new beginnings - jung wooseok

nine

"You've been here a while," Pierre mumbled, stirring the straw in his glass of juice. 

Wooseok wiped down the counter for a second time that evening, after a customer had lost control of himself and vomited all over the bar. Wooseok had seen a lot of things since he started working here, but that was the first time that he ever felt his lunch come back into his throat. Now that it was near closing time, Wooseok couldn't wait to get into his bed and sleep off all his troubles. 

"I'm trying to save up some more cash," Wooseok answered, "once I get my week off, I'm hoping to go with my brothers to Vegas, spend some time away from this city." 

"Interesting." Pierre removed the straw from his glass and swallowed the rest of the juice in one large gulp. He then passed the glass to Wooseok for him to clean later. "I thought you would be here hoping that girl would come back."

Wooseok rolled his eyes. "She's just a customer." 

"That you took out to dinner at my favorite restaurant," Pierre smirked, "and who you eventually took back to your place afterwards. How was it?" 

Wooseok's eyes widened as he shushed Pierre before any of the other co-workers could hear what he had just said. Pierre only chuckled, stroking his beard gently.

"I was only joking, but from your reaction, I'm assuming you actually did go home together," Pierre said, his voice much lower. "Are you planning to date her or something?" 

"She has some things going on," Wooseok sighed, "and what happened at my place was supposed to happen just once. It's a shame, though, the stuff that she has going on." 

"Like what?" 

"I can't give you all the details," Wooseok said, dumping the towel into the trash along with the latex gloves he was wearing, "but long story short, she was married for a while and she found out her husband was cheating. She's still young, she could get anyone she wanted, but she's in this place where she's kind of stuck between trying to be independent and find a new man and waiting for her husband to come back."

"That's where you come in, right?" Pierre asked, crossing his arms on the countertop.

"What do you mean?" Wooseok wondered.

Pierre shrugged, clearing his throat before saying, "She obviously trusts you a lot. I mean, I know this bar is for people to come talk about what's going on in their lives and all that, but I can see you guys have a bond. She lights up when she sees you and she takes your advice seriously, and you even opened up about your life to her. I'm not saying you guys are going to be a couple, I'm just saying the chemistry between you both is strong." 

Wooseok shook her head. "I'm giving her the wrong idea, then." 

"Excuse me?" 

"She's going to get better right?" Wooseok said, "She's going to find somebody that will change her life and make her happy, or she's going to be fine being single and grow that way. From what you're saying, she and I are becoming too close." 

"I think you're missing the point, Wooseok," Pierre pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm just saying that you guys could be really good friends."

"I definitely should slow things down though," Wooseok sighed, "remember Rhonda? She came in for months trying to see Freddie after he told her how to make the most of her time in New York. He had to quit his job and relocate just so she would stop bothering him." 

Pierre shook his head, chuckling. "She was crazy, man, still makes my heart race thinking about how terrible she was." 

Wooseok laughed too, reminiscing how Rhonda would ask about Freddie's shifts so she could show up. "I'll slow things down with Romaine. She's nice, but I definitely need to be more careful with her."