Radiant - jangjun gncd

Two

He was good with people. He knew how to make them smile, or perhaps his own smile is what made them.

"Another water...? Yes? Okay I'll be right back!" he happily shot them a smile.

Little did he know that his smile basically made the customer melt. Well to be precise, he made all his customers melt. From the time he greeted them, to the time he told them to come again, he won them all over.

He had only been in Seoul for almost three weeks or so, but he had already landed a job as a waiter, and somewhat felt settled. If it weren't for Jaehyun telling him there was an apartment opening, or Jaehyun being friends with owner of the restaurant's son, who knows where he'd be living or what he'd be doing?

He knew Jaehyun from even before he moved, and still Jaehyun was the only person he knew when he first moved to Seoul. But it wasn't long before he somewhat clicked with Jaehyun's roommates, the other guys from the apartment two doors down, and even the restaurant owner's son and his friend.

He set the glass down carefully on the table "Here's your water! Enjoy!" Then he proceeded to go behind the bar to where Youngtaek, the owner's son, was signaling him to come over.

He wiped the bead of sweat off his forehead as he approached Youngtaek, "yes?"

Youngtaek watched him breathing heavily "Nothing. You just seemed like you need a short break to take a breath."

"Ah no! I'm good. I like having customers."

Youngtaek rolled his eyes, "You've been running back and forth nonstop. I've been watching you."

He nearly snorted "I'm always on the move. No one can stop me! Speaking of which, you've been around a lot at the restaurant... like almost everyday?"

"Well this is my parent's restaurant," Youngtaek replied bluntly.

"Well of course! But I mean like, why-"

"It's because it's summer break and there's literally nothing to do!" Youngtaek pounded his fist on the surface.

"Why don't you go hang out with Seungmin?"

"Well I mean like... I also have like no money. Plus, I'll be seeing him tonight."

He adverted his eyes from Youngtaek to his customers then back to Youngtaek, "Makes sense."

Youngtaek whined "I have been so bored these days and it's all because of her!"

"Her? Your girlfriend? Why haven't I heard about this girlfriend?" He teased.

Youngtaek immediately grew flustered "No! No! She's not my girlfriend! She's my best friend! Get it right!"

He clicked his tongue "Oh! I'm sorry! Right... best friend. Now why is it her fault?"

"Every summer break on the first week, we go visit the sea with Seungmin, and like the group who live on your apartment floor. But this year she went to visit her family for three weeks and she is still not back!" Youngtaek groused.

"Ah right! The girl from the apartment two doors down. The one I haven't met yet."

"That's the one."

"She's Jaeseok's sister right?"

"Yeah... and I mean like even the restaurant is dead because of her."

He was surprised. He didn't think so, especially with all the customers that he saw on a daily basis. "Dead?" he asked.

Youngtaek pointed at the small stage in the restaurant, "She's a musician, and performs here a lot with Joochan, Daeyeol, Donghyun, and Bomin."

"So you're saying when they perform it gets more busy?"

"Completely packed."

He started to walk away from Youngtaek to attend to his customers trying to get his attention "Well, when is she coming back?

Embarrassed, Youngtaek called out to him "She's well coming... coming back tonight!" Youngtaek stuttered in realization "Wait! She's coming back tonight?... Yes! Tonight!"

Hearing Youngtaek's reply he giggled on his way back to his customers, and began to pick up the fast pace of the restaurant once again.

It was halfway through his shift when he finally decided to take his break. He went outside and stretched, taking notice of the sunset appearing, and the number of people walking by. Seoul took him by surprise often. The hustling pace, bright lights, and amount of people he saw everyday was surely different from the city of Jeonju he grew up in.

He checked his phone wondering if his mom called. But the only thing he got in the past few hours were two texts from Jaehyun.

Jaehyun: your packages came earlier, so I placed them in front of your door

Jaehyun: also, I'm not sure if we'll all be home later on... I think we're going to go eat at the restaurant tonight. Come join us, if you're up for it!

He replied.

Sent: Thanks Jaehyun!~ I get off late... so we'll see. I still need to unpack too.

And too soon after Youngtaek came outside to tell him his break was over.

"Everything good here folks?" he forced another smile at his customers eating away.

It was the last few minutes of his shift, and his energy was fading. He was completely exhausted, but with him you could hardly tell from the outside.

They're my last table, and then I'm done for tonight, he thought to himself.

"Alrighty! Here's the check. I'll be back to pick it up in a little," he dropped it off quickly, then once again went behind the bar to chat with Youngtaek while waiting.

"I cannot wait any longer," Youngtaek reached out to him in agony.

He pushed his hair out of his face, and looked outside the big glass windows of the restaurant, seeing the night sky had finally taken over, "Same. I'm tired."

"I'm not talking about being tired!" Youngtaek complained. "I'm talking about until she gets home!"

"Oh your lady friend! Right... so like can I go home too?" he taunted.

"Go finish that table who's waving you down, then you can leave," Youngtaek nearly pushed him away back into the opening dinning area.

It was only a couple more minutes before you heard his last "Thank you eating at Golcha's! Please come again!" of the day.

Afterwards he moved rapidly taking dishes back to the kitchen, wiping down his tables, brooming the floor, and fixing the chairs. When he was finally finished, he picked up his backpack and began to head towards the door to go home.

Yet before he fully was out the door, he heard Youngtaek's voice yelling to him "Jangjun! Good work today! See you tomorrow!"

But at the same time he heard Youngtaek's voice, he accidentally brushed shoulders with a group of people walking in while he was walking out.

He didn't take a chance to glance back and see who they were as he was determined to get home and unpack.

However, once their shoulders no longer touched, he no longer heard his name being called from Youngtaek.

Instead he heard Youngtaek's voice call out another, and that name was one he had not heard before.