Our Bitter-Sweet Summer

Chapter 2.

JAE'S POV

I parked my bike in the car park, throwing my old helmet into the storage compartment. The sun was already setting and the rain began to pour down mercilessly. I jogged alongside the entrance to the bar, a black Aston Martin DBX caught my eye. It was very rare to see such a high end car in the Guryong District, the owner is either very brave or very stupid. Once I was under the sheltered seating area I shrugged out of my leather jacket and shook the rain drops from my hair before heading in.

The door swung open forcefully nearly hitting me in the face before revealing a short irritated young woman, brows drawn together in frustration. She was yelling at the person behind her; a dark skinned girl even shorter than her hot headed friend.

"Is this your version of fun! Is this what teenage American girls do in the US? Go to bars and randomly talk to strangers?" She was saying when she finally noticed me, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment as she apologized turning to glare at the girl behind her almost to say 'look what you made me do' I looked over to see the girl who froze there like a statue staring blankly at me. She looked up through tightly curled dark brown hair that framed her face perfectly. I raised my brow as she continued to stare, there was something familiar about her eyes, a faded thought tugged at the edge of my memory. She was about to speak when her friend started speaking again "Do you know what kind of people live here?" She chided walking forward unaware that the girl had halted to a stop before me, blocking the entrance. Her golden eyes flickered back and forth between us as though she was in deep conflict with herself, she then rolled her eyes and sighed heavily before stomping off towards her friend like a spoiled child. How did I know this girl? I'd at least remembered an encounter with a foreigner. I didn't give it a second thought as the owner walked by at the same time.

"What are you doing? Am I paying you as a doorman? No! I'm paying you as a cook! Now get changed and get to the kitchen!" I strangled a frustrated groan at the back of my throat as I stalked into the dinning area, willing myself not to slam the door shut behind me before heading to the kitchen doors.

Whilst putting on my uniform I can still hear the manager fuming outside. I took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled before exiting the dressing room which was the size of a broom closet. I washed up and started getting the veggies ready for the side dishes, the three other cooks were already prepping the meats and dinner ware.

'Are you okay?' Jia mouthed whilst the other two cooks had their backs to me. I nodded with a tight smile on my lips. Jia was by one year my junior, she had a round face that made her look younger than she was with deep set brown eyes and a dimpled smile. She overheard my phone conversation with the doctor once addressing my mother's illness and had started doting on me, although I assume she'd had a crush on me for some time now.

When I woke up in the hospital, my aunt had given me the breakdown of what happened to my mom. She'd been having headaches a while now, she would get dizzy and have difficulty thinking clearly. I didn't think it was too serious I just thought she was over worked, she was always a hard worker. There was never a point in my life that she wasn't making ends meet for me. But that morning she was different, she was acting strangely, confused and she kept saying her head hurt since the night before. I told her to stay home and rest, I should have taken her to the hospital. Now she's in the ICU fighting for another chance.

I shut my eyes willing the tears that stung behind my lids to go away, when I thought it was safe i got into gear and started washing and thawing the vegetables.

"Hey, there was a foreigner asking about you earlier" Dae Hyun said as the owner, left the kitchen to tend to the bar. The image of a dark skinned girl passed through my mind and again I racked my mind to remember.