Today was the day I get my first job.

I was beyond nervous that morning. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't eat my breakfast or even sit without wiggling. Today, I was on the road to becoming an idol.

Bright and early my brother and I awoke. I dressed in my nicest clothes, fixed my hair and made myself look presentable. I was going to put on make-up, but Jaehyuk advised that it wouldn't be a good idea unless I were applying at a strip club. Rude little prick. However, I was astonished at how nice I looked. Since my only attire is normally some pajama pants and a t-shirt, I could say I looked 20x better than I normally did. 

We left for the streets around 7am and made our way to downtown Seoul. Let me just say that walking around the streets of Seoul in the morning is a very different sort of world. There are so many noises, smells and people. Vendors are lined up on the sidewalks, open for passerbys, that sold things like coffee, kimchi pancakes, calamari and even sushi. I'm not able to control myself around food so as we walked, I side tracked a bit and made my way to a kimchi pancake vendor, "Yahh.. Jaehyuk let's stop and get some food."

Jaehyuk paused and turned to look a me, cocking an eyebrow, "Hyung, I told you eat breakfast before we left. If you eat one of those, you'll get kimchi breath." he grumbled. I gratefully took a pancake from the lady running the stand anyway, "Yeah, well I wasn't hungry then~" I replied

My brother shook his head and groaned, "Aish, you adults are weird..."

Quickly, I hopped back over to my brother and fell into step with him, "We're going to the mall first, okay?"

Jaehyuk paused, "The mall? Hyung, you know you can get a job right here in town don't you?"

"Yeah, but I really want to work in one of those nice stores. You know, places like Louis Vitton and Gucci~" I replied, "Don't you think I'd make a great employee there? I'm pretty sure they'd hire me right away."

Another groan, "Hyung, do you have any idea on how you get a job? You can't just prance into one of those expensive stores and expect them to hire you just like that. You need to have experience before you can work at such a high end store. They'll take one look at your application and then kick you out laughing."

"And how do you know so much about job hunting Sherlock?" I retorted.

"Look, hyung I take classes for business and I do lots of research on topics. Job Hunting was something I had to do a project one day. It's simple stuff really, start out small and build yourself up. Gain more experience and you get better jobs." Jaehyuk replied. "Now, I know someplace where you can start out. Come on, it's the other way~"

Jaehyuk took my hand and pulled me down the block towards a familiar glass paned building. Outside sat baskets full of fresh fruits and vegetables of all different colors. This was the local supermarket.

"Me? Work here?" I asked as we stepped inside. Immidiately, the smell of fruits, vegetables and the strong smell of fish hit my nose. I backed away to leave, "No way in hell am I working here. It reeks like dead fish and do you have any idea how long that smell will stay in my clothes Jae? No."

"Hyung.." Jaehyuk said sadly, "Come on... you promised you'd do this. Last night you looked like you were willing to do anything to make this wish of yours come true. What happened to that?" he asked, tugging on my shirt, "Sometimes, we have to do things we don't want in order to get what we really want. If you really want to go to SM, then you need to start somewhere. Besides, who's gonna pay for those dance lessons? Not me." he continued, bumping my shoulder, "You can do this."

I was about to open my mouth and reply but just as I was, an employee walked up to the both of us. I froze immidiately as he approached. The boy was adorable. He had long ginger brown hair that was tied into a ponytail and beautiful light brown eyes that matched his rosebud lips. He stopped short in front of us, a broom in his hand. "Hi there, is there anything I can help you two with?"

I felt my mind go into shut down as he spoke. I could not with this boy. He needed to go elsewhere and just stop being cute. 

"Um..." Jaehyuk began nervously, "This is my brother Kibum... He's looking to get a job here. Do you know of any openings?" he asked politely.

The boy cocked his head and furrowed his brow, "Hmmm... I'll have to ask my boss. He's got the say so and I don't. Kibum-ssi, I'm sure Mr.Choi would like to speak with you about getting a job here. Why don't you come along with me and I'll introduce him to you?"

I turned to Jaehyuk for some sort of relief, but he'd already dashed off into the store. I turned back to the other boy and smiled weakly, "Uh.. Sure?" I replied. Although, I wasn't sure if I even wanted to me my possible future boss. I don't know why, but anyone with the last name of Choi game me the shivers. The boy smiled and beckoned me to follow him. He offered a gentle smile, "Don't be worried. Mr. Choi is the nicest person on the planet. He'll hire you no matter what~" he said, "Oh, by the way, my name is Taemin. It's nice to meet you Kibum-ssi~ I hope we can become good friends. I don't have anyone else here my age."

I stopped walking for a second and gave this Taemin boy a once over, "You're 21? You don't look it..." I said in confusion. Taemin nodded and chuckled, "Speak for yourself Kibum-ssi, us skinny boys don't typically look our age now do we?" he laughed. I felt as if I should take his comment as an insult, but the more I thought about it, I really did have the body that resembled that of a pre-pubecent boy. I chuckled, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I do look like a teenager don't I?" 

"You do~" Taemin snickered, "Oh, what college do you go to around here? I've never seen you before. Do you go Yonsei or something?" he asked with bright eyes. I took a deep breath and shook my head. "I can't get into college. I don't have the money or the grades to even dream of going to Seoul University..." I replied sadly. Taemin's expression changed, "Aw, well you know that's okay. There's plenty of other stuff you can do. I mean hey, right here is a great start!" he said cheerfully. I forced a weak smile, "Yeah.. I guess."

I guess he felt kind awkward after talking about colleges. I wanted to tell him I'm not mad for bringing it up. I really wasn't and I should really stop getting so worked up about it. I had to face the facts that I'd never make it there and that was that. 

We stopped at a wooden door with a large glass window on the front. It was covered by blinds as well as the rest of the room. This man didn't like to be disturbed obviously. Great, I bet he'll hate me even more for asking him to come out of his office so early in the morning. I cringed as Taemin rapped on the door, "Seunghyun-ssi? I brought someone to see you. He says he'd like to apply." the small boy called. 

From behind the glass came a deep voiced response, "Send him on in~"

I felt sick.

Taemin opened the door slowly and smiled, "Good luck, you're really gonna like him~" he whispered as I stepped inside. I held tightly onto my filled out application, feeling the fresh sweat beads run down the sides of my face. Inside, the room was dimly lit by lamps and several bookshelves lined the walls. All of them were filled to the brim with books. The room smelled of freshly roasted coffee beans and cookies which really took me by surprise. Seated at a finely built cherry desk was a buff looking man. He was dressed in a white button down and had a long tie going down the side that was covered in many words for coffee. His hair was a dark chocolate brown and was nicely combed out. He had thick eyebrows and dark brown eyes. To me, he didn't even look Korean. He looked more Latino.

The massive man looked up from his computer and offerec a smile, "Please have a seat." he said, turning to face me. He pulled out another mug from under his desk and poured a milky brown liquid into the cup. Just as I sat down, he placed it right in front of me. Was I supposed to drink it? 

"Yes, this is your drink. It's some high end coffee I got my hands on. I made it this morning. Please, drink some if you'd like." he said. 

I swear people and their voices, why was his so deep?

"Thank you... Mr. Choi." I said quietly as I took a sip. I felt my eyes widen as I drank and I pulled away to look at the mug wide eyed. This was literally the best coffee I'd ever had! What was it called? I had to get some...

"Good isn't it?" Mr. Choi asked, "It came straight from Brazil still in bean form. I got to grind it up myself." he chuckled, "But, enough about coffee. What brings you here young man?"

I took in a deep breath, "I'm looking for a job sir." 

"A job huh?" Mr. Choi replied, "Have you ever worked before?"

I felt my body tremble at those words. I wanted so badly to lie. So so bad. But I just couldn't, "No, sir. This will be my first."

He raised a brow, "Really? So you've never.. volunteered or babysat? Anything like that?" 

I shook my head sadly. 

"Hmm... That's awful strange." he said picking up the application, "I've never met anyone who hasn't volunteered or done the simple babysitting. What do you do all day? I trsut you study in your dorm?"

I felt tears well in my eyes, "N-No...I.. I'm not in college sir... I have a highschool diploma... That's it..." I whispered.

His eyes were boring holes into my skin, I could feel it. "Yah, what's a man like you crying for? Huh?" he asked, patting me with a magazine, "Look at me."  he said in a much quieter tone. Slowly, I lifted my head to look at him. The tears began to run down to my chin, "I-I'm sorry..." I stuttered, "I... I don't normally cry... I just.. I can't walk out of here without a job... I have a little brother... and he's really the only family I have left." I sniffed, "... I've set such a terrible example with him... I dropped out of school and I can't get into college... I just want my brother to not see his older brother as some blithering idiot anymore..." I babbled, forgetting about what I originally wanted to tell him.

"Hey... There's no need to cry. Come here, let me show you something..." Mr Choi said, passing me a tissue. He got up from his seat and brough me over to a wall filled with pictures. Pictures of him with employees, with mangers. Promotion plaques and name tags. They all had his name on it. "You're alot like me the first day I came in. I was nervous out of my mind, but I had to get this job because had a sister to watch and I had no money. This store here was the first job I ever had, like yourself. The manager was kind and he offered me a job as a bag boy. I got money once a week and I fed my sister and I. We eventually got a home thanks to promotions and raises." he turned to me, "And I took over as manager. I now have a wife and two beautiful children who live in a home with air conditioning and food." he continues with a smile. "Here, we never turn away a person in need. Ever. Even if you've never had any job experience, I'm sure we can make you into a good worker."

Mr Choi walks back over to his desk and pulls out a piece of paper. He hands it to me with a soft smile, "I'm not about to turn away a good hard worker. Congratulations Mr Kim Kibum, you're hired."

"You're hired...."