The next Friday couldn't come soon enough for Ga Eul. As soon as it was relatively time for her to get ready for work, she stood in front of the mirror for nearly an hour, trying to get her uniform, makeup, and hair just right.

Not that her hair would look any different from her regular updo, as the restaurant's dress code required all waitresses with hair of a certain length to wear it in a tight, professional bun, but she could at least make sure her bun looked as perfect as possible.

She'd ironed out the creases in her uniform down to the tiniest detail.

Now she paced the room restlessly, checking her phone every few minutes while her roommate and best friend Jan Di rattled on about her blind date for the evening. Someone named Gu Soo Pyo. Unfortunately, last night Jan Di had decided to do a face mask that caused her to have an allergic reaction, and she was now fretting over the tiny red bumps dotting her face.

Ga Eul sat down on the bed, smoothing her pants out under her as she did so.

How early was too early to arrive for her shift?

Not that it would make him arrive any faster.

Him being So Yi Jeong.

The So Yi Jeong.

Ga Eul pressed her hands to her face and grinned nonsensically.

Her cheeks were on fire.

"Are you listening?" Jan Di asked, swivelling around in her chair in front of their shared vanity.

"What?" Ga Eul snapped her hands down, trying to appear innocent.

"I said, 'Do you think this foundation will work?'" She held up a small bottle of liquid foundation.

"Um, wouldn't it irritate your skin more?"

"But I can't go on my date looking like this! Ugh, why are these things always happening to me? By the way, are you okay? Why do you look like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're about to jump out of your skin."

Ga Eul shrugged.

"I guess I'm bored. I want to go to work already."

"Is work that exciting these days?"

"Sometimes," Ga Eul replied noncommittally.

"Hmm, I see...All right, who is he? One of the waiters who works with you?"

"What? I mean, no. N-no."

Jan Di frowned.

"Your cute boss?"

"My boss is a sixty year old ahjussi," Ga Eul protested. "No, thanks."

"Well, you have to tell me," Jan Di insisted.

"Tell you what?"

"Ga Eul." Jan Di's frown deepened, like Ga Eul was breaking some sacred vow of their lifelong friendship by not disclosing the real reason for her current mood.

Well. To be fair, she did normally tell Jan Di everything.

Normally.

This was not a normal occurrence, however.

"The thing is...I'm not really supposed to tell."

"Because he's married?" Jan Di's eyes grew huge.

"Huh?"

"Ga Eul! How could you fool around with a married man?!"

"Ani, that's not it!" Picking up the nearest stuffed animal—a giraffe with huge, glittery pink eyes—Ga Eul launched it at her. The giraffe bounced harmlessly off of Jan Di's arm. "It's just this customer I have now. But I'm not really supposed to talk about it. My boss actually made me sign a form saying I wouldn't speak to anyone outside the restaurant about it, especially not the press."

Jan Di's eyes got wider, if that were possible.

"Oh my gosh, you're serving a celebrity!"

"Shhhh!"

"You are! Tell me everything!"

Hopping up from her chair, Jan Di plopped down next to Ga Eul.

"There's not much to tell, really," Ga Eul began, picking a few specks of lint from her pants. "He requested to have a private room every Friday night for ten weeks, and he wanted the same waitress every time. And he wanted everything to be extra, extra discreet. I guess my boss trusts me since my uncle used to work with him, and on my last review, my direct supervisor told him I was his best waitress." Ga Eul allowed herself a small beam of pride. "Which is pretty impressive considering how many people work there."

"But what sort of person rents out a restaurant like that for ten weeks straight?" Jan Di asked.

The restaurant Ga Eul worked at was pretty pricey. In fact, if Ga Eul didn't work there, she would have never set foot in the place. Much less have a private room.

"It's not every day, just Fridays," she corrected. "And it's a room, not the entire place."

"Gosh, people are loaded," Jan Di groaned, falling back flat on the bed. "And I have to take over the family laundry business."

Twisting around to face Jan Di, Ga Eul took one of her hands. "Look, Jan Di, you're my best friend." Jan Di tore her gaze from the ceiling and zoned back in on Ga Eul, who took a deep breath and proceeded. She couldn't not tell anyone. "I'm going to tell you who it is, but you have to promise...no, swear...you won't tell anyone. My boss will kill me if he finds out I told. He's having arranged marriage meetings."

"Who is?"

"It's—"

"T.O.P.?"

"No, it's—"

"Jimin? Jungkook?"

"No."

"Oh, I know! Chanyeol!"

"Will you let me finish?"

"Go on."

"So Yi Jeong."

"Who?"

"So Yi Jeong!"

"So Yi..." Jan Di trailed off, frowning at the ceiling.

"Ugh, fine here's a picture."

Ga Eul pulled up a search on her laptop and flipped it around so Jan Di could see.

"Oh! Isn't that the potter you're so crazy about?" Jan Di sat up. Leaning in towards the laptop screen, she enlarged the photo Ga Eul had pulled up. "He is pretty cute."

"Yes, I know!" Ga Eul squealed. "I actually talked to him!...Well, I mean, I asked him what wine he wanted—cabernet sauvignon—and if I could interest him in dessert—he went with the cheesecake—but still, I talked to him!" She clapped her hands excitedly.

"No way! And you're serving him every week?"

"Yep. He requested the same server every time...well, contingent on if I do a good job. But I haven't heard anything to the contrary, so...yay!" Ga Eul twisted around with glee.

"Isn't that kind of weird, though? I mean, serving someone you've had a celebrity crush on for forever...while he's on a date with someone else."

"Mmm...Well, I have to admit, the situation is not ideal. It's an ill-timed fate if there ever was one." She clasped her hand over her heart. "But Jan Di, us mere mortals, we should at least take what we can get, don't you think?"

Jan Di tilted her head, seeming to think about that.

"I suppose you have a point. But what happens if he doesn't like you or you don't do a good job?"

"Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I'm just asking. It seems like a pretty serious customer."

"I'm pretty sure I get fired."

'Oh,' Jan Di mouthed.

"But I don't know, it's worth the risk, don't you think? I mean, at least it'd be kind of epic. Getting fired over someone like that."

"Well, it's better than getting fired over a grumpy old man who doesn't like anything you bring him. Remember that ahjussi that complained about everything you brought him at the porridge shop?" Jan Di asked, referring to the porridge shop they'd worked at together in high school.

"Oh yeah. Whatever happened to him?"

Jan Di shrugged.

"I think Master said something about him moving in with his grandson. Maybe he doesn't live nearby anymore."

"Mmm, maybe so." Ga Eul nodded her head thoughtfully.

Just then, her phone alarm went off.

This was it.

Time to meet her ill-timed fate once again.

---

This time, Yi Jeong arrived before his date, a vision in a silver three piece suit with a diamond earring glinting in one ear. As she greeted him, she remembered what he'd said to her at the end of last Friday about hoping to see her again—at first, she'd thought he'd been hitting on her, but now she thought it unlikely.

First of all, his date had been a knockout—straight-up model material—and if he wasn't interested in her—she'd been in the room for most of the lackluster date where he was clearly spaced out—she highly doubted he wanted anything to do with herself.

Secondly, she'd had guests hit on her plenty of times, with some of their suggestions being particularly crude and disrespectful. The last private dinner she'd waited on had been a group of high level executives, all of them ridiculously drunk by the end of the night. One of them decided to swat her bottom as she exited balancing a dozen half-filled drinks on her tray, and she nearly dropped all of the drinks on herself.

But even knowing Yi Jeong's Casanova reputation, she hadn't felt uncomfortable around him. Jan Di would say she was projecting her perfect, imaginary So Yi Jeong onto the real one, and it was clouding her judgment.

But Ga Eul didn't think so.

Or maybe she didn't care.

Tonight, as he settled into his chair, she asked if she could get him anything before his date arrived—anything besides water—but he waved her off without looking up from his phone.

So much for being glad to see her again.

Maybe her newness had rubbed off, and now she was as much part of the table arrangement as a centerpiece or a salad fork. She should have expected it, but it still made her a bit sad.

Determined to put her best serving hand forward, nonetheless, she greeted his date gracefully and took their drink orders. When she came back with a bottle of sauvignon blanc—Yi Jeong had an affinity for most wines, she'd learned—she immediately sensed the tension in the room. Whereas his date the week before had been giggly and fawning all over him, this one's stiff formality made the date seem much more like the business meeting it actually was.

Well, what should she expect from an arranged marriage, anyway?

They were discussing the latest business ventures of their parents as Ga Eul poured the wine, and Ga Eul's eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she heard the names of the string of companies the young lady stood to inherit.

Ga Eul hadn't even known some of those companies were connected.

A minute later, his date, Go In Na, was saying this and that about the current state of the stock market when suddenly she turned to Ga Eul and snapped, "Is this what you call quality wine here?"

"I'm sorry? Is the wine not to your taste?"

"Well, I don't know what you think sauvignon blanc is supposed to taste like, but it's certainly not this bitter crap."

"So sorry." She glanced at Yi Jeong, uncertain if he shared his date's sentiment. "I can get you another bottle. Or perhaps you'd like to try another wine?"

"My wine is perfectly fine. Excellent, in fact," Yi Jeong commented, sipping from his glass while looking utterly amused. "Maybe you really don't like this kind?" he suggested to his date.

"Nonsense. I know what I like." Narrowing her eyes at Ga Eul, she continued, "A glass of rosé, please." She snapped her fingers. "Hurry up." She held out the offending glass like she didn't trust Ga Eul to take it away by herself.

"Of course." Ga Eul took the glass and made her expression remain neutral; she was used to temperamental guests.

"Uh, make that a bottle, Miss Ga Eul," Yi Jeong called after Ga Eul as she scurried away. Despite the sting of his date's temper, she smiled on her way to the bar when she realized he'd remembered her name.

In Na sniffed and eyed her suspiciously when she returned and poured her the second glass of wine but, thankfully, didn't comment once she'd taken a sip.

Yi Jeong had ordered the lobster for their main course; he said he'd remembered his date's 'affinity for seafood.'

In Na gave him a pointed smile when the food was delivered and gingerly put a small bite of the lobster in .

Ga Eul could sense she was going to complain no matter what it tasted like, and In Na proved her right.

"Excuse me, is this lobster fresh or frozen?"

Yi Jeong gulped down a generous mouthful of his own lobster and asked, "Something wrong?"

"I assure you, all of our seafood is fresh," Ga Eul answered. "We get those in every morning. I see them myself."

"Well, I know fresh lobster when I taste it, and there is no way in hell this lobster is fresh." Shoving her plate to the edge of the table with her acrylic nails, In Na crossed her arms and looked at Ga Eul like Ga Eul was the dumbest person she'd ever encountered.

"We only serve fresh lobster here," Ga Eul continued calmly, "but I can certainly have another one cooked for you if this one isn't to your tastes. Or if there's anything else on the menu that you'd rather have, I can get it for you."

"Can you describe anything on your menu that might be to my tastes?"

Probably not.

"The beef tartare is particular good. But if you prefer seafood—"

"I prefer something edible. My Pomeranian eats better food than this."

Your Pomeranian eats lobster?

"Then perhaps you should have stayed home and eaten with your dog," Yi Jeong interrupted. He wasn't looking at either of them but continued eating his lobster like the whole exchange didn't concern him in the slightest.

"Fine." In Na glared across the table; he seemed not to notice. "I'll take the beef tartare. I better not get food poisoning. And take that." She pointed at her plate in the very same moment Ga Eul snatched it. Ga Eul at least had the pleasure of seeing her pissed expression when she saw that Ga Eul had gotten to it first.

'If you were poor, there's no way any man who looks like Yi Jeong would be putting up with you right now,' Ga Eul thought as she set the beef tartare down in front of In Na some minutes later.

If In Na said anything about this next dish, Ga Eul would be so tempted to bring her actual dog food.

She believed Yi Jeong might even find it funny.

Turning her back, she started for the door to return the uneaten plate of lobster to the kitchen when she felt a hand jerk the back of her uniform shirt.

Hard.

Unfortunately, when the movement pulled Ga Eul backwards, gravity dictated that the plate of food fly backward as well, with most of the mess landing on the floor and a few flicks of sauce ending up on In Na's black A-line dress.

Immediately getting to her feet, In Na demanded, "What's wrong with you? Do you have any idea how much this dress costs?"

"Sorry. I'm so sorry. It was accident. I...Here, let me give you a napkin."

"Aniyo." In Na snatched the napkin anyway and began dabbing at her dress. "I was simply going to ask for some lemon. I had no idea you were so clumsy. Perhaps I need to speak to a manager about my dress. I don't suppose you could cover it. It's probably worth more than you make in a year."

"In Na, why are you so worried about your dress? If your businesses are doing so well. Here." Yi Jeong pulled a wad of bills out of his wallet. "That should cover it. Maybe it could even persuade you to finish our meal in peace."

At least In Na had the decency to look somewhat embarrassed at his obviously mocking gesture and sat down, shoving his money back towards him. But then, in the same breath, she looked back up at Ga Eul and snapped, "Well, what are you waiting for? Clean it up."

"Yes, of course." Ga Eul knelt down and began gathering the food back onto the plate with a napkin, keeping her head down and focused on her task.

Honestly, who did this think she was?

"And keep your filthy hands off of my shoes," In Na muttered as Ga Eul reached under the table for a few rogue vegetables.

"That's quite enough," Yi Jeong countered. He sounded annoyed.

As if realizing she'd, again, overstepped, In Na laughed—a falsely pleasant laugh. "Well, who am I to judge? Some people are simply uneducated."

"And some people simply act uneducated," Yi Jeong replied. "If her hands are dirty, it's only because she's been serving you."

Silence.

Ga Eul picked up the remainder of the food and stood, ready to bolt out of there before tears crept into her eyes. She'd grown tough skin doing this job, but sometimes random insults would make her want to bolt and go cry her eyes out in the bathroom.

She wouldn't cry in front of So Yi Jeong. She wouldn't.

"Miss Ga Eul," Yi Jeong spoke up, as Ga Eul turned to leave. She turned back around reluctantly.

"Yes?"

He had a practiced, calculating smile on his face as he looked up at Ga Eul.

"Please take Miss Go In Na's new plate back to the kitchen, along with that one."

"I'm sorry?" Ga Eul asked.

"And also, please bring me the bill. I'm quite finished for tonight." He pushed his plate away. "I think my appetite's been ruined." He fixed his eyes back on In Na. "By the poor company."

In Na scoffed.

"You aren't serious."

"Go In Na, let's be clear about something here." He leaned in conspiratorially, keeping his voice smooth and his manner calm. "I offered to meet with you out of respect for my parents and yours. But obviously we are from two completely incompatible classes. Those who pretend to be high class and those who actually are. Now I think it best for both of us if we cut this date short so that we are both free to pursue our own, as you put it, tastes."

In Na answered him with another withering glare, but she didn't say anything for a long moment. Ga Eul stood awkwardly by the table, afraid to leave with or without the plate of beef. The silence stretched on until finally In Na hooked her purse around her arm, grabbed her phone from the table, and stood.

"I hope you enjoy the rest of your dinner. I think you and the waitress here suit each other." And with that, she flounced out, letting another equally awkward silence descend.

Yi Jeong had cleared off the rest of his plate—obviously, he knew fresh lobster when he tasted it—and she quietly collected his plate as well as In Na's from the table.

She cleared .

"Can I get you anything else?" she asked. There wasn't a check, only a running tab, so she figured he'd only said that bit for effect.

"I just want to apologize." He gave her an apologetic smile. "For my date. I'm sorry she went off on you like that. It was uncalled for. "

"Oh, there's really no need to apologize. I-"

He waved her off.

"No, no. Thank you. But she was right about something. The sauvignon blanc is too bitter."

"Oh. I'm so sorry. Please tell me next time. I could have gotten you something else."

"Ani, it's okay. I've never liked her much. I wanted to get on her nerves. She was..."

A ?

"My parents' idea."

"Ah, well...I see..." She trailed off, unsure how to respond to that.

"But not to worry." Yi Jeong lounged back in his chair, taking a sip of water. "She'd benefit a lot more from marrying me than I would her. She acts like that, but actually..." He set his glass down and leaned toward her. "I hear quite a few of her father's companies are in trouble, if you know what I mean. But you didn't hear that from me."

"Oh. Yes. Of course not."

"Well..." He looked like he might say something else on the subject but instead ended with, "See you next week, Miss Ga Eul." He stood and drained the rest of his water glass.

"See you then. Good night."

She watched him disappear around the corner and smiled to herself as she began collecting the glasses, not quite believing he'd stood up for her like that.

He was nice, she decided.

Horribly rich, but nice.

And, at least, Jan Di would enjoy the story about his date. They could make fun of her while stuffing their faces with ramen from the gas station.

Honestly, Go In Na made the old guy from the porridge shop look saintly.

As she went around to his side of the table, she noticed something black poking out from under a napkin there. Lifting it up, she recognized his phone from earlier.

She dropped the dishes and bolted out the door with it.

Running out to the front, she only managed to spot him pulling away in his unmistakable orange Lotus.

Yes, she knew far too much about him, including what car he drove.

If she didn't know herself, she'd find the things she knew about him creepy.

But she was a potter, too, after all. Well, she majored in it, and he was one of her main muses besides being sinfully handsome.

Going back inside, she retraced her steps to the room, trying to collect herself while she debated what to do.

The room was still empty, with everything sitting as she'd left it.

Well. She'd have to give the phone to her manager. That was all there was to it.

But as she accidentally swiped her finger across the screen, she found it to be unlocked.

Oh, honestly, what type of person didn't put a lock on their phone in this day and age?

Especially someone of his status...wasn't he worried about stalkers...or people finding some steamy and forbidden text exchange and posting it on the internet?

Not that he would have anything remotely erted or taboo on there, she was sure.

Or was she?

Maybe she should just copy his number down. Then give the phone to her manager. He could call Yi Jeong right back to the restaurant, and no one would be any wiser.

Except.

What could she possibly do with his number if she wasn't supposed to have it?

Maybe she could at least see if he had any cute pictures…

Ga Eul shook her head.

No. The whole thing was simply wrong.

No way was she going to look through it.

No way.

It was personal.

Private.

It would be horribly disrespectful of her.

Horribly creepy.

Her traitorous thumb hovered over the camera button for a millisecond before pressing it.

Unfortunately, as she scrolled through the photos, she realized he wasn't much into selfies. Or even pictures with him in it. There were some personal photos from a recent event she'd seen in a press release though. Scrolling further down, she found some candid shots of the other F4 members she'd heard about. The pictures looked to be taken in someone's apartment. Maybe his apartment?

To be honest, she wasn't feeling all too bad about being in total creeper mode until she scrolled up a bit too fast and all of a sudden found the entire screen covered in images from what looked like a pretty wild party.

Now she'd definitely seen enough women's s to last her a while.

Closing the screen immediately, she felt her face start to burn up again.

Served her right for snooping.

"Miss Ga Eul."

Startled, she spun around, phone clattering to the table.

She opened , forming a small 'O,' but nothing came out.

.

"I think I left my phone here." Yi Jeong stood in the entrance, a charming smile painted on his face.

. . . . .

"Oh...Oh, yes. I was just...trying to figure out who's it was." The words tumbled out of even though she knew they didn't make any sense.

Of course it was his phone. Who else's phone would it be? In Na had clearly taken hers with her when she stormed out.

"Sorry." Picking the phone back up, she it at him. "I tried to run after you, but you'd already gone."

She'd just contradicted herself.

Great.

She hoped to god he hadn't seen her rummaging through his photos. Though he probably had.

He gave her an indiscernible look.

"Thank you." He took the phone from her outstretched palm. Their fingertips brushed ever-so-slightly.

He hadn't seen what she was doing.

He couldn't have. If he had, she'd be out the door on her right now.

"Well, have a good night, again."

She blinked. Before she could say anything in reply, he had swept out the door again.

Gone.

As soon as she felt he was a safe distance away, Ga Eul started breathing again.

This was turning out to be much more eventful than she'd planned for.