Jeong Hyeok was surprised to find out that Se-ri was Yoon Se-jun's sister. It was an awkward situation. While he ran that coffee shop, the Yoons owned the franchise and Jeong Hyeok was still subject to some control by the head office, which is why he called Se-jun his boss.
It was awkward, it might not be appropriate and it might not be accepted by her family.
First things first, "Mr. Se-jun, it's quite late to drop by, isn't it? I hope it's nothing serious."
Yoon Se-jun smiled. "No, no. I was just in the neighbourhood and my other meeting ran long. I was hoping this branch would have one of our famous teas?"
"Sure. Let me get one for you," Jeong Hyeok offered.
When Jeong Hyeok disappeared inside, Se-ri swatted her brother. "Talk about horrible timing! Why are you here really?"
Se-jun chuckled. "I just wanted tea! I'm sorry to break up your date."
"It's not a date," Se-ri said, defensively. When her brother said nothing, she slowly added, "So... you know him?"
"Jeong Hyeok? Yes, for quite sometime now. He's good at managing this that's why we gave him a number of licenses already," Se-jun informed her. "You know that we don't offer that much to others."
"So, this is okay?" Se-ri asked, alluding to her seeing Jeong Hyeok.
"So, you ARE dating him?" Se-jun clarified.
Se-ri blushed. "Not really. We just met... but I am interested."
Se-jun looked to the heavens. "Oh my lord! My baby sister is finally considering being in love! What a miracle."
"Shut up, Se-jun."
Sitting beside her, Se-jun continued, "You won't have trouble with me. But, Father might be a different issue. You know that he's wanted you to marry that chaebol's son for a long time now."
Se-ri pouted. "I know. I'll speak to Father when there is something to tell."
Se-jun chuckled. "Okay. So for now, I have to pretend to give Jeong Hyeok a difficult time."
"Hey! Be nice to him. You're already making him get your coffee," Se-ri reprimanded.
"He offered!"
As the siblings bickered outside, Jeong Hyeok nervously prepared the order at the bar. "How many portions of this again?"
His assistant manager, Pyo Chi Su, gave him a look of disbelief. "How do you not know? You've memorized all of our offerings here."
"It's just... it's for the boss, you know?" Jeong Hyeok responded.
"The boss who has been here before," Chi Su noted.
Park Gwang Beom elbowed him. "Give him a break. That woman he's had a crush on is there, too. Probably why he's out of sorts."
"She's the sister of the boss," Jeong Hyeok muttered.
The eyes of both men widened. "Noooo! Wow. The one time you put moves on a customer and she's the boss's sister."
Jeong Hyeok frowned at Gwang Beom's comment but said nothing. He left them to head out again. When he handed the cup to Se-jun, he said, "Sorry it took longer than expected. There were other orders I helped out with."
"No problem," Se-jun said, thanking him. "There's still significant foot traffic here at this time."
"Yes, we do quite well with the people residing in this area. They pass by on their way home from work," Jeong Hyeok shared.
"Good. Well, I should get going. I'm sorry for interrupting your time with Se-ri," Se-jun said. "Good night, little sister. Don't scare Jeong Hyeok off by being a brat."
"Hey! I am NOT a brat," she protested. When her brother was gone, she turned to Jeong Hyeok, "I'm not a brat."
"Your brother is just messing with you," Jeong Hyeok assured.
Se-ri smiled shyly. "I guess. I should go. I don't want to keep you from your work."
Jeong Hyeok stepped back. "Okay. But... do you think I could see you again?"
"I'd like that," Se-ri said.
"Alright. How about I pick you up for dinner on Friday?"
Se-ri nodded.
It's a date.
*
"Is this restaurant good?"
Jeong Hyeok showed Gwang Beom his planned venue for his upcoming dinner with Se-ri. This restaurant he chose was on the rooftop and had a view overlooking the city. Given the weather, Jeong Hyeok thought it would be romantic.
Gwang Beom nodded. "It's quite nice but it can get windy. Do you know if she's conscious about her hair? I had a girlfriend before that didn't enjoy out dinner there because she had to keep fixing her hair."
"And this woman you like seems to be a fussy one," Pyo Chi Su commented. "I do not like her very much."
Jeong Hyeok rolled his eyes. "It's no issue with me if she is fussy. Maybe I should let her know we will be dining outdoors, though. What do you think?"
"Good plan," Gwang Beom agreed.
"Flowers. Should I get her flowers?" Jeong Hyeok asked.
"Yes," Gwang Beom said at the same time Chi Su said, "No." Jeong Hyeok frowned at both of them.
"If only we could find out if she likes some," Jeong Hyeok mused.
"You can!" Gwang Beom said, thinking of something. Pulling out his phone, he clicked on one of his social media accounts and started to type Se-ri's name.
"What are you doing?!"Jeong Hyeok asked, alarmed.
"Checking if she has any public posts we can refer to," Gwang Beom explained.
"Won't that be too creepy?" Jeong Hyeok asked. "I don't want to cross boundaries."
Gwang Beom hesitated. "Okay, I won't look to hard. Just some public posts." Jeong Hyeok looked over Gwang Beom's shoulder -- both to make sure that Gwang Beom wasn't stalking Se-ri and to see what her public posts were. "Why don't you have your own account? You're such an ahjussi."
Jeong Hyeok gave him a brief look. "I am. I don't regret it." Turning back to Gwang Beom's phone, he saw a photo of Se-ri. "Oh she's gorgeous."
Chi Su took a peek. "She's alright."
Jeong Hyeok swatted him away. "There's a customer. Go take their order."
Pyo Chi Su narrowed his eyes at them. "Why am I the only one who should be busy? Don't we all work here?"
When Jeong Hyeok gave him a hard stare, Pyo Chi Su made a peace sign and immediately retreated to the counter. Looking at the phone again, Jeong Hyeok asked, "There are many thumbs up on this photo. This is good, right? Many people like her? But then does that mean I have many rivals for her attention?"
Gwang Beom rolled his eyes at his boss. "Most of the people who like photos are friends, so it should be fine. But there's this one person who seems to leave sweet comments as well."
Seo Joon-hee. I miss you! When can I see your pretty face again? Then, there was an emoji that seemed like a kiss to Jeong Hyeok's eyes.
Jeong Hyeok frowned. "Well, she's agreed to date me and her friend said she's single. I can't blame the guy if he adores her. Se-ri is very beautiful." Motioning to Gwang Beom to keep scrolling, "Now, let's go back to checking if she likes flowers."
They found out that she did. She had a post that showed she like both fresh and dried flowers.
"Dried flowers? Aren't those dead?" Jeong Hyeok asked, confused.
Gwang Beom nodded, his face showing a similar frown as Jeong Hyeok. "Yes, but it seems to be the current trend. My sister and cousins seem to like them as well. They display it around the house."
Jeong Hyeok made a note to order fresh and dried ones, since he wasn't sure what would be best for Se-ri. For now, the rest of his preparations had to wait because Pyo Chi Su was already grumbling from manning the counter alone with the customers increasing in number.
At a nearby apartment, Se-ri was pestering Mi-yeon on what would be a nice outfit. "White? Won't it be difficult especially if we order something with red sauce?"
"Then, go with black. Charcoal could smear you and Jeong Hyeok won't even know," Mi-yeon teased.
"Come on! Be serious!" Se-ri complained. "I want to look pretty for my date!"
Mi-yeon smiled. "You look beautiful in anything! It's quite unfair."
Smiling, Se-ri scanned her closet again and saw a couple of red dresses that she had not worn in a while. One was an off-shoulder one, while the other was full lace. "Maybe I should ask Jeong Hyeok first where we're going so that I know what would be appropriate."
Mi-yeon left her alone so she could make the call. "I'm sorry. Were you busy?" she asked when he picked up.
"I have a few minutes. What's up?"
Se-ri told him her concern. "I just want to make sure I dress properly."
"It's an outdoor dining place. I won't say it's casual dining but it's not too fancy either," he said, earnestly. "I hope that would help. I would really like to surprise you."
"That's helpful," Se-ri told him. "Thank you. So, Friday then?"
"Yes, I'll pick you up at 6?" he confirmed.
Se-ri replied, "Yes. See you then."
"I can't wait!" Jeong Hyeok told her.
Biting her lip, she whispered shyly, "I can't wait either."