Dating can be confusing. Especially when you have two people who like you, but whose faces you can't distinguish from each other. Soo Jung has just been dumped by his boyfriend who clearly still cares for her. But what if one guy who looks exactly l...
"Aaah!" I shreiked as I bumped my head at an overhanging box of gourmet coffee beans at a shelf. It proceeded to fall at me completely, spilling aromatic beans everywhere.
Shit. Was I sleeping at the storage room? Again?
I guess I was, but wait a second. That dream, Jae Han. Does he really know about me and Woo Seok? Does he really like me? Am I really over my ex? What?
I quickly tried to pick up the fallen coffee beans from the floor. The manager can't see me screw shit up again. I already have so much offenses such as what happened yesterday, the thing with Jae Han. Whatever shit I'm in, I should start fixing it. Getting fired on your first job is not a nice thing to see at a resume.
"Soo Jung?" someone called. I could see the door open but I tried to hide behind the shelf. I just hoped for the best and swiftly grabbed as much coffee beans my two small hands can hold.
"You know I can see you through the shelves right?" I heard someone say from behind. I slowly peeked and hoped it wasn't our nice but very loud manager who freaks out at our little mistakes and slip ups, like the one I'm trying to recover from.
It turned out to be Noh Ji Hoon, a co-worker, who is really nice to me. Well, nicer than the manager, to say the least. He's a bit taller than me and is really good-looking. He has this face who you would think of as a bad boy except he's not and he's really cute. What am I thinking? I'm already dating someone.
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I faced him and slowly showed the very stressful situation I'm stuck with. I plastered a 'help me' smile on my face and hoped he gets the message.
He suppressed a snicker and told me to finish quickly and that he'd cover for me from our manager. He helped a little and when there were only bits of coffee beans left, he went outside as if nothing happened.
Whoo! That was a relief. After I sorted the coffee bean mishap, I followed him outside and tended at the counter. The coffee shop is average in size like a mall Starbucks so we don't have a lot of employees because one person can do multiple tasks. For example, I'm a cashier, a barista, and at times, a waitress while Ji Hoon bakes, cleans and is also a waiter.
And about the uniforms, it's true that the only uniform was a cute black beret but the sweatpants thing is just my dream. I mean, who wouldn't dream about wearing comfortable clothes at work. If there was a job that you can do while wearing pajamas, I will be sold immediately. Unfortunately, for me, they're strict about fashion here. But you don't only need a good fashion sense to work here, you have to be good-looking too, which I think is a stupid requirement as many beautiful people are either rich as hell or lazy as fuck. They're lucky I fall at the 'good-looking poor people' bracket. Oof, is that too cocky?
I'm not necessarily poor per se, we have a big house and a nice car. So maybe I just fall at the 'incredibly beautiful independent teenagers who want a taste of life and whose mothers urge them to do so' bracket. Okay, I'm going to stop right there, I flatter myself too much, I should be wary for signs of narcissism. Be humble, Soo Jung. Be humble.
It didn't look like there were any incoming customers so I walked around the shop, asking how the food was, and trying to socialize.
"Excuse me, miss?" a woman called. She seems familiar...
Hold on...
That vegan girl from my dream?!
"Can I order some breadsticks?" she asked. Am I still dreaming?!
I tried to pinch myself, yep, definitely awake. No doubt on that one.
I calmed myself before answering. I will try to ask her if she's vegan before telling her that our breadsticks are not, assuming it makes a better approach than what I did in the dream. "Are you perhaps vegan, ma'am?" I asked.
"Are you profiling me? Just because I look skinnier than you doesn't mean I'm vegan, salty whore. AND YES, I AM VEGAN." she said, while expectedly, rolling her eyes. Is this Deja Vu? What's next Jae Han pretending to be Woo Seok comes in and plays with my feelings?!
Okay, let's focus on what's happening. I know now why this woman keeps assaulting me. I think it's called inferiority complex, look it up, I bet she hasn't. I simply served her the 'definitely vegan' breadsticks again to avoid the situation of her screaming at me but this time I topped it with an overwhelming amount of parmesan cheese. Yes, MORE CHEESE. I bet she thinks every cheese is vegan. Like how she thinks every breadsticks are. She accepted it wholeheartedly, which is not a surprise given that she's a 'vegan', while telling me how 'fat' I looked. I'm not fat, she's just worrisomely skinny so she thinks everyone around her is 'fat'.
Once I got back to the counter, trust me, I tried so hard not to stroke the breadsticks. I had to make Ji Hoon eat the displayed breadsticks, which were about three. I bought it for him, I told him it was payment for saving me earlier.
And I guess me trying not to touch the breadsticks made Jae Han not appear, thankfully. Ha, suck on that deja vu!
Or so I thought.
A while later, closing time, he came in, but this time with a different outfit. Instead of being all formal, he's wearing a white shirt, dark ripped jeans and Myun Jae PA's letterman jacket. I guess he has a friend who studies at Myun Jae, but that ain't fooling me. I know he's trying to trick me to think that he's really Woo Seok but jokes on him, I only fall at pranks once, when I'm not ready.
"Soo Jung." he said. He's not looking at me in the eye. He's nervous. Nice acting though.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him. I'll ride it for a little while, I'm bored anyways.
He cleared his throat. "Can we... uhm... talk outside?" His eyes are getting watery. Wow, I can't believe I asked a handsome Oscar-winning actor on a date! I must be so lucky.
"What is there to talk about? I thought that you we're tired of me, that you didn't really see me as a woman, that you were just being nice to me because you thought I looked naïve and pathetic. Now, you're here standing before me, acting as if you still care. How do you think am I supposed to feel?!" Oh no. I got too carried away. I'm crying. This isn't part of the plan! It hurts... My heart hurts. WHY AM I CRYING?!
He's acting guilty, I guess he really did his research. I can't look at him. I feel so ashamed that I'm talking about my break-up with a person who looks like my ex.
He tried to hold my hand but I didn't let him. "I'm tired." I told him. "You should go home."
He brushed his hair back, sighing in distress. "I miss you. I'm so sorry for everything."
By then, everything was blurry as my tears came rushing through my tear ducts. He turned around and I watched him leave the store through my blurred vision.
I sat down on the cold tiled floor, sobbing. It hurts, it really does. I thought that I was over him. But now that I can say that I am, I suddenly feel ambivalent.
I wiped my tears and tried to stand up but I felt dizzy. I tried to walk but my blurry vision and my dizzy state didn't allow me to stay upright. I was about to fall and I was expecting a large thump.
"Are you alright?" I heard someone beside me. Apparently, he caught me when I was almost about to drop on the floor. He looked like Jae Han but I couldn't say for sure. Maybe it's Ji Hoon.
"It's me, Jae Han." Oh, it is Jae Han. Why is he back?
