Chapter 19: Decisions, Decisions

Tuesday | October 31th, 2023 | 2:44 PM

"Ouch."

"Oops, sorry."

The three of us, Karina, Chungha, and I, were bunched up together and spying through the service window at our manager and a younger girl who were engaged in a conversation in front of the cash register. Our manager was tapping away at the screen, explaining something to the young girl with both their backs facing towards us. The two of them had walked into the store just moments ago, and they've been at the cash register ever since.

The three of us were ushered to the back by our manager, but we were curious. It was a slow day, and the customers in the cafe had their drinks. There was nothing we could do other than sit and wait, so we decided to watch the conversation from the service window.

"Is she a new coworker?" Chungha whispered. It seemed like the obvious answer. Though, I didn't know that we were hiring as of lately. It wasn't like there was a sudden surge of customers that we couldn't handle ourselves. We still have our regulars, and the rest were just the occasional passersby.

"Must be," Karina replied, her voice quiet while she adjusted the devil horns headband that rested on top of her head. To celebrate Halloween at work, we all wore accessories that we found from last year's Halloween supply box. Karina put the most effort in her costume, finding the most accessories to work with. She sported a bright-red devil horns headband, a long devil tail that clipped onto the back of her apron, and these plastic devil wings she wore over her shoulders.

Chungha went the simple route with hers, finding a witch hat and carrying around the work broomstick that we use to clean with when we close up. Other than that, there wasn't much to work with in the supply box afterwards. I threw on a long black cape, and found one of those cheap plastic disguise glasses with a comical nose and mustache. I didn't complain though, the thought was funny and it made the three of us laugh as we played with our costumes.

I squinted through the glasses which were kind of hard to see through, trying to get a better view of the girl with our manager. The girl was pretty looking. She had long dark brown hair, big doe eyes, and a cute smile. She looked young, maybe a high school student? She couldn't be our age, she had a babyface and was shorter than the three of us. She was dressed nicely, in a skirt and a button up shirt, but the most striking thing about her was her accessories. She had on a lot, and a lot of them were expensive looking.

Our manager finished up at the register, guiding the girl to the back. The three of us scrambled to look like we were busy. The kitchen sink, which was empty, was suddenly a very interesting and important place for Karina to wash her hands, and Chungha and I had to pretend to be rearranging the shelves.

Our manager poked her head into the kitchen, "And this is the back area. You'll be spending a lot of time back here with these three. I'll introduce you to them now." Our manager motioned for the girl to come into the back. She entered while smiling and bowing her head at us.

"This is Yoo Karina," our manager gestured over to the sink, and Karina stopped her fake handwashing to greet her. She was polite and she didn't seem to notice us peeping on her just a few seconds ago. "She's been working here since the cafe opened. She's a hard worker."

Karina bowed her head, "Hi, nice to meet you."

The girl returned the bow, and replied, "Nice to meet you."

"Over there is Chungha. She's also been working here for a while as well. She's a very bright and cheerful person," our manager gestured to her. I held back a laugh, feeling a disagreement with our manager's description of her.

Chungha gave her a tight-lipped smile, waving, "Hello. Welcome."

The girl nodded and bowed her head, "Thank you."

"And last, but not least, is Hwang Minjae," she announced. Some part of me was disappointed I didn’t get some fancy introduction like the other two did but I brushed it off. She looked over at me, and I stood there awkwardly. I bowed, giving her a polite smile. "Nice to meet you," I greeted her. She laughed a bit, likely noticing my low effort costume.

"It's nice to meet you all," she smiled, looking at each of us, "My name is Ning Yizhuo!"

"She's actually my niece, and I promised my brother I'd help her out with a part-time job so I took the opportunity to have her work with you guys," our manager explained, patting Yizhuo’s shoulder. That explained the sudden hiring. It was just nepotism.

"I hope the three of you can take good care of me. Please teach me," Yizhuo bowed again, her eyes closed. She had a serious expression, her face completely earnest and pure.

"Of course," the three of us answered in unison. Yizhuo was adorable, and it was hard not to fall under her charms. Even though we just met, we were already starting to feel protective of her as if she was a little sister.

Our manager clapped her hands together, "Perfect! Let me help you with our menu, Ningning. You three can watch the front while w-" The ringing bell of the door interrupted our manager. We had a customer. "Great, I'll have Ningning take her first order! Chungha, go take care of the customer, will you?"

"Sure thing," Chungha replied, a small smile tugging at her lips. "This'll be fun to watch." Yizhuo was quick to comply, and Chungha went to the front to serve the customer. Karina and I stayed in the back, watching our manager point out every syrup and toppings. Before long, the receipt for the drink was printed out. Our manager ripped the receipt out and pointed out the drink orders on the receipt to Yizhuo while guiding her around the station.

Karina and I sat back and let the newbie do our job for us. Yizhuo was attentive, listening to every word the manager said. She followed every direction carefully, taking everything into account. The way she moved and carried herself was careful and graceful. Even if it was a simple task, she did it with a determined attitude, like it was something bigger and more important.

That sort of passion was admirable. I wish I had that sort of enthusiasm working here.

"She seems like a fast learner," Karina muttered, leaning towards me. "Chungha wishes she could move that quickly. Maybe we can permanently put her as cashier now."

I nodded my head, "Definitely."

"I can hear you two," Chungha shouted back through the service window, and the three of us laughed. Yizhuo turned her head, glancing at us with an amused look on her face. Our manager was caught up with telling her what else needed to be done that she didn't notice us being dumb.

"Once you finish the drink orders, you can either come out and deliver it yourself, or one of the three can do it. Whichever way works for you," our manager instructed her, patting her shoulder.

Yizhuo nodded, a serious look on her face, "Understood. Thank you, Auntie."

Our manager waved her off, "Please, call me Auntie only in private. While you're on shift, I'm your manager, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Yizhuo nodded. Our manager smiled and patted her shoulder before turning to the two of us spectating, "Minjae, Karina, I'll be leaving now. Please make sure to get Ningning familiarized with everything here, and please don't make things too hard on her. Okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Karina and I echoed.

"Okay. Have a good rest of your day," our manager gave us a wave and an extra smile for Yizhuo before leaving the kitchen. From outside, we heard Chungha give her a greeting goodbye. The front door rang, signaling her exit, and I looked at Yizhuo.

"Are you going to deliver those, or would you like me or Karina to do it?" I pointed behind her at the two drinks sitting on the table. Yizhuo looked back, her mouth forming a small o as she realized she had left them sitting. "Sorry about that," she apologized, rushing to pick them up. Within seconds, she left the kitchen with drinks in hand.

Karina and I went out to the front, joining Chungha at the cash register. Yizhuo handed the two drinks to the customer with a polite smile, and the customer returned her smile and thanked her before heading out the door. She turned back, her face expectant, and looked at us.

"That was good," Karina complimented her.

"Thank you," Yizhuo grinned.

"Now," Chungha started, pointing at Yizhuo. "The hardest part of the job. Finding things to talk about to pass the time until we close."

Yizhuo's eyebrow lifted in confusion, and I stifled a laugh.

"Oh, I was being serious. There's literally nothing to do when we have no customers," Chungha frowned. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter.

Karina and I looked at each other. We knew she was right. When there were no customers, we were basically just waiting for them. Sometimes we had a group of students sitting around, or a regular having a quick meal, but for the most part, we were stuck standing around until it was time to clean up.

"Oh," Yizhuo's tone was one of understanding. "So that's what Auntie meant."

"What did Auntie mean?" I asked, looking over at her. Seeing how Chungha and Karina were looking at me made me understand, "I'm sorry, I meant our manager."

"I know," Yizhuo giggled, the sound was a little airy. "She just mentioned that working here will be easy and light. She didn't go into detail though."

"Ah, well," I paused, scratching the back of my head. "Yeah, it's usually like this. It can be a lot busier on some days, especially during the morning and late afternoons, but most of the time, you'll have plenty of downtime."

"I'm not used to not doing much, so this will take a bit getting used to," Yizhuo laughed sheepishly. "This is my first job, so I'm a bit nervous."

Chungha's eyebrow bounced up, "First job? How old are you, Yizhuo?"