Ice Cream Bar, Book 1: Keep Lucky (🔥🔞 Spicy Version)

Chapter 17 - Cake (Saturday night continued)

"THEY DID WHAT?!" I'm staring at JiHoon and Keep in utter disbelief. "Those idiots! What were they thinking?" Moments ago, the two of them pulled me into the breakroom during an extremely busy Saturday night to tell me one of the most outrageous stories I've heard in a very long time. I have to get back out there and help run the bar but there's no way I can let this go until the shift is over. Can I? This is a mess.

I put my face in my hands and groan. I need to tell Mint. He always knows what to do. We can figure this out together. But I can't bother him right now. Business is finally picking back up and I don't want to get in headspace with anything negative right now.

"Listen, I need you two to get back out onto the floor. I'm glad you told me but we've got to finish this shift before I can even begin to address this." I sigh. "Do me a favor and don't say anything to Mint about it, okay? I'll tell him tonight after the bar is closed." Mint is currently helping out behind the bar, which is terrifying because he's not exactly known for his customer service.

"Got it," says JiHoon and Keep nods emphatically.

"Okay, thanks. Now go!" I shoo them away. They are two of my best employees and I can't have them distracted right now. We called in a bunch of part-timers and temp workers to help with tonight but we definitely still need our core group of full-time employees to help steer the ship. The pair hurry away and I massage my temples, take a deep breath, and walk back into the bar after them.

As I survey the crowded club, I should feel nothing but a swell of pride and relief.. What if all of the Keep and JiHoon's ideas work out this well? What if this is just the start of an upswing? It's so exciting!

However, while we've been so focused on the financial health of the bar, I think we've lost sight of the emotional health of our people. I need to start fixing this before I even bring it up to Mint.

I look around our bar; the physical representation of all of our hopes and dreams. Ugh, I'm psyching myself out. But everything I see is promising. Customers were laughing, drinking, dancing...some of them were already making out. The music was thunderous and sending out positive vibes only. No sounds of breaking glass, no fights, no one crying in a bathroom, no one climbing the bar to try to dance on it. So far, so good.

I make a plan to speak with Title first, since he seemed the most level-headed of the three. I don't know Bank very well since he hasn't been working with us very long. And as fun and charismatic as JangMi is, I've never seen her have a serious conversation with anyone...ever. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to say yet, but I think Title is the best place to start.

I turn to head to the bar to talk to the three stooges, when I accidentally run smack into Lucky.

He gasps and bows deeply. "I'm so sorry, Cake!" He's holding his nose. I grimace and place my hand gently over the spot on my sternum where his face had smashed into me. Ouch.

"It's okay, it's okay!" I put a hand on his shoulder and force a smile despite the pain. I know it's only temporary and it probably won't last as long as his guilt. Lucky is like a wounded dog. He's been kicked too many times and he is emotionally fragile. I don't want him to stress about this, especially considering how busy the bar was tonight. "I wasn't watching where I was going. It's my fault."

Lucky glances over at the bar and nods his head towards it. "Are you going to talk to them?"

"So you know about it, too?" I pinch the bridge of my nose.

He shrugs uncomfortably. "Only as much as you know. I heard about it from ChaMin earlier this evening."

I let out another huge sigh. "Yeah. I'm going to try to talk to them. Maybe I'm sticking my nose where it doesn't belong but I can't help but feel a sense of responsibility."