Things were smooth sailing from there. KimLip, Hyunjin, and Hyejoo all drew customers in with their alternate personas, much to the happiness and relief of managers Haseul and Chaewon, both of whom observed from afar, noting the harmony with which they all worked together. Unbeknownst to Haseul and Chaewon, Hyejoo was also doing some observations and note-taking of her own. Still startled by KimLip's earlier change in personality and professionalism, Hyejoo convinced herself that she needed to work harder to serve customers, similar to the level of confidence and finesse that KimLip and Hyunjin possess.

How far do the boundaries go? Are the customers really pleased with my sadistic character? What if I take it too far and upset one of the customers?! I'll need to practice more frequently on my own in the future...

Snapping out of her inner monologue, Hyejoo received the plate of seafood that was handed to her and made her way over to table 12, the one with 2 girls who placed the order. Girls coming to this type of themed restaurant were rare, so Hyejoo knew that she had to make a good, lasting impression. Staring the two girls in the eye, Hyejoo reentered her sadistic character before addressing the girls with a scoff and standoffish glare.

"Here's your seafood. Enjoy it. Or don't. I don't care. Just be quiet and don't bother me again."

Immediately after saying that, Hyejoo felt like she went a bit too far. However, she wasn't about to break character, so she turned her back and quickly left as soon as she could, but not before hearing the girls say something along the lines of "I wish she would step on me..."

It was a good thing that the girls couldn't see Hyejoo's face, because the joy that that comment gave to Hyejoo brought a smile to her face.

As Hyejoo walked towards her designated standing spot, she passed Hyunjin, who was not so secretly listening in on the conversation of table 2. 

"Dude I was finally able to save up enough money to get that game I've wanted!"

"Oh I know which one you're talking about! It's that new open world RPG game?"

"Yeah! It's the craze these days! I remember putting so much time into the previous version!"

The guys at table 2 pulled out their Nintendo Switches and started to game. By this time, Hyejoo had already crept to the side of Hyunjin, carefully analyzing her gaze, noting the way in which her eyes sparkled whenever the guys talked about details of this new game. Hyejoo could tell that Hyunjin was trying her best to stay in character and resist the urge to talk to the boys, but all the effort amounted to nothing, as Hyunjin started walking in their direction.

The boys were clearly confused as to why Hyunjin was standing over them when they didn't call for her or order another dish. Realizing the reality of the situation, Hyunjin tried to play it off in a tsundere way, acting like she didn't care about the boys or the game, but the facade quickly fell apart, and soon Hyunjin was giving them tips on how to play the game, increase efficiency, vise versa. 

Observing from the sidelines, Chaewon notices the event unfolding before her very eyes, and lets out an audible sigh.

"Not this again..."

So this isn't the first time this has happened...interesting. Hyunjin is a gamer as well. Hyejoo takes note. However, to Hyejoo's surprise, Chaewon just let Hyunjin be, not intervening in any way.

. . . 

Hyejoo's first official day at work went smoothly without any mishaps! Aside from Hyunjin's momentary character break, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Everyone was now in the back room, just chilling out and preparing to head home. Well, almost everyone was chill. Looking to her left, Hyejoo noticed that Hyunjin was more quiet than usual.

"H-Hyunjin eonnie? Are you ok? You're a lot quieter than you were this morning."

"I'm fine. I tried my best to focus on work, but obviously that didn't work. When it comes to games, I just can't help myself."

"Oh it's fine. I totally understand that. I like gaming too!"

"Oh really? What types of games do you play? Maybe we can co-op? RPG? FPS? Online games? Sandbox games?"

"FPS and RPG. Occasionally board games, but I think video games are more fun."

Out of seemingly nowhere, Chaewon appears and sits in between Hyunjin and Hyejoo.

"Oh wow. Just the idea of gamer girl Hyejoo is so cool it makes me swoon~. I have a game I wanna play that is getting great reviews as well!"

"Oh? Is it a game I've heard of?" asked Hyunjin.

Chaewon suddenly stands up and moves across from the girls, right into their line of sight, and clears . She closes her eyes, and a blissful smile forms on her face before she continues.

"Hyejoo and Chaewon's heartwarming journey~! Follow the story of Hyejoo and Chaewon, from their first meeting to their blossoming friendship and maybe even more~~! You can choose to go on a date - "

Before Chaewon could finish describing said game, or rather, professing her love, KimLip flicks Chaewon's forehead and Heejin pinches her cheeks.

"Chaewon. You may be the manager, but I'm still older. Get your head out of the clouds please." says KimLip.

Heejin just silently nods in approval.

While she was pretty startled by Chaewon's words, Hyejoo still felt bad for Chaewon, and so she panicked trying to tell KimLip and Heejin that it's ok. Plus, Hyejoo thought it was oddly nice to see someone so infatuated with her.

"It's fine. This happens all the time. Besides, what type of wack game is that anyways?" Heejin replies.

Fake crying, Chaewon mumbles something along the lines of "a game where me and cutie Hyejoo become friends T_T"

Eventually, after some more playful fighting and quarreling, Haseul comes in and deescalates the situation, telling everyone that they can go home for the day. 

Walking out of the café, Hyejoo notices KimLip and Hyunjin standing outside and joins them.

"Hey newbie. Hyunjin and I were gonna stop at an arcade on the way home. Wanna join?"

"Sure! As long as we don't stay out too long, I should be ok."

"Yay! Then it's a date! Let's go! I'll have you know that I'll probably ace everything, so don't feel too bad if you lose." Hyunjin said, standing straighter with a proud look on her face.

"If there's anything you should know about Hyunjin, it's that she bluffs and boasts about her abilities a lot. Sure, sometimes she's actually good at it, such as gaming, but even with sports, she'll probably tell you that she can go pro at any sport." KimLip chuckled.

"Hey! I'll have you know, that that one time we played basketball and lost, it was because I was wearing heels!" Hyunjin retorted, with a pout. 

"Sure sure, whatever you say. Let's go Hyejoo-ah!" KimLip offered Hyejoo her hand to hold.

Glancing back towards the café, happiness filled Hyejoo's heart. Even the quarreling and playful fighting made Hyejoo feel included some sort of oddball family. She loved the feeling, and knew instinctually that there would be even more enjoyable moments to come.

Returning her gaze to KimLip's extended hand, Hyejoo tightly threads her fingers between KimLip's, and they happily stroll down the road, with Hyunjin trailing closely behind.