Jasmine goes out to place some orders for her and Choi Hee at the counter but she tells HyeRim, the cashier on duty to only print the receipt so she can pay now. She is going to make it herself instead of adding more tasks to her occupied staffs as she knows they are busy enough to serve the waiting customers. She doesn’t want to bother them more. And she is used to it. Sometimes when she is free, she also goes out to take some orders and at times, she will also prepare it herself. “Here you go Jasmine ssi.” HyeRim who is three years older than her passes her the receipt. She smiles at her. “Thank you unnie. Fighting!” She says before moving to the side. She turns to look for another staff. She looks around for a while. Eddy who just served customers at the table no 10 happens to look at her. She signals him to come and see her at the back. “Yes, Jasmine ssi, what can I help you?” He asks the friendly boss. “Are you free now?” She asks him and he nods immediately. “Okay, can you go out and give all customers who are queueing outside a hazelnut cookie each? Let them know that it is our treat as a gratitude token for being so patient waiting this long to be served. And don’t forget to thank them.” She tells him what to do. Hazelnut cookie is one of the signature menus of the café. He nods before asking a question. “What about the payment Jasmine ssi?” He asks. “As usual, it is all on me. Just give me the bill later.” She replies. Eddy smiles. “Okay Jasmine ssi.” He responds. She has done it many times before. He still needs to ask to ensure, though the answer will always be the same.

Giving back is just Jasmine’s small gesture to thank people around her who have been so supportive on everything that she has been working on. Her parents and her grandparents let her know that giving back doesn’t reduce what we have but it increases it instead. And she believes in that. The feeling that she gets from seeing the smile on the faces of those who are receiving just can’t be described with words. It is a great example she carries from her family. She tries to do more often in many different ways that she can. And one of them is by creating a special daily coupon for all the staffs to buy themselves varieties of drinks or foods from the café which worth $10 each. It is personally prepared by herself using her own money. It all started how most of the staffs are just part timers who are working to make money to pay for their education or to help their family. At times, of course they crave to eat or to drink things that they serve to the customers. Jasmine just can’t accept the money they work hard getting for a cup of coffee from her cafe. She thought a lot on how to lessen their spending money. And this is the best solution as they mostly refused when she offered to pay for their drinks. They said that it is not polite for them to do so. Even when she first introduced the coupon to the staffs, they were reluctant. But she told them that it was a sign of her thank you for working so hard for the café, they got nothing to say when she said that. The staffs are very grateful for that and it makes them even more loyal and work even harder for the café. Most of them have been working for her since the beginning. And it makes it more comfortable because they have known each other that long.

Making one cup of matcha latte for Choi Hee, she is also making a cup of cappuccino for herself. She doesn’t forget to plate a chocolate mousse for Choi Hee. She doesn’t get one for her because she is still full after a good lunch earlier. “Unnie, later when Eddy is done giving out the cookies, please print a receipt of the total price for me, I’ll pay later.” She lets HyeRim knows. She nods. “Okay Jasmine ssi. Oh that looks so cute.” She comments looking at the flower Jasmine drew on the drink. “It crooked a little but it is still fine. I need to practice more I guess. I am in my office if you need me.” She says to her before carrying the tray leaving the counter. Though she is the co-owner of the café, she believes that she needs to pay what she gets for herself too. She doesn’t take anything without paying. Unlike the staffs, she doesn’t make a daily coupon for herself as she doesn’t come often anyways. Whenever she is around and she feels like drinking or eating something from the cafe, she will pay at the counter right away just like how their customers do. “Unnie, I am sorry for making you wait. Here you go. I make it myself. So please forgive me if it tastes weird.” Jasmine says as she places a black cup with pink roses painted on it in front of her along with a plate of her dessert. “Thanks Jasmine. This looks delicious already. I can’t believe that you made it yourself. It is an honor.” She replies as she takes a sip. Jasmine smiles at her. “Jasmine aa, this is yummy. It tastes even better than the café I normally go. I am going to come more often after this I guess. And I guess, you don’t have anything that you don’t know how to do it. Being a barista is your hidden talent, isn’t it?” She says to Jasmine giving an honest review as she takes another sip after telling her what she really thinks.

Jasmine smiles at Choi Hee. “Thank you unnie. Yes, barista is my hidden talent.” She says to her as she takes a seat in front of her. She doesn’t deny that one thing. “How long has this café started the business?” Choi Hee is curious to know. “Oh, it has not been that long actually. It is about four years ago when we started. When I came back from America to continue my study here, my grandparents told me about it. And about a month later, it started operating. My grandparents back in America came up with the idea and my grandparents here looked for a nice place. They discussed it without telling me. I was only informed when everything was ready.” Jasmine shares the story behind the existence of Ruby & Sapphire café. “And how old were you at that time?” She asks Jasmine. “I was seventeen turning eighteen in a few months.” She answers taking a sip of her cappuccino. Choi Hee is surprised to hear that. “What about the dance academy? When did you start managing it?” She asks again another question. “It was about a similar time. I started there about two to three weeks earlier. But it became officially mine when I turned 18.” She replies with a very calm tone like she normally does. “Woah. In Korean age, you were barely an adult but you were already managing more than one business. And what more impressive to me is how you are doing it well without ruining anything. You are good at studying and you are also that good at handling your business simultaneously. And what I can see since a few months ago that I met you, you are really good at multitasking. You’re only twenty one but I think you are more mature than most of us.” Choi Hee is being honest on how she has been viewing this young girl.

“I keep reminding myself of what my parents always told me. They said, “Jasmine, we will always support everything that you are going to do in the future. It can be hard and difficult but as long as you enjoy doing it, it will be a lot easier. It won’t be stressful as much as it will be when you force yourself doing things that you hate. So remember to always enjoy doing things that you like.” I know I was still too young to remember when they told me this but miraculously it never leaves my mind. This beautiful message from them keeps accompanying me up until today. And it really helps me to survive the hardest hurdle. When I am asked how I am coping everything by myself without asking much help from others to this date, I can only answer that I enjoy what I am doing right now. So nothing is too hard to handle. But of course at first everything was hard, I am not going to lie but when I found the fun part of it, it is actually doable.” Jasmine shares what she feels about working and managing things at this age. “How do you fight the stress and tension you get from this loads of work?” Choi Hee asks her. “I have this one know-how that I practice in my life sin