For a Yonsei University graduate, finding himself or herself a decent job should not be a problem—at least that was what naïve high school and college students had believed in. Jihyun begged to differ. She pursed her lips as she stood in front of the tall gray building of a certain publication company. She was clad in white long sleeve polo shirt along with a black blazer and a black pencil skirt, partnered with a black closed shoe with a two inches high heels. In her hands was her resume and a black purse. Her messy hair was tied in a high ponytail to make herself look more professional.

The female stared at the building in front of her, hugging her resume close to her pounding chest. The publishing company was not as big as the publishing company Seulgi was working for. Rather than novels, the company published magazines filled with short stories. Albeit not that famous, it was still well-known. Hence, Jihyun would lower her standards and try to apply. She nodded firmly to herself, eyes were determined as she pushed the glass doors open.

“…No one in our batch actually got to work for a big publishing company, I heard. I thought Boo Jihyun would make it.” Jihyun’s breathing hitched upon hearing familiar voices so she immediately hide behind a huge plant that was conveniently placed near the front door. Peeking a bit, she saw two of her former college classmates drinking coffee from the vending machine a few steps away from her.

“She probably did and is probably trying to publish her novel right now,” one of the two girls replied. “You know how determined she was, right? She even refused to talk to us because she’s got big dreams. If she is not yet working for a top publishing company, then, she’s become so pitiful.”

Jihyun chewed on her lower lip, fully aware that they were talking about her. Her name was pretty common and she hated it—there were four Jihyuns that she met in college alone and she was not even a social creature. However, ‘Boo’ was such a rare surname and none of the people from their department had been bearing such a surname. Aside from that, she was pretty sure that they were describing her because for one, she did not really have friends in college and people immediately assumed that she was arrogant.

“What will happen if, per se, she suddenly enters this place to apply?” the first girl snorted.

“Would be very funny,” the other replied, making the two of them duet in laughter.

Watching the two walk away, Jihyun finally came out of her hiding place. Tears were forming in her eyes yet she held them in. She was not weak but she did not have the courage to work for that company any more. Without second thoughts, she turned around and walked away.

They would just call her, they said. Jihyun was not stupid, she knew that none of the publishing companies seemed to be pleased with her especially because aside from her grades, she did not really have anything else to boast about—no competitions, no organizations, no extracurricular activities, no nothing. For the whole day, she tried to find a job for herself. She tried to apply for bigger publishing companies (albeit not as big as her dream ones because they were not hiring editors and other staffs at the moment; they were looking for writers but Jihyun had nothing to submit) and also the smaller ones (a few small ones because many of her former classmates were working for smaller publishing companies and she did not want to be embarrassed).

At eight in the evening, the exhausted female dragged her already-bruised feet and worn-out black closed shoe around the neighborhood. Her stomach was growling in hunger yet she chose to ignore it. She wasted her whole Friday for job-hunting to no avail. Sure, she still got two more days of weekends left but who would willingly interview her during the weekends?

Passing by a familiar restaurant, she stopped walking when she was right in front of its door. It was not that busy yet she could still see people inside, eating and chattering as if they got no problems. Jihyun’s mind wandered towards the restaurant’s owner—Lee Taeyong. He was a psychopath in her mind but still, the female envied him. He had successful parents. He would have had an easy path if only he inherited the already-established restaurants but he still chose to start over on his own—which for some reasons, his parents permitted. He had a choice in life and somehow, he did so well in proving that he made the right choice.

Jihyun was so unlike that guy. She chose her own career path after several pointless arguments with her parents and after basically sneaking out to apply herself to a university (which almost got her kicked out of their family if not for her siblings). She did so well in school yet when real life happened, she ended up being jobless and broke and just so darn pitiful.

“Why don’t you enter?” A voice woke up Jihyun from her trance.

The female turned to the owner of the voice. Indeed, it was the familiar pink-haired man, standing right behind her with a friendly smile on his face which Jihyun hesitated to return—so, she did not return it. In the man’s hands were several plastic bags, full of ingredients from the grocery store.

“Are you interested in the job?” the man, Lee Taeyong, asked in a gentle voice.

The moment Taeyong asked that, Jihyun came to realize that there was actually a ‘wanted’ sign for a dishwasher-slash-assistant on the door where she had been absentmindedly staring. The female was not interested in that job, no. She did not finish the four frustrating years of college just to wash dishes for others—no offense. Yet standing in front of Taeyong whose facial expression was nothing but nice and who had also been Jihyun’s inspiration for her latest attempt to write, she was reminded of how she was desperately in need of money just so she would not have to return to her family just yet.

“How much do you pay?” Words tumbled out of Jihyun’s voice before she could stop them; she had a little to no regrets though. She was being practical and there was no use of being embarrassed about it.

Taeyong laughed, not in a mocking way but in a rather endearing one. “We pay minimum yet I give bonuses from time to time if there are too many dishes to wash. I hope you can consider it since we badly need one right now. I believe you’re pretty hardworking, Ms. Boo Jihyun.”

Jihyun’s eyes widened in surprise. “You know me?” She knew Taeyong, that was a given since back then, who would not know him? Even after graduating high school, everyone was still updated when it came to Taeyong. Jihyun was the opposite; no one probably remembered her—except for the girls who were gossiping about her, probably.

Taeyong looked confused for a second before he nodded his head. “Yes, didn’t we go to the same high school together? You were a news writer, right? I like reading the newspaper. Plus, we met each other a few days ago, I’m surprised you did not greet your senior,” the male stated, chuckling at his last sentence.

The young female’s face turned red a little bit, recalling that the older male had seen her already in her worst state (not like her current situation was any better though; well, at least she was wearing BB cream this time). “I see,” was the reply she could come up with before her stomach decided to embarrass her even more by growling out loud, surprising the two.

“Let’s go talk inside,” Taeyong good-naturedly said, stifling his laughter as he looked at Jihyun’s crimson face. “I’ll just whisk out something quickly before talking to you.” Pushing the door open, he ushered the female to follow him inside which the female did despite the embarrassment.

While Jihyun settled herself on the seat not too far from the kitchen, Taeyong disappeared to the kitchen to cook for something that Jihyun surely did not order because for starters, she did not have money to pay for it. She should have dashed outside already if she were not too desperate and too hungry. Just then, a petite waitress approached her, face was all-smiley and friendly. Anyway, they were paid for being friendly. Her nametag which showed the name ‘Kim Jisoo’ was neatly placed on her shirt. The uniform was not too fancy, just a simple white polo shirt paired with a pair of black slacks and a baby blue apron tied around her waist.

“How may I help you?” the waitress, Kim Jisoo, asked; her smile never left her lips as she handed Jihyun a menu.

Jihyun awkwardly shook her head, not really knowing how to reply. “I’m waiting for Lee Taeyong.”

Jisoo’s smile faltered a bit. “Fan girl?” she asked, in her voice was an underlying annoyance.

Quickly, Jihyun shook her head. Of all things, she hated being accused. “No, no, I came here with him, actually. He just went to the kitchen for a bit. You can ask him if you like. He said he’ll talk to me after.”

The smile on the server’s lips returned. “Then, I shall believe you. Anyway, the customers are always right. Please patiently wait for him then.” Taking the menu back, Jisoo then headed to the other customers who needed her help.

Being left alone, Jihyun took the time to look around. The restaurant was quite big, even bigger than she had remembered. Albeit not a five-star, the whole restaurant was designed like one. It was not so busy although there were still several customers inside. Waiters and waitresses were all over the place—there were around four of them at the moment. Before she could continue to observe, the kitchen’s door opened, revealing Taeyong who was holding a tray filled with a bowl with some side dishes and a glass of water. Carefully, the man laid the foods on Jihyun’s table.

“Eat then we shall talk about the contract,” the man sat across Jihyun with a smile on his face.

Overwhelmed by the hospitality she was receiving, Jihyun somehow forgot the possibility that Taeyong was a psycho-killer.

Jihyun started her job right away on Saturday morning and was greeted with much hospitality and warm atmosphere. She found out that most of the workers were high school and college students who were working as part-timers. The only full time workers were: Jisoo, the waitress Jihyun met the previous day; Minji, another waitress; Yuta, a Japanese all-around helper; and Jaehyun, Taeyong’s right-hand man.

“I’m sure you’ll love it here,” Minji told Jihyun as the two of them were preparing the opening of the restaurant at six-thirty in the morning (the restaurant would open at seven). “Then again, you’ll be inside the busy kitchen which is a pity because it’s fun to mingle with the customers.”

Jihyun simply smiled as she continued to sweep the floor; she did not like people anyway. Plus, she was doing the job in order to continue living while she looked for a publishing company that would hire her. Her mind was still all over the place, she should tell her mother that she found herself a job already yet how would she tell that she was working as someone who would wash the dishes (slash assistant, although that part was always overlooked)?

“Should we open now? Is everyone ready?” Taeyong sounded so excited when he asked with a big smile adorning his handsome feature. His big bright eyes were shining. “Jihyun, you can head to the kitchen and help Jaehyun prepare the ingredients.”

Jihyun simply nodded her head before going to the kitchen as instructed. She knew nothing about how the restaurant should work (and she had warned Taeyong about it the night before) so she decided that she should just do whatever they would tell her to do.

“You know, I think you look really familiar,” the man with a pair of deep dimples, Jaehyun, told Jihyun the moment the female approached him. “Ah! We went to the same high school, didn’t we?”

“Yes,” Jihyun nodded her head. She did not even know why those guys would know her. Then again, Jaehyun was actually a classmate of hers and he just did not remember how he would occasionally try to cheat off of her homework which he failed in doing so because Jihyun was not stupid. “We were actually from the same class,” the female blurted.

“Oh! I know! You’re the ice princess who only talks to her books, right?” Jaehyun cheerfully asked as if what he said was not something that was possibly offensive.

“Hey! Don’t you think that’s a bit rude?” The only foreigner in the restaurant, Yuta, immediately dashed towards the two just to hit Jaehyun’s head in disapproval. Then, he faced Jihyun, smiling kindly. “I hope you’re not offended. Jaehyun’s mouth is a bit tactless, that’s why he does not have a girlfriend.”

“If you’re that great then why don’t you have a girlfriend?” Jaehyun sneered at Yuta.

Yuta shrugged. “They cannot handle this much awesomeness,” the Japanese only replied.

“Hey, hey,” Taeyong chimed in, a little too cheerful for a businessman who just witnessed his workers fooling around work. “Yuta, kindly wash the vegetables for me. Jaehyun, prepare the rice—wait, no, not the rice. You cannot cook rice. Please prepared anything but the rice then.”

Jaehyun raised both of his hands in a mock surrender. “Your distrust is highly insulting. But fine, I’ll take care of the meat,” he paused to look at Jihyun. “Please bring over the meat inside the fridge.”

The female nodded once and immediately heed to Jaehyun’s orders.

In just a few hours, the female had found herself adjusting to the demands of the busy restaurant.

Jihyun scrunched her nose as the strong smell of alcohol lingered in the air. She found herself sitting on one of the stools in a particular food stall along Han River. It was not her first time being in one but it was her first time being with someone else other than her siblings or her cousin. Along with her five co-workers, she was sitting in front of the rectangular table which was already filled with different street foods such as spicy rice cake, fish cakes, squid, and many more.

“I really love Saturdays,” Minji was the one who spoke gleefully. She was sitting right across Jihyun. “We can drink as much as we can.”

“What are you talking about? Sunday is the busiest day of the week for our restaurant, do not drink past your limit,” Yuta, who was sitting a seat away from Jihyun (with Taeyong being in between the two of them), scoffed. “We should all try to not get drunk.”

“Ei,” Jisoo made a sound of disapproval. She was seated right across Taeyong, seated comfortably as if she owned the place. “It’s Jihyun’s first day working with us and we are here to celebrate it. It will be a waste if we don’t get wasted ourselves. It will be all right. Why do you think we even bother to convince Jihyun to join us if we won’t try to bond with each other?”

“Yeah, because you end up suffering from an extreme headache the next day,” Jaehyun, who was seated on Jisoo’s left, grimaced which earned him a pinch from the latter.

Jihyun sat there awkwardly, listening to the pointless banter. After all, she was really originally planning to go home but the two girls had cornered her into succumbing to their endless “sales talk” about drinking alcohol. To be honest, Jihyun had never really tasted alcohol in her entire life. It was not because her parents had prohibited her from drinking—it was partly because of that but not entirely—nor was it because she had no friends to drink with, rather, it was her choice. However, Jisoo and Minji made drinking so inviting that Jihyun could not refuse their offer (and it was for free too!) even if she was still hesitant.

“Taeyong, your staffs are being hardheaded,” Yuta complained to Taeyong when he lost the verbal argument with the two other girls. Jaehyun was not helping either because all he did was throw in some random sarcastic remarks against everyone’s ideas.

Taeyong laughed, his eyes twinkling as he did. Looking at him, Jihyun could not help but to think that the male was, indeed, so handsome for a psychopath. Then again, that was the thing that made the male and the persona based on him more intriguing.

“They can drink if they want to as long as they can handle it,” Taeyong remarked. “And as long as they will still end up working well which they proved that they can do even after a heavy drinking session.” As he spoke, his right hand worked on taking a piece of squid which he later put on his mouth. “You eat too, Jihyun.” As if he felt her gaze, Taeyong turned to Jihyun and smiled.

“Yeah,” Jihyun simply replied, taking a piece of spicy rice cake for herself. She looked up once again when she heard someone pouring some drinks to a glass. Looking up, she saw Minji who was smiling innocently towards her while holding on to a bottle of an almost empty soju.

“Drink a lot,” Minji said. “This is Taeyong’s treat so we can drink as much as we want.”

Jihyun shook her head, wanting to refuse. As much as she was excited to finally know how alcohol actually tasted, she did not know if her insides could handle everything just fine. She might throw up upon drinking just one glass. “I’m fine.”

“Perhaps,” Jaehyun spoke up with a grin. “It’s your first time drinking?”

“No way,” Jisoo looked at Jihyun in pure amazement. “Then, it will be double the fun for you! Hurry up and drink. It’s bitter at first but your insides will like it.” She even moved the alcohol-filled glass closer to Jihyun with her eyes twinkling in excitement.

“Guys, don’t force her if she does not want to,” Taeyong finally butted in to lightly scold the others.

Jihyun scrunched her nose, glaring at the alcohol in front of her. The others looked at her expectantly as if they were about to see an epic show. When she managed to muster her courage, she took the glass and drank a bit from it. She could smell the strong scent of the alcohol and later, the bitterness wrapped , lacing her tongue powerfully. She felt like throwing up, not because of the alcohol content but because she could not stand the way it tasted—or rather, she was not used to it still.

“It’s good, right?” Minji leaned in closer to Jihyun. “Right?”

Jihyun pursed her lips, not really wanting to reply. “It’s okay,” she finally said when she realized that everyone was actually expecting an answer from her. “But I am not going to drink it ever again,” she said, a look of finality was on her eyes.

“You shouldn’t have drank a lot.” Taeyong let out a sigh when he assisted Jihyun to sit down. He just accompanied her to the nearest trash bin to throw up—it was disgusting but Taeyong had always been nice to his workers so he could not leave her alone. Somehow, the other girls had managed to make Jihyun drink more than she could. Then, Taeyong frowned upon seeing both Jisoo and Minji in a similar state, sleeping while resting their heads on the table. “I really shouldn’t have gave in to your requests.”

“That’s what I was telling you!” It was Yuta who retorted. He was rubbing his forehead, trying to ease the migraine that he knew would be coming to him later because of the problematic girls. “How do we bring them home? Jisoo lives near my house, should I send her home?”

“I’ll come with you too,” Jaehyun immediately responded but then he paused, turning to Minji as if he just remembered that she was there. “Should we call Minji’s boyfriend? I’m pretty sure he would be worried since Minji is the clingy type who would call her boyfriend every now and then.”

Taeyong nodded his head. “All right, you do that. Let him pick her up.”

“How about her?” Yuta pointed towards Jihyun who already fell asleep as well.

“I don’t know where she lives…” Taeyong trailed off. There was a few seconds of silence among the three of them before he grunted, giving in. “Okay, fine. I’ll let her stay at the spare room in my house. It’s not like we can just leave her somewhere.”

“That girl with no expressions, that girl who everybody hates, the girl whom even you know!” Jihyun sang—if you could even call it that—at the back seat of the taxi.

Taeyong was chuckling as he watched her. It was quite difficult to convince her to finally ride a taxi with him but there she was now, singing random songs without a care. As much as it was hilarious, Taeyong swore to never ask her to drink with them anymore. She was obviously a noob when it came to drinking. He would not want to deal with a drunk Jihyun anymore.

“Why are you laughing at me, you psychopath?!” Jihyun sneered.

“Pardon?” Taeyong frowned at the sudden insult. He did not know why he was the psychopath one.

“It’s you, the psychopath. I’m even writing a story about it,” Jihyun giggled.

Completely confused and somehow amused, Taeyong leaned in. “Really? Tell me more about it.”