Chapter 20

“I want you to work for me.”

“What?!”

“You have got to be kidding me!”

Both you and Baekhyun screamed at the same time. You looked at Sehun in disbelief and Baekhyun quickly went up to him.

“Look, I know you’re our manager and all but that doesn’t stop the fact that you’re younger than me so, WHAT THE HELL OH SEHUN, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! DO YOU WANT ME TO SLAP SOME SENSE INTO YOU?! YOU CAN’T JUST HIRE ANYONE-“

“Actually, he can, since his family owns this place-“

“You shut your mouth Park Chanyeol or I swear I will rip it off myself.” Baekhyun snapped at his best friend and Chanyeol sat back down in his seat and sealed his mouth shut.

You were surprised at how Chanyeol was afraid of someone smaller than him but you could understand why, seeing how Baekhyun was raging like an enclosed bear which haven’t been fed for days. You would be scared too.

Sehun who was gleefully watching the whole scene before him chuckled to himself and directed his gaze towards you, completely ignoring Baekhyun’s complaints.

“So how about it?”

You looked at him, perplexed as to why he wanted you to work for him so much.

“Why me? Who do you want me to work for you?”

The corners of his lips turned upwards. “Well, as you can see, most of the customers that come to this place are usually women, teenage girls like yourself. And why is that? Well, if you didn’t notice, all of the staff here are men and, if I may add, are astonishingly attractive.” His raised one of his eyebrows at you.

Astonishingly attractive? You have got to be kidding me. Have he seen Baekhyun’s eyeliner? He looks like a freakin’ panda. And Derpyeol over here? This kid must be blind.

You rolled your eyes at him, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“But, ever since Chanyeol brought you here, more and more men started to come and a wonderful idea came to me, I just had to try it out. Looking at you, I wouldn’t say you’re that pretty-“

Baekhyun covered his mouth, trying his best to suppress his laughter and you glared at him.

I swear it's like he's purposefully made by God, just to annoy me.

“As I was saying, like I said, you’re not drop-dead gorgeous but quite decent. And if I were to hire you, imagine this, flocks and flocks of men and women of all ages would swarm this place!” He said animatedly and clapped his hands with joy as he pictured it in his head. Then, he looked towards you and a cheeky smile formed on his lips. “Also, I just think you’re kind of interesting, it’d be fun.”

You were dazed. You didn’t know what to say or how to respond to whatever you’ve just heard. It all sounded ridiculous to you. Just as you were about to decline his offer, he reminded you again as to why he made the offer.

“You caused my customers to leave the café due to your deafening screaming, and that could affect the sales. Don’t you think you should take full responsibility?”

Your eyes narrowed at him.

Damn it. He’s blackmailing me. Sly bastard.

Chanyeol noticed the troubled look you had on your face as you were contemplating with your reply. He knew you didn’t want to take up the offer. But he also knew how you didn’t like to feel indebted to anyone. He quickly tried to come up with an excuse to help you, but you had already made up your mind.

“Fine, I’ll do it. But only under one condition.” You looked at Sehun straight through his eyes. “I get off days on weekends.”

Sehun chuckled and he held out his hand to you in agreement.

“Deal.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Why did you agree to it?”  Chanyeol glanced at you.

After agreeing to work at the café, Sehun said that they were closing up early since he doubt anyone one else would come after the whole screaming escapade. Mr Lee called in to say that he was with your mother at the company due to some urgent business and had asked Chanyeol to take you home. Ever since Chanyeol had been taking care of me for a week at home, Mr Lee was starting to trust him and depended on him to take care of you.

“Like I said, I caused the trouble at the café and it’s only right to take full responsibility. Besides, once the sales go up, I can just quit after that, right?” You sighed. Just thinking about it already made your head hurt.

Chanyeol nodded and seeing how you didn’t want to talk about it anymore, he didn’t press on further.

“Thank you, by the way.” You mumbled.

Chanyeol looked at you, confused.  “For what?”

“For waking me up. You shook me out of my dream. Thank you.” You said, feeling embarrassed.

Chanyeol shook his head and let out a light chuckle. “It was nothing. You looked like you were having a bad dream. And besides, your screaming was scaring the customers away.”

You nudged his arm. “Don’t remind me. I feel like crawling into a hole right now.” You said and you heard him giggle.

“What did you dream about anyway? Being chased by a lion? Attacked by wolves?”

You shook your head and bit your bottom lip. “My dad.”

Chanyeol looked at you, not expecting that answer. “Your…dad?”

You nodded. You never really talked about your father with anyone accept Yeseo. And that was because Yeseo loved your father as though he was her own. But ever since Yeseo moved to LA, the two of you stopped talking about him. Yeseo had already moved on and she wanted you to do the same. That was why whenever the two of you met, she’d never bring that issue up. And as for you, you knew that talking about him would only burden her, as though you wanted pity, which is why the both of you eventually stopped talking about him.

As for Chanyeol, he’s just a person, a boy you just met a few months ago, but why is it that you felt like you wanted to talk to him about your father? For the first time, you felt the need to talk about your father to someone, and that someone wasn’t your best friend, but a boy whom you just met. That was when you realize, you actually trusted him. Maybe not fully, but just enough for you share about your painful memories. Just enough for you to share your memories of him. You took a deep breath, and started to reminisce of your past with your father, and telling Chanyeol about the accident.

When the both of you reached the front gates of your house, you were done telling him everything. Your eyes even got teary but you tried your best not to cry in front of Chanyeol. The whole time, he was listening to you intently, nodding occasionally when you looked at him to see whether he was truly listening or whether he understood and he’d laugh when you told him funny things that happened between you and your father.

“Well, now you know a whole lot about my past. Ugh what was I thinking? I’m sorry, I know it’s boring and depressing. I shouldn’t have told you-“

“No, no, I loved it. I loved your story about your past, about your family, and about your father.” He smiled at you.

You looked away nervously, hoping that he wouldn’t see the red glow that came over your face. “R-Really? You’re not just saying that to be nice right?”

You heard him chuckle. “Really, I don’t lie Hae Ra. I really loved your story. Especially of your father. I think he’s a very respectable and admirable man to have raised a daughter like you. And I know it was hard but, thank you for sharing it with me.” His voice was gentle and it made you turn your head to look at him.

A big, innocent grin formed on his face. His grin made him look like a wrinkled gnome but somehow you didn’t mind it at all. You were used to seeing that grin on his face. Your eyes shifted from his lips and to his eyes. You never noticed how long his eyelashes were. There were a few wrinkles at the outer corners of his eyes. Must be due to him smiling all the time. You were examining his face so intently that you didn’t realize he was doing the same to you.

You also didn’t notice how the two of you were standing so close to each other, or how Chanyeol’s hand somehow found its way to yours. Chanyeol could feel his heart beating through his ribcage and he swore he could hear it beating in his ears. Without noticing, you entwined your fingers with his, and slowly lifted your chin up towards him. Somehow, your body was functioning on its own. Slowly, Chanyeol leaned down, decreasing the distance between the both of you. His thumb was trailing circles on the back of your hand, and it was kind of soothing. You could almost feel his breath on your lips when you were startled by the honk of a car.

Realizing what the both of you were about to do, you jumped away from him and you could feel your cheeks scorch with embarrassment. Chanyeol cleared his throat and covered his trembling lips. His ears had turned red as he recalled what he had done. The honking apparently came from Mr Lee’s car. You and Chanyeol looked towards the driver’s seat and saw him scowling at the both of you.

Oh , that is not the face of a happy butler.

Keeping his mouth pressed into a thin line, Mr Lee got out from the car and opened the backseat door for your mother.

“Oh you’re home late. Where did you go? And who is that boy standing beside you?” Your mother walked towards you and kept her eye suspiciously on Chanyeol. Chanyeol shifted awkwardly and hesitantly reached out his hand to your mother.

“Good evening ma’am. My name is Chanyeol, I’m Hae Ra’s friend.” Your mother looked at his outstretched hand and reluctantly took it before letting it go.

Chanyeol noticed it and shifted his eyes to you. “I guess I should go. See you tomorrow Hae Ra.” He turned to your mother and bowed politely before turning around and made his way home.

Mr Lee came up beside your mother. “That’s the boy that had been coming to the house last week. He had been taking care of the Young Master and I have tasked him to take care of her in school as well too. I hope you don’t mind Madam.” He bowed apologetically.

Your mother narrowed her eyes at him but then turned around and started to walk into the house. “It’s okay. But I do appreciate it if you told me about it beforehand the next time Mr Lee. We can’t just let anyone near our family, especially Hae Ra. Do you understand?” She said firmly before disappearing into the house.

Mr Lee bowed his head again. “Yes Madam, it will never happen again.”

As soon as your mother was out of sight, Mr Lee turned towards you with a cold stare.

“You have some explaining to do.”

You gulped. “W-we didn’t do anything. I swear.”

He raised his eyebrows at you, obviously unsatisfied with your answer but decided to let you off.

“I entrusted him to take care of you, Young Master. Especially since your mother now needs all the help she can get at the company, I expect you to be taken care of. But I do not want any funny business to be happening between the both of you when I’m not around. You know your mother wouldn’t like that either.” He said firmly.

You lowered your gaze and nodded. “I understand.”

Mr Lee sighed as he took off his coat and placed it over your shoulders. “Let’s just get you inside before you catch a cold.” He said as he gently placed his hand against your back and ushered you into the house. Even though he was upset, that didn’t hide the fact that he still cared about you as though you were his own daughter.

Outside, Chanyeol whom you thought had gone back home, was still standing in front of the gates. His hand gripped strongly on the metal bars, eyes never leaving you even after Mr Lee had closed the door. He sighed and finally lets go of his grip and started walking towards the main road.

He recalled when you were telling him stories of your father and how your face would light up every time you remembered something funny or happy. Your smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and knowing how you would rarely show it, he was honored to be the only one there with you to witness it. But then, even though he was smiling, deep inside he was hurting. Seeing you talk about your family, somehow made him feel envious.

Thunder boomed above him in the sky, as though God was moving some furniture in heaven. Small drops of rain started to fall on his face but he didn’t mind it. It matched how he was feeling. Pulling his school blazer close to him, Chanyeol walked silently on the road, his tears camouflaged by the rain.