae's car, knocking on the passenger window.

"What the hell, Kyung-"

"Oppa. Give me a ride home." Kyungsoo climbed into the passenger seat, not waiting for the girl to react.

"God..." Mae muttered as she pulled out of the