After the couple’s sweet moment in Soori’s bedroom, they made their way downstairs to where her mother and brothers were discussing their current situation.

“I know kicking him out was best for us all but… Can we afford to stay here still?” Hyuk sighed.

“I’ll try to help you guys as much as I can with finances. My boss just gave me a raise so I should be able to have some money to spare for you,” Taekwoon reasoned.

“Some money can’t possibly enough to help us cover all the bills…” Nala groaned.

Soori bit on her lower lip as she heard the conversation, and she couldn’t help but to blame herself for what was happening. She’s the one who first stood up against Kinimitsu. “I can help!” she declared, making her and Mark’s presence known to the family.

“Huh? Soori, it’s fine we’ll figure this out.”

“No, I can help. I can legally get a job right now. I can help!”

The elders looked at each other and sighed before looking back at Soori, “No Soori. Your brothers and I can handle this. I’ll get another part time job, Taekwoon will put some money aside for us, Hyuk’s already working on switching to a higher paying job… You need to focus on school.”

“I don’t like that. I don’t want all of you doing all of the work, let me get a job. Hyuk Oppa got a job when he was a freshman!” Soori complained, “I stood up against our dad first, this is partly my fault. Let me help!”

Taekwoon took a step forward and placed a comforting hand on Soori’s shoulder, Mark followed suit and placed another hand on Soori’s other shoulder. “Soori, I know that you want to help. Look, with Hyuk, your mom, and I working… Plus we still have your uncle’s contribution as well.”

“Our uncle? He wastes all his money on getting soju and tequila! I’m going to get a job, I’m going to help you guys with this,” Soori stated, crossing her arms. “Besides, plenty of people get a job at this age… If we weren’t under the current circumstances and I just came up asking if I could start working, you would let me.”

“Soori, I just don’t want you to stress about this…” Nala reasoned with a gentle voice.

“I’m more stressed knowing if all I have to do is go to school while you guys have to work extra hard to keep a roof over our heads…”

Hyuk sighed and nodded once, “Alright. You can get a job.”

“What? Hyuk!” Nala and Taekwoon cried out while looking back at the male.

“She’s not going to back down. She’ll get a job no matter what we say. Do you think you can do theater and work at the same time?”

“You were able to do it. I don’t see why I wouldn’t be able to. Besides, the theater people will understand if I can’t stay after school on some days.”

“And when she has to go to work and can’t make theater, I can try and fill in for her so her absence isn’t too much of a burden,” Mark spoke up.

“Oh, Mark you don’t have to do that…” Soori looked over at him. He just smiled knowing and nodded his head.

“I know I don’t, I’m just doing this so I can be of help too.”

“Alright, so it’s decided then. I’ll look for a place to apply at tomorrow.”

“Actually… You might not have to look for long,” Mark started.

Soori paused and looked up at the boy with a confused look, “Huh? What do you mean?”

“The café we always go to,” he continued, “last time we went I noticed they were hiring. They know your face pretty well since we go there so often… So you could try applying there.”

“Oh. Sweet, that’s easier than I thought it’d be. Thanks Mark!” Soori grinned widely up at him.

“Anytime. Anyway, I should be on my way home soon but before I leave there’s something I want to ask of you guys…” he trailed off as his gaze moved up towards Soori’s family.

Nala grinned as her arms crossed over her chest, “Permission for another date?”

“Mom!”

“I’m kidding. Anything, dear. What do you want to ask?”

“Soori’s birthday is coming up… She helped plan a great surprise birthday party for me, and earlier she told me she didn’t want a surprise party, but can we throw her a party here?”

“Oh. Oh of course! But, you’ll have to plan for the party to be Friday after school. On Saturday the family has a party together, only close family friends or boyfriends and girlfriends really come to those… But hey, you’re almost one of those. You can come on Saturday too if you want,” Nala grinned widely.

“Awesome! Thank you so much, Ms. Jang! I’ll plan everything with the help of some friends. So don’t worry too much about having to plan two parties for her.”

Nala chuckled softly and looked to her daughter, “He’s a real keeper.”

“Mom!!”

~~~~~~~~

The following day, Soori could hardly get through her classes. All that was on her mind was going to apply for her new job. In the spur of the moment, after Mark had left the house she went up to her room and wrote up a resume for herself. It took her until 2 in the morning, but she knew she really needed a job to help her family. Surprisingly, falling asleep late had no effect on Soori’s mood. She was more hyper than ever, but that was probably just a side effect of finally getting her dad out of the picture.

“Whoa, slow down there tiger,” Mark chuckled as he watched Soori devour her lunch for that day, which consisted of merely a couple of cookies and some chips.

“I’m stress eating. Leave me alone,” Soori laughed, eating some more of the chips she had bought.

“I don’t think you’re really stressed… You’re just being a little extra hungry today.”

She faked a dramatic gasp at his words and threw him a dirty look, “Are you calling me fat???”

“What? No!” Mark immediately defended while looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Jeez… What happened to you? Yesterday you refused to talk to anyone and now you’re… Well look at you,” Jinyoung chuckled as he looked over at the girl.

She shrugged, “It could be period symptoms. Mood swings, you know?”

“You’re not on it,” Moonhyun interjected, and when everyone gave him a questioning look, he continued on, “I’ve kept tabs on her cycle since last year because she almost murdered me one time when she was on it.”

Soori giggled innocently and turned back to her cookie, “That was a good day.”

“ing sadist…” Moonhyun mumbled, “But hey I heard you were able to get her parents to agree on throwing her a party!” he grinned widely while looking over at Mark.

“Oh yeah! And I’m planning on it being an extra special birthday. Hey Moonhyun, can you help me with some of the stuff I’m planning for her? You’re her best friend, so I figure your opinion will be helpful.”

“Uh, I’M, her best friend. And yes I will help you,” Jinhee grinned as she slid into the space beside Soori, “And just saying but it might be a good idea to get Minhyuk’s opinion too. He doesn’t hang out with Soori as much anymore, but they still talk a looootttt. Minhyuk knows her really well, he just never has time to be with us because he’s always with his other friends. Same thing with Kevin… And while we’re at it you should definitely get Naomi’s opinion… Soori you have too many ‘best’ friends.”

Soori grinned and shrugged her shoulders, “I like all of you very much.”

Mark laughed along and nodded, “Noted. Thanks for the advice, Jinhee.”

~~~~~~

“Well this moment couldn’t have come any quicker…” Soori muttered as she stood in front of the café with Mark by her side.

“Well hey, just go in, request for an interview, work out details, go home, come back here, nail the interview, and just don’t forget about all of us unemployed,” Mark chuckled, “I have to head back to the school. Daniel Hyung’s been on my case about getting the set built up before February. See you tomorrow?”

Soori smiled softly and nodded, “Good luck with Daniel!”

“Yeah, I’ll need it.”

Once he took off, Soori entered the café with a million different thoughts going in through her head.

Maybe I should have called and scheduled an interview…
What if the manager isn’t even here?
Wait no, the manager should always be in…
Should I have just called?
what if they want to interview right now?
Oh god where is my resume??

“Hi!” the worker greeted once Soori reached the counter.

“Oh hi, may I request to speak with the manager? I saw you guys had a job opening and I was hoping I could apply…”

“Oh yeah of course! Please just give me a moment.”

~~~~~~

Surprisingly, the manager was able to get an interview with Soori within two days, and the day afterwards, Soori was rewarded with a call saying she could start work the following week after school. Her new work shift was Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school until 6, and Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm. Once the musical was over and Soori didn’t have to do theater rehearsals on Saturdays though, she’d also have to work on Saturdays.

“Hey, that’s not too bad. We don’t have even have theater after school on Wednesday so you’re really only missing one day!” Jinyoung stated when Soori told him and Mark during theater.

Mark nodded in agreement, “That’s a pretty good shift, even for a minimum wage job.”

“Hey, so on Wednesdays will you be the one making the drinks for us?” Jinyoung grinned while looking at her.

“I guess so. I’ll try to make it not poisonous or anything,” she giggled playfully.

“I’ll try to stay on your good side,” Jinyoung laughed along with her.

Mark chuckled and nodded in agreement, “Hey don’t forget, your party is tomorrow. We’ll take an hour tops to get all the decorations set up so after school tomorrow go home with Jinhee, stay beautiful, and then come home when we call. Alright?”

Soori laughed and nodded, “Alright. Thanks again for planning all of this, it really means a lot to me.”

“Anything for you.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was planning on a double update but my work for the next chapter was deleted and I was hoping to start it today but I have an amount of homework that I need to do so... All that will just have to wait for now- 

At this point of the story there are less than 10 chapters left~ 

Followed by 2 sequels that I'll hopefully be able to write pretty quick and easy-

But yeah, much hype and hopefully I'll find the time to update by this weekend but all of my AP classes are going hardcore this semester since AP exams are coming up and whatnot... So we'll just hope for the best-

OH AND BEFORE I FORGET: Thank you to EYESMILEPRINCELOVER for showing me that someone had plagiarized my story. The user deleted it and properly apologized to me, and to all of my new subscribers who came here after that whole mix up, welcome first off, and thank you for being understanding about the whole situation of the plagiarism. 

Comment Replies~

gaylay27 - Hehe I reply to all my readers and I don't think you're crazy, thank you so much for your support and I hope you enjoy this update~

Eunice_poh012 - I'll try to update sooner! Thank you for the support~!

ivyamericana - Sad that dads like that actually exist in this world :c

secretreader - Haha, no the antagonist characters will not die... But yes all of the antagonists will play larger roles in sequels, as for now they're just being introduced. The big idea for this story is just for Soori and Mark to get together on their own, not from any going through major problems or antagonists~ And hopefully I'll update

thelillcat - Hehe, the dad was definitely something. But yes, I hope I made up for it with the cute cuddling thing~

leks89 - Yeah, the dad seems to be getting a lot of hate right now- But thank you so much for your support!

stephv92 - Haha, I'm glad I could make you happy~! Hehe, thank you for the support <3

HaraxD - I hope to update sooner~ And thank you for the support! I'm sure Mark appreciates the compliment too c: 

-Dark_Angel- - Thank you so much for the support!