While checking a woman out with her stuff, I feel my phone go off in my skirt pocket, “Your total will be 6,024,231 won (roughly 5,425 USD).”

The woman doesn’t even think twice as she pulls out a credit card and rudely hands it to me. I politely take it, thinking to myself ‘Damn rich people...’ I mean, do credit card limits even go that high?! I certainly never seen that amount of money in my life. I place her items in a Gucci shopping bag, bowing to her as she leaves.

As soon as she is out of sight, I duck behind the counter to check my phone.

Eun Mi: As celebration for your first day at work, let’s go out drinking. Meet me at your favorite samgyupsal restaurant after work. It’s on me

I know it’s like Korean tradition to go drinking for good things happening in your work, but I don’t recall Eun Mi saying she enjoys going drinking. Something must have happened at work.

Okay, I get off at 5 so I’ll meet you there.

“Texting someone?” I hear someone say behind me. I get shocked and stand up too fast to hit my head on the counter. I whimper in pain, tears settling in the corner of my eyes, “Oh god, are you okay?”

Xiumin is now in front of me, looking me straight in the eyes. Nothing more,nothing less. I pout at the his inactiveness, but his hands shake as if he wants to touch me. I guess he’s still uncomfortable around me.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say rubbing the back of my head, “I have a hard head so, it didn’t hurt that bad...”

“Oh, that’s good to hear.” Xiumin says smiling.

The shop is now dead empty and about thirty minutes pass by without anybody coming in. There is nothing else to do, but it’s not like we are the only ones. I glance out the window, seeing that girly guy staring us down. What’s his beef with this store anyway, and why was Tao getting his all twisted for? It makes no sense.

Giving off a sigh, I turn back around to see Xiumin writing stuff down in a binder. I guess he was keeping inventory, but I wasn’t too sure. I quickly walk over to where he stood and took the binder from him.

Xiumin seems to be shocked at first, but soon after he realizes what I did, he stares at me, “Cha-Sook, I need that.”

“But I’m bored,” I whine, “I thought this store would be busy when it opened, but so far I’ve only seen rich, snobby people who aren’t even polite to me. They could at least hand their credit cards to me properly...”

“Well, the merchandise here is very expensive,” Xiumin explains, trying to reach over me to get the binder. I notice what he was doing and held it out of his reach, “Besides, customers being rude won’t affect you after a while. Maybe I should teach you how to take inventory since you’re so bored.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything...

“So basically you have to-” I just basically zone out,not even paying attention to what Xiumin is saying. I am finally in close proximity to him, and he isn’t freaking out or blushing. He’s so into his work and looks surprisingly mature for his age.

Even though this is my first day here, I felt like I’ve known and worked here all my life, including the fact that I’ve known Xiumin for a while.

I notice the tug at his lips as they form a smile when he starts getting into showing me how to keep track of the inventory.

“So, are there any questions?” he asks, snapping me out of my little moment.

“Uhh...no.” I say. There is a slight pause, and I begin to think, “You know, I don’t know anything about you Xiumin. I feel like I should.”

He blushes a bit when I say that, “R-really? I guess you’re right. Being friends wouldn’t be so bad.” I frown at his words...Friends ring inside my head. Just friends...great.

“Yeah, friends...” I mumble, “Anyway, ask any question you want, and I will try my best to answer you.” Xiumin leans over the counter, thinking of things to ask me.

“What kind of person are you?” Well...that is a weird question, but I did say I would try my best to answer his questions. I jump up on the counter to sit down some, flip flopping my heels from the edge of my toes.

“Well, I guess you could say I’m the kind of person who likes to do what she loves,” I explain, “I hang out with who I want, do what I want, and be happy no matter the outcome. I’ve never been a goody two shoes, but I’m not like some crazy wild child either. I guess you could say, I’m one of the cool kids.”

Xiumin is pretty bewildered at my statement, “Kris was right about you. He says you would be a pretty straightforward person, but I didn’t expect this. You’re pretty amazing Cha-Sook.”

I smile and pinch his cheek, “Mmm, as ‘straightforward’ as I might seem, Kris doesn’t know everything about me. I mean he doesn’t know how much I love singing or dancing. He also doesn’t know that I freakin’ love food or the fact I have a passion for fashion.”

Xiumin nods along as he rubs his cheek. I then continue, “Though nothing as gaudy as this kind of clothing. I prefer to see people in clothes they can actually wear out in public, like normal clothes celebrities wear. Vera Wang, even though is primarily a wedding  dress designer, creates a clothing line for teens. Calvin Klein makes beautiful clothing for men and women to wear, not to mention a beautiful line of perfumes. Even celebrities have their own clothing lines, like J.Lo and Britney Spears.”

Xiumin stares at me for a while, blinking his eyes only a few times. I guess I ranted too much and was about to say something, until he interrupts me.

“You’re really passionate about it aren’t you?” he asks me. I give him a wide eyed look...no, I just explain about ALL these brands and fashion and sh*t, just for fun...but he didn’t mean any harm in what he says.

“Yeah, I’m really passionate. I want to own my own fashion line and have people of all ages wearing my clothing. Ya know, fashionable clothing that everybody wants to wear.” He nods, understanding me a little bit more.

I feel like we’re becoming closer, “You know you can text me anytime you want, and not just for work!” Xiumin blushes a bit, before Kris comes out of his office yelling:

“Hey, your shifts are over. See you guys tomorrow,” he yells, before walking off to take more paperwork to the back. I jump off the counter to put my heels back on.

“Bye Xiumin, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say, waving goodbye. I guess he’s still not that open with me as he blushes more and shyly waves goodbye. I roll my eyes as I loosen the tie of my uniform and walk into the employee changing room. I gather my normal clothing and change back into them.

I guess it’s time to meet Eun Mi in front of the samgyupsal restaurant.

~oO:Oo~

“What. The. Frick?” I mumble to myself as I walk up to a very depressed looking Eun Mi, “Girl, what happened to you? You look like a hot mess.”

“Oh...hey Cha-Sook,” she says, snapping out of her depression and into a fake happiness. Geez, this girl... “Did work go well for you today?”

“Yeah, it went fine,” I say, “I learned the ropes and some other things. I’ve also grown closer to Xiumin in my opinion, but what the crap happened to you?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll explain when we get inside. I need a drink. Besides, we’re here to celebrate you getting a job; not listen to my day. Ya know, happy times; my day would just kill the whole mood. Come let’s get a table.”

I nod as Eun Mi drags me along to a table and starts chatting with the waiter about our order. Of course, we get samgyupsal, but she also gets soju. I know per tradition in Korea it’s a common drink, but hell...that’s a lot of alcohol in one drink. I mean, if we wanted to drink, we probably should have ordered beer or something. This day must have been really rough for her.

But...I’m not going to push any further. She’ll talk when she wants to. I’ll only be annoying if I try to find out more.

My phone buzzes in my coat pocket, making me pull it out.

Xiumin: You’re pretty cool person. Kris says we should have a team bonding exercise. So, do you want to go to a Pulsabang or something soon?

I felt myself smile widely. Team bonding might be the first step to date, and that is fine with me.

A/N: Wooo! New poster that looks AMAZING!! :D Anyway I want to formally thank LatifaKim and Kate1016 for upvoting our story. Seriously, I've been kind of discouraged by the silent readers, but I enjoy seeing people upvote our stories. It's not really a comment or upvote thirsty thing; It's more of a discouragement when you write a chapter and there are no comments or anything. It kind of , but I want to thank you guys. I'll think of a way to thank you guys even more for the upvotes (Imma brain storming)

With that said, I put the story on subscribers only to discourage people if they seriously are not commited to reading a story to not subscribe. I want to have people who want to read our stories actually read our stories. I'm debating on doing this to my other stories as well. But anyway, I hope you guys understand ^-^ I love you guys and hope to read your comments in the future. Sorry for the really long author's note <3 LOVE YOU GUYS

~Yugifall