"we'll be back in a bit!" jadu calls out to her parents, who wave back nonchalantly. "don't worry, take your time! we can handle things here." bok responds, her tinkly voice blending with the chime of the bell on the door as it shuts behind the trio.

 

"so where are you dragging us off to today?" jamong heaves an exaggerated sigh and seola glares at him before skipping ahead of the twins so she can face them while walking backwards.

 

"well, now that i'm in the running for a job at this trendy cafe, i figure i should try to look the part a little more!" she pipes up, then a sheepish grin appears on her face. "also i wore the same top 2 and a half days in a row without realizing." jamong rolls his eyes at how cheerfully she confesses this and wonders aloud "is this something you should sound so proud of?"

 

jadu raises an eyebrow in puzzlement and swiftly reaches out to pull seola out of the way of a distracted passerby. "what do you mean you wore it for 2 and a half days in a row?" seola's eyes widen at the sudden grip on her arm, but they soon crinkle in appreciation once she sees why jadu grabbed her. "because i put it on and then at lunch my brother told me i had worn the same thing for the past two days."

 

jadu shakes her head at the so-very-seola thing to do and places her hands on the younger girls' shoulders, turning her around so she can watch where she's going. "then we better get down to business. i've actually had my eye on something but didn't know what exactly i would match it with, but i think it would go perfectly with that collar shirt you have." seola beams, not having to see it to be excited, and claps. "whatever you say, master!! come on, keep up jamong!" the two ladies pick up their pace without looking back, leaving a whiny jamong to reluctantly jog after them, his defiance shown by the hands shoved in his pockets.

 

MOON TALKS! : my first applicant!! still so amazed at how fast you got this done...i hope i portrayed seola accurately in this little drabble. i kinda got the vibe that she's like pretty cheerful and a little...well, not ditzy, but for lack of better word, a little...silly? but this is not to disregard the depth you gave her and the room you gave her for healing and growth! also, just a little disclaimer - the dynamics between you and the choi twins might be subject to a little change if you are chosen, just to make the story flow better and to better establish their personalities. not that it will be crazy different, but just to say that it might not be exactly what you expect! generally, though, seola would get along with them,  but i am a little curious as to what you mean by 'past experiences' that make her and jadu not as close! is there some story there or are you just referring to jadu's tendency to not look very approachable lol...but anyways thank you again for being dkml's first applicant! i'll try to check back now and then to see if you add more, and also, if you want, you could add little blurbs about her siblings and maybe her relationship with them if they're close!!

 

she takes a dainty sip of her coffee, not ingesting too much because one) it's still rather hot and two) the flavor's not exactly her type. if she really wanted to, hyunra could've just stayed at home to brew her own drink instead of settling for something that doesn't completely accommodate her taste buds. 

 

but there was something about this cafe that pulled hyunra in. something more than just the pastries, the mediocre coffee, or that good-looking employee...something like...home. she didn't know what it was, but she just knew that all it took was a caffeinated drink and a spot on this hammock chair for her to feel better after a good simp session. and boy, had she been having a lot of those lately.

 

ever since the accident, hyunra had felt her life becoming effectively dimmer. she had closed in on herself, frustrated with the blank spaces in her memory that mocked her in her wake, and fearful of the blurry snapshots that haunted her in her sleep. living had been starting to feel tormentous - until her aunt brought her to dalkomaeul.

 

as soon as she had stepped through the doors, hyunra had been hit with this unexplainable feeling, one that she didn't know how to identify then and still isn't sure about now. comfort? hope? no...these were all things she had lost significantly since the accident.

 

she tells herself that that's the only reason she continues to come here (because no, it's not for that cute waiter!) - to find out what to call this feeling. she's been here a couple of times now, sometimes even without her aunt, and while she doesn't think she's getting much closer to figuring out what's going on, it's always nice to spend time here.

 

a voice breaks hyunra's train of thought, and she looks up to see a nametag. 'JADU' it reads. "did you need anything?" the voice asks, and hyunra sits up straighter, startled. "oh! no, no, i'm okay. thank you, though." she gives a small, tight-lipped smile, and feels like an undercover spy who's been found out. she considers leaving while she still has some dignity left and reaches to gather her things as jadu lingers. "okay! oh, i like your cardigan by the way. really goes well with the dress." hyunra looks up in surprise as jadu smiles at her, then walks away. *there it is again...that feeling...* hyunra tilts her head, once again confounded by the unfamiliar emotion, but then she sets her things down and leans back into the chair. *maybe i could stay a little bit longer...*

 

MOON TALKS! : hey dea, thanks for applying!! hyunra is such a unique name and i love seola as a face claim, so my first impression of your character is good heheh. i think the memory loss thing is a really interesting route and could definitely open up many doors for hyunra to heal through dkml, especially seeing how it caused her to become so closed off and lonely :( reading about how her friends don't really reach out to her anymore made me sad, but then seeing jamong being used as a love interest got me excited!! i think i said this for the previous review, too, but just a little disclaimer that if you are chosen, hyunra's relationship with jamong might not be exactly as you would imagine it. mostly just to say i don't think jamong would start off being so aggressively blunt, especially if hyunra's a customer. i feel like it would take a while for them to both feel comfortable enough that hyunra can open up to him about her accident and that jamong can respond in that kind of way. reading your love interest section, it kinda felt like that was one of their initial interactions, but that seemed a little uncharacteristic of both characters to act that way upon first meeting. if you could edit their story and progression a little in regards to that, that would be nice, but otherwise everything else looks pretty good!

 

"you're late." she doesn't look up from her phone, where swords clash and weapons explode on the screen in the latest anime rpg fad - which she, of course, downloaded as soon as taehyung told her about it.

 

said person now stands in front of her, chuckling at her lack of eye contact and signature bland tone. "you were miserable for every second i wasn't here, huh?"

 

mars keeps her gaze steady on her phone, but her eyebrows furrow in obvious distaste at his comment. "yes, i was this close to jumping off a cliff." taehyung is, as usual, not fazed by her deadpan humor (if you can call it that) and just slides into the cushioned chair across from her.

 

"d'you order already?" his hands in the pocket of his denim jacket, taehyung peers past a still uninterested mars at the menu on the wall. "yeah, i got a latte and a hand pie. man, i hope they're thinking of putting boba on the menu soon..." he gazes at her, his eyes sparkly like he's about to cry. "oh, you got me something? aw, kim noeul, you do care!" lights flash on her phone screen, signifying the end of a battle, and she finally exits the app and looks up at taehyung. he's pouting at her and she looks back at him, ever expressionless. "no, i actually got them for me and myself, so, yeah. we're gonna enjoy it, thanks."

 

he laughs and shakes his head. "oh, noeul. you are just...ever so charming!" he says, gritting his teeth and holding his hands up in fists, very obviously not meaning what he's saying. she looks back at her phone, undaunted by his playful aggravation. "i know. so when my food comes out, you're, like, gonna go get it, right?" she asks, now scrolling through her netflix watchlist to see which anime she should watch today.

 

taehyung sighs and presses his lips together. "you know, at this point, i'm pretty sure i am the only reason you ever got to see endgame with yoosung because he is too much of a sweetheart to appreciate your stark comments." despite the shade, he reaches over for her receipt to see what number he has to listen for. she smirks at the mention of the naive character from one of her many dating simulation games and clicks on an episode of violet evergarden.

 

yes, taehyung has contributed to many of her simulated dating journeys - yoosung probably the most because his pure, innocent personality just did not vibe with hers. besides the character's love for gaming, mars had always been averse to ending up with a guy like him. *instead, i'd want a guy like...* her thoughts trail off as she glances up at the boy in front of her. it's almost reluctantly - she doesn't want to let her eyes linger for too long, but it seems like the perfect opportunity to just stare at him for a little while he's distracted by that receipt...

 

"oh, hey! taehyung, right?" mars is snapped back to reality with the entrance of the cafe's male employee. he has recognized tae, a rather frequent customer, and the two warmly exchange greetings. he looks over at mars, who nods back, a little reserved, and he snaps a finger at her. "you got the pie and the latte, right? it's almost ready, i'll bring it over to you when it's done!" at the courtesy, she musters up a tight-lipped smile, and tae responds for the both of them. "thanks man!"

 

he leans back into his chair, crossing his legs and putting his hands behind his head. "look at that, now neither of us have to get up! oh, noeul, what would you do without me?" he tsks, smirking at her. she rolls her eyes, but hands him her left airpod in an act of acquiescence. as he leans forward so they can both see her phone screen, she smiles to herself. *i don't know, kim taehyung. i really don't know.*

 

MOON TALKS! : HIYA SOPHIE ok i'm calm but hello thank u once again for gracing me with ur presence here...can i just say... the kaomoji... so accurate to mars...but on that note of accuracy i hope i wrote these two well lmaoo ,, deadpan characters are hard both to create and to depict so i hope she's up to par with what you were imagining!! i can really only hope because i have not watched ,, anything on that list of inspo...but yeah let me know if this is okay?? like for taehyung, i made him a little more sassy than you might've envisioned him just because i feel like that's the only way he can keep up with mars lol but i did see the quality you gave him of insecurity! though i figured that was more apparent when it came to other people, not mars, which is why i wrote him like this here in this dynamic. but anyways!! everything about mars is a-okay. i love all the trivia you gave and all her inner thoughts during the interview and the contribution she could bring to dkml if she starts working there, what with her nutrition major and all that! there are just little things i want to clarify about her - so she goes to snu and tae goes to a different university, correct? and they are reconnecting because it's the summer now? or?? and also since it is summertime if you could give a more detailed description in the lifestyle section about what exactly she does...unless she's really just a hermit lol. and then last little thing - has she frequented dkml before? what's her little history with the cafe, if she had one before she applies for the job? damn i wrote so much for you holy ,,

 

"hi, welcome to-" jamong gasps mid-greeting and his eyes fly open in pleasant surprise. "whoooooa, look who it is! my man, cheon maru!" he steps around the counter, his arms spread wide, and greets the opposing boy with a tight hug.

 

maru grins and returns the embrace, firmly patting jamong on the back in reciprocation of the warm welcome. "long time no see, hyung." he chuckles. jamong pulls back and pats maru's head lightly before going back behind the counter. "yeah, you haven't visited in a while, dude. so what can i get you? an iced latte?" maru laughs sheepishly - not surprised, but still touched that jamong remembers his go-to order - and pulls his wallet out, only for jamong to push it away.

 

"don't worry, this one's on the house," he grins. maru starts, "nah, let me pay! it's just one drink." he tries to hand his card over again, but he already knows it's a futile attempt. "yeah, it's just one drink!" jamong retorts, using maru's own words against him, and maru deflates, sliding his card back in his wallet - defeated, but grateful.

 

"oh? hey maru." jadu enters the kitchen area from the outdoor garden and lights up the slightest bit upon seeing the familiar face. maru perks up, albeit a little awkwardly, and waves. "hey, jadu noona!"

 

though he's known her for a good amount of time now, maru finds that he is still (just a little!) intimidated by jadu. of course, he knew better than to judge a book by its cover, but jadu was like a book with the pages superglued shut. even after having worked at the cafe for a while and being able to witness her more rambunctious side that comes out with jamong, maru's found that he just can't seem to get close to her. even now, he finds that he's still not really sure if she actually likes him as a person or not and it's, admittedly, something he's second guessed from time to time.

 

jamong interrupts maru's contemplation with the clinking of a glass. "here's your latte! hey, you should go back to the office and say hi to mom and dad - they'd love to see you." maru accepts the drink gratefully and nods, "yeah, i'll head there now!" he hesitates for a second, wondering whether he should bid farewell to jadu or not, but she's by the cake display case and doesn't look like she's paying any attention. a little dejected at what feels like more distance put between them, maru starts for the office, but is stopped by a voice calling his name.

 

he turns around to see jadu putting out a slice of banana chocolate cake. "you like these, right? have one when you come back out." she says it casually and returns to her work right away, not really waiting to see his reaction, but maru sees her heart shining through. he smiles fondly. *thanks, jadu.*

 

MOON TALKS! : heya silvi! damn i feel like these scenarios just keep getting longer and longer lmao ,, but anyways thank you for my first male character! <3 jeno fits this vibe so well and can i just say...the maru x jamong dynamic mirroring the jeno x doyoung dynamic...p e r f e c t. but yes. thank you for maru, he is just so... Cute! capital c cute! i love how he's local heartthrob - that would probably bring dkml even more business teehee (also him having a code name??? so middle school i love it) and his personality is also swoon worthy...i feel like he's quiet but strong!!? definitely seems like the type to pull in girls first by his looks and then later on the girls are like damn AND he's sweet? also very admirable that he knows what he wants to do already and is working towards that bc !! hashtag unrelatable lol but i love the confidence he has in that aspect and also in what he can bring to dkml. and he's an old employee!! yay!! i wonder if he's had any suspicions from his previous experiences at dkml or if he's pretty much oblivious to their secret?? the choi's do hide it well, but maybe maru's caught on? it'd be nice to know what his whole opinion on that is - if he has one. also, it doesn't really matter, and i can just figure it out on my own if you don't have an idea, but when did maru use to work at dkml? and regarding his current schedule, is he taking summer classes? because this is the summer rotation hehe so please clarify if these are summer classes or if not, then you can just edit his lifestyle and let me know! that's really the only iffy thing, otherwise maru is accepted! i like how different his family dynamic is from the choi's, both in regards to the parents and the siblings lol i'm enjoying imagining maru and goeun interacting in front of jadu and jamong and both sides seeing the very different relationship and being like...??? and also yes if it all works out mongdu will DEFINITELY set baby maru up with another cutie teehee. but yeah! i love the 00 line friend group, i love the moodboard aesthetic, i love how used to the sibling bickering he is...besides the little thing with the lifestyle/schedule, maru looks good! thanks again for applying!

 

"hey, do you guys remember that little girl we met when we visited my friend woonki in seoul?" hakmin enters the open kitchen from the back office, heading to the sink to wash his hands. the twins look up from their respective stations - jadu at the register and jamong at the baking counter, both of them seemingly clueless.

 

"mr. jeon? the one who also owns a cafe?" jadu furrows her eyebrows as she racks her brain for further memory of this man or any related little girl, but she comes up blank.

 

"yes, and his daughter! she's a couple years younger than you guys, very cutesy...ring a bell?" he trails off, realizing he doesn't have as much information to describe this girl as he might've thought - though that's not surprising. he hasn't seen her since all those years ago, so the only reference image he has is that of a small child with pigtails, cuddling a rabbit doll close as she hides behind her father's legs.

 

"umm...not really, dad." jamong shrugs, also unable to recall anything, and hakmin gives up trying to make them remember. "hangang! remember, she was always so shy and...and clean..." the old man chuckles as he thinks about how the small child would tail her mother, wiping down tabletops and brushing away crumbs. "but anyways, we get to see her after so long because apparently she got into that local culinary school and woonki said she'd be visiting today so when she comes i want you two to be cordial even if you don't remember- oh there she is! you, you're hangang, right?! wow, look at you, you've grown so much!!"

 

the twins get increasingly overwhelmed as hakmin's run-on sentence goes longer and longer, but finally he stops talking and they catch a breath. turning to the door, they see a girl enter - she's objectively cute, sports an inconspicuous acne patch on her chin, and her hair hangs in two low pigtails. she bows politely, but is quickly swept into a warm hug by hakmin. her eyes widen and a rosy tinge appears on her cheeks. "ah- ah, hello uncle! or, uh, mr- mr. choi!" she's visibly flustered, so jamong swoops in to appease his enthusiastic father.

 

"alright, dad, you said it's been years, right? well i also recall you saying not to hug strangers, so...up up." he pats his dad's back, and the older man immediately lets go. "right you are, son! sorry if i came on too strong, hangang, i promise i'm not a random, weird man! ("mmm-" the twins hum in doubt.) it's me, mr. choi! but you can just call me uncle." he grins, scrunching his nose at her, and decides to reduce the physical contact to a pat on the arm.

 

"and these are my wonderful, cordial children, jamong-" he places a hand on the head of the boy next to him, who wrinkles his eyebrows at his now-mussed hair, but gives hangang a polite one-handed wave, "and jadu." he nods to the girl across the cafe, who keeps her distance behind the counter as she flashes a small tight-lipped smile.

 

she's tall, beautiful, and sophisticated, and hangang is immediately intimidated by her, though in an awestruck sort of way. the boy next to her makes her a little uncomfortable, but only because he's so good looking. and mr. choi is, admittedly, a little much, but hangang's grateful for the warm welcome.

 

it's been more than 10 years since she's last seen these people, but now they were the only sense of familiarity she had in this strange new place called hoyang. for a while, she had been feeling extremely anxious about being away from home like this for the first time. but looking around at the homey cafe and the smiling faces, hangang felt a sort of comfort wash over her. it seemed to come out of nowhere, but it was definite. she took a calming breath.

 

maybe it wouldn't be so bad here, after all.

 

MOON TALKS! : hi oddish!! thanks for applying :') first thing - i love yeoreum, so glad you used her as a face claim! she works so well with hangang's personality and voice lol so good job there. and also her back story is ,, honestly so sad...but i actually really liked it HAHA it didn't feel super sob story but it's still really sad to read about, and i appreciate that balance! honestly, i find the jeon family's dynamic so intriguing...idk how to explain, but i like how they found hangang, adopted her, took good care of her, but then also went on to adopt another girl. somehow i feel like that gave them more of an aura of realism...it helps me understand the jeon couple more, especially in the way they took gahyeong in to kind of give her a second chance. i also like the fact that even though gahyeong came into the family a while after hangang, she's still older - i'm sure that would have added to hangang's already complex emotions regarding this new addition to the family. it was really sad to read about how gahyeong treated hangang and consequently changed her personality, but i guess it's also sad to think about where gahyeong's come from that's made her like that :(( i like that they're currently just very awkward with each other - i feel like that's realistic lol and also it gives hangang room for development as a character!! just a small question, though - when exactly did they bring gahyeong into the family?? like how long after hangang was gahyeong adopted? not too important, i'm just curious haha :') moving on, i liked the personality part! i think you did a good job explaining her and i'm going to be honest again and say that i again...do not know many of those references...lol but i asked a friend who watches bnha and they were like "tamaki! my social anxiety baby!" and i was like ah okay yes LOL and her trivias were all really cute too! i think it's so cute that she does home cafe (tbh i was thinking about hanse the whole time and then i saw!!!) and also comes from a cafe at home that's so similar to dkml. another small question, just for clarification! so serenity cafe is located in seoul, correct? and also, this is a bigger query, but in terms of her lifestyle, is she currently taking summer classes? the story will be taking place during the summer rotation, so if she's on break, then please change her schedule accordingly! other than that, everything looks okay. the interview is good (wow bless her soul for picking up the thing jadu hit him with...no one else did that...honestly i didn't even notice...but thank you HAHA) and so are her relationships - please add the choi family soon!! i'd love to know more about what exactly she thinks of jamong~~ hehehe and also just how deep her relationship is with all of them in general, maybe mr. choi the most since he's her dad's friend. but yeah! that's pretty much it - and i'll def try to set hangang up with someone good for her, or you can let me know if you end up collabing with someone. thanks again for applying!

 

ding! aeja's phone lights up to notify her of a message, and she picks it up to see a text from hyunmin. it's about 10 past 1pm - right on schedule.

 

 

she smirks lightly, chuckling. at first, his random lunch date requests had been a little...well, exactly that. but now she appreciated them - or even, dare say, looked forward to them. any sort of distraction was welcome these days. it'd been a couple weeks since she'd eased up on the excessive cleaning, but she was still having trouble finding things to take up the time she now had way too much of.

 

it still felt weird to be here. here as in back in hoyang, and also here as in this phase of her life. there was a lot to be thought about these days, and aeja would be lying if she didn't admit that the cleaning had just been one of her coping mechanisms slash ways to ignore her mid-life crisis. but that's why she was so anticipant of hyunmin's lunch dates now - they pulled her out of bed and took her mind off things, though in not as dismissive or unhealthy a manner.

 

also, he always picked the place, and she had to say, it felt kinda nice to not have to make a decision for once, however small it may be.

 

 

her phone dings again with another message and aeja sets off for the location hyunmin has sent her.

 

upon arrival, she finds that he's already there waiting for her. jogging up to him, she smiles in acknowledgement. "hey! sorry, did you wait long?" he grins back in response, "nah, i just got here!" he opens the door for her and they head inside.

 

"is this place new?" aeja furrows her eyebrows as she looks around. "i don't remember seeing it before..." hyunmin smirks at her, his eyes darting away from the menu to look at her. "you have been gone for a while, oh prodigal son." she squints at his teasing, but the corner of is slightly turned up, because she knows he means well and is just trying to inconspicuously hint that he's missed her.

 

"it's been a couple years, i think? i only just started coming here, though - sieun introduced me a while back and their hand pies are so good." his eyes widen in genuinity and he nudges aeja to take a look at the menu.

 

as she does, she can't help but take in all the sights and smells around her. fruits they advertise as homegrown adorn the open kitchen, and the scent of freshly baked tart crusts fills the cafe as one of the employees opens up the oven. customers clack away at keyboards and friends laugh and chatter as they catch up. everyone looks so...content. and maybe it's just because she's been cooped up in the apartment for so long, rather deprived of human interaction, but aeja finds that for a second - she wants to be a part of it. a bit strange, considering she's usually the type to keep to herself, but being here, here as in this cafe, she feels oddly at home.

 

a tap from hyunmin on her shoulder snaps her out of it, and she looks up to see the empty counter in front of her, an employee waiting to get her order.

 

"hi, welcome to dkml, what can i get you?"

 

MOON TALKS! : not me trying to find a pic of wheein and getting distracted by her beauty...i lov wheein.....but ANYWAYS hi alina! thanks for applying, don't worry about having forgot about this fic, i did too HAHA jk not really but thank you for giving me a reason to update after a while :') i think aeja is our oldest applicant yet, and i'm definitely loving the unni action! it's a little amusing that she's considered the aegi in so many of her other communities when here in dkml she might be one of the oldest - i feel like i can kinda see the staff poking fun at her for that contrast hehe she certainly does pose an interesting addition to the staff dynamic with her previous work experience and her personality in general! i think you did a great job at explaining her - how calculative she is of everything, why she's like that, how it's influenced other parts of her personality, etc. and though she's not a typical mom figure, i definitely see those aspects in her, and i can also definitely see those aspects coming out when she's with the rest of the staff, even if she wouldn't want it to lol but with that, i can also definitely see her getting more comfortable with them at the same time! moving on, her background looks good, too! a little sad...bc corporate slavery is a very legit fear...but don't b too worried alina...HAHA and her interview is fine as well! she seems pretty talkative, if i'm reading her correctly (let me know if i am!), and that's not bad! i lowkey feel like it's a result of the way she had to build up her -kissing skill lmao and just working in business in general and having to deal with customers and stuff?? sound about right?? hopefully aeja can actually be replenished with this chill break at dkml :') everything about her is gr8, i just have a few questions or things i'm curious about i guess? not super relevant, so if you didn't think that far with her or don't think it matters then you don't have to answer HAHA but first thing is i noticed that she's a people-watcher! i for sure see that working with her personality, and i'm just wondering if this would mean she'd notice or at least start to get suspicious of the choi's having magic? also, i understand a big reason as to why she's back here in hoyang is because she wants to take a break from corporate life, so did you really want her to go back to that after this rotation? she seems a little... not 2 excited to go back to that lol like what did jihyang go on to do? would aeja consider leaving this field for a completely different one?? does she have dreams??? and also did you want me to maybe matchmake aeja with someone if they come along?? or is she a strong independent woman!!!? i think those are all my questions for now, i'll let you know if i want to know anything else! i also really like her relationships with the twins hehe all in all i really like aeja! thanks so much for applyingヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ

 

jihoon sighs as he trudges along, his hands in his pockets. it's a sigh of exasperation, of disbelief. *ah, who would've thought i'd be wandering the streets like this, looking for a part-time cafe job at 34...* he muses, then pauses. *actually...i'm pretty sure someone somewhere has thought so of me before.* he shrugs internally, his mental tone falling somewhere along the lines of amused and cynical.

 

it was an interesting situation, his was - if being assistant to one of south korea's more well-known screenwriters wasn't fun enough, now he was adding on a part-time job to boot. 'field work', they'd said. 'it'll be fun', they'd said. 'valuable information', they'd said.

 

so now, here he was, roaming the streets of hoyang for any sign of a cafe that would possibly hire him and all his baggage. the search had been rather fruitless so far - places were either not hiring at all or just not willing to accommodate his demands, and jihoon was about ready to give up and accept a possible commute to seoul...

 

when he came across some cozy nook with the letters 'DKML' splayed along the storefront. there's a for hire sign on the big glass door and jihoon looks past it to see bunches of people sitting around, munching on baked goods and sipping on caffeinated drinks. he's yet to step inside, but something feels like it's pulling him in.

 

shuffling closer to the patio, jihoon pulls his phone out and looks up the cafe, trying to see if there are any reviews or data he can start off with. various blogs and pictures show up, and he clicks on one. it seems to be from when the cafe had first opened up, as it's dated a couple years ago, and it pretty much raves about this "new mom and pop shop that is stealing the hearts of hoyang's citizens".

 

he goes back to the search results, only to see similarly enthusiastic content on all the other blogs. the more he reads, the more he becomes open to the idea of working here - it's well received by the public, seems to continue to increase in popularity, and is even owned by a married couple, which would be perfect for his research!

 

at that moment, the door opens. a group of girls passes by him from the sidewalk to enter the cafe, and jihoon gets a whiff of warm pastries and sweet coffee. without even realizing, he finds himself following behind them and stepping inside, almost entranced by the emitting fragrance.

 

*hm.* he thinks to himself. *this place could be perfect.*

 

MOON TALKS! : hiya tricker! sry this took so long, idk what happened to my motivation lmao ,,, and i hope i didn't make jihoon sound 2 like, Sad HAHA i don't think he is, i was just trying to emphasize his unique situation in regards to employment :') but anyways can i just say i LOVE what you did with the layout WOW it is stunning *heart eyes* with the whole screenplay theme ,, and thank you for jihoon - bringing some testosterone AND some age to dkml!! we love to see it!!!!! and jung kyungho?? beautiful. but can i just say it was so hard to find a picture of him for this lmao bc all he has are either super nice photoshoots where he looks all dapper (which i didn't think embodied jihoon's burned out old man vibes) or ahjussi angle instagram pics (which were 2 ahjussi even for jihoon)... but anyways! in regards to the actual character, i love jihoon's whole deal :') a sadly realistic depiction of age hierarchy in korea and the annoyingly annoying assumption that you can be 'too old' to pursue different things...but i love it, i think it was a super interesting approach for him to be here for field research hehe super creative idea!! thank u writer moon for forcing your intern to do weird things...i wonder if he is truly secretly a genius and has deep lessons he wants to teach jihoon...? or is he just an eccentric old man who likes bossing his interns around...also...writer moon...was that intentional (￢‿￢ ) but also on that note your side character face claims are so chef's kiss. i LOVE his relationship with his mom!!1! supportive strong independent single mother!! yes!!! and his relationships with the choi family also look good, very accurate,,, and the interview looks good too! his situation was a lil confusing at first in terms of him not being an official employee and stuff, but i think i get it! one question i guess would be...would jihoon's field work be considered work for the studio? so does he get paid from writer moon for his dkml hours?? or is he just saying that he's okay without the minimum wage pay since he has another well- or, er, better paying job??? lol besides that, there's nothing much i'm concerned about regarding jihoon, everything looks gr9 (but also if you get inspired later on and want to give jihoon a love interest, then go ahead!). thanks again for applying!!

 

scenario here.

 

MOON TALKS! : review here.