Welcome to Hope Café

[Song of the Day: INFINITE - Beautiful] They were all busily doing their jobs in opening the café. It was another prosaic morning for all of them. The sales from the past few days were not weak, but neither strong.

The café seemed not to be bad at all. The place has a beautiful interior, as well as exterior structure. From the staff members who have been nice and cheerful to every customers, and the foods, as well the beverages, everything has  been set to provide the best quality of service that this place has to offer. People might find it unproblematic at first, but the problem seemed to lie to the equivocal ambience of the place.

The staff members could still not fight the ambiguous stiffness of the place. Some customers have thought of its name as ridiculously funny. You say it, Hope Café. What made them think that it is ridiculous? Well, some people seemed to find it too gloomy and too boring to satisfy the usual need of warmth and comfort from a café.

So, where is the 'hope'? It could be undeniably seen that it has one of the best structures of café in the whole country, but there has been something missing in it - something which everyone working in the café has been still uncertain of.

 

"Among all the businesses of our family I manage, I seem not to discover on how I will expand our coffee business. I find it really hard. Now that someone will take my place, I am disappointed that I have not done much for this café," Sunggyu said subtly as his eyes wandered around the whole place.

"Sunggyu-nim, you have done your best. We just need something which will put color in this café." Mr. Bong comforted. He could feel the sadness in Sunggyu's voice. He gently patted his shoulder.

Sunggyu voiced out in assurance, "I guess that I still have to find it. Anyway, please take care of my brother. I am hoping that all of you will have a good working relationship with him. He indeed is stubborn and impudent, but please bear with him. If I am not that successful in running this café, I think he will be one . He is still smart after all. He will be able to make it ."

After the succeeding minutes, a young man who was smiling brightly appeared out of nowhere. It was Woohyun, the younger brother of Sunggyu.

"Annyeong haseyo," he greeted the moment he entered the place.

Sunggyu jested in surprise, "It is surprising that you are here this early. The start of your work is after a few days. Are you itching to kick me out of my position?"

Woohyun flashed an eerie smile, "Maybe."

Sunggyu being undisturbed by his menacing remark, stayed composed and said, "It is not surprising at all because it is what I am expecting to you."

His gaze deviated to the staff members and diverted the conversation. 

The atmosphere became awkward because of the cold tension between the two brothers. Sunggyu calmly broke the ice by introducing Woohyun to the staff who will take over as the new manager of the café, "Everyone, this is my brother, Woohyun. He will be taking over the café as the main manager from now on."

Woohyun bowed down and greeted politely,  "Annyeong hasimnikka. I am Nam Woohyun. I hope we will be able to work with each other nicely."

The staff members bowed down to him. They all smiled at their new manager. 

Sunggyu cleared his throat and said afterwards, "Woohyun-dongsaeng, since you are not familiar yet on how to run this café, I would still be watching over you." 

"Okay, hyung," Woohyun replied. He knew that his brother will not leave him alone. It was Sunggyu's responsibility after all. As his older brother, he has to guide him in 'everything'.  Having his brother out of the picture was never possible, and this was the thing which Woohyun hated most. Sunggyu here, Sunggyu there, and Sunggyu everywhere. And him? He always appeared to be the superficial one. Sunggyu has always been the best while he has always appeared to be the immature one.

Sunggyu said, "Roam around the place and familiarized yourself to your new working ground."

The younger man heaved a sigh. Woohyun said to himself, "He is everywhere. When will be the time that I will ditch this rascal out of my life? This so-called perfect man surely loves to ruin my life. Aigoo!" 

Sunggyu was walking towards his office. He was supposed to hold the doorknob of his office when Mr. Bong stood near him. The young man shifted his gaze to the old man. He asked, "Annyeong, Mr. Bong. Is there anything that I can do for you?"

Mr. Bong suddenly tapped his chin as he tried to recall the thing he wanted to say, "Sunggyu-nim, I placed the new applicant's resumé on your desk.."

Sunggyu replied with a smile,"Ah that~ Thanks for reminding me, Mr. Bong. Did she arrive already?"

Mr. Bong answered, "No, not yet."

He smiled, "Good, I still have couple of minutes to read her resumé. I will just go to my office, Mr. Bong" Sunggyu bowed his head down and entered his office.

 

He entered his office and sat down on his swivel chair.

The lad brought out an envelope from his drawer, "Here it is." He opened it .

His eyes widen a bit when he saw the resumé of the applicant. 

He mumbled, "Oh, I have seen her somewhere. When was it again?"  The lad held the applicant's resumé.

[~]

"Eomma, what happened? Kwaenchanayo? " a man who appeared to be rich went towards them. It was the woman's son. He went towards them. The moment his mother contacted him that she was in the police station, he immediately rushed to the station to check the condition of his mother whose bag was stolen a while ago.

The old woman replied, "A thief attempted to steal my bag. Luckily, she came to save me." The woman pointed the young lady who saved her from the thief.

He turned his gaze to the young lady who stood up from her seat the moment he arrived, "Gomawo." The young man bowed his head stoically.

 The young woman became frozen on where she was standing. "Cheon~sa.. Cheonsa," she thought. The man spoke up, "Miss, is there anything I can do for you in return for saving my mom?"

She was snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh?" she mumbled. He asked, "Miss, are you alright?"

The young lady shook her head, "Ah~ Nae, I am fine. Return? Anio, anio. You do not have to. I guess I would have to go."

He asked once again, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I will be going now," she bowed her head down. "Thank you again, Miss." the woman who she helped bowed her head.

"It is okay, Agassi. I will be leaving now." The young lady immediately left the police station.

[~]

After a few minutes, he recalled the incident which happened yesterday. The applicant was indeed the woman who helped his mother from the thief who stole her bag. 

He said,  "She was the girl who helped Eomma."

The lad read her resumé thoroughly. "She had different works before. Stuntwoman? Oh! So, it is not a surprise that she knocked the thief down easily," he presumed.

 

The young lady entered the café where she was applying. Different thoughts entered her mind. Cold sweat was dripping all over her back, and an unexplainable nervousness slithered around her body. Fortunately, a staff came along and approached her immediately.

She cleared and spoke cheerfully afterwards, "Annyeong haseyo, I was the one who inquired for a job application yesterday." 

A staff said, "I will just go to Manager Kim. Please wait for a while."

The young lady said calmly, "Gomapseumnida."

 

Sunggyu was doing some paper works when he heard light repetitive knocks outside the door of his office.

He spoke up, "Come in."

Yoseob, a staff member gently heads inside his office. He said, "Sir, The new applicant is already here." 

Sunggyu stopped what he was doing and said, "Ah, I see. Let her in."

"Yes, sir." the staff replied.

"Thanks" Sunggyu said as the continued doing his work.

An unusual feeling arose inside his chest when the staff member said that the new applicant has arrived. He could not determine whether it was excitement or something. 

Thoughts of rarity stuttered inside his head, "Is she somehow~~special?"

 

Yoseob, one of the staff apprised, "Our manager said that you will have to go to his office." 

The young lady felt nervous when she heard the words of the staff member. Butterflies continued to roam around her stomach. Indeed, she felt anxious.

Her words were in a tottering tone, "Okay, thank you."

He guided, "This way, follow me."

 

She heaved a deep breath. "You can do it, " she tried to calm herself.

Gentle knocks were casted by her tiny fist. She twisted the door knob and stepped into the room. The room is quite big. It is big enough for the things occupying the room.

"Annyeong hasimnikka." she greeted without looking directly to the man sitting on a high-end chair.

Sunggyu asked and motioned her to sit, "You must be Ms. Kim? Take a seat."

She was too nervous to face him. was blocked by the nervousness throughout her body.

Sunggyu expressed in curiousity, "As you can see, this café has all-male staff members. I wonder if you will be able to work with them well. Anyway, I read your resumé just now, and I am pretty impressed that you already worked for different jobs in such a young age. You worked as a stuntwoman too?" 

His eyes continued to wander around the nervous girl sitting on the chair in front of him. The bravery he had seen from her during the time when they first met seemed to fade away with the way she was acting. The ardent strength which she had shown was nowhere to be found on her face. He wondered what was bothering her.

Was it his presence? Did he look like he will eat her or something? The lad laughed at his thoughts inside his mind. Of course, he would not let her notice it. Sunggyu kept his face sturdy and acted like he was not interested on whatever she would say, though in reality he actually was.

"Ye~Yes, Seonsaengnim," she stuttered.

Her words continued to shake. Nervousness was flowing through her brain. It halted the strength inside her body. It was like it was her first time to be interviewed for a job application. She could not figure out what made this place different from the places she had worked in. The aura of the place was entirely different from other places she had been into.

Sunggyu could not help but to worry about her nervous appearance. He thought of breaking the ice in order to help her overcome the anxiety she was feeling.

Sunggyu remarked wittily, "That is why you were able to beat the thief who attempted to steal from my mom."

She was surprised by his words, still clueless of the phrases he expressed.

"Your mom?" The young lady whispered in a puzzled tone.

She lifted her gaze to look at the man she was talking to. Her eyes widen with shock. Her eyes saw the gentle face of the man whom she had met yesterday.

"Annyeong haseyo! I am Kim Sunggyu by the way. We did not have a chance to know each other last time. I am glad that we have met again," The young man laid his hand for a hand shake. He glinted her a genuine smile.

Just like the first time she encountered him, she was loss at words, and told herself, "OMO! That~That~son of the one I helped~ yesterday~~is my boss? The angelic man~Omona! Omona! I need~~air."

was locked once again and not even a word escaped from her lips. The painful nervousness in heart was changed into a several repetitive throbs. The young lady wanted to hit her head for multiple times to check whether she was dreaming or not. When their gazes met, it was like her soul was jumping out of her body.

Sunggyu became bothered to her reaction which he had also seen during the time they have met, "Kwaenchanayo? You were like that too yesterday."

She was flustered by his words, and immediately apologized, "Choeseong hamnida, Seonsaengnim."

"I give my apologies to you for yesterday. I was not able to thank you for what you did to my mom." Sunggyu apologized.

She stuttered once again, "It is no~nothing, Sir."

Sunggyu noticed her nervousness, so he said, "You must be nervous right now." 

Words of apology came out from her lips, "Oh, I am sorry."

Sunggyu crossed his arms and leaned on his chair, "Do you want me to return the favor to you by accepting you here?"

"Ah~Ani. You do not have to. The one I did yesterday is not something big, and I do not want to be accepted here just because you helped me," She answered his question with full of dignity.

Sunggyu was once stunned by her again, but became apologetic thinking that his words probably hurt her pride.

He apologized, "Sorry, I did not mean to."

The young lady tried to smile. "It is not your fault Seonsaengnim," She replied in assurance.

Diverting the awkward atmosphere his question caused, Sunggyu deviated the conversation into a more sensible one, "Anyway, the one who will be your main boss when you happened to be hired here is my brother. He would be taking my place. So, as you wish, I will not accept you just because of yesterday's incident. Do you have a background in cooking,preparing coffee and baking?"

"Yes, Sir. I once worked in a bakery," she answered plainly.

Sunggyu asked ambiguously, "Good. So, shall you start?"

Suprised by his sudden question, she asked, "Pardon?"

"You will be baking a cake and preparing coffee. We will see if you deserve to be hired here." Sunggyu explained.

"Please kindly assist her to the kitchen. She is going to do some work there. We will have to have to see if she can work here." Sunggyu requested to a staff member.

The staff member said, "Yes, Sir."

 

"This is the stock room," The staff pointed. 

Woohyun was being oriented about the things he should know in running the cafe, but he seemed to be uninterested with what the staff was saying.

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