Hyejoo's mood didn't match the brightness of the weather at all. The clock now read 11:00, and once again, Hyejoo had failed her job interview. 

She stopped walking for a bit, set her bag down beside her on the floor, and looked at her reflection in the window of a store. Placing both hands on her face, she squished her cheeks in hopes of making a cuter face. Some of her baby fat was still there, after all. However, the intended effect wasn't achieved, and she sighed before trying again.

Looks like the glasses didn't work as a camouflage either... Is it really all because of this look in my eyes?

A smile, a laugh, a pouting face, a grimace...making all of these faces in the middle of the day at the window of a random store certainly garnered the attention of some passersby, who all veered away from Hyejoo in concern.

 

On the other side of the tinted glass, 3 girls wearing aprons were staring at the girl making weird faces outside their café window. Their name tags read Hyunjin, Heejin, and Jinsoul. Heejin and Jinsoul were moving around some boxes in preparation to open shop in 15 minutes, but immediately stopped and placed the boxes down to look at the strange girl instead.

"Hey guys...what do you think that girl's doing?" asked Hyunjin.

"Beats me. No idea at all," replied Jinsoul.

"What is that? What's she even trying to do..." wondered Heejin.

 

2 pairs of footsteps came from behind the girls, and from the back of the store emerged Haseul and Chaewon, coming to see what the Jin trio were chatting about.

"What are you guys looking at? We're opening in 15," said Haseul.

"Look at this girl. She's making a bunch of random faces in our window. Do you think she can see us?" chimed Hyunjin. 

Haseul redirected her attention to the girl outside the window, smiling as she saw the raven haired girl in teal.

Oh my gosh she's so cute! She has the aura of an adorable ice princess! I must hire her! 

Meanwhile, Chaewon was frozen in place, staring at the girl outside the window. It's the raven haired stranger from earlier this morning at the train station! I-...wow what are the odds...

Chaewon's staring and slight fidgeting didn't go unnoticed by Haseul, or any of the Jin trio for that matter, who all just made a mental note and laughed quietly to themselves.

 

Seeing this opportunity, before the raven haired stranger could leave again, Chaewon rushed out of the café to meet her. The sudden noise of rapid footsteps and the chime of an opened door startled Hyejoo greatly, breaking her gaze from the window, and landing instead on the frame of Chaewon.

"U-um...excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"You're the girl from earlier on the train station, right? The one in a hurry?"

"Uh, yes. Yes I am. I'm assuming you're the foreigner?"

"Can I have your number?"

"Ehhhh??!!"

 

. . .

 

Hyejoo now stood inside the café, facing Haseul, Chaewon, and the Jin trio. She immediately noticed that, of the people before her, only one of them was wearing something that resembled a yellow maid outfit. Everyone else wore an apron and had their hair tied up underneath a beret.

"Sorry for startling you earlier. I just saw you and wanted to be friends. I can get a little carried away when I'm excited"

"No no, I should be sorry for making weird faces in your café window and scaring customers away."

Upon seeing the younger girl's face as she fretted and apologized, the warm feeling of butterflies in Chaewon's stomach only increased, quickening her heartbeat and putting her into a momentary daze. Only after a nudge and cough from Hyunjin did Chaewon regain her focus.

"Didn't you have something you wanted to say to her?" asked Jinsoul.

"Oh right! I've known since the moment I saw you again. It must be fate." 

"Fate?" parroted Hyejoo, with considerable confusion.

 

Chaewon took a few steps forward, extended her hand to Hyejoo, and then proceeded to speak at a speed only characteristic of rappers like Nicki Minaj (Gowon Minaj in the houseeee).

"I THINK YOU'RE REALLY CUTE AND WE JUST SO HAPPEN TO NEED EMPLOYEES AND I THINK YOU SUIT THE POSITION SO CAN YOU CONSIDER WORKING HERE AS A PRECURSOR TO A POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP WITH ME PLEASE AND THANK YOU?!"

Behind her, while the Jin trio are in a laughing fit, Haseul can only sigh in defeat. That wasn't the direct message at all Chaewon...I guess I'll have to step in.

"Excuse me if you will. I'm the other manager here. I think what my colleague meant to say is that we are currently hiring people and would like to hire you as well," Haseul clarified.

"Um...you want to hire me? You're willing to hire me?" Hyejoo was in disbelief. Most people rejected her as soon as they saw the scary look in her eyes. She had never imagined that someone would willingly offer her a job! It was almost too good to be true!

"Yes. We happen to need someone like you on our café staff right now," replied Haseul.

"Thank you so much! I'm touched! I've been looking for a part-time job for such a long time! ... But this job has to deal with customers, right? I have this naturally scary and lethargic look in my eyes and facial expressions sometimes. Would that be alright?"

 

Before Haseul could even get the chance to reply, Chaewon chimed in first.

"I happen to love your eyes. Those are some amazing eyes for an amazing face! They give me the shivers~! In a good way of course."

 

. . .

 

5 minutes later, Hyejoo finished changing into a spare uniform. Oddly enough, it was mostly black colored again. Quite ironic how she, even after trying to escape the color for a day, it always cycles back to her, as if the color black was a part of her very identity.

Facing the mirror attached to the locker door, she checked to make sure everything was in place one last time. One she was satisfied, she walked out to get the other girls' opinions.

"I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting. H-how do I look?"

Cheers erupted from the girls upon seeing Hyejoo and immediately moved to surround her, all clambering over one adorable detail or another. Although the outfit Hyejoo was wearing gave her more of a grungy, cold and sophisticated look, all of her eonnies couldn't help but dote over her, especially Chaewon.

 

Glancing over at the clock on the wall, Haseul noticed that it was almost time to open shop, and so with a clearing of , she got everyone's attention and once again, like a true leader and manager, started the formalities.

"I just realized that we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'll start. Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Jo Haseul, the oldest person here and one of the managers and kitchen staff of this humble café. Hyunjin, you next."

Hyejoo made sure to pay attention to everyone's introduction. Ok, that was Haseul, one of the managers. Although she's the oldest one here, she can't be that much older than us. She appears very young, but does give off mom vibes. Now, who is this Hyunjin person? Oh! The only person wearing another outfit like me! Hers is bright yellow though. How sure I would be able to pull that color off. Good for her!

"Hi I'm Kim Hyunjin! Aeong~! I'm the cat-like tsundere hostess. Nice to meet you!"

"Yo. I'm Jung Jinsoul and that's Jeon Heejin. We're the kitchen staff. Usually we have another member, Yeojin, but she had some matters to attend to today. She'll be here tomorrow though. Oh and Haseul eonnie also helps out with the cooking pretty often. All in all, the cooking Jin trio, not the current trio here, and our manager command the kitchen."

"Saving the best for last! You can call me...Park Chaewon! I also go by Gowon! I'm the other manager here, but while Haseul eonnie works the kitchen, I handle mostly logistics, getting ingredients, and interior decor! Ahem..." Chaewon walks closer to Hyejoo and bows before continuing: "I look forward to a long-lasting partnership."

 

Seeing someone older bow to her and still being flustered from the gravity of the situation at hand, Hyejoo is unsure how to respond, simply parroting the movements of the older girl.

"H-Hi! My name is Son Hyejoo! It's a pleasure to meet you and I look forward to hopefully working here!"

Standing behind them as distant observers, Haseul, Hyunjin, Heejin, and Jinsoul can only shake their heads in disappointment, but secretly, all of them were indeed enjoying the show.

 

"Hyejoo-ah~. Can I call you Hyejoo? No matter how I look at you, you're just so cute~. Can we take a selfie together please? I won't post it to our café's social media without your permission, I swear! Let's just celebrate our - I mean your - hypothetical first day! Make a peace sign and say cheese~!!"

Hyejoo wasn't going to refuse taking a picture with a new friend, so she agreed. But right as the picture was about to go off, a blur of what can only be assumed was Heejin drop-kicks Chaewon to the side, telling her to get to work already.

 

. . .

 

As the other members went to their standard stations and got ready for just another day at work, Haseul and Hyejoo stood in the middle of the dining area, where Haseul was answering any questions Hyejoo had.

"Um, so what should I do first on my hypothetical first day?"

"That's a good question Hyejoo. I would like you to be...the sadistic character!" Haseul replied.

"Ok cool. Sadistic char- Wait a minute?! What?!"