"We need more chicken Minju!", shouted Manager Lee from the register. "Fast!"

"I'm on it.", replied the girl frying the chicken in a hurry.

Namgoong Minju. 24-year-old MBA first-year student. She worked part-time at Uncle Kim's Chicken, a fried chicken restaurant near her apartment. Her old mother lived in the countryside, and Minju was an only child. She had moved to Seoul for college. She got in thanks to a scholarship funded by her town's mayor. Her school fees were halfway taken care of by the government, but supporting her mother and settling bills was hard. She barely had time for studies. But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Uncle Kim's was a well-known franchise, so it was always quite busy. Minju's shift started at 4 pm and ended at 1 am, at closing time. The manager, Mrs. Lee doted on her, so she was let off early on days when there weren't many customers.

Minju's days usually passed going to college and frying chicken till after midnight. This was her daily routine. This day was no different.

It was closing time soon and Minju left for her tiny, single-room apartment. She had moved out of her college dorm a year ago when the rent was raised too out of her budget. The building was owned by a relative of Mrs. Lee and Minju was offered the room at a lower monthly rent. It was shabby, but she was grateful for it nonetheless.

Too tired to have dinner, she drifted off to sleep.

The shrill noise of her alarm woke Minju up at exactly 6 am. Four hours of sleep were never enough. But hey, there was something called Sundays. She sighed, not-so-ready for another long day. She got up and got herself ready within 20 minutes. Her empty stomach made noise, so she fixed herself a humble breakfast consisting of sloppily applied jam over bread.

She reached her college thirty minutes early, as always. She could always use some extra study time. With work, she barely had time to sleep, let alone study. Still, she managed to get above-average grades by never missing a single class, no matter how sick or busy she was. Even during her breaks at work, she studied. It also helped that she was smart.

"Hey!", she heard someone call her and turned around. How long had they been calling her for? 

It was Park Chanyeol, also an MBA in Finance student, two years her senior. And one of the few people from college that she knew. "What are you working on so diligently? You didn't even hear me calling for you."

Minju winced, "Really?", she asked, "It's an assignment Mr. Han gave us for this semester's grading."

"Mr. Han? Security Analysis?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I think I have some of my old notes.", Chanyeol said. "I could give them to you. If you want them, that is."

Minju almost burst into tears. "Thank you! I'd love to have them! You're the best!" Gathering important notes was extremely time-consuming. Even though she attended all the classes, her notes were nowhere near enough. Extra books and help were always welcome. 

Chanyeol laughed, "That I am."

Chanyeol was a very fun and outgoing person. He had a big heart and was always ready to help anyone out. All the juniors respected him. He was never seen alone. He always had a bunch of his friends around. Not because they were his lackeys, but because he was such a nice person. He was popular with the girls, too. The reason why Minju was close to him was no different. He approached the juniors first during their orientation MT and warded all the 'dangerous' seniors off. It was no wonder why everyone loved him. Teachers are students alike. 

"Alright. I'll give them to you tomorrow.". He smiled, "It's time for my class. I'll catch you later."

"See ya." Minju waved at him and left for her class. She hoped to ask the professor for extra material to help with the assignments.

She saw a familiar back a few steps ahead of her and hopped to greeted them with a slap on the neck. "Yo!"

"Ow!" Her best friend, Kim Sua. "What's wrong with you?! Don't get your hands near me, Devil!"

Minju stuck out her tongue and made a face at her. Sua was her deskmate on the first day of college, and they hit off as soon as they met.

"I saw you talking to Chanyeol. What was that about?" Sua grinned mischievously. "Did he finally ask you out?"

"What? No!", protested Minju. "He just offered me his notes for Mr. Han's assignment."

Sua gasped. "This so unfair! Why didn't he offer them to me, too? Even though he likes you, this isn't right!"

"Stop speaking nonsense, he doesn't like me."

"You stop kidding yourself. He does. He goes around making starry eyes at you! And he's closest to you out of all juniors!"

Minju rolled her eyes. "He's close to you too."

"He's just using me to get closer to you!", Sua huffed.

Minju smacked Sua's head. "You're watching too many movies these days." 

"Stop hitting me! You'll never get a boyfriend if you go around hitting people like that."

No boyfriend? Minju was fine with that. She didn't have space or time for a boyfriend in her life, anyway.

Classes ended and Minju rushed to her workplace. She was going to be late. Good thing it was only a couple of blocks away.

Kim Sujeong, the waitress, waved at her when she saw Minju come in.

"Am I late?"

"You're right on time."

She put on her apron, mask, gloves and sanitary cap. It was time to fry chicken. Again. Minju had been around chicken for so long that all everything around her smelled like it. She had to admit, it was tasty. After all, it was her making it  chicken, right? But being around and eating it almost every day made her feel sick. 

A while later, she went to the counter to take a break. She had fried enough chicken to last another hour. She picked up her backpack from under the counter to look over her notes when Sujeong stopped her. Ugh, take a break and stop studying for once. Watch the new drama with me. That was what she said. And Minju couldn't refuse, she was exhausted.

So they sat at the counter watching the drama on the TV fixed on the wall adjacent to them. They were interrupted a few times by costumers are for more chicken and drinks, but they managed to catch on to the plot of the drama. 

Minju wasn't interested in it as much as she acted like she was when Sujeong kept telling her how great the drama was. Not until a particular character caught her eye. Was that... Him? It was! Minju didn't know a lot of celebrities, or movies or dramas. But she did know this actor shining gloriously in his side character role at the corner of the screen, behind the main characters. Byun Baekhyun.

Bored and tired of studying, Minju had stumbled across a web drama one fine day. And hence, bloomed her love for the actor who played the second lead; Byun Baekhyun. There wasn't much on his profile. Just a few side roles in unpopular web dramas. But she had still watched them for him. And now, knowing that he got a role in an actual drama made her extremely excited. She decided she was never going to miss an episode of this drama again.

Her mood was giddy for the rest of the evening to the point where Mrs. Lee even asked her if she was alright. The workhours passed like a breeze, and it was near closing time soon.

"Should we close the shop a little early today?", asked Mrs. Lee. "I don't think we'll have any more customers coming in now."

Minju sighed in relief. Yes, please.  "We should."

Then the telephone rang.

"I'll check.", said Junwoo, the delivery boy.

It was an order for chicken. At 12:47 am.

Mrs. Lee clapped her hands unenthusiastically. Minju wanted to laugh. But she couldn't. She wanted to go home. And watch Byun Baekhyun's new drama.

"Alright, kids. Let's so this." She looked at Minju. "There's still some chicken left right?"

Minju nodded.

"Great. At least it won't be going to waste." Minju wondered how Mrs. Lee could be so level headed. If it was her she would probably have... well, cried in frustration. "I'll go and pack it. Junwoo, do the delivery. The girls can go. I'll close the shop when Junwoo comes back." 

"Can we? Are you sure we don't need to stay?", asked Sujeong.

"Yeah. I'll be fine, get home sa-"

That was when Junwoo interrupted. "Guys I'm sorry, but I need to go home. Like, right now."

Minju frowned. "What's wrong?"

"My roommate called a few minutes ago. He's sick and there's no one to look after him. I think I have to take him to the hospital."  Ah.

"Is that so?", asked Mrs. Lee. "Go ahead. We'll take care of it."  This woman didn't have a drop of strictness in her. She was an angel compared to the managers of the other branches. Minju had seen a few of them before. She didn't want to see them ever again.

"Thank you. I'm so sorry for the trouble!" Junwoo did look very sorry. He gave his vest to Minju and left in a hurry.

Mrs. Lee looked towards her and Sujeong. "So which one of you will deliver the chicken?".

"I can't! I have plans!", answered Sujeong immediately.

At 1 am? Minju wondered to herself. And as if she could read her mind, Sujeong said, "It's my friends! It's a birthday party. They're all waiting for me." 

Minju sighed. Not again. Sujeong had so many friends, she probably had to attend a birthday party every night. "You go join your friends, I'll do the delivery."

"Really? Thank you! I love you!". Sujeong hugged her and left. If Sua saw Minju right then, she probably would have said 'you are such a dumb pushover'. She wasn't wrong, though. Her naivety kindness often let people take advantage of her. The worst thing was that Minju was all too aware of it, but helpless. She just didn't know how to say no.

Well, I guess it can't be helped. Minju walked to the counter where Junwoo left the note with the delivery address, and Mrs. Lee got busy with preparing the order. Minju didn't know, then, that a delivery to Hannam-dong, UN Village was going to cost her the little peace she had in her life.