Beep. Beep. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEEEP…

Sunhwa rolled over in bed and slammed her fist down on the alarm clock. Her bleary eyes found the time and wondered for a second why on earth she would ever set it that early, and then widened when she realized she had to go. Sunhwa jolted up in bed, threw on the dang dress for work, and scrambled down the stairs, where her mother and Jung Hee were having breakfast.

Jung Hee snickered once he saw her. “What’s with the dress, Miss Korea?”

Sunhwa threw him a look and stole a bite of his food. “Don’t you dare say anything. It’s for work.”

“Work?” her mother said, her tone quite evident that she was surprised.

“Neh,” Sunhwa said between bites of food and putting on her shoes (which were sneakers). “I’m working at a restaurant now.”

“I’ll be back at 8,” she threw over her shoulder as she dashed out the door.

“I’m proud of you,” her mother called as the door closed.

Sunhwa managed a small smile at those words as she ran to the bus stop.

-

“You’re barely on time,” the manager said as she burst into the workroom, looking at his watch. Sunhwa glanced at the clock and saw that she had exactly thirty seconds to spare.

“Mianhe,” she said, bowing deeply.

The manager looked at her and said gruffly, “Go serve the first shift now.”

Sunhwa bowed her way out of the office and ran to the front of the restaurant.

-

“Annyeonghaseyo, and welcome to Paradise,” Sunhwa said for the umpteenth time, bowing automatically as another customer entered the restaurant. She had put herself on a sort of autopilot, and wasn’t really thinking anymore as she busied herself with the dinnertime rush of people.

“Would you like – ” Sunhwa was cut off as she was tackled with a hug. “Mwoh?”

“SUNHWA YAH!” a familiar voice shrieked, entirely too loud for her ears. “DO YOU REMEMBER ME?”

“Hyun Jin,” Sunhwa replied, smiling faintly at the girl. “Why are you here?”
 

“I’m going to have dinner with my parents!” she said, gesturing to a smiling older couple. “Annyeonghaseyo,” Sunhwa said to them, bowing also.

“Umma! Appa! This is Park Sunhwa, the girl I told you about that I met at the audition,” Hyun Jin introduced.

Mr. Song looked kindly at her. “Annyeonghaseyo, Sunhwa. We have heard a lot about you.”

Sunhwa was a little shocked. She had only met Hyun Jin a few days ago, and she had already told her parents about her?

And then she realized something else. If Hyun Jin was wealthy enough to be come to the restaurant, that meant…Sunhwa’s eyes traveled to the couple again, and she had to hide a gasp. Sunhwa recognized Mr. Song because he had been on the cover of the newspaper many times. He was the CEO of Song Corp. So Hyun Jin was the famous Song heiress?

Sunhwa’s heart unconsciously warmed up to Hyun Jin a little more. She had always thought that the Song heiress was a stuck-up snob who only wanted the best, but Hyun Jin far undermined that assumption. Her parents, although obscenely well-off, seemed like nice people, too.

Realizing that they were still standing in the front, Sunhwa led them to a table and distributed menus. “What can I get for you today?” Sunhwa asked, smiling.

“Omo! How about…” Hyun Jin rattled off excitedly while her parents smiled amusedly in the background.

-

“Thank you for coming, we hope you enjoyed it,” Sunhwa said, bowing as the Songs left.

“The food was delicious, dear,” Mrs. Song said, smiling.

“Do you have your phone?” Hyun Jin asked her suddenly.

Sunhwa pulled it out of her pocket, confused. “Here?” It was a really old Nokia. She didn’t use her phone much except to call her mom every once in a while.

Hyun Jin grinned happily and typed something in. “Now you have my phone number! I’ll call you!”

Sunhwa shook her head almost affectionately at the hyper girl. “Arraso.”

“Bye!” Hyun Jin squealed as she followed her parents out.

-

Each light in the switch flicked down, the hall becoming dimmer and dimmer until the only light was from the moon’s glow from the windows. Sunhwa took one final glance over the tables, chairs, and columns making long shadows over the polished floor, and left. She locked the door securely and then started off down the street.

The manager had her stay late because she was new, and Sunhwa had grudgingly complied. It made sense that she had to learn the ropes first.

Finally, Sunhwa arrived at the small apartment complex where she and her mother lived. On the bright side, at the end of the week, she would have a neat stack of won to add to her growing bank account. The image of her own apartment – by herself, fending for herself – carried Sunhwa up the stairs and to her room. She crawled into bed after changing, closed her eyes, and fell asleep immediately.

I hope you all had a good New Year's :) If you guys want to say anything, go ahead and comment! I'm trying to enjoy my last week of break, woohoo... ^.^

- tigress