It doesn’t take long for Jennie to fall into a routine.

She’s been working at the restaurant a few weeks. She cleans, takes customer orders, and runs errands for Jisoo. The work is easy, if a little tedious at times. She almost wonders how Jisoo can afford to pay a part-timer at all.

The customers are mostly older men. She’s grown familiar with the regulars, and has gotten used to dodging any wandering hands or leering gazes. Through their drunken ramblings her suspicions are confirmed that the hostess bar doubles as a gambling hall for the group that runs it. Attitudes range from disappointed to overjoyed, depending on their luck.

(If one could call it luck.)

Jennie looks up from absentmindedly scrubbing tables as the bell above the front door chimes.

“You’re back.” Jisoo greets warmly, emerging from the kitchen.

“They said we got too fat so we couldn’t come as often.” A girl whines, plopping herself down at a booth by the back. Jennie recognizes her as one of the girls she’s seen go in and out of the bar.

One of the hostesses.

“I’ll make something yummy for you, then.” Jisoo promises, patting the girl’s head. She’s maybe Jennie’s age.

The girl notices Jennie’s staring, quirking an eyebrow in her direction as she drinks the tea Jisoo had brought out.

“What are you looking at? You new?”

Jennie bites her tongue, resisting the urge to reply with just as much attitude and lack of concern. Instead, she lifts the corners of her lips in a semblance of graciousness.

“Yes, I’m Jennie. I started this month.”

The girl’s red lips form a perfect little ‘O’ as she nods.

“Gotcha. I’m Joy.”

Joy. Fitting.

Jisoo brings out Joy’s meal and the two women soon become engrossed in one another. Jennie continues to clean while listening to their conversation.

“So, how are the other girls?”

“Good. We got a new kid, she’s really sweet and totally out of her element.”

“I can imagine.”

“Kook likes her but she would have been more Namjoon’s type. You know, really quiet and pretty.”

Jennie pauses, her fingers tightening around the rag until her knuckles turn white. The topic is quickly changed as if his name hadn’t been spoken at all.

But in her head it rings like a broken cuckoo clock.

Namjoon.

Namjoon.

Namjoon.

Jennie stands suddenly, unable to withstand the mundane chatter and the buzzing in her ears.

“I’m going to water the flowers outside.” She announces, taking off her apron and draping it on a chair. Jisoo acknowledges her with a small glance, but otherwise isn’t interrupted from her conversation.

Jennie lets out a long exhale once she’s left the dimly lit restaurant, stretching out her arms. Joy has been their only customer in hours and Jennie was starting to lose track of how long she’d been cleaning for the sake of cleaning.

She goes around the side of the building, unwrapping the hose. The flower beds outside the noodle shop seem out of place in comparison to the rest of the rundown neighborhood, but that’s what Jennie likes about them. It’s proof that life can grow anywhere, no matter how much dirt and darkness there is.

With a twist the nozzle of the hose sprays to life, showering the small red flowers.

Jennie starts to walk back around, but hesitates once she’s differentiated fresh tobacco smoke from the crushed cigarette butts on the pavement. She looks up, making eye contact with a man in sunglasses leaning against the side of a car.

He wears a suit with a loosely wrapped tie, as if it had been tugged from his collar. A cigarette dangles from his lips.

She quickly pivots, going back to wate