"So-uhm, do you want something to drink? Water? Tea?" Minjoo asked the ponytailed who was sitting on one of the restaurant's dining table. The brunette was hoping that Yena would pick water since she wasn't really in the mood to be around hot boiling water. 

"No, I'm good, I actually just had a drink on the way here, Oh! Did you know that the orange juice oppa in front of the old photo studio just beside the red building sells the best orange juice? I literally felt like I was in Jeju for a second," Yena blabbered, which made the brunette smiled. She was just too amazed at how random the ponytailed girl was. 

Since she didn't really have anything to do, Minjoo took a seat in front of her. The brunette just thought that Yena seemed like a very fun person to be around. She also wanted to get some more informations about Yujin. The internet only provided too little information about her anyway.

"Geundae, Minjoo-ssi, how old are you?" Yena asked.

"I'm 21 years old," the brunette answered, making Yena gasped excitedly. "Then I'm an unnie!! Minjoo-ssi, I know that this is too early, but can I talk comfortably to you? You can call me Yena Unnie! It'd be great! You see, Yujin that girl never call me unnie eventhough I'm 4 years older than her" the ponytailed girl replied, making the brunette flustered. She didn't really know how to react to Yena's sudden request. Of course she would be glad to get close to the ponytailed girl. Minjoo is always open of meeting and get to know new people but she never really reach the banmal basis this fast. But seeing how Yena was anticipating her to say yes, how could she say no?

"Of course, uhm.. Yena Unnie," Minjoo answered after a while, which made Yena clapped her hands happily. 

"Soooo, tell me! Are you and Yujin like.. together?" The ponytailed girl asked as she did the air quote gesture, which earned a questioning frown from the brunette. Are Yujin and her are together? Well they were, a couple of hours a go but Yujin is away so they're technically not together right now. But they do live together in the same house for almost over a month. "What do you mean by together?" Minjoo asked, imitating Yena's previous air quote. 

"Well, are you guys dating?" Yena made her question clearer.

Minjoo gasped and quickly waved her hands in the air to dodge Yena's question.  

"N-no, she lives here bu-"

"Oh my god!! You two already live together?" Yena cut Minjoo off as she widened her eyes and covered . 

"Aniya, I-I mean this is my dad's restaurant and-and Yujin works here as a live-in employee," Minjoo said panickly. Why would Yena assume that she and Yujin were a couple? 

"Ah, right," Yena said as she nodded her head. "I got excited for nothing," she added. 

"Why did you think that we're uhm.. dating?" Minjoo asked out of curiosity.

"It's my first time seeing Yujin with a girl beside myself and her grandma but it's a little inappropriate to call her grandma a girl right?" Yena answered jokingly, she then looked at Minjoo's still confuse face and finally realized something. 

"Oh? You didn't know that Yujin sw-" the ponytailed girl stopped in mid-sentence as she remembered Yujin might really kill her if she started to talk about the latter's private life again. "Well it's not important, anyway, are you still in college? What's your major?" Yena diverted the topic, hoping that Minjoo wouldn't notice. 

"I'm on my second year, I'm studying business administration," Minjoo asnwered as she nodded her head. "Unnie, can I ask you something?" she asked, making Yena a little anxious. Boy, she didn't know what to answer if Minjoo asked about what she was about to tell about Yujin earlier.

"S-sure," she answered warily.

"Well earlier," Minjoo stopped for a moment, making Yena even more uneasy. "You know how we met at the restaurant this afternoon? The executive chef seemed pretty upset about Yujin leaving the restaurant, what happened?" the brunette proceeded to her question, making Yena sighed in relief. "He has a reason to be mad, Yujin was like the daughter he never had, it's more like because she raised the restaurant's profit to nearly 30% in just four months," Yena paused and saw Minjoo's shocked face. "Yeah, she's that good," she continued, affirming Minjoo's reaction.

"He grew even more livid after knowing that Yujin left the restaurant to work in a pojangmacha, it must have hurt his pride," she added. "But most of the chefs are happy because their biggest threat is finally gone, I mean they are all ahjussis and Yujin who just turned 20 a few months a go was already ordering them around as if they are her minions" Yena said as she chuckled. "And you know, her personality is just nasty," she added, making Minjoo nodded in agreement.

Minjoo tried to grasp Yena's long answer. The brunette is well aware that Yujin is a genius but she didn't expect her to bring such great impact to an already established restaurant. It made sense that the executive chef was upset and the other chefs were threateneda, she would've react the same if it was her. 

"So Yujin just stopped seeing everyone from the restaurant after that?" she asked, feeling a little scared that one day Yujin might really left her and her dad and refuse to meet them after.

"Not everyone, I mean, how could she stop seeing her bestfriend?" Yena answered with a proud smile on her face.

"Who's her bestfriend?" Minjoo asked innocently which made Yena gasp dramatically.

"She's sitting in front of you now," she answered bitterly and pouted. The brunette let out a soft chuckle upone seeing Yena acting like a 6-year-old.

"I'm sorry unnie, It's just that you said Yujin didn't answer you call for such a long time," Minjoo replied.

"I KNOW RIGHT! I mean we've been bestfriends for like what? 9 years! She stopped coming to the tented place in Han river so I figured she got a new job but then when I went to her apartment the landlord said she had moved out and she didn't return my call, gosh that girl just didn't know how worried I was, I thought she was hit by a bus or got drowned in Han river," Yena exclaimed while Minjoo tried to take in so much information being told just in ten seconds. 

"Han river?" Minjoo asked, as it was a bit random. "Because she worked around Han river?" she added, making Yena nodded her head.

"Yeah, and also because that girl can't swim," she answered. 

"I thought my head was playing a trick on me but turned out it's really you," Yujin suddenly appeared, making both Minjoo and Yena jolted from their seat. "I could hear you from five blocks away," she added as she continued to walk to the restaurant's cooking area, bringing a bag of groceries.

Yena looked up and stared at her in disbelief.

"Ya! You should really stop creeping people out like that! I didn't even see you came in!" The ponytailed girl scolded and made her way to chase the tall girl but of course got ignored. 

"Why didn't you tell me that you moved out from your place? Do you know how worried I was? I thought you were-"

"Got hit by a bus? Got drowned in a river?" Yujin cut the ponytailed girl off as she put down her groceries. 

"How long were you eavesdropping us?" Yena asked, not realizing that she herself was just too loud. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question. Why didn't you return any of my calls?" she asked again with arms akimbo, staring at Yujin who finally looked up and stared at her interlocutor.

"I lost my phone," she answered and took out her new phone from her pocket, knowing exactly that Yena would ask her to show her new phone as proof. 

Yena immediately snatched Yujin's phone before the tall girl couldn't even make a kove to put it back on her pocket. The ponytailed girl called her own number. She nodded when she could hear that her phone was ringing from inside her bag. She then looked at Yujin's contact list and sighed upon seeing that Yujin only saved her grandma's phone number.

"Aigoo, your life is so sad," she shook her head. "How could you not have Minjoo's phone number when you're already living with her for weeks? Or at least her dad's phone number? The guy is your boss for crying outloud!" Yena continued to scold Yujin and sighed deeply while the person being scolded just kept on being her unbothered self, checking the groceries without even acting like she was listening. 

"This will not do, Minjoo-ah what's your phone number?" Yena asked Minjoo who was just watching the two friends argued from her seat the whole time. She was of course a little bit flustered when she was suddenly included to the conversation. "It's 010-234-544," she answered as Yena typed her number on Yujin's phone. "What about your dad's?" Yena asked again. 

"I think it's 010-499-4-, uhm l can't really recall, let me go grab my phone first," Minjoo replied as she stood up from her seat, completely forgetting that she just had a burn injury. She moaned softly as she felt a surge of pain on her sore thigh, making both Yujin and Yena looked over to her.

Yena quickly made her way to the brunette to see if she was okay while Yujin had left the restaurant area to the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" Yena asked worriedly and saw that Minjoo had a red mark on her thight. "What happened to your leg?" she asked.

"I got into an accident today, but I'm fine, I just forgot to take my pain killer," she answered as she smiled. 

"Well let's take it now! Where did you pu-" Yena jolted when Yujin appeared out of nowhere and put down Minjoo's painkiller and a glass of water on the table without saying anything. She walked away again, leaving Minjoo and Yena who were both flustered by what just happened.

 "Well at least she's good at taking actions since she's not really good at the talking part," Yena said. 

Minjoo took a pill of the painkiller and put it on before washing it down with a glass of water. 

"Oh? You guys are looking for a mixologist?" Yena suddenly exclaimed upon looking on the restaurant's informations board. 

"Don't even think about it," Yujin warned Yena from the cooking area, making both Minjoo and Yena looked over to her. It was more like a threat than a warning. 

"Why unnie? Do you know someone's good?" Minjoo asked with her sparkling eyes. It would be good if Yena could recommend someone since they really need a mixologist in short notice because her dad and Yujin had started to get overwhelmed by the amount of customers they were having at the restaurant these days. Well it was mainly her dad to be exact since hevwas in charge of it. 

"Of course I do! It's me!" Yena exclaimed happily, which made Minjoo even more excited. 

"Unnie, you're a mixologist? I though you were a chef! But, but what about your current job?" Minjoo as she realized that Yena was already working in Yujin's old workplace.

"Oh damn it! I totally forgot about that! I have signed a two-year-old contract with the restaurant! I still have a year left!" Yena groaned, earning a winning smirk from Yujin and a disappointed sigh from Minjoo. "But I can ask around," Yena added, making Minjoo's pretty face lit up again. 

"Unnie, that would be so great! Thank you!" Minjoo replied. 

Yena nodded her head and smiled at Minjoo. The brunette was just getting even more prettier the longer she looked at her. She then shifted her eyes to Yujin who was cleaning the cooking area and shook her head in disbelief. How could she be that calm when there's a goddess like Minjoo roaming around her. Yena's thought got distracted when she caught a glimpse of a clock behind Yujin. She gasped upon looking at the time it was showing and immediately looked over to her wristwatch. She widened her eyes and grew even more panick. 

"Oh shoot! I forgot to pick up my niece from the day care! My brother's going to kill me," she said as she stood up from her seat. "Minjoo-ah I'll get going first, I'll come visit again!" Yena bid Minjoo goodbye. 

"See you around unnie, it's really nice to meet you!" she replied as she waved her hand to the ponytailed girl. 

"Ahn Yujin! Be good okay?" Yena said to Yujin before storming off the restaurant, leaving the two alone. It didn't take long for silence hit to consume the room the minute Yena left, which made Minjoo realized that the ponytailed girl really is loud. 

With Yena gone and the restaurant being as silent as a cemetery, Minjoo started to feel the awkward tension in the air between her and Yujin again. They weren't that awkward a couple of hours a go in such close proximity when Yujin carried her on her back, but why was she feeling so awkward now when the fact that Yujin was standing 7 feet away from her?

-

The next five days went by peacefully. Yujin had slowly became warmer, and by warmer she would constantly teach Minjoo some tricks to deal with drunk customers, which is to refuse serving them. Aside from that, they also watched tv together when the restaurant had closed. The two of them plus Mr. Kim to be exact. Sakura would also join them every once in a while.

Minjoo was forced to take a break by Mr. Kim from her part time job in the convenience store since she was injured. Minjoo felt like her dad was being dramatic because she was completely fine and it was just a burn injury. She could still walk but then her dad won the vote when Yujin also said that it would be better for her to take a break for a few days from her part time job. 

It was nearly 8 in the morning and the three of them were busy preparing to open the restaurant when they heard someone pressed the restaurant bell. Being the nearest to the kitchen door, Minjoo was the one to walk to the restaurant area to see who was the bell ringer. 

"Oh? Ahjusshi long time no see!" Minjoo greeted the middle-aged man in front of her who appeared to be the owner of dakggalbi restaurant in their neighborhood's junction. He's also the chairman of their street's food business, which consists of small restaurants on their street like her dad's. She never liked the man because the way he always look down on their restaurant.

"Minjoo-ah, how have you been?" the chubby man replied.

Minjoo nodded her head and forced a smile. "I'm good, let me go grab dad first, come on in ahjuss-" 

"No need, you guys must have been busy, I see the restaurant is doing well nowadays, must be because the new cook," he said, stopping Minjoo from calling out her dad. "This is the invitation of the annual summer festival, this year's first winner reward is 6 packages to stay for three days in a beach resort in Jeju island!" he whispered in excitement as he handed the pamflet to Minjoo.

"Ah, it's time again.." Minjoo nodded her head as he took the pamflet from the chubby man. Every year the district would held an annual summer festival to boost tourism. The restaurants will compete to win the first place reward, which is getting holiday packages to a summer destination which differ each year. The rule is pretty simple. The one who has the most unique menu for the festival is the winner. Last year was Busan. So this year is Jeju Island. Of course their restaurant never once won the prize but every year her dad would be the most excited one eventhough he knew he didn't have a chance to win. 

"Well then, I better get going first, say hello to your dad for me!" with that the man left, leaving Minjoo to ran back to the kitchen to tell her dad about the festival. 

"Who is it?" Mr. Kim asked the minute Minjoo opened the kitchen door. 

"It's chairman ahjusshi," Minjoo said, giving her dad the festival's pamflet.

Mr. Kim stopped chopping the peppers and immediately walked to his daughter. Everyone could just hear excitement from his footsteps. He opened the pamflet and exclaimed in joy. "Six resort packages to Jeju-do for three days? Woah the committee really went all out this year!" he said, reading the pamflet with sparks on his eyes.

"Yes but appa, we have to be realistic, we never won, our restaurant is located at the end of the street and this festival is more advantageous for those with loyal customers," The brunette said, trying to lower dad's expectation. It's like a cycle. Every year, her dad would be real excited in participating but got real disappointed when he didn't win. 

"You're right, but this year is different," Mr. Kim patted his daughter shoulder before reaching his phone on the counter. "A few days ago someone writing for this website came to interview us!" he said as he hold up his phone so Minjoo could see better.

Minjoo snatched the phone and widened her eyes as she gasped. "Really? I-I know this website! Koba's review column is really popular! They usually just interview the restaurants where food experts go to and they're very critical, my friends are crazy over this website! Wow! It's great! Appa! How come you didn't tell me anything?" Minjoo protested.

"It was meant to be a surprise, I was going to tell you once the article is out, and the good news is, the interviewer seemed to be Yujin's fan!" Mr. Kim replied, making Minjoo even more excited, While Yujin was still busy doing whatever she was doing on the kitchen counter. Compeletely unbothered about the excited father-daughter duo.

"So, so if we make use of Yujin's fame, customer would bound to increase!" the brunette almost screamed in joy. "Anyway, when will it be released?" she asked, refering to the article. 

"Next week!"

"Omo! It's perfect! Next week would be the peek of the festival!" The brunette replied as she hurriedly grab a note and a pen from the dining table. "We need to hurry and make a winning strategy for the festival! Okay, first, we need to give massive discounts!" she added and wrote down her first idea.

"Ooh!! We can allow customers to play the finger guessing game with you, if they win, they'll get a 10% discount!" Mr. Kim joined his daughter. "Or provide a free drink!" Minjoo added and wrote down their ideas but was forcely stopped when Yujin snatched her note from behind.

"We don't have to give out any extra benefits,"

The tall girl paused for a moment.

"Why? Other stores are doing it," Minjoo protested.

"However, I think it's time to change our menu, we need to decide the restaurant's official special dish, and as for the festival's special benefits, we only need to provide delicious looking new dishes," she continued, compeletely ignoring Minjoo's protest. She then looked over at Mr. Kim. 

"Ahjusshi, I trust your sense of taste and judgement for the ingredients, I look forward to test the food three days from now," Yujin said, ordering the 40something man as if she was the boss when the truth is the other way around which made Minjoo speechless. She could see why Yena said all of the other chefs at the fancy restaurant despised her. Just imagine what was it like when a girl that is young enough to be your daughter is ordering you around with that kind of atittude.

"Ah, really? I'm going to be embarassed if you say that," Mr. Kim replied, flattered by Yujin's words, while Minjoo just shook her head. It seemed like only her dad who is not sensing the rudeness in Yujin's attitude after weeks of living with her. 

........

"Appa, are you still thinking about the new dishes?" Minjoo asked, joining her dad in the kitchen. It was almost midnight and Minjoo was thirsty so she went down to get water and was surprised to see her dad was till on his chef's jacket in the kitchen, probably doing his assignment. "Seriously, Yujin's too harsh, are you sure you'll finished it all by tomorrow?" she asked as she sat on the bar stool to observe her dad in a closer proximity. 

"It can't be helped, when Yujin first came, she already mentioned that I'm in charge of the menu," he answered while still figuring out how to plate his over portioned spaghetti. 

"Really? Why?" Minjoo asked.

"I don't know, maybe she has her reason," Mr. Kim answered, earning a nod from his daughter. 

"Appa, are we a chinese restaurant? Why is the potion three times bigger?" Minjoo nagged, having just realized that her dad was struggling with the plating because he put too much spaghetti on it. It almost look like jjampong rather than spaghetti with marinara sauce. 

Mr. Kim stared at his daughter for several seconds and laughed, which made her frowned in confusion. "Why are you laughing?" she asked.

"It's funny because Yujin also said those exact words three days ago, it seemed like I really have to practice a lot on it," he answered. Minjoo didn't say anything to it. Speaking about Yujin, she haven't seen that tall girl since they have closed the restaurant a few hours a go. Usually she would still be in the kitchen, doing something after the three of them have  had their dinner. The brunette wondered where could Yujin be since it seemed like the only friend she has is Yena. Could she already be out there, searching for new restaurant to work in? 

Minjoo shook her head to shoo the thought of Yujin leaving them. To be frank, Minjoo had thought about it quiet a lot these days since their visit to Yujin's last work place. And she hated it. She was already used to them being three, Yujin, dad, and herself. She would never want that to change. But what if Yujin was bored already? But it also could be that  Yujin was just out to eat by herself. Maybe her insecurity was just nothing. Minjoo thought, trying to calm herself.

"Where is Yujin by the way?" she finally asked her dad who was eventually able to plate his spaghetti accordingly. 

"She said that she has something to do and will be home late," Mr. Kim replied. "What do you think? It looks prettier right?" he said, still looking at his spaghetti.

"She didn't say where?" She asked again, frowning. 

"Nope," he answered. "Seriously, what do you think minjoo-ah? It's pretty right?" Mr. Kim asked again.

Minjoo just nodded and didn't say anything as she was still deep in her thoughts. 

"Daughter? Are you okay?" Mr. Kim asked, starting to realize that his daughter was a little out of place.

"Oh? Yes, it looks prettier," she said, smiling. Maybe she was just being too paranoid. Yujin couldn't be bored that fast, she had only work with them for two months. She wouldn't leave them that fast right? Right?

.......

It was a cloudy summer day, but Minjoo was brighter than a sunny day. She even jump around on her way back from her part time job in the convenie