Remember me?

Part 4

Lee Yeonhee, a famous soloist in South Korea.
All of her songs always reach number 1 on multiple music charts upon release. She's currently the hottest rising star in South Korea. Not only is she gorgeous beyond measure, her singing & dancing skills are no joke either.
She lacks one thing though, manners. In other words, she's famous for being a bitch. On screen, she's the cutest rabbit, but off screen she's a venomous snake. A few times that she came by our store, she managed to make at least one of my colleagues cry. Due to her fame & fortune, nobody dared to say a word against her rudeness.
Her & Jimin's dating news made headlines all over the world when it was announced. Many hearts were broken, not mine though. I felt proud at the time that the guy who got to date Lee Yeonhee used to covet me.

Jimin & Yeonhee walk into the store like they're on a fashion show runway. The expensive aura they give off is too blinding for my commoner's eyes. Both of them took off their sunglasses & look around, as if waiting for someone to attend to them.
Since no one else is around, I have no choice but to approach them.
"Good afternoon. Welcome to Chanel, how may I assist you?" I feel slightly more confident now that I've lost a bit of weight & am assured that Jimin doesn't know who I am.
Jimin turns to me & his eyes immediately focus on my name tag.
Shit, I forgot to take it off.
"Your name is Hayoon?" He asks with an unreadable expression.
"Uh- Y-Yes, it's a very common name, right? Haha! Unlike Yeonhee ssi's unique & pretty name. Hahaha!"
My statement makes Yeonhee shift her attention towards me. She looks me up & down with disdain on her face.
"Where's your manager? I need to get the limited edition boy bag that I ordered." She says to me dismissively.
"The manager is out now but she'll be back shortly. Please wait a moment, let me check your order." I retreat to the back, but I can feel Jimin's vision boring into my back.
I quickly check her order on the computer but there's no reservation under her name or her assistant's name. I double check & triple check, still nothing.
"I'm sorry, but there's no boy bag reservation under your name. The only limited boy we have in store is ordered by another customer of ours." I apologetically tell Yeonhee.
"What?! That's impossible! My assistant called yesterday & your manager told her that it was ready. God, this is why I won't deal with anyone other than manager Kim. You all are a bunch of imbeciles who can't even do one thing right." She screams at me & throws her hands in the air.
"M-My apologies, b-but.." I hate myself for stammering, but she really scares me & my stomach begins to churn due to the nerves.
"Yeonhee ya, we can just wait for the manager to arrive. Maybe she's new, you don't need to shout at her like that." Jimin gently says to her.
However, Yeonhee being Yeonhee can't stand another person criticizing her, even if it's Park uber-famous Jimin.
She doesn't dare to rebuke him, so she smiles sweetly at him & lays her head on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry honey, it must be the stress. You know I'm not usually like this. But don't you think Chanel's standard has declined these days? How can they hire such a fatty to work here? She looks so.. unkempt. Tsk.. I need to talk to manager Kim about that." Her remarks stab at my most fragile insecurity.
My budding confidence is instantly trampled onto the ground. I look down at my feet, trying hard to hold back the tears when suddenly something awful happens.
I fart.
The subtle yet audible toot & the atrocious smell fill the air. I was already gassy from those damn sweet potatoes in the first place & the nerves made me unable to hold it in anymore.
"What's this rotten smell? Did you- oh God. Did you just fart?" Yeonhee instantly pinches her nose & glances at me in utter disgust.
"I-I'm sorry, I- I'll be right back." I bow at them & scurry to the back.
I can feel my face burning in shame as I enter the back room.
"What's wrong? What's with that face?" Chaeyoung asks me once she sees me.
"Chaeyoung ah.." I burst out in tears & tell her what happened.
"Oh no. We need to go out & apologize. I'll make some chamomile tea & let's bring it out for them." She frantically heads for the tea pot.
I nervously walk back towards Jimin & Yeonhee with tea & biscuits on a tray, while Chaeyoung follows me from behind.
"Shit, manager Kim is back & I bet Yeonhee's complaining to her about me." I curse when I see my manager's bowing back.
"Yeonhee ssi, Jimin ssi, please forgive me for my mistakes. I deeply apologize." I put the tray on a nearby table & bow 90-degrees at her.
"It's ok. Everyone makes mistakes." Jimin nonchalantly says before Yeonhee has the chance to speak & it obviously irks her.
"Hayoon ssi, quick pour our customers a cup of tea." My manager sternly instructs.
Chaeyoung & I hastily pours two cups of warm tea for them. As I'm about to hand it to Jimin, my foot trip over Yeonhee's boot which came out of nowhere.
The tea is consequently spilled all over Jimin's trousers & the cup breaks into shards at his feet.
"Oh my God! What are you doing?! Why are you so clumsy? Jimin ah, are you ok?" Yeonhee acts surprised & immediately tend to Jimin, whose front of the trousers is soaking wet now.
"I-I'm so sorry, I-I accidentally tripped over Yeonhee ssi's feet. I'll grab you some cloth to wipe it off." I stutter in panic. I know that she clearly put her foot out on purpose, but I don't dare to mention it.
"So now it's my fault?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Manager Kim, how did you train your staff? Jimin is a very busy man, what if he got burnt? Not to mention that his clothings worth more than your monthly salary. Are you prepared to take responsible for the damage? Do you want me to tell my friends not to shop here anymore?" She threatens & I can tell from my manager's pale face that this is the end of my career here.
"I deeply apologize. Please wait a moment, Chaeyoung ssi will help you with anything you need. Hayoon ssi, please come with me." My manager bows repeatedly at them & signals me to follow her.
I groggily glance at Jimin who's staring at me with a slight frown in between his brows & bow one last time before I leave.
"Huh.. Hayoon ah, what's wrong with you? Don't you know that they are our most important customers? How could you be so clumsy?" My manager sighs heavily as she pinches her brows.
"B-but it wasn't my faul-"
"I don't want to listen to your excuses anymore. You're fired. Go get changed & hand me your name tag & uniform afterwards. Your remaining salary after paying for the damage you've caused today, if there's any left, will be transferred to your account. I don't think you're suitable to work in this field, so you should know that I won't write you any recommendation letter. Goodbye." With that, she takes off & goes back to the commotion outside.
I feel so numb. Like a zombie, I clear up my locker & change out of my uniform on autopilot. However, once the cold wind hits me as I exit through the back door, I realize the magnanimity of the situation & panic begins to rise within me. A drop of tear rolls down my cheek, followed by another & yet another.
Soon, I'm crouching on the floor hugging my knees & bawling my eyes out.
Why is the world so unfair? Why do I have to suffer because of my appearance?
Then, I remember the way I treated Jimin so badly in front of all our classmates.
I guess this is karma. Karma for embarrassing Jimin back then. But I won't let this bring me down, I'll prove to them that I can be beautiful again. Just wait & see.