CH 67.2

The next day, she arrived 10 minutes earlier than her working time and learned about her job. She realized it before she started working, but this little store was run by a family.

Excluding the grandmother in charge of the kitchen, the owner in charge of the front of the store, and a young man who was learning the ropes under him, there was only one part-timer like her.

The task assigned to Yoo-hwa was the kitchen assistant. The owner’s mother, a grandmother who was originally the owner of this store, grilled the fish and put it on a large tray, and Yoo-hwa transferred it to a plate so that it could be served on the table. There were many side dishes and many orders for additional side dishes, so it was also her job to put the plates in the dish-washing bucket when they were collected from the front of the store. She was literally in charge of all the chores. She had to be quick-witted, and her hands had to move fast too, but the most tiring thing was handling the grandmother’s nagging.

“Why are your hands so slow? Do you want to starve your customers?”

“Tsk, how many times do I have to tell you not to leave this bucket here?”

Whenever she was scolded, Seong-woo, the employee who worked in the front of the store and was the son of the owner, crumpled his face as if he was the one being scolded. When the grandmother went to the side room behind the store to lie down for a while and rest, the lady who was in charge of doing the dishes came up and patted her on the back.

“The majority of employees quit because of that grandmother’s nagging. Young people don’t last long. Hang in there, Miss Yoo-hwa.”

Yoo-hwa nodded silently. She was tired because the grandmother nagged her a lot and always looked dissatisfied, but it wasn’t hard. She could correct what was pointed out, and the grandmother’s nagging sometimes pushed away the thoughts that rushed in, so she was a little glad.

After working for a month, the owner, who looked at her with some vigilance while wondering how much she would last, seemed to relax his expression.

Starting from that day, the grandmother’s nagging, pointing something out every few minutes, suddenly diminished. She got used to the job easier than she thought, and it wasn’t too difficult. The store’s business was good, so she didn’t think it would be ruined unless something went wrong. She felt like she could work for a long time.

“I’ll get going first.”

After finishing cleaning up after dinner, Yoo-hwa wore a thin coat and said goodbye.

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

The grandmother had left work early after grilling only fish for dinner, and the owner’s wife, who came around dinner time, was nowhere to be seen. The owner, who stood alone in front of the cash register and settled the payments, replied half-heartedly.

When she got out of the store, the wind rushed. It was warm enough to not need a coat during the day, but there was still a strong breeze at night.

But still, she didn’t think she would need a coat in a few days. When the wind stopped for a moment, there was a smell of grilled fish all over her body. She sprayed the deodorant she had brought in her pocket to remove the smell off her clothes as soon as possible, and pressed down on her hat.

Even in the evening, there were still a lot of people on this street. With the university to the east, and the densely populated area to the west, there were people of all ages walking around. Yoo-hwa passed by a bus stop nearby. Except on extremely tiring days, she usually walked to a quiet place to avoid the crowded stops.

After passing a couple of stops and arriving at the bus stop where just one or two people were waiting, Yoo-hwa sat down. There were only 10 minutes left until the bus she had to take arrived.

She looked at a dark place in the distance, not realizing that her butt was cold. Her body was tired, but she didn’t think she would be able to sleep. Then, as she was thinking that today she would also stay awake halfway through the night and barely fall asleep after 2 a.m.,

“I guess you take the bus here.”

She heard a friendly voice coming from the vicinity. While she was looking at the distance, thinking that it surely wasn’t said to her,

“Noona.”

Strangely, when she thought that the voice was familiar, she felt a movement approaching her. When she turned her head, it was Seong-woo. When she thought about it, she remembered that he didn’t go to work today because he had something to do. She did think that things seemed a bit more chaotic than usual, but only now did she realize it was because Seong-woo wasn’t there.

“Yeah.”

Yoo-hwa responded slowly.

“It’s too far to walk here from the store. You’re taking the bus quite far away.”

“It’s because I can sit down.”

In fact, it was because she didn’t want to stand in a crowded place, but Yoo-hwa beat around the bush.

“Ah, I see.”

Answering like he was talking to himself, Seong-woo sat down next to Yoo-hwa and stretched out his legs. Yoo-hwa looked at him for a moment. They didn’t speak to each other at the store, except for the usual greetings when coming in and leaving work. When she looked up at the gaze she could feel on her from time to time, she found Seong-woo looking at her, but the most they did was exchange a few gazes. Such gazes that she could not understand their meaning.

So, it wasn’t like they were close enough to be sitting side by side with such friendliness.