rkkangjun:
"hey, um, are you guys… hiring?"
kangjun struggled to find the words to ask for an application. he felt a little stupid having moved to seoul with no work set up for him prior to his arrival. in brussels he had friends who’s fathers owned renowned coffee shops that were known all throughout the entire european continent—maybe he was spoiled always expecting a job to be ready for him. korea played it’s own game and this was one place where instead of having hundreds of connections to help him maneuver through life, kangjun had zero. he was at square one, all on his own with getting a job in a place he was still adjusting to.
the female he approached didn’t seem too phased by any of it: kangjun approached her on purpose for the sole reason that her smile illuminated the room even despite how busy and crowded it was inside. maybe today hadn’t even been going well for her. she seemed kind and approachable enough with her happy grin plastered to her face to bother her compared to the other employees (they most certainly didn’t seem nearly as happy to be there as she did, either).
kangjun’s eyes lowered to the intricate braids her hair were tied into that fell over her shoulders. “pretty braids,” he complimented.
it was just another day for jinri.
she got up, dressed, ate a small breakfast of a granola bar and a banana, brushed her teeth, and groaned as she noticed that her hair was sticking up in ways it definitely should not have been. she tried brushing it out, and when she finished it ended up bushy and completely unattractive. to fix this, jinri resorted to twin braids, a hairstyle she hadn't had since middle school. it was a strange feeling, to have her hair hanging in front of her shoulders rather than behind, but with every glance at her reflection -- in the window of the bus, the door of the restaurant, the faux-silver serving tray she carries orders on -- she found that she liked it more and more.
almost as if to match her cute hairstyle, she found herself in a great mood. even the usual dreariness of her coworkers couldn't get her down today. and when she found that not one, not two, but three of her tables had tipped her extra, she thought that maybe she should wear cute braids more often.
the hostess hadn't yet arrived to take her shift, so the waitresses had been taking turns seating guests. it was jinri's turn when a male who seemed to be about her age or a little older approached her.
"oh, thank you," she said, smiling and blushing at the compliment to her braids. "i don't know if we're hiring or not, uh..." she shuffled through some papers on the podium in front of her, as if that would help her figure it out. "wait here," she added, moving away from the podium and stopping another one of the waitresses to ask her.
