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When choosing to continue my education I never imagined I'd have nothing to live off. My mother had told me that I needed to get a part-time job so that I could at least live a semi-decent life, but my father insisted to give me money every week because he didn't want me working so hard. And my grandparents had already given me my inheritance when they found out I was going to university, but that didn't last too long when I discovered the nightlife. So you could say I'm desperate. But trying to find the time for myself is next to impossible, with working 10 hours on my studies and working 8 hours in the local cafe just outside of campus.

I entered the back of the cafe and tired my hair back, I grabbed my apron and tied it around my waist. My manager had already been there for some time and had already all of the machines and started brewing the coffee and baking the deserts. "Hello sir," I bowed, " I hope your journey here was well?" I smiled brightly at him. "It was a little cold, I couldn't find my scarf so I had a chilly neck on the walk here." I chuckled to myself, tucking a loose hair behind my ear and began kneading some bread dough. "I woke up earlier than usual; Hyerin left her bedroom window open, the breeze coming from her room woke me- so I had some extra time to pack her lunch and lay out clothes for her." Hearing my boss speak so softly about his family, definitely warmed my heart- knowing that he did have a soft spot after all. "That's so sweet, getting her things together. Hopefully, you can sleep a little better tonight." We both smiled sweetly towards each other continuing kneading the dough and shaping it, then went to collect the pastries that he had placed in the oven not long after he arrived, placing them into the refrigerator at front of the cafe. 

7 hours into my shift after serving what I had thought was the last customer: a tall, dark, handsome gentleman walked towards an empty table with what looked to be a toddler who almost managed to reach his waist. He had placed a rather small, but packed rucksack and an empty chair and began to walk over to the cash register- the child in hand. "Urmm hi, could I have an iced americano and a slightly warm chocolate milkshake?" The child pulled the tall man's hand and pointed towards the glass window, behind the pastries that I had put out earlier, "and a caramel flapjack and an orange and pumpkin seed muffin." He ended his sentence with a smile. "Of course, that'll be $6.20, you can go ahead and sit down and I'll bring it all right over." I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear putting the money that he had handing me into the register. While I gathered all the items that he had ordered, I couldn't help but look over to his table every once and awhile- hearing the child giggle at him and watching him colour in with him. It was certainly a sight for my tired eyes. "One iced americano, a slightly warm milkshake- chocolate of course- a caramel flapjack, and an orange and pumpkin seed muffin! Please enjoy and if you have any problems, please be sure to ask- you won't be a bother." I bowed and smiled at both the gentleman and the little boy. "Say thank you to the young lady Hyun." He Removed the flapjack from his reach before he had the chance to tuck into it. "Thank you, miss." His voice a higher pitch than the older gentleman, his gappy smile making you lowly chuckle to yourself. "Thank you." The gentleman nodded his head and I smiled back before turning back towards the register. 

Cleaning up the worktops I had just worked on, I heard a knock on the glass and a little voice shortly after, I looked over the counter to see the little boy that came in the cafe with his father. "Miss, could I have a straw please?" I giggled, he was beyond cute. "Of course you can little man. What colour do you want?" He placed his hands on the counter trying to lift himself a little more, analyzing the colours I had in my hand. While the little boy analyzed all of the colours, I looked over to my right side, seeing his father look in my direction, head on hand watching the interaction between his son and I. "Green! I want the green one...please." As I handed him the straw, my boss came walking out the back with a towel on his shoulder and flour on his apron. "How's the front of the house doing? Are you handling everything okay?" He stopped in his tracks seeing me bent over the counter in the odd way that I was. "What are you- Oh Hyun! Where's your father?" I stood up straight and looked up at my boss. Hyun's father walked over to the register, picking Hyun up- your boss walked over to the side of the counter. "Chanyeol, what are you doing here?" Hugging him gently, not wanting to squish Hyun. 

I was confused about how my boss knew the gentleman. "Hyun and I were on our way home from school and we wanted something to drink and Hyun's legs were a little tired from walking." I stood there staring that the two men engaging in conversation, Hyun staring at me, trying to grab ahold of the straw in the brass pot on the counter. I picked up one of the straws and started taunting the little one. Chanyeol looked in my direction and smiled at my actions, as did my boss. "Where are my manners, this is my best worker Areum, she is one of my most loyal and hardworking employees. Areum this is Chanyeol." I put my head down in embarrassment at my bosses kind words. "I'm Youngjin's longtime friend, we’ve known each other since university- we were in the same business class as each other. Thank you for being so kind to Hyun for me, he seems to have taken a liking to you." I smiled, slightly blushing. "It's been a pleasure messing with him- he's been the sweetest." A previous customer approached the counter- Youngjin, Chanyeol, and Hyun, still in his father's arms, moved to the table they had previously sat at- leaving me to do my job.

After dealing with the customer, I began to pack away the leftover pastries, most of the cafe was empty excluding three tables which were full of talkative people enjoying their beverages- I loaded the pastries on to a try ready to take them to the back to be disposed of. When I settled onto my knees collecting the desserts from the lower shelf, I saw my boss gesture for me to go over. I got up, patted my knees down and headed over towards the crowded table. "Areum, Chanyeol is a very busy, running his own business and all- as well as looking after little Hyun. It's a lot to handle so I thought maybe you could look after Hyun. I understand that you're busy with university as well as working here- but the day that you're asked to look after Hyun, I will allow you to have that day off." I looked over to Hyun, seeing him play with the straws I had given him earlier, trying to get all the straws to stick together. In the corner of my eye, I could see Chanyeol staring in my direction, his eyes piercing through me. "It would mean a lot to me, I would pay you and if I needed you to stay the night you would have your own bedroom, you really wouldn't have to worry about anything while looking after Hyun- he's a good kid." I could then see Hyun in the corner of my eye, staring at me. His offer was great, but there were a few things I had to consider. Such as, how long you would be there, what about your studies, would the pay be enough for you to live off? I guess Chanyeol could see my thought process as he then told me that if I needed to bring my books I could, I could do anything that would make the whole looking after Hyun easier. "Yeah, of course, anything to help." I smiled, receiving a smile back from Chanyeol. "Great! Areum, I'll give Chanyeol your number so he can contact you whenever he needs you. I hope that's okay." I nodded, Chanyeol got up and shook my hand. "Thank you this means so much!" I told him that the pleasure would be all mine and that I looked forward to looking after Hyun. My boss had then given me that pass to leave the packing up to him and start heading home. I gathered my belongings from the back of the cafe and made my way home.

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