MINAH

Work. That was the basis of my life. I started working part time jobs when I was in my first year of high school. Don't get me wrong, I was intelligent. I had the best grades in school. You can say... I was a bit of a nerd. Most of my friends called me that anyway.

Now that I was 21, you would expect me to be in college right? But nope, I wasn't. It wasn't because I couldn't get accepted to my top colleges, but it was the money we're talking here. My family wasn't rich, but they weren't too poor either. We originated from Busan, South Korea, but we moved to New York when I was eight. I don't even remember going back there to visit because again... the money.  

My mom worked as a nurse for a few years, but had to quit when she had me and my older sister. Being a nurse meant staying at the hospital for long hours and when it was their duty to go for overnight shifts, they were restless. My mom used to tell me that whenever she came home from work, she would go directly to bed from having to take care of so many patients. Now that my sister and I were practically adults, my mom found a small store where she started to run a bakery shop. It was my mom's hobby, but my grandmother loved making bakery goods even more. The bakery became more popular after running the store for a couple of months now. There wasn't a name for it when she first started, but until now it was called "Bangkery", combining both our last names and the word, bakery, just classic.

My dad, on the other hand, worked at an office for a well known company. Unni moved to California because she was offered a job. The rest of us– me, my parents, and my grandmother stayed in New York because we couldn't afford to move there. Luckily, unni hasn't forgotten about us. Every month she would send some money to our family that is still in New York. It was hard for unni to come and visit us. She visit only maybe two or three times a year. 

Now there was me– Bang Minah. Ever since I graduated high school, I have taken three part time jobs; one in the morning, and two in the afternoon. In the morning, I worked at a restaurant, serving coffee and breakfast treats to customers. In the afternoon, I worked at a company, only answering the customers' phone calls and listening to their complaints while writing them all down on a piece of paper. That was probably the most stressful job I have taken, especially since some New Yorkers have awful attitudes. Ugh.

After that job was done, I went over to my mom's bakery and worked there. That's where I was now. The door chimed as I walked in. My grandmother, mom, and my best friend, Hyeri, welcomed me with warm smiles as I entered. 

"How was work today?" My mom asked in her sweet voice. 

"Stressful as always. How's the business going today?"

"Running smoothly," Hyeri replied at the same time my mom whispered, "Poor girl."

I had known Hyeri practically all my life, ever since we were little toddlers. My mom is close friends with her mom, so when we were little, they would take us out on play dates. Ever since then, we were always together. My mom would call us glue buddies, since we really couldn't be apart from each other. That was how close we were. We even moved to America together because of our close friendship. I knew every single secret of hers as she has known every single secret of mine, even if it was embarrassing. I don't think I could last a day without her because she is just an amazing best friend.

Ever since my mom has opened the shop, Hyeri has been working part time with me. She also had another part time job starting from the morning until the afternoon as a daycare teacher. She has always told me how she loved teaching the kids.

I took my blue apron from the hook that was attached to the