“Aren’t you cold?” Kyuhyun asked, looking at Shin Hye as she wore her jacket, her back facing him. “I mean, it’s getting colder outside.”

“Ani, oppa. I’ll be –“ Her words were cut off when she turned around to face him. He was already standing in front of her.

“Here, wear this,” he said as he put a navy blue muffler around her neck.

Seeing how close they were to each other right now, her knees began to weaken. She could almost feel his breath on her forehead as his manly scent reached out to her, making her heart beat twice as fast.

 Kyuhyun, on the other hand, tried to appear cool and collected, but standing so close to her sent shock waves through him. A smile started to form on his lips as he watched her blush, which she didn’t notice as she was too shy to look at him.

“There!” Kyuhyun said, still smiling, as he inched a step backward, breaking the awkward mood. He knew he had to do it, or else, he would have confessed his feelings for her right then and there.

She swallowed while she pretended to fix the muffler on her neck. “Ah, n-neh. Gomawo, oppa,” she said as her gaze slowly landed on him.

“Let’s go?” he asked as he put his coat on.

“Y-You’re going to Sukira again?” she asked, a little confused.

“Neh. Wae?”

“Nothing, oppa,” she said and then faked a laugh. Of course, he could always go to the bar anytime he wanted, but she noticed that even if he had other things to do, he would still drive her to work. She wanted to ask why, but decided not to. She remembered what Yu-bi told her, she should just enjoy her moments with him. She smiled at her thoughts.

Shin Hye and the other singers were fixing themselves up, when another singer came in.

“Ugh, those waitresses were kind of annoying,” the singer said.

“Wae? What did they do to you?” another singer asked.

“Nothing. It’s just that when I was in the restroom, they were all so loud, my ears would nearly bleed. They were talking about a new waiter and they were all crushing on him. Aish, those girls.”

“Wow, so, have you seen the new guy?”

“Not yet. Wae?”

“He must be really good looking for those girls to act that way. I guess we have something to look forward to later.”

“Well, yeah, I guess you’re right.” And the two girls laughed.

Shin Hye, on the other hand, just shook her head hearing them talk about her former co-workers.

After a few minutes, while most of them were waiting for their turn to perform, their handler entered the dressing room.

“Listen up, boys and girls,” the handler called out.

Her voice sounded a little serious and all of them turned to look at her.

“Uee, our top singer, had just resigned. So, you need to exert more effort when it comes to your performances. You are the heart of Sukira. You have to do better than your usual.”

“What did Manager Jang said? I mean, I couldn’t believe he allowed her to go just like that,” one of the male singers asked.

“Well, as you know, Uee has always been a problem child,” the handler explained.

“Uee was no longer the top singer here since Shin Hye came. So, I understand why Manager Jang accepted her resignation,” another singer commented, and then let out a chuckle.

Their handler smiled. “Actually, you’re right. Sukira’s number of customers increased since Shin Hye started.” She looked at Shin Hye and gave her a smile, and then back to the group again. “But of course, we are a team here. People don’t come in here just to watch her, but all of you. So, everyone should practice more, arasso?” she continued.

“Neh,” everybody answered in unison.

Shin Hye’s first performance had just ended and as she made her way to the dressing room, she saw a familiar face walking out of the servers’ room.

“Oppa?”

“Oh, Shin Hye-yah!” the man uttered, flashing her a smile.

“Why are you here? ....and why are you dressed like that?” she asked, looking at him in surprise.

“Wae? Doesn’t it look good on me?” he asked jokingly as he tried to fix his uniform.

“Of course, everything looks good on you, but –“

“I work here now as a waiter. Aren’t you glad that we work in the same place?” he asked again, and then let out a soft, teasing laugh. “Hmm, if you think about it, we don’t just live under one roof, but we also work under the same roof, how cool is that?” he whispered, and that earned him a hit in the arm from Shin Hye.

“That hurts,” he said, pretending to be hurt.

Shin Hye smirked at him and then she began to notice some employees walking past them – mostly females.  She could see the sparks on their eyes as they glanced at the handsome man she’s talking to right now. She could even hear them whisper his name and then giggle after, and she didn’t like it.

“Yah oppa, it looks like you’re suddenly turning into an eye candy for those girls,” she said, pretending to joke, when in reality, she was unhappy about it.

“Who?”

“Them,” she said as she took a quick look at those girls crushing on him, making sure they won’t notice her.

He chuckled. “Wae? Are you, by any chance, jealous?” he teased.

“Ani,” she quickly answered. She felt she was going to blush any minute that time, but was glad she didn’t, as someone called out to him from behind her which broke the awkward situation.

“Kyuhyun-ssi?” It was Ms. Choi.

“Neh, Ms. Choi?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Manager Jang wants to talk to you. He’s in his office,” she said politely with a smile on her face.

Shin Hye was a little surprised at how gentle and kind Ms. Choi was to Kyuhyun. It’s most likely because she knew that Kyuhyun was Manager Jang’s best friend, she thought.

“Arasso. Kamsahamnida, Ms. Choi.” Then he turned to Shin Hye. “I’ll see you later,” he said, giving her his most charming smile.

“N-Neh, oppa,” she answered, and then let out a sigh of relief.

While waiting for Kyuhyun’s shift to end, Shin Hye decided to stay in the dressing room after her last song. Some of the singers who were finished with their performances already left.

While she was fixing her things, her handler came in and saw her there.

“Oh, Shin Hye-yah, I’m glad you’re still here. By the way, flowers for you,” she said, as she handed Shin Hye three red roses, which she put in a vase on her table.

“Kamsahamnida, unnie. But from whom?” she asked innocently, as there was no card or whatsoever attached. It was also different from the ones she previously received.

“Who else,” her handler chuckled in a teasing way. “It’s from TOP, of course. He just dropped by to give this to you, but I thought you already left, so that’s what I told him. Mian. Anyway, he then asked me to give you this if ever I saw you, so there. But it’s kind of weird, you know?”

“Wae?” Shin Hye asked.

“Hmm, he usually comes here on Friday and Saturday nights, but ever since he watched you perform, he comes here even on a weekday.”

“Ah, jinja? Hmm, maybe he just wanted to unwind.”

“Maybe,” she paused, and then quickly added,” But my gut tells me it has something to do with you, because sometimes he will drop by just to give you flowers. He didn’t do that to Uee before.”

“What do you mean?”

“Most of us here think that he likes Uee as he used to come here either Friday or Saturday night and gave her flowers but not as often as he does with you. Uee even once told me that they sometimes go out on a date. I’m not quite sure if it’s true though.”

“I see, but, uhm, unnie, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Why did Uee leave? W-was it because of me?” Shin Hye asked, her eyes showed worry.

“Eyyy, what made you say that? Of course, it wasn’t your fault. From how I see it, I think she just wanted to provoke Manager Jang, probably to get a raise or she was just naturally stubborn. Tss, she always does that, anyway.” Her handler smirked. “She assumed that Manager Jang will not let her resign as she’s Sukira’s top singer, but he accepted her resignation. So unfortunate for her, but I think Manager Jang made the right decision. Uee has been causing him problems ever since– her absences, tardiness, being drunk when performing, among other things, ugh! And you know what...” she paused. She looked around and made sure nobody was listening to their conversation before she continued. “I didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help it, so I overheard our Manager talking to, I supposed, the owner of this bar, and I heard that if it weren’t for the number of people who come here to see her performance, they would have fired her back then. They must have been so grateful that you came, it was easier for them to accept her fake resignation.” She chuckled.

“Well, I guess I’m partially the reason. If I wasn’t here, they wouldn’t let her resign,” Shin Hye said and then heaved a sigh.

“Ani. If there’s someone at fault