Milkshake Boy | pjm

three

There's a knock at the door, and I'm quick to whip it open to reveal my best friend, Chaeyoung, standing there with a confused look on her face. She walks inside and stares at me blankly before chewing on her lip for a moment, searching for words.

"You're telling me," she begins with a cock of the head. "That you want me to babysit your sister for the day?"

"Please," I beg as I grab hold of her shoulders. "I fired the old one because she was irresponsible-"

"And you think I'm any better?"

"No," I respond quickly, her eyebrow cocking upward as she agrees. "But I know you're not dumb enough to leave her on her own."

She nods.

"I'll be home in six hours, don't piss Yumi off or I'll never hear the end of it," I spin on my heel and head out the front door to see Chul already in the driveway waiting for me, his car engine humming lowly as he revs happily, something he only does to cockily show off to women. For me, however, it's only purely of comedy, for we don't see each other as any more than just friends.

"Welcome," Chul smiles as I climb into the passenger seat to his car, the door closing behind me as I pull it shut. "You ready to work with-"

"Don't say her name," I cut him off, quickly becoming annoyed by the thought of even being near our most annoying coworker. "I don't want to hear about her until I absolutely have to."

"Agreed," he says before switching his car out of park and pulling down the driveway, heading towards the diner in which we both work. "You on bust duty today?"

I shake my head. "Counter."

"Maybe you'll see your boyfriend again," he mocks.

I feel a hot blush creep up my neck and spread across my cheeks. "He's not my boyfriend," my voice is barely above a whisper, for my embarrassment has already taken over.

"Blushing over lover boy, I see," he chuckles.

I spin my body sideways and hit his arm playfully, causing him to laugh even more. "Stop."

He shakes his head. "Mystery boy won your heart."

I scoff and fall silent, for I have no response to throw back at him. I'm completely baffled. My mind races with thoughts of the mystery boy, his plump lips, his slightly asymmetrical - but still cute - puppy dog brown eyes, his fluffy blond hair-

I shake my heads to rid of the thoughts of him, my brain refuses to let him be it's only focus. 

The car comes to a halt at the back of the diner, and I quickly snap back into reality as I notice Chul begin to gather his things and exit the car.

We walk into the diner together, making sure we clock in for our shift at the same time. As our cards insert into the machine, indicating we've punched in, our happy morning is quickly thrown down the drain as the most annoying coworker we have approaches us.

"Good morning!" Gyuri screams, causing both Chul and I to jump out of our skin, ruining our relatively quiet morning.

"It's noon," I mumble as I begin to walk to my locker to place my purse and phone inside of it, replacing the items in my hand with an apron as well as a notepad and pen. I then close my locker and walk past Gyuri, bumping her shoulder as I pass. I ask in a harsh tone, "Have you done your job?"

"What?" She asks, confused, as she follows behind me.

I stop in my tracks and turn to her. "You're kidding me."

She shrugs.

"Unbelievable," I scoff. "You're twenty-five years old and you don't know what your job is after working here for months?"

Chul stands just a few feet behind Gyuri, his lips pressing into a thin line as he tries to hold back laughter. He takes a deep breath and nods, mimicking her confused expression as he continues to stand behind her.

"Your job, as first one here," I begin, receiving a blank stare from her in return. I take a step closer to her, my voice stern and clearly annoyed. "Unlock the doors, count the register, put condiments and menus on the tables and the counter. What's so hard about that?"

Gyuri stares at me blankly once more, tears welling in her eyes.

"For fuck's sake!" I scream, causing her to jump, resulting in Chul wheezing behind her, trying to hold in his laughter as I confront the older woman. "Why do you work here if you don't know what the fuck you're doing?"

She begins to cry, and she nods. "You're right," she responds, causing me to sigh. "Maybe I should just-"

"Quit," I steal the words from her mouth. "Genius idea."

Gyuri bites her lip and turns on her heel before heading to the back, scribbling down something on a notepad and sticking it to the door to the manager's office. She drops her apron onto the floor and wipes a tear from her face as she leaves the building.

Chul bursts out into laughter as soon as the door closes, his body leaning against mine as he laughs at the situation. 

He wheezes, "That was amazing."

I begin to laugh with him.

"She's afraid of a teenager," he wheezes once again as he stands up and tries to contain himself. He wipes a tear from his cheek and takes a deep breath. "That's comedic."

"There's something uncomedic here, though, Chul," I say as I contain my laughter, realizing now what her quitting means. "We have to do her opening job."

He frowns. "I'll count the register, you're still in training," he pauses for a second. "And I know you suck at math."

I stare at him blankly as he begins to count the register. "You're right. Maybe I should just-"

"Give mystery boy your number," he smirks, his eyes focused on the money in his hands.

I frown. "Oh, suck my ass, Chul."

"After work, babe," he jokes with a smile, still counting the money. "Do your job first."