Jimin

“Can we meet up ? I really need someone to talk to”

My loud voice probably had made people around me annoyed, as if giving death glares and staring me up and down would automatically shut my mouth. Ignoring them, I tried to hear what the panda had to say. When he blabbered about something before agreeing that he would be at our hanging out place in fifteen minutes, I ended the call and skipped towards the long line of people, who were either too busy or too lazy, waiting for their turns to order.

Out of all coffee shops, I happened to like this place’s mango smoothie and put myself in such a long awaiting line. Well, as long as my lips got their first touch on the beautiful black straw they put into the cup of smoothie, I could handle waiting.

Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself first. I’m Jung Jimin, um, twenty-four years old this year. What’s else … ? Actually, that’s all I could speak about myself, because I am currently doing nothing and having no place to call home.

Pathetic ? You say ? I didn’t think so though. It’s my luck that I could get out of the place I once called home. Under some circumstances, I decided to quit my job with not much money left, my life was still not that bad.

Without money, I could still be alive, I hope.

My patience started to run out after ten minutes waiting. Why did the line look like it hadn’t shortened just a bit ? I hadn’t had breakfast yet, my stomach was growling and all I wanted was a simply smoothie which could fill in my empty stomach. My body swayed unconsciously, I bumped onto a person behind me and as a habit, I spun around first to look at their face before I would say sorry.

Wow.

Okay. I was slightly surprised to see such a handsome young man, must be around my age, trapped in a black suit yet his grey hair was put up in a really stylish way. He was staring at his chest, I still didn’t know what was wrong with his chest until he looked up and glared at me.

Great, now I knew why, out of all places, I happened to bump into his chest.

“I am sorry for bumping into you-“

“Are you ing blind ?”

The polite smile I put on my face froze upon hearing his words. What was wrong with this dude ? Was it legal for someone to curse the person who was trying to apologize ? As far as I knew, in Korea it’s illegally rude.

“Excuse me ?”, I snapped back. The oh-so-friendly smile dropped and I gave him the same amount of hatred in my glare. “I didn’t notice you, moreover, my legs were tired from the long walk-“

“Am I asking you for the reason ? Shut up, I don’t care. I don’t need your apology. Turn around and stop showing your ugly face to me”

I scoffed in disbelief. I released my grip on the orange suitcase and stabbed his chest with my forefinger. I stopped working inside a kitchen for a week already, so my nails probably had grown pretty long. His eyebrows furrowed and I could hear a few curse words escaping his lips. Before I could give him some of my temper, he slapped my hand away as if I hadn’t washed up for ten years.

His perfect grey hair fell in front of his eyes as he looked down to dust his white shirt. Even though his attitude irked me to death, I had to admit to myself that he was really good-looking, enough to make that silly color of hair look acceptable. Grey hair was supposed to look good on people that had gone through sixty years or more in their life. But this guy looked great with grey hair.

But then again, I was not those kind of -up girls, whose anger would subside once they saw how ridiculously gorgeous the guy in front of them was, like immediately, a Korean drama fantasy felt so real to them. What ran in those minds, actually ? There was no love at first sight, I bet. And even if there was, it would never happen to me, in this coffee shop, with this rude bastard, whose hair was grey.

I stopped convincing myself that my heart was not stolen because of his look once his eyes met with mine. There was a cold and unreadable vibe in his orbs. I found it amazing at the way his lips curved down forming a frown before opening and letting out a scoffing growl. “What’s your problem ?”. His voice came out raspy and I could hear a little lisp in its, not like it would make his tone any less demanding.

“You”

As soon as it left my mouth, I felt proud of myself because his gaze faltered a bit and he took a small step back, as if to have a fuller look at me.

“Are you rich ?”

I barked at his random question. While I almost laughed because of his randomness, he glared at me, asking for his wanted answer. What should I do in this situation ?

“Apparently, I can tell that you are not anywhere near my status, so please, be shameful of yourself and stop flirting with me”, rude bastard added in just as quickly as when he asked.

I opened my mouth to reply to him but was stopped by a voice behind my back. Casting him a look of disgust, I turned around fully to face the worker of the coffee shop, separated from me by the counter. He flashed me one polite smile before asking what my order was. I could still feel an heated glare on my neck and tried to ignore it. It didn’t take a genius to know that the bastard was the causer of that heat.

“Mango smoothie, make it sweet, please”, I smiled and watched as the worker registered my order into the computer before disappear into the back to make my drink.

Now I had time to think of the question I received a minute ago. Am I rich ? I could say either yes or no, none of those answers would be a lie. I had always had a thing for liar, I hated how people could lie without blinking an eye and swore to myself that I would never lie, not even when I hadn’t taken a bath for a month and someone asked me, I still proudly admitted it. Okay, not really proudly but meekly, still, I would never lie.

In this case, I decided to not answer the bastard. There was no point anyway. He was barely a stranger. There was a way to treat this stranger though. I would do a flavor and let him answer his own question, soon.

“Here you go, miss”, the worker came back with my drink. My eyes twinkled immediately at the sight of my favorite drink. I glanced at the worker briefly before pointing at the menu placed on the counter. “Can I have this mint latter and two blackberry muffins ?”

“Okay, wait a minute”, he smiled politely again before doing his jobs.

Oh my god, I already felt giddy because of my next move.

The heated gaze from behind me was still there, I guessed the bastard was more impatient now with me because I took too long to order. Suddenly I heard a slight noise, a second later, my suitcase was two feet away from my reach. Oh no he didn’t. I swirled around only to be greeted by his smirking face.

“Your suitcase cracked a bit. Sorry, I didn’t know you bought such cheap one. My leg got cramp and I just wanted to stretch …”. He didn’t sound a bit sorry though. He wanted to test my patience, and I could figure that he was not too much a patient guy either. He didn’t want to repeat his question, yet, irritated because I didn’t answer him. It resulted in his childish conclusion – kicking my suitcase to let out his anger.

Calm down, Jimin. You’re usually not a level-headed person but calm down this time. You had a better plan ahead. I watched as he tucked his hands inside his pants’ pockets and casually shifted weight from one leg to another. Another admission today, the bastard didn’t need to try so hard to look cool though.

 I could already felt the people behind him watching us curiously, probably thinking how I would react. I could read from his challenging eyes that he was expecting me to furiously scream and accuse him, in shorter term, making the fool out of myself. You’re not going to get it, pretty boy.

Taking in a deep breath, I turned away from his intense eyes and got my orders. One more latter and two muffins. I leaned against the counter and flashed my teeth to the worker. “Hey, charge everything to the guy behind me”. Not letting him saying a single word, I snatched the drinks and muffins and spun around.

“Thank you so much”

I snickered softly to myself because as soon as I told the rude bastard those words, he looked at me as if I had gone crazy. No worry, man, you would go crazier once you knew what I had left for you.

I patted his arm twice, not even care if I would receive any of his rude viruses, put on my best grin and sharply grabbed my lifelessly-lying-on-the-ground suitcase, making my escape like a flash of light out of the coffee shop.

Goodbye, rude bastard with grey hair. I hoped to not see you ever again.

***

The panda had been attacking my phone by calling nonstop for ten minutes already. I guessed I got too carried away with the prank I made earlier to notice his call. It’s my fault for being late anyway, I asked him to meet me despite his busy schedule, yet I turned up late.

“Panda !”

The vibrate of my phone stopped at the same time my bestfriend heard his nickname. He tossed his phone back inside his pocket and straightened up. I came running and crashing into his arms as he quickly caught me before I could end up inside the sandy playground behind him.

“You’re late”, Tao muttered, looking unhappy.

“But I bring latter and muffin !”, I showed him my sweet treats I got for him and like I predicted, his expression brightened and he snatched the muffin away from me quickly, before stuffing it into his mouth. “I’m hungry. I haven’t had a proper meal ever since morning. The director screwed things up and I was the one cleaning it for him”

“I never like your boss, Tao. He sounds like an old-minded old man”, I commented, pushing him down next to me on the bench. We never got to see each other much due to his job and my … old job. But everytime we needed a person to talk to, this playground always was the best place.

Tao continued to stuff his cheeks like a hamster, didn’t find a right moment to reply to me. I didn’t push him though, the last time I tried to make him talk while eating, he-

“W-wat-water, Min”

Oh yes, he choked, like how he was now.

I rolled my eyes. He was the only guy I knew who still refused to eat properly at the age of twenty-four. Yet, I still loved him like my real brother. Zitao would never be the same if he ate lesser.

I took the cup of latte and slammed the straw into his lips. Tao gladly gulped down from it and five seconds later, he breathed out full of satisfy. “That was one good muffin”, he grinned childishly and munched on the rest of the muffin. “And good latte too”, he nodded approvingly. “I knew why you and my boss both love that coffee shop so much”

“Your boss ? Isn’t he too old for coffee and muffins or something so … teenager ? I thought old men love tea more”, I chuckled, sipping on my mango smoothie. I could make better smoothie but I had no place to perform my ability now.

“What, no, Min. My boss is not an old man, he is actually my friend from university. He is our age”, Tao shocked me with this piece of information. He was working as a personal assistant for the director of Oh Royal Hotel, so … this meant, that director was as young as me ?

I didn’t have a chance to ask for more because he paid his attention on my suitcase, his eyebrows furrowed and I gulped nervously. Tao was not himself if he was this quiet.

I eventually stopped unwrapping the cover of the muffin because the crunching noise it let out making this whole atmosphere scary.

“I ran away from home, panda”

His eyes snapped at me and I had to lean back to avoid seeing him too close. It didn’t help much because his eyes were sharp and his arm muscles seemed visibly even through that white shirt of him. What if he decided to get rid of his bestfriend by choking me with those muscular arms ?”

“Are you crazy, Min ? Uncle will be upset-“

“I told him beforehand, Tao”, I chuckled. His face immediately turned priceless. He placed his hand on the top of my head and gave me a wtf look, “Are you seriously running away from home after telling your dad about it ?”

Laughing at his face, I nodded, not bother to hide my amused smile, “You know full well why I am doing this”. I looked away from him, shifting my gaze back down to my hands and stared at them, as if they’re more interesting than my friend. “I can’t stay under the same rooftop with him anymore, Tao”

There was a short moment of silence before Tao let out a huff sigh, wordlessly, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and drew me in closer. Currently in need of a shoulder, I was more than happy to place my head on his steady shoulder. I had no biological sibling, so Tao was a bless I had in my life. Whenever I felt like crying, he would be my older brother, lending me his broad shoulders. Whenever I felt like hitting someone, he would be my younger brother, lending me his body to hit on. Sometimes, Huang Zitao even willingly became my female sibling, sharing the most sensitive topic with me.

“Baekhyun never grows up from his fantasy about you”, Tao stated. But I found it more like an accusation. My stomach churned at the mention of Baekhyun. After all the stress he gave me after all these years, and his confession yesterday, I still wouldn’t let anyone talk bad things about him. Even if it’s Tao.

“But, wait. So where do you live now ?”, Tao pulled off from the hug and gave me a look.

I hushed to ease his tenseness. “Easy, Tao, easy. I am looking for a place to stay now, no worry”

I watched as his eyes narrowed and fire could be seen shooting out of his ears. Tao ran his hand over his eyes hastily and then through his dark blonde hair. There was this tiny hope raised up in my tummy once he gave me a softer glare, “You know the code to my apartment”.

“Yes, thank you !”, I exclaimed, a big fat smile crossed my face and my arms threw over his neck, pulling him in for a grateful hug. “You’re the best, panda !”

“Yeah, yeah. Even though you are a troublemaker, you’re still my bestie. Now you’re under my care and obviously become my personal chef, I expect a royal meal for dinner”, he chuckled, flicking my forehead earning a yelp from me. I glared at him but Tao already shot up to his feet. “I would love to give you a drive. But my boss needs me right now”, he sent me an apologizing smile before ruffling my hair one last time. “Thank you for the drink and muffin, Min”.

“Nevermind, they’re all free”, I scoffed, remembering where I got those from. How I wanted to see that bastard‘s reaction after finding out that he had to pay for all of my orders !

“Free ?”, Tao looked back when he had already reached his car, wide-eyes.

I laughed again, this time both because of his adorable expression and the memories, “Yeah, from a rude bastard with grey hair”

Oh Sehun

“Sir, the lady before you said that you would pay for her orders”

I almost snapped but composed myself.

“Excuse me ?”

The worker flinched back, he must be surprised to hear the resentment in my voice. But this was about my money, which was about to be used meaninglessly because of a stranger ? A hot and stubborn one. Wait, did I just think that girl is hot ? Hell no.

“She clearly said that you would pay for her bill”, the worker smiled brokenly and hurriedly handed me back my card. I stared down at the bill he gave me. One mango smoothie, one latte and two muffins, what was she ? A pig ?

The moment she bumped onto me and my eyes landed on her, I knew that she was trouble. There was no girl had a gut to stare into my eyes crossly like her. Everyone feared Oh Sehun, but her – a poor, short and y girl. I concluded she was really greedy and poor, and I was not the only person she ever tricked like this. She must have done this trick to every man she met before. 

Gritting my teeth, I scrunched the bill harshly under my palm and headed back outside. “Don’t you there to appear in front of my eyes again, munchkin. 1200 won is not a big deal, but I would definitely not spend even a coin on a munchkin like you”, I muttered to the bill. No need for a second glance, I had already remembered the cost by heart. I worked hard for all of the money and was not going to use it this way.

My day did not start smoothly. The first thing I heard when I came to the hotel was that most of our guests having dinner last night at my hotel were admitted into the hospital because of food poisoning. And then Kai attacked me out of nowhere, asking for permission to put the news on public. Damn him for being the most active journalist in the hotel section. He was lucky I was his friend or I would have killed him on the spot. The stupid guy laughed in my face before promising to keep it a secret as long as I allowed him to stay at one of the deluxe room whenever he wanted. There went my profit from that room into Kim Jongin. Urgh, my money kept disappearing in the most ridiculous way.

A familiar car stopped suddenly and I let out a huff. Tao came out rushing from the driver seat and raised his eyebrow at me. I sneered at him angrily, “What took you so long ?!”

“I told you I had to see my friend. Anyway, get in, Sehun”

I gave him a look. Again, why all of the people I worked with were mostly my friends ? They understood me, okay. But they pushed it sometimes as my friends. At some point, I just wanted to fire them but couldn’t.

“You’re working for me, Tao”, I pointed out. But didn’t want to stay under the sun anymore, I hurriedly got inside the passenger seat as Tao also came inside.

“We’re outside of the hotel and there is no one to hear me calling you Sehun”, Tao snickered. He started the engine and drove towards the hotel, my hotel.

The drive was pleasantly silence for me until Sehun opened his mouth and ruined the mood.

“So, what would happen to Minwoo ?”

“I fired him this morning”

My eyes bugged out since Tao stepped on the brake out of the blue, if it’s not for the seatbelt, I would have said bye to my dear life. A big thank to someone who thought of making a seatbelt. When the car completely stopped moving, my head swirled to set a firing glare on his skull. “Huang Zitao, are you crazy ?! You want to kill me to get my hotel or what ?!”

“Shut up, Oh Sehun. I am asking you, are you crazy ?! Park Minwoo is our maitre chef ! He is the head of our kitchen ! What would happen if there is no one to take care of the kitchen ?!”

My lips quirked up at the angry Tao. Actually, I was a little touched because he cared about the hotel’s image more than he should. After all, I was the owner, while he was simply a worker. But he grew attached to the hotel just like how he would never leave me.

“He ruined our reputation, Tao. Half of our current customers were still inside the hospital and all the booked rooms were canceled. The damage was too much to keep him”

Tao opened his mouth but shut it right away. I felt a little pity for him. Tao was a soft-hearted and sweet guy, while I was the opposite of him. Everytime I fired an employee, he would try his best to persuade me, which didn’t succeed most of the time. He slammed his fist onto the wheel and let out a strangled breath.

“But what about his life ? He would have no job and-“

“I sent him to our branch in Daegu. Would you please stop worrying for a mere stranger ? If you have nothing to do, go find me a new chef”, I flicked my wrist as a sign for him to shut up. Tao seemed to ease down when I mentioned I only sent Minwoo away. He didn’t need to know I cut down his salary for three months, or else he would throw a tantrum. Call me heartless all you want, no one messed with Oh Sehun and his money then got away so easily.

I didn’t notice that Tao had already returned to driving until I saw the moving surroundings outside of the window. Fall was coming to an end and slowly offering the controlling to winter, I could already fell the chilliness in the air. This would be a great opportunity for the hotel, I really needed to advertise the image of Oh Royal Hotel better after the food poisoning scandal.

“About the new chef, I need someone good at Korea cuisine, but still know about Western. It would be better if he know how to make various kinds of drinks, and blend smoothie and wines. Someone experienced and has great passion in cooking will be awesome”, I reminded him and scowled to myself at the smoothie part. Mango was never my favorite fruit, after this day, it would never be my favorite smoothie either.

“Stupid munchkin…”

I realized I spoke it out loud when Tao hummed to ask what I was talking about. “Nothing, but why the big smile ?”, I raised an eyebrow after seeing his lips stretching widely, eyes wrinkled happily.

“I just know who to choose as the new chef, you will like her a lot. She is the queen of cooking, and has many years working as the head chef at JJ Hotel”

“JJ Hotel ?”, it got my interest. JJ Hotel was our rival in both reputation and quality. They’re friendly to us though.

“Yeah, she is my friend. I will tell her later. And I will take full responsibility on this, boss”

I glared at him when he addressed me in that mocking tone. “Sure, if I don’t like the new chef, she is fired and you are doomed”

“Stop being the troublemaker, Sehun” , Tao snickered and pulled the car to a stop in front of the hotel. I whacked his head before hopping out. All the doorkeepers and security guards bowed their heads as soon as they saw me. Yeah they should bow like that, I paid them to work for me so it’s all normal.

Hopefully, I would not regret entrusting Tao and not going to see that munchkin ever again.

I tried something new this time, it's writing in specific narrator. It would help us understand the characters more :)

So far so good, I love their first meeting lol