@Gong Yoo Her eyelids fluttered close at the sound of the woman's hand's light careful knocks against the office door, the noise almost alarmingly louder than the faint beating of her poor heart racing a million miles per hour and her skin already burning beneath a thin sheen of sweat and nervousness. The volunteer swallowed hard against the sudden lump in once the owner calls for them to come in, and she sticks her head in to look around inside of his office before she stepped inside with anticipation-wobbly legs as she smoothened a hand down over the uniform she was wearing, a shy smile curling the corner of her lips at the embarrassing thought that the papers neatly placed on top of his wooden desk could be her probation records.
"Pleasure to meet you, Sir." the volunteer acknowledge at least, sighing in relief that she didn't stutter in front of the man who was undeniably tall, handsome, and...distracting. Yes, he's distracting, that is what he is. With the gleeful gleam flicking over his pools which are the color of an expensive whiskey, something she has drank during the party and immediately felt dizzy, and that's exactly how she feels the moment she meets him, dizzy, because she wants to swim in those pretty eyes. Those eyes that's so soft and so gentle. Instinctually, she busies herself looking at the paper that was handed to her by Ms. Choi earlier to shake off the thoughts upon being star struck. He is not the aging and intimidating stereotypical boss she expected him to be.
"Uh, no, I haven't worked in a coffee sop or a café before." she shakes her head, embarrassed at her lack of experience despite being in her sophomore year. A few of her friends already have experience in jobs and internships unlike her. He must've the image of her as a delinquent college student so far. She chewed her lips at the thought, "I do know how to brew coffee. I'm a fast learner as well." Goeun replied although, her voice lacks the confidence she usually had in front of other people. Nonetheless, the volunteer listened intently to the owner's explanation and took some notes on the small notebook she brought with her, nodding her head every now and then.
It was only when the owner asked her if he's boring her that she shook her head. In fact, Goeun could listen to the sound of his voice all day. "Yes, the university informed me yesterday." she replied with a red face, burning ears, and guilty downcast eyes. It was embarrassing just to think that the man knew of the reason why she's volunteering here—of public drunkenness. Goeun internally loathes herself. "I won't let you down, Sir. I promise." she sincerely smiled.
@Kim Goeun Jicheol sat in his office, in the back of the coffee shop as he wrote down a few things. He was expecting the volunteer to come by any moment. He sent Ms. Choi to welcome the woman, so he could do a few other things and also go over the information he had received about the student, once more. Apparently, she was some kind of delinquent student who had been forced to volunteer her as punishment for her actions, which was kind of confusing to him, since working her was definitely not a punishment in his eyes. But maybe the school meant that he was supposed to give her a hard time. Well, he’ll decide that after meeting her.
Right on time, he heard a knock on his door and the voice of Ms. Choi coming through the door. “Yes, yes. Come in.” Jicheol said, putting his pen down as he looked up when the door opened and two people stepped in. He recognized Ms. Choi, but he didn’t recognize the other woman. Ah, this must be the new volunteer! She was…pretty, for sure. Which is why he didn’t understand how she was a delinquent of all people. Well, maybe she was more in the background, but still a delinquent, nonetheless. “Welcome to Sseomtada shop, Goeun. I’m Gong Jicheol, the owner of this fine establishment. You may call me Mr. Gong, sir or just Jicheol.” He nodded his head firmly and moved to stand up slowly. “Ah, I see you’re already wearing your outfit. Thank you for welcoming her, Ms. Choi. I’ll take it from here.” Jicheol watched as the woman walked off before turning back to Goeun.
He walked around his desk, out of his office, glancing back at Goeun. “So, have you worked in a coffee shop before? Or a café? Do you know how to brew coffee? Because if you don’t, well..then I’ll have a lot to teach you. Good thing you come here three times a week, anyway. So, I’m sure you know there’s a big difference between a coffee shop, and a café. We focus on coffee, mainly. With little to no snacks. And whenever we do have things to eat, it’s small things like a cookie, or a small slice of cake, whereas a café focuses more on dishes and other kind of drinks.”
“With a coffee shop, you have three different kinds. Those are called waves, you have a first, second and third wave. Our coffee shop is more of a third wave. The beverages we make will be made quality over speed of service, we mostly do latte art, don’t worry if you can’t do it yet, there will be people to help you out. And our prices are on the higher side, but that’s because all the money goes to me, so that I can distribute it over all of the workers. Independently owned comes with it’s benefits, but also comes with the less fun things. Am I boring you yet? Good. I know you’re a volunteer, but I expect you to be professional, and do your work well. I have to report back to your school every week, so don’t let me down, okay?”
@Gong Yoo On Monday afternoon, Goeun strides forward to the corner of 8th and 17th ten minutes later after her chemistry class. The girl's destination is a small, independent coffee shop tinged in afternoon sunlight barely making it past the skyscrapers of the bustling city.
"Good morning, Ms. Choi." a woman with a clipboard on one hand was standing at the entrance of the shop, eyeing the watch on her wrist disapprovingly. “Hello, Ms. Four Minutes Late,” the woman calls back and she blushes at the remark. She mumbles a sincere apology, keeps her head down as they pass through the wide glass doors and into the first part of processing. All the shop's rules and regulations float over her head as she changed into the set of uniform that had been handed to her. It's a white volunteer t-shirt with a tiny emblem on the upper left that says says VOLUNTEER under the coffee shop's name.
"Wonderful." the woman ticks off something in her clipboard, averting her gaze at the nineteen year old that has her hands politely clasped behind her. It's probably her record and her cheeks burn red at the thought of the woman having the impression that she is one of those delinquent teenagers in the streets. In all fairness, she isn't—blame the peer pressure of trying to fit in. "Alright, girl?" Goeun realized then that the woman has been speaking to her this entire time so, she pushes the flicker of the college party far from her mind. Thankfully, she only read aloud her volunteer schedule that was printed in the piece of paper handed to her.
"T-thank you, Ms. Choi. Your shop really looks nice." she smiled, her eyes scanning around the shop that was obviously furnished by an interior decorator. "Oh, I am not the owner. That reminds me, let me introduce you to the owner."
