Haseul couldn't take it anymore. She really, just, couldn't take it. 

Yes, she enjoyed the few hours of the day when she would go to the beach with Yeojin. But the rest of her time was spent in complete, utter boredom: with her grandmother reading or asleep, and Yeojin playing minecraft or just doing general other...whatever ten year olds did, Haseul had nothing to do except watch TV and look at her phone. 

She needed to see other people closer to her own age. She needed to have a purpose. She needed to make money.

So, it was high time she got a job. It would be kind of hard to break the new to Yeojin, as it meant she wouldn't be around to go to the beach every day. But she wouldn't work more than part time, so she'd probably be able to hang out with Yeojin half the week. 

She decided to start her hunt early, getting up at the shocking hour of eight am (it truly felt wrong to get up so early in the summer), putting on the nicest clothes she brought and actual makeup. When she came into the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast Yeojin was already there, wearing an inquisitive look. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Um, yeah, about that...Yeojin, I wanna talk with you." 

"Did you and Vivi go on a secret date without telling me?" 

"I wish." The words slipped out of Haseul's mouth before she could control herself. 

"Simp," Yeojin mumbled, and Haseul rolled her eyes. "But anyways. Why do you look fancy?" 

Haseul sighed. "I'm gonna look for a job today." 

Yeojin's jaw dropped and she looked genuinely astounded and hurt. Haseul knew she might react like this but she was hoping she wouldn't. Well...Yeojin was ten, with no friends in town to hang out with. Haseul got it. 

"What? And just leave me? What about our beach trips?" 

"It's only gonna be part time, I promise. Just a few days a week. I'll still be able to go the beach with you about half of the week." 

Yeojin crossed her arms, sighing and rolling her eyes dramatically. She flopped back into the seat, leaning and pouting at Haseul. "Why do you need a job anyways?" 

"I'm gonna start college soon! And if I'm not working, I'm just spending money that I could be saving for college..." 

Yeojin sighed, again. "I hate adult stuff." 

"Me too, Yeojin. Me too." 

"Then why don't you just forget about it?" the soon to be middle school student asked. 

"Because! Because." Haseul sighed. "Look, I won't need to save all of the money. We can get snacks and yummy dinners all the time if I work. Plus...I'll buy you something from minecraft?" 

Slowly, Yeojin grinned. "Now, that's a deal I can get behind. As long as you still come to the beach with me on your days off." 

"Of course I will Yeojin!" 

"And not just so you can check out Vivi!" 

"I promise!" Haseul whined. She swore, Vivi was only part of the reason she wanted to go to the beach every day. 

"Now...if there's snacks and minecraft on the line, I think I will support you in finding a job. Wanna practice for interviews with me?" 

Haseul smiled brightly at her sweet cousin. "Yes please." 

~~~~~~~~~~

It had been three hours and still, Haseul had nothing. Nothing! Not even the promise of a call back. 

Literally every place she went in, from many stores in the giant mall two towns over, to the big grocery store, to the little tourist shops near the main beach, to the fancy restaurants in the hipster area of town, she was met with rejection. She had dressed up for the occassion, practiced her little speech and interviewing with Yeojin; she had even revised her resume and printed it out all nice! Most of the places were rude to her. Some wouldn't even take a copy of her resume. 

But every single one had sworn to her that they were not hiring. She only had one copy of her resume left even though she'd printed twenty copies; that's how many places she went to. And not a single one was hiring. It didn't make sense; it's summer. Wasn't this the busy season? Didn't they need more people for this time of year? 

Haseul felt completely defeated. Maybe Yeojin had been right; she should have just gone with her to the beach and not bothered to seek out a job. 

She had ventured pretty far from her grandmother's house in looking for a summer job but now she was almost back, no more than fifteen minutes away. It was a part of town Haseul had never been to before but it didn't look all that different from grandmother's area. At this point, it was just residential buildings. Until, she came upon a storefront that made her stop. 

Checking to make sure no one was behind her Haseul slowed down, squinting to get a good look. It was a restaurant, with a neon sign above the door that read 'Allison's 24 Hour Diner'. From what she could tell, it seemed like a typical quaint diner, and based on the street, the back of it probably looked over Our Beach. 

Haseul hummed; she had one last resume left and there was parking right in front. Huh. It seemed like fate. 

So with some struggle she parked her car and hopped out. Part of her still felt defeated, assuming that this place wouldn't be hiring either, but there was a part of her that began to have hope. 

She walked up to the door and pushed it open, the door making a soft jingling sound. 

It was the cutest, quaintest place you could possibly imagine: wood panelling everywhere, with booth seats and chairs with red leather cushions. It smelled like butter and coffee and steak in the best way possible, the soft sound of chatter filling the space. Looking around, it was obvious this was a local's food spot, with a group of old hippies and another group of surfers each taking up a table, sand from their bags leaving a pile on the floor. Actually, Haseul could spot sand almost everywhere, but it felt like it belonged. And she'd been right before; the back windows looked out onto Our Beach. The whole place reminded her of the pizza shop in Mystic Pizza, that old 80's movie her mom forced her to watch as soon as she turned sixteen. The restaurant was cute and quaint, but not on purpose. It was real. 

Haseul could only spot two employees: two young girls, definitely in high school, probably the same age or younger than herself. Both had long, dark hair and normal clothes on, other than a bright red apron with the neon sign from outside stitched on the front in white thread. One was wiping down the counter, and Haseul watched as the other came up behind her, tugging the tie of her apron until it opened. The girl with the now untied apron turned around and made a face at the other as she giggled and dashed to the other end of the restaurant. But they looked at each other with affection, even then. And they were both gorgeous. Like, celebrity gorgeous. Otherwordly gorgeous. 

After taking in the restaurant Haseul finally began to approach the counter to order. Even though she'd been doing this all day it still made her anxious every time. Plus, she was nervous to talk to the pretty, cool seeming girls. 

Haseul approached the counter and waited for a moment, getting her resume ready. About a minute or so later, the girl who untied her coworker's apron walked around to the back side of the counter. 

The girl, who was somehow even prettier up close, leaned all the way forward. "Sup." 

Haseul just stared back at her, wide eyed, and she snorted and stood up. 

"Just kidding, sorry." She grinned, and Haseul was a little starstruck. Not in the way she was with Vivi, of course. But still starstruck. "What can I getcha?" 

"U-um...actually...I-I was wondering if this restaurant is hiring? I-I have my resume here..." 

The girl grinned and turned to the back. "Allison!" she shouted. 

"Coming, coming," a huffy voice returned and a few moments later, a woman popped out of the back. She was an older white woman with long, dirty blonde curly hair. She had on an apron matching the two girls, but was wearing a soft, worn t-shirt and a patchwork skirt. Looking over the counter just a little, Haseul could also see she was wearing sandals, with her toenails each painted a different color. There was something about her that was innately comforting, a kind of art teacher vibe. Haseul liked her already. 

"She wants to know if we're hiring," the employee explained. 

"Oh, oh! Yes we are. It's the summer season; we're busier than ever! Our other girl left for college last year too...what's your name, dearie?" the woman apparently named Allison spoke. 

"Oh, I'm Haseul!" 

"Nice to meet you. So very nice to meet you." 

"I-I have a resume!" 

"Oh how lovely," Allison answered as Haseul passed it to her. She read it over, Haseul noticing the massive turquoise rings on her fingers. "You worked at Carl's Junior last summer?" 

"Yes, I did." 

"All of last summer?" Haseul nodded and Allison let out a desperaging sigh. "How awful."

Haseul chuckled a little; that was not the answer she was expecting. But it was true. "Yeah, it was." 

"To waste a teenage summer at a place like that?" She sighed and set down the resume. "Do you have a few minutes?" 

"Y-Yes, actually, I have all the time in the world." 

Allison smiled. "Then how about we do a quick interview?" 

Haseul gasped; this was better than she ever could have hoped for. "That would be great!" 

"Follow me." Allison beckoned Haseul behind the counter then led her into the back. They passed by the kitchen, where two male cooks were frying and pouring pancake batter and blending milkshakes. Honestly, it smelled incredible. 

Allison led her further in until the reached a small office like room. There was an ancient looking computer, printer, and fax machine, along with a corkboard. It was covered in pictures of strangers, but Haseul spotted a few with the two girl employees, and some of Allison. She made note of a photo of Allison pecking lips with another older woman. 

"So Haseul, how old are you?" 

"I'm seventeen." 

"So, going to be a senior next year?" She nodded. "What a big milestone! Congratulations." 

"Th-thank you." 

"What brings you to Egret Cove? You must not be from here. I know everyone, and everyone in this town knows me." 

"Actually I'm from Morrisville, but I'm staying with family over the summer, my grandmother and my younger cousin." 

Allison took another peek at her resume. "Mrs. Jo, by any chance? And her little granddaughter Yeojin?" 

"Yes!" 

"Oh, what lovely people, those two are. They used to come in all the time for dinner, once a week at least. Now, Yeojin just comes in to pick up food to go. She must be almost done with elementary school now, right?" 

Haseul was briefly amazed that Allison remembered something like that. "Yeah, she's ten. She's starting middle school next year." 

"My my, how time flies. I remember when she was just a little girl. She is still quite cute...but there's a certain strength about her." 

"I agree. Definitely." 

Allison took one last brief glance at Haseul's resume before setting it down. "Haseul...I love your energy, and would love to have you as a part of our staff." 

"Really?" Haseul grinned so wide it felt like would fall off. She got something, in the first day of looking, and not only was it close to her house, it was definitely the funnest looking place out of everywhere she'd been to. 

"Of course, dearie. When can you start?" 

"Oh, immediately." 

"Good, good. And what does your availability look like?" 

"I'm free literally anytime." 

"Ah, good, good. Part time is good, right?" 

"Yes." 

"Good. Unless my younger staff needs to support themselves or their families, I try to give them not too many hours. In the summer, you need time to run free....does day shift sound alright? I'd rather you didn't be going home in the dark, after all, even though Egret Cove is safe, you never know...." 

"Day shift is perfect." 

"Good, good. Let me think...well, I'd like to put you in the front. Doing basic waitressing, bussing tables, clean up, dealing with the cash register, running food...does that sound like good work to you?" 

"It sounds just right." 

"Oh! You'll be working with Heejin and Hyunjin. I think you'll get along with them just swimmingly, you three are very close in age. They're only about a year or so younger than you. They were the two girls working right now. The one you talked to was Heejin, and the other girl is Hyunjin." 

"They seem nice." 

"Oh, they are! Such lovely girls. I've known them since they were just little girls, just toddlers. Once they got into high school, the first place they went to look for a job was with me. Here, Haseul, we're all just like a little family." Haseul smiled. Although the two girls, Heejin and Hyunjin, were intimidating, she could sense that this place really was like a family. "Anyways...could you perhaps come in tomorrow?" 

"Yes! Absolutely!" 

"Does ten am sound good?" 

Haseul sighed with relief; she usually got up at eight now anyways, because of Yeojin. "That's perfect." 

"Let me give you this..." Allison reached behind her into a box and pulled out three of those red aprons, handing them to Haseul. "Wear one of these tomorrow, alright? Just let me know if you need more." 

"Thank you so much!" 

"No, thank you. Now, go home and get some rest for tomorrow. We'll go easy on you, of course, but it'll be a big day." 

Haseul smiled. "Will do." Honestly, she was looking forward to tomorrow already.