Reuploading this chapter - the next one will be out in a few minutes.

I looked up nervously at the man who opened the door. He was a gruff looking man with a shaved layer of hair and a beard covering his chin and upper lip. He looked like the biker type that you really wouldn’t want to mess with if you ever met one out in public. I suddenly felt a twinge of regret for coming here since I had to deal with him.

“I… uh the umm poster on the – the window,” I stumbled out uncertainly, feeling even more intimidated than I did when I met the S.M boss for the first time. The man looked at me up and down, sizing me up. I suddenly felt self-conscious of my small body.

He reached into his jeans pocket, pulling out a cigarette, lighting it and then blowing the smoke in my face. I felt my eyes water but willed myself not to cough. Unfortunately, I let out the slightest choking sound when the smell became too much. The man just threw back his head and laughed obnoxiously. “Kid, you look like you should still be in school,” He grunted out in amusement.

 I avoided eye contact, annoyed that I was being mistaken for a high schooler again. “I’m already twenty,” I quipped hotly.

The man just laughed again, “Whatever you say. You look live you’ve never worked a single day in your life, eh pretty boy?”

I frowned in annoyance, getting irritated at his antics. What did he know about me? I’ve been working since I was sixteen – maybe not the kind of work he was talking about – but it was work none the less.

“If you can’t handle the job, get out of here. It’s hard work. Show me your hands,” He commanded.

I showed him the palms of my hands and he gripped my right hand roughly, his calloused hand rubbing the top of my smooth, undamaged fingers. He just dropped my hands and rolled his eyes. “This isn’t the job for you,” he stated, looking away from me, uninterested.

I let out a short breath, that wasn’t an outright refusal, right? “I can work hard,” I stated, looking at him face on now with a little bit of challenge in my eyes. “I don’t care what it is, I can do it. I need the job.”

The man looked back at me with a little bit of interest in his eyes now. “It won’t be easy. The pay’s terrible, too.”

I hesitated when I heard the pay would be bad, but a little voice in the back of my head was saying that at least something was better than nothing. “I’ll do it.”

The man smiled and patted me on the shoulder. I bowed a little but he scoffed at me and told me to straighten up. He was really unusual… He seemed like the type that wasn’t a fan of formalities.

“The names Kangdae, but just call me Kang,” He instructed, and then pointed to me. “You?”

“Shin,” I responded.

Kang nodded then spat his cigarette out, crunching it into the pavement. “Right, first things first, I hate formalities. Don’t bow to me. Second, do what I tell you even if you don’t like it. Third, don’t touch the plant on my desk. Fourth, be on time or you’re fired,” He listed, staring at me to get his message across. He was really, really odd. I nodded in agreement and he seemed happy enough.

“Get in here.” 

Kang gave me a quick rundown of the place, telling me what was required of me and what I had to do. People would park their cars in here in the morning and expect it to be washed when they got back. I needed to take their keys and place them away carefully so I didn’t mix them up, find out what time the customer would be back, and wash the cars by hand before they were back. It didn’t sound too hard, but I guess I would find out soon. 

Kang threw me a pair of pink gloves, telling me I suited the colour with a bark of laughter and then ordered me to clean one of the seven cars parked in the bays. There was a sheet of paper pinned to a cork board that had the times of when everyone would be getting back to their cars. I studied the piece of paper carefully, planning out which cars I had to do first. Three of the car’s owners would be back in two hours, so I set to work on them first, kind of clueless as to how I was supposed to do this.

I was just supposed to scrub them… right?

I never knew cleaning cars could be so taxing. I had a bucket, a sponge, and a rag to assist with my cleaning. I had just finished the first car and realised it had taken up forty minutes of my time. I panicked a little internally and began scrubbing furiously on the other two cars, somehow making it with ten minutes to spare. I had only been working for two hours, but I already felt like my arms were going to drop off. I now realised what he meant by hard work.

The water stained my sleeves, making me shiver. If anything, it was colder in here than it was outside. The cold concrete floor didn’t help insulate the room any and the cold water I kept having to dip my arms in was making my teeth chatter. My arms felt like they were freezing with the cold temperatures and I was certain my lips must’ve turned blue by now. I kept having to repeat the mantra that I needed money in my head, but it wasn’t helping all that much.

When I was an idol I would’ve never been treated like this… this was inhumane!

The first two customers came and Kang handed them back their keys. I watched them drive off with a bit off annoyance bubbling in my chest. Here I was, working my off for them and the only person they thanked was the manager. I scowled to myself in annoyance. The only real hard work I saw him doing was watering his plant lovingly and signing a paper or two. I wondered how the hell this place survived before I came here. I felt the minutes tick by and finally, finally I was done for the day.

Kang went to the garage door and closed everything up when the final car left. The sun was already tucking itself behind the tall city buildings, leaving only a dim light splaying over the city. I sighed in relief and put away all the buckets, emptied the water and cleaned the dirty rags before wandering over to Kang.

“I’m done,” I announced to him, both satisfied that I had finished my first day of manual work, and irritated that Kang didn’t help.  

Kang gave me a little eye smile which surprised me. It didn’t seem to fit with his image, “Good work,” He complimented, motioning for me to follow him. He led me into my office and handed me a yellow envelope. I made a move to bow when I reached out for it but stopped myself. Kang just raised his brow as I quickly got up from the bowing position. I made a move to grab the money again but Kang ripped it out of my reach.

“Are you ever going to take those off, pinky?” He asked, chuckling to himself in amusement. I looked down at my hands and realised I still had the bright pink gloves on.

“O-Oh yeah,” I stuttered in embarrassment, pulling them off and returning them quickly. He finally handed me the money. “Thank you,” I said sincerely, happy that I would finally have the money to buy some food.

Kang smiled at me, “You did well today. I wanted to test you today and make sure you were a valuable employee. Honestly, I didn’t think you could do it, but you did,” He praised.

I opened my mouth in shock, not sure what to say. Kang just opened the door and led me out, “See you tomorrow at eight, Pinky!”