seunghee

3:48 pm

she placed a warm cardboard cup on the counter and called out the name that was messily written on the side. a tall woman who looked quite a bit older that seunghee sauntered over and grabbed the cup.

turning around, seunghee went back to the ordering counter and helped customers at the register.

it was normal for them to be busy at this time but in about ten to fifteen minutes, the shop tended to quiet down a bit, giving the few employees a chance to clean up all the spills and other small messes from the previous rush.

by the time the mass of people had made their way out of the shop, the owner had made her way to the shop as well.

she came in occasionally to check on the store and the progress. seunghee was cleaning one of the machines when the woman said her name

“seunghee? will there be time for you to speak to me after your shift today?”

she questioned the girl who was left confused about why her boss wanted to speak to her but smiled while nodding and replied “yes, of course.”

so, seunghee went on with her cleaning as the owner went into her office to grab a folder, waved a goodbye to the workers and made her way back to her car.

after cleaning, seunghee pulled a stool out from beside the counter and took out the book she had to read for one of her classes after leaving it under the counter so that she didn't need to go all the way to the back room where her backpack was.

the same routine carried on until about 8 pm. customers here and there with one or two big rushes then quiet spells.

by closing time, seunghee was the only one left at the shop, opting to stay later so that she could earn more hours. and now she was just wiping down the tables when the owner returned to the shop, her heels clicking on the tile floor.

the girl turned around to greet her and they exchanged a smile.

“seunghee, why don't we take a seat?”

the two of them sat down at the table she had just wiped and the woman began speaking again.

“look, seunghee, you are a great employee and I really value all of the work you do in the shop while you are here, but I can't help but notice how tired you have looked as of late, you look like you haven't gotten a proper night of sleep in the past three weeks,”

seunghee’s stomach was beginning to turn with the thought of what was coming next. she really needed this job and the money despite how it affected her schedule. as far a she knew, she was fine.

her boss continued, “I'm not too worried about the few times that you've come in late, but I know you are a student and I know you are also juggling two jobs on top of studying. now, I'm not firing you but I'm just worried about you and I want you to take some time off from this job.”

and seunghee’s stomach dropped.

a/n
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