“Ehh…!?”

Something small was behind him! Something tiny, almost a foot below him, and it liked his timin—it was a person—it was a GIRL! His own cheeks were a flustered dusting of pink, embarrassment and perhaps a small serving of annoyance. After all—had he just been teased about?

“Woah, those look really great? You’re definitely getting hired.”

There was something about that statement. Something pointed, almost as if he’d want to pressure someone into hiring her. Someone… shy, and susceptible to such pressure. Dusting away the flushes from his head with an easy going smile in his lips, Daehyun stared down (very down) to their newest guest. Blonde, but she spoke Korean too… hmm, where was she from, he wondered.

Of course, this train of thought came crashing because he was getting apologised to. It was painfully slow the way his eyes trailed across every object in the room until they reached Minkyu. While his sister was… very much not like Amelia in the teasing department, it wasn’t something he was going to contest Minkyu about. Lots of people had teasing siblings.

“Hey, don’t sweat it. Do you really think she likes my hair?”

His uniform was in the back—wasn’t Amelia in the back?

“Ah, thanks for telling me, bro.”

Not heeding a SINGLE part of the ‘leave Amelia alone’ vibes, or even the verbal warning, Daehyun sauntered past the counter after giving a small bowing nod to their latest arrival. When he came dangerously close to Minkyu, he paused. Motionless. Face devoid of any expression. This is how he stood for many seconds.

That emotionless plate broke, a smile, one trying hard not to laugh, broke across his lips. An arm went for Minkyu, to pull him inwards so Daehyun could ruffle his hair. Gently, very gently, with plenty of option for the smaller lad to escape him.

“You called me hyung~? I heard you, I heard you say it! I bet I had you going there, huh!?~ Ha ha! You heard him say it, too!”

Looking at you, cutie-blondie! Fun and jokes aside, he did slink his way towards the backroom with silent footfalls, his knuckles knocking against the door. He didn’t just want to barge in on the poor girl, after all. The jovial expression of his laughter had softened into a smile, one hand placed on his hip casually.

“Guy with the cool hair here, can I come in?”

March hops off the subway a stop early, preferring to walk the last bit instead of riding it. His mother doesn't like the subway anyways, she thinks it's seedy and sketchy and--well, he gets the idea. But he can't drive, and he's not walking to work. (Walking would require getting up around 5, no easy feat. As “seedy” and “sketchy” the subway is, it saves him sleep.)

He still needs to decide what pastry to get July. Maybe some sort of tart, or doughnut… He'll see what sort of special Amelia is making, too. Despite his general dislike of sweets, Amelia's are superb. Whatever she makes will be great, he's sure. (But July's turning 13, and now she's a teenager, which deserves some big celebration, he supposes. Dang, he's old now. Since when did all his younger siblings get so big? January and August were so cute when they were younger…) The walk goes by quicker than he expects, and he slides into the cafe at the fashionably no-so-late hour of 6:45. Daehyun is there, walking towards the back already, which surprises him. There's some other person March had never met, too. Please, please, let her be a dishwasher. If Amelia hires a dishwasher, he'll hug her. (Okay, well, probably not. He's not that weird.)

Amelia is nowhere to be seen, so he addresses Minkyu instead, who looks embarrassed. Or is that his normal expression? March can't tell. He is bad at these sort of things.

“Hey Minkyu, is there anything that needs to be done before I go on back?” While saying this, March observes that person who he has never met is extremely tiny. He would like to take care of her, but most people who are tiny don't appreciate such things. She's probably older than him, anyways. That makes everything awkward. Why does he have to be a young little chicken? (His mom's words, not his.)

He turns his attention back to Minkyu and away from tiny girl. Tiny girl, he then realizes, brought pastries. Maybe he can get one for July! They look pretty good... Like, he could totally ask her--who is he kidding, he doesn't even know her! Get a hold of yourself, March.

After another second of getting a hold of himself, he decides he could just ask Minkyu about the pastry. Amelia may be the one who makes them, but whatever.

“Oh, Minkyu,” why does talking to Minkyu have to be so awkward? “Can I take home a pastry tonight? Like, if there's extra or something--I only need one.” Does he sound selfish? “It's for my sister. It's her birthday. Yeah.”

Please save him. It's not his fault socializing isn't his strong suit!

---

---

Suddenly things started happening very fast and all at once. Cute Girl ^{(Jumpy Girl? Hair Girl? Lovestruck with Lover Boy Girl?)} practically almost flew out of her dress and into the back, flustered at her accidental open declaration of love towards Lover Boy. Then Rebekah's pastries were complimented by Lover Boy ⁽⁺¹⁰⁾ which she paid back with a confident smile. Unfortunately for Lover Boy, he then proceeded to tease the Shy Bean about his sister ^(-5), tease the Shy Bean himself ^(-10), and of course walked straight towards the back where said sister was presumably trying to gather herself despite the very helpful advice of her twin ^(-50), all of which quickly served to turn the smile into a scowl.

Rebekah glared at Lover Boy sauntering off until he reached the back door with half a mind to drag him back, but then again she barely knew these people and maybe this was just their dynamic? It wasn't a dynamic that Rebekah didn't think she'd enjoy, but maybe these three were all secretly life long pals or something, and this was just a rare moment of things going a bit wrong. But maybe she was also reading too much into it. Either way, she'd probably have plenty of time to sock ^{(Daehyu... Daehyi... DD? Lover Boy)} Lover Boy later, after she got hired.

Turning back to the Shy Bean, Rebekah beamed her practiced smile and began carefully placing her various pastries where he indicated. "No coffee for me, I'm perfectly fine and-" she began, just as another yawn teased itself out of her lips. She blinked multiple times, staring at the Shy Bean ^{(she should really call him by his name. She swore she looked it up before coming here. Minky? Minkyu? Minkyute? Min-cutie?)} before continuing to plate the table with her confections as if nothing had happened.

As she was plating someone else walked in: a boy with black hair who barely looked like he was a day out of high school ^{(then again they ALL looked like they were all barely a day out of high school, except maybe Lover Boy)}. The Youngster sounded like he worked here also and if it was even possible, sounded even more awkward than the Shy Bean. More importantly, though, it sounded like this Awkward Sprout was in dire need of desserts for his little sister, which was a perfect opportunity for Rebekah to show off to even more people.

Before she could show off to anybody's cute little sister, however, she had to show off to her potential employer first. "Anyway, I brought the cream puffs and mille-feuille for you and your sister to sample. The macarons are also for you two of course, but I also should have made plenty for you and your staff, plus extras. Oh, and I also have my resume and portfolio of other things I'm pretty proud of here!" She explained, quickly placing one item after the next in front of Min-Cutie, eager and ready to show off everything she had and more.

"And extras should include your sister of course," she said to the Awkward Sprout, smile beaming as she gave him a napkin full of macarons.

After giving Min-Cutie a prepared plate of everything and the Awkward Sprout a splash of spring, she stood silently off to the side, hands clasped in front of her and visibly shaking with excitement, waiting for Min-Cutie or the Sprout to take a bite of anything. "You know, while we're waiting for Cute G-, I mean, your sister."

---

---

_{Relationship Scores}

Monty wasn't used to being this late. He felt like most days he used to be here before the sun was up and certainly before any of the other employees. But, because of the long (and probably much needed) vacation, he'd gotten just a little off his game, that's all! But it didn't mean he jumped out of bed with any less urgency (Or as much as one can muster when you have to first put on your legs in order to get anywhere), or gotten ready and ran out the door in any less of a hurry either. He considered himself especially lucky today, considering he lived just a few minutes walk from the cafe, and even luckier that it was only a couple minutes run.

He arrived at the rather familiar sight of Café Crème, a place he'd missed dearly during his time away. Grinning, he pushed open the doors and walked inside, only slightly out of breath from his run. "Good Morning!" He chirps, walking up to Minkyu and March, the two faces he recognized at the moment. There was also another lady who he didn't seem to know. Someone applying, perhaps? Well, it didn't matter at the moment, but it might soon considering Amelia was nowhere around. Minkyu, as much as he adored the kid, was no good at interviews. But work was for later, catching up was for now. Especially because Minkyu looked about two words away from just dissolving into the floor. "Long time, no see you two! Did you miss me?" He said, mainly directing the last remark at March who's probably been working the kitchen alone for a while now. "I certainly missed being here. I'd love to tell you all about my adventures, but, I couldn't possibly without Amelia here. Where is she, anyway?" Before he even gave a chance to respond, he then looked at the new lady, realizing he'd almost forgotten to introduce himself. "Oh and its nice to meet you too! I'm Monty, those are beautiful. Heh, I might be out of a job soon if you're applying!" He motioned toward the plates of sweets she'd set out.

It took awhile for Mari to arrive at the shop, as she lived rather far away and didn't drive. Two subway rides and an hour later, she arrived at the beautiful front door. Her nerves really got the best of her on the way over. What if she messed something up? Would they fire her on her first day? What if they didn't get along? She really wanted to make a good first impression, but her stomach was already beginning to hurt from all of the worrying. Her mother's words popped into her mind for a brief moment before she shook her head to get rid of them. No, this was something she wanted to do. There was no going back, now. Everyone had seemed so nice before, and all she could do was her best... Whatever happened, happened. Right? With these thoughts bolstering her confidence ever-so-slightly, she inhaled deeply and gathered the courage to pull the door open and enter.

It was with great care that she made sure not to trip over the entryway, this time, but what she walked into was less than expected. So many people were already there... and talking very loudly. It was so jarring to be in that sort of environment so early in the morning. Blinking, she shuffled just a little bit forward. Amelia was nowhere to be seen... Should she just say hello? She needed to get a uniform, too. Her cheeks flushed bright red. Just talk to someone... Anyone! Wasn't the best thing to look like you belonged there? What was she supposed to say?

Mari could already feel the gazes on her, and she shrunk back just a little. Obviously, if she didn't introduce herself they would think she was just some customer...! They wouldn't know that she worked here, would they? Feeling a bit flustered, already, she glanced around nervously before suddenly bowing very deeply. "G... G... G-G-Good morning, e-e-everyone!" They would not be able to tell from where she stood with her face toward the ground, but her expression was one of horror as she realized how unintentionally loud she had been. If she couldn't talk to one of them, best to say hello all at once, right? Still, now all eyes were on her, and she didn't know what to do! Standing back up straight, she looked like a red-faced deer in the headlights. I'm so stupid...

"E-eh--maybe?" Taken aback by Daehyun's very quick mood change from "mild disgust" to "apology accepted," Minkyu simply nods and tries to follow the conversation the best he can. And when Daehyun strides up to him, apparently staring him down, he does the logical thing--he trembles like a leaf, imagining some cruel and unusual punishment that Daehyun is about to exact upon him--or maybe just some verbal insults? Either way, Minkyu is 90% sure he would cry.

So when instead of insulting him, Daehyun pulls him in for a side-hug and ruffles his hair, all Minkyu can feel is relief. Relief, and happiness, because this means Daehyun is his friend! Unfortunately, Minkyu can only afford a feeble smile before his legs give out and he collapses behind the counter in a exhausted heap. Making friends is overwhelming, he thinks. Or maybe it's just Daehyun who is overwhelming.

Peeking over the counter only to see Daehyun walk right towards where Amelia is... er... collecting herself, Minkyu makes a high, barely-there noise of panic, waving his hands wildly but ultimately too shy and panicky to do anything other than say a few hurried warnings, which Daehyun quickly disregards.

Turning back the other employees of the café with a forlorn expression, Minkyu is immediately assaulted by both March, who is simply looking for work to do, and Rebekah, who excitedly lays out her pastries on the café counter for him to sample. They all look really delicious, it's true, but how much should he save for Amelia? he doesn't know a lot about pastry making, so Amelia should probably be the one to sample everything...

"They look really good," Minkyu admits, looking in wonder at the candy-colored sweets in front of him. I'll, um, save these for Amelia..." Bypassing the fancier sweets, he instead selects a pretty pink macaroon from the pile and takes a bite.

Munch. Munch. Munch. Self-conscious of the eyes fixed upon him, Minkyu chews very slowly, then brightens. Wow! These are pretty good, maybe even better than Amelia's, though he would never tell her that.

"Um... they're good," he says quietly, placing the macaroon back down and dusting his hands on his apron. "I'm sure Amelia will like them." As he debates on whether to take a small bite of either a cream puff or the mille-feullie, the door's bell rings, causing Minkyu to look up at whoever has just entered the café.

And then! Like a ray of light shining through Minkyu's dark existence! Somebody who he has not seen for a long time, but is a whole four years older than him and Amelia! That's right, it's none other than Monty Romero, an old friend of Victoria who offered to work in the café when it first opened! Minkyu could cry tears of joy, but he doesn't!

"MONTY!" Minkyu cries, maybe a little louder than he meant too, overjoyed at the sight of an actual functioning adult. "I-I-I didn't know you were coming back! I-it's nice to see you... Amelia's in the back, but I wouldn't bother her..." Like Daehyun is currently doing.

And then! Another person makes their presence known in the café, and this time it is Mari! Mari is a friend! Mari is a friend who doesn't scare Minkyu to death like Daehyun! Smiling, Minkyu waves shyly at her.

"G-Good morning! You, um, you guys should try these macaroons! R-R-Rebekah made enough for everyone, right?" The last part of his sentence abruptly trails off into worried territory as Minkyu once again doubts himself. His eyes connect with Monty's, the message conveyed unarguably a plea for help as the barista finds himself over his head without Amelia's steamroller personality to take over for him.

"MINNNNAAAAAA!! Mom said to get up and get us food!!"
Mina jolts up from her bed and onto her feet like she was called to go to war, but right when she stands up she drops to her knees from dizziness. Her mind is too foggy for her to even create words, but she does wonder about if she slept in for too long. Instead of standing back up she reaches for her phone to check the time. 6:30. She sighs and puts her phone back on her night stand, and just stares at her wall. Since it's Wednesday she doesn't have any classes, so she wanted to spend a good portion of the day sleeping in. But of course, she can't have that.

She finally gains the energy and strength to stand back up and walk over to the door. Opening the door she looks down to see her little brother, Beom-soo, frowning at her, "WE'RE HUNGRY!!". She just stares at him a bit before rubbing her face and groaning, "What...do you guys want," her voice is grouchy and low displaying her annoyance, but Beom doesn't back down,"We want eggs!!" She is going to lose her mind. She was really woken up on her day off because of some eggs. She grumbles and washes up quickly so she can make them eggs. After whipping up her brother's eggs, she watches them as they devour them. Now that she's up she wonders if she should go walk around and get into something, and maybe even find a job so she can finally get her own place, which is an interest that just heightened after this morning. She walks out of the dining room and makes a call to their nanny asking her to come over soon so she can go out.

After putting on her clothes for her outing her youngest brother, Jaehwa, walks into her room, "Where are you going?" He asks with egg pieces all over his face. Mina giggles and squats down to remove the food,"Just going out for a bit. Emma-sshi will be here in a little bit." Jaehwa smiles and nods in response, reaching out his hand he grabs Mina's and takes her downstairs. Before leaving the house she gives each of her brothers a hug and lectures them about all the rules, and finally puts on her shoes and leaves.

---

It's now 7:00 and Mina has been doing absolutely nothing but walking around her neighborhood and then taking a bus to an area with more stores and restaurants. She looks around at others that are chatting with friends and lovers and begins to feel quite lonely. She needs to get inside and sit somewhere. And also eat because she's starving; she made eggs for her brothers but forgot to make her something. She eyes down a cute little place and walks over to it-completely ignoring that it's a cat cafe. She gets to the doors of the cafe and sees the silhouettes of a few people just standing in the front-not even taking into mind how creepy she looks and the odd shapes on-top of their heads and behind their backs, "So it is open..." She stays instead of just thinking, and slowly opens the door supporting it with both of her hands."Um...hello? I would like a table." She closes the door behind her and when she turns around she is shocked to see the cat ears and tails and steps back in shock with wide eyes.

Monty smiled brightly as Minkyu yelled out his name, and he went over and gave the poor kid a hug. "Surprise! Its so good to see you again. I missed you kiddo." He says, before glancing over towards the back. He spotted another unfamiliar face back there at the door, and really wondered what was happening, but before he could question the situation any further yet another person walked in. Since she was here before opening, he assumed she must have been another new employee.

"Good Morning!" He chirps to the girl, who seemed about as nervous as Minkyu. Speaking of the kid, he turned back to him "How many new people did you guys hire when I was gone?" He asked slightly teasingly. Clearly there was a lot of new faces, which means a lot of new friends! He was excited, really, but it was going to be a lot to get used to while also getting back into the groove of work.

SpEAKing of which, despite the restaurant still not being open and nobody yet being organized, an actual customer walked in. They should probably lock the doors, but, now she was here and it was time for some quick thinking. He bound over to her, still smiling. "Oh hey! Sorry we're not technically open yet, and I don't think any of the usual servers are avalible at the moment. But, I
can absolutely take care of you, or I can reserve a table for you for once we're open. Whatever would be best for you." He hoped that she would be satisfied with this solution, and that his coworkers wouldn't be terribly bothered by it either, if she did decide to stay. But he didn't mind at all to do everything for just a single person, who seemed like she just needed something of a break.

"Why did he have to come in at just the wrong moment..."

After quickly escaping (and abandoning Minkyu) to the storeroom, Amelia sits in silence, trying to find ways to blame anyone but herself for the absolute mess that just happened. However, she soon is forced to admit that it was her fault for teasing Minkyu in such a way, when she knew the employees would be coming in soon... Argh! That just makes her grumpier!!

Thus the grumpy, pink-haired maid sits, arms crossed, glaring down at the table with vengeance. Why had she done that!? This isn't something you can just laugh off, this is actually embarrassing! And it might stop people from taking her seriously, which is, of course, not a good thing when you're their boss. And ugh, in front of Daehyun, too!

"I had a girl—HAVE, I HAVE a girlfriend. Well. It’s complicated. I’m flattered, and you’re uh, you’re very, very pretty but erm..."

"...He has a girlfriend, huh..."

Amelia sighs, scratching at the tabletop gloomily. She almost got excited at the compliment, maybe just for the briefest of moments, but of course, if he's in a relationship... he was probably just doing it to be polite...

"I-It's not like I was trying to flirt with him, or anything!" she exclaims loudly, standing up with renewed purpose. Yeah! That's right! You shouldn't date your employees anyway--wait, no more thinking about dating! Amelia? Dating? Ha! She's all business, folks!

"...you’re very, very pretty..."

Get ahold of yourself, Amelia," the girl whispers, hands coming up to hide her flushed cheeks. "You aren't going crazy with just one compliment..."

"Guy with the cool hair here, can I come in?"

Amelia jumps five feet in the air, twirls around to the sound of the noise, and hurriedly fixes her hair and skirts to be more presentable. She will not let this get to her! She has to appear unflustered, unbreakable, totally in control!

"Come in!" She calls, remembering his vest lying, folded neatly, in the back corner of the room. That's right, it's getting nearer to when the café opens, she should start giving out orders to the newbies. Opening the door with a determined hmph, Amelia throws back her hair with a quick jerk of her head and gives Daehyun her best smile.

"Sorry about that," she says brightly, handing him his uniform. "Hope you, ah, don't hold it against me. I was only teasing."

Eager to get out of Daehyun's way and hopefully his mind, Amelia waits for him to move away from the doorway--she's not little, like Mari, and Daehyun is kind of... tall. Which makes it hard to maneuver around him like she usually would.

By the time Monty arrives, March wants to disappear. He's not shy, not really, he's just… Anti-social and overwhelmed. Yes. That. The tiny girl hands him a napkin full of macaroons for July, which he honestly finds quite sweet. (No pun intended.) He didn't have to ask, either, which makes it all the better.

“T-thank you!” He mutters in hasty reply, wrapping the macaroons in the napkin neatly. They taste good, according to Minkyu--Minkyu who is currently ignoring him, though not unkindly--so March sneaks a crumb. Very tasty, though admittedly, he prefers savory treats. He eats one anyway, because if he is bringing them home for July then there must be some sort of tax. Maybe he's just a mean brother.

Since Minkyu is busy eating macaroons and looking awkward, March figures he can disappear into that kitchen. He turns to leave, tucking away July's sweets, when Minkyu yells “MONTY!”

Caught terribly off guard, (as Minkyu never yells,) March leaps in the air in surprise and loses half his macaroons to the floor. Slick. Very slick. He is unbelievably proud of himself! Thankfully, it's just Monty--he could hug Monty right now, because he actually does dishes--so he scrambles along the floor to grab any lost macaroons without too much embarrassment. (His ears are bright pink, but not his cheeks. This is improvement.)

"Long time, no see you two! Did you miss me?"

Yes. March would seriously hug him, except there are people watching and the more he thinks about it the worse of an idea it is. So instead, he just grunts out “Yeah.” Anything that even resembles an endearing statement in the slightest is reserved for his mother and siblings only. And then only April and September and occasionally January, since only they bother to be nice to him.

Distracted by practically everything, March doesn't even notice Mari until he looks up from where he is crouching on the floor with macaroons. Besides the fact that the first time he saw her she fell and bled from her nose everywhere, he knows nothing about her. However, she seems shy, small, and actually young (sorry, tiny girl) so his older brother instincts kick in. Then his “run away” instincts kick in, and he decides he still would like to do just that.

"G... G... G-G-Good morning, e-e-everyone!"

After this initial--and rather loud--squeak, March's brotherly instincts come right back and he decides to say “Morning,” with a smile to go with it. He is definitely getting better at this socializing thing.

Finally, he hauls himself up off the floor. The bell on the door jingles again. March wants to die.

"Um...hello? I would like a table."

At this point, everything has become too much, so March lets out and exasperated noise and puts his face in his hands. “I haven't even started prepping food yet…”

@OliveYou@BeefyDork

“Thank you!”

His plan was to open the door slowly, because he knew first-hand the temper of a woman. When the door all but opened itself, Daehyun had to summon a great, spiritual will-power to root himself to the ground, even if his eyebrows all but hit the ceiling. All in fun, his smile was still there but… it much less like the usual, nearly plastic grin he could conjure up. It was softer, gentle.

“Actually, I came to tell you not to worry about it. I hate the thought of you hiding back here, being embarrassed.”

That and, he needed his uniform. Something that was taken from her hands, and a mental note to find his kitty-accessories. He pivoted, to allow the poor woman to escape the backroom, with a dramatic sweep of one arm and a bow. Like a mysterious Spanish gentleman. Except it was Daehyun. Using the cover of the bow to flash a grin, he added;

“I like your hair, as well. I love the colour, maybe you could pick out a colour for me to dye my hair sometime, haha?”

Genuinely. Given that Amelia was the manager and had much to attend to in the front shop, Daehyun was happy enough to slip into the back of the store himself and get ready properly. Cuffing up buttons, using his phone camera to make sure that Amelia was 100% correct, his hair WAS cool. He was cool. So cool. He even blew himself a little kiss, as half hearted as it was.

His phone buzzed, a text message. He felt his heart light up, flutter, he knew she’d come to her senses--

‘30% OFF ON ALL PIZZAS’

…He felt his fingers tighten around the phone.

It took a lot of effort to not storm out onto the café scene—and what a scene there was! So many new people! Of course, he’d seen March before, and had very recently met the lass responsible for those delightful looking macaroons. There was someone… older, and by that he meant closer to his age than his co-workers. He had long, wavy hair, and certainly seemed well trained. Perhaps a former employee? Infact, he seemed very well received!

Mari, too, although he didn’t know her name yet, he was -sure- he’d seen her inside before, maybe before he came in the first time, or after the shift… as he opened his mouth to join in on the meet and greet, however...

The customer that had come in prematurely? His throat felt a little dry. He looked everywhere, but always sort of… settled back on the braided girl. Very uncharacteristically silent.

He must have made it look like Amelia had destroyed him, inadvertently… he tried to sidle up to Minkyu, whispering in his ear in the most-obviously-not-obvious-way.

"Do you know her...?"

Her gaze drifted over to Minkyu first, then to the older gentleman, and then to the young man crouching on the floor as they respectively took their own turns replying to her awkward greeting. It was a relief that they actually replied, but so much seemed to be going on that she wasn't really sure where to direct her attention. Mari could hear voices in the back - were there more people here? Amelia confirmed that when she walked out of the back room with another person, the only other one not in uniform aside from herself. Who should she talk to? Was she supposed to clock in or report somewhere or what? Nervously, she shifted her weight and rubbed her arm. Slight tears pricked at her eyes. This was a bad idea... I already look like such an idiot...

She let out a bit of a squeak as she heard the door open directly behind her and scrambled to move out of the way. "S-S-Sorry!" Her voice was high-pitched and frantic as she apologized to the newcomer, instantly recognizing them as a customer. Was she late? Shoot! And on her first day! This really was not going well at all, and her heart was going to beat out of her chest... Minkyu came to her rescue, offering her sweets, but even more so giving her a place to direect her attention. Feeling a bit defeated already, she walked up to him, timidly. "W-Wow... These look so c-cute..." Desserts really were her favorite. Rebekah had made these? Who was Rebekah? Her gaze drifted to the blonde girl standing nearby. For her being late, no one seemed to be in a rush...

Looking back to Minkyu, she stood up straight with her cheeks flushed even redder. He was probably the nicest one here, and he had pushed so hard for her to get this job... but he was her boss. She had to be respectful and professional and do her very best! Despite how quiet he was, though, the idea of his authority made her even more nervous. "H-How are y-y-you today, s-sir...?" Was that too formal? Oh god, this was embarassing. Her head was still reeling.

---

---

As Rebekah waited for the Bean Sprouts to eat something, more faces steadily came their way into the store. First was a guy who walked a bit funny but actually looked like he belonged out in the working world rather than back in school and sounded like he certainly worked here, or at least was very familiar with the Shy Bean and Cute Girl. And he complimented her sweets, which was a plus ⁽⁺¹⁰⁾.

Next was an ohmygodtherewasanotherone. Rebekah could practically feel her heart melting at the poor Soft Sheep ^(+5000), her nose practically brushing the ground as she greeted everyone in the shop. Another worker? Rebekah didn't much care because, at the moment, she couldn't decide whether she wanted to wrap the Sheep up in a tight hug and tell her that she was absolutely doing her best and how Beks would cheer her on in everything she did, or die in complete happiness from cuteness. Rebekah didn't even notice when the Bean complimented her sweets or how the Awkward Sprout dropped almost all the macarons she gave him, and she continued not noticing much of anything until the Sprout mentioned that the prep work hadn't even started yet.

Wait what.

Wait WHAT? It was WHAT time again? It was THAT time?! Weren't they going to open soon? And wait when did Braids get here? Was she a customer?? Was Caramel Machiatto a waiter??? Isn't he supposed to be the head chef or manager or something???? Wait does that mean Sprouts is the head cook?????

??????

Rebekah stared blankly at nothing for just a brief second, allowing her brain to reboot before it came back shouting at her with a 'THIS IS FINE. EVERYTHING IS COMPLETELY FINE.' Looking at all the assembled people before her, she did a quick mental assessment of everyone that she knew worked here.

Shy Bean was a barista. Cute Girl was a waitress and patissier. Caramel Macchiato was also a waiter ^(??). Sprouts was the head cook ^(???) which meant that he knew the menu, and more importantly how to prepare it. Soft Sheep looked too soft to work in the kitchen ^{(also she just complimented all the sweets ohmygooooood +10000)}. Lover Boy she wouldn't trust with a knife ^(-5). Which meant that she was probably the only one at this moment who could help out Sprouts.

While Rebekah had planned on only applying as a patissier, she also hadn't gone to culinary school for nothing, and right now it seemed like they needed the help of a chef. And didn't workplaces love go-getters? And so if she jumped into the kitchen right now, she could really show off her stuff and increase her chances of being hired. This was perfect!

Mind made up, Rebekah immediately hopped into a salute directed toward the two Shy Guys. "Don't worry Bean Sprouts!" She very enthusiastically snapped. "If you'll allow me to work in your kitchen, I can help out with any of the prep work too! Just tell me what you need me to do and I'll get it done! I did work as a line chef for a bit when I was in culinary school so I'm sure I can help," saying the last bit with a self-satisfied smirk before she turned around, sticking on her hidden cat ears and forgetting to wait for any actual permission as she made her way towards the back.

On the way, she grabbed a menu from somewhere and began studying its contents as she walked. She also happened to see Lover Boy and since she found his face annoying she immediately gave him a scowl ^(-30). When she saw Cute Girl right behind him, Rebekah gave her a thumbs up and a bright smile as the excitable ball of blonde energy confidently flashed into the kitchen.

Rebekah had made all of the items on the menu before so the moment she walked in she had already begun pulling out various tools and ingredients that she knew were necessary for not only all the savory treats but also the sweets. Months of training prevented her from starting anything until a head chef (or head cook in this case) told her to start, which gave her a bit of time to think that maaaaybe she was rushing too fast into everything. That thought was quickly quashed by another side of her however that continuously yelled things like 'SPIRIT' and 'GUTS' and 'EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT GREAT' which were all really uplifting things if one happened to be named Rebekah Yeorim Byun.

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_{Relationship Scores}

The moment the employees turned their heads to face her she knew that they weren't actually open. Embarrassment starts to creep up on her face causing her cheeks to turn bright red. Before she was able to panic even more, one of the workers tells her that even though they're not open, he will gladly serve her. His kindness eases her back into sanity and she composes herself by taking a couple deep breaths and returning to her sophisticated mode.

"Yes, I would like you to be my waiter, please. Since you seem to be the only one prepared."

She isn't remorseful at all about her comment. She wonders why the door is open and all the employees are here, yet no one is prepared to service people. Except this man right here, who has gained a sliver of Mina's respect. She looks-more like glares- at the boy that grumbles about not having food prepared, "How have you not started preparing food?" Mina squints in both confusion and frustration.

She wants to be reasonable and remember it's only 7 something in the morning, but these people are standing around and chatting like they don't have work to do! She looks over at the extremely young girl that is a stuttering and anxious mess, and is only able to sigh deeply and rub her temple. Seriously is today really going to give her this hard of a time? She jumps when another young looking girl-Why is a majority of the staff so young?-exclaims about helping with the cooking, Don't tell me...they're short on staff too?! She can now conclude that this place is simply chaotic and she doesn't know if she wants to yell at the staff for all the inconvenience or laugh at how crazy this situation is. She chooses the latter.

"Ah, seriously. This must be a joke or something. Please just show me to whatever table, I need to sit down." She is able to say this in her laughing fit to the waiter that will serve her. Coming from the craziness from her house to this scenario is just too much for her; today was supposed to be a calm, relaxing day and now she's surrounded by cat people that are scurrying around like little mice.

"My apologies ma'am, but again, we're not technically open yet, and in fact usually aren't for quite some time." He said, a polite smile still on his face, trying to hide his newfound lack of enthusiasm for serving this girl. Perhaps he should have thrown her out, but he'd already offered this to her and he wasn't about to go back on that now. It was too late. But no! He couldn't let this get him down! He was happy to be back! And he definitely was not going to let one person having a bad day make him have a bad day too.

"Come with me please!" He chirped, guiding her over to one of the tables that he knew you couldn't see well from the outside. He didn't want this to become a repeat incident, so away from where others might see would be best. Having grabbed a menu along the way, he set it down in front of her. "There you go, just let me know when your ready to order. Of course we can't do everything at the moment since its so early, but i'll do my best to accommodate."

This cafe is quickly becoming crowded--too crowded. But before Amelia, still reeling a little from Daehyun's last comment, can react to the current situation(s), Minkyu does, shaking his head at the waiter's question.

"I don't know her," Minkyu admits, trying to evaluate her from his safe place at the back counter. "She, um, just came in. And we're not even open..." But despite this fact, which has been voiced several times by both an accommodating Monty and a disgruntled March, the girl does not seem bothered, expect for a small moment. In fact, she looks almost like she's going to start blaming them for not opening soon enough, something Minkyu is hardly prepared to deal with. He can hardly deal with Mari calling him "sir" because it's a) really weird and b) really cute. How does he even respond to this? Is he really her boss?? (He could get used to this "sir" thing, though...)

Thankfully, Amelia is prepared for everything. The moment she exits the hallway and catches sight of the crowd of employees, customers, and in-betweens, she starts to make sense of the situation. Ah. So we have an early customer, somebody who wants to be hired, and MONTY!

Dashing up to the older man with a bright smile, disregarding the customer he is trying to serve, Amelia gives Monty a tight backhug before taking a deep breath and speaking a very rapid string of words.

"Monty! It's great to see you! You gotta tell me all about your adventures later, and how Victoria is doing!" But first! Before Amelia can catch up with him, she has to take care of this customer, who is quickly earning herself a page in Amelia's "rude customers" book with all her snappish comments regarding the state of the café, something Amelia does not appreciate in the slightest!

"Monty is right, the café is not yet open," Amelia says, trying her best to be sweet despite the generally rude vibe this girl is giving her. "Monty and I will try to serve you the best we can, but the kitchen isn't open yet and so it will take awhile." After this statement, Amelia cannot stop herself from adding tartly "If you wanted a nice breakfast, than maybe you should've tried a restaurant that actually had a open sign." She knows it's hardly the professional thing to do, but she can't help it; that girl is indirectly insulting her café and so it makes sense to give her a little sass. Hopefully Monty won't scold her for it later.

Walking to the back of the shop, Amelia taps Mari on the shoulder and smiles at her kindly. "Mari, your outfit is in the back, why don't you get dressed and watch me serve a customer? It will be good practice for you. And March, might as well get the kitchen running." Where was that girl she saw a moment ago...? Did she run into the kitchens without permission? What a mess...

Poking her head into the kitchens, Amelia clears her throat loudly to get the attention of the blond, small, very excited girl who is flying around the kitchen in a attempt to help.

"Hey, um, this area is for employees only," Amelia tells her, looking a little frazzled at the amount of things she has to set straight. "I appreciate that you're trying to help us, but it might be better if you don't get in March's way. I'm not available to interview you right now, but if March is okay with it, he might be able to do something... after we deal with this customer."

March, rather affronted by some random woman he doesn't know marching in and telling him what to do, breathes a sigh of relief when Amelia appears. Amelia, being his boss, can tell him what to do. March, being March, flat out refuses to listen to random women who march in and act as though they own the place. He, being only 17 and therefore still immature, sticks out his tongue at her. (Really, it only gets to the edge of his lips before he bites down on it--she's a customer, so he has to please her! Ugh, some people.)

With Rebekah running off towards the kitchen, Minkyu looking like he might cry, Mari possibly actually going to cry, Daehyun looking uncommonly uncomfortable, Amelia sassing the customer and Monty actually being a “cool dude,” March can only do one thing--fix it, and make it perfect! So there's a rude customer who barged in. So she's basically insulting his skills of preparation. So he would like to die. This is basically like home. Easy peasy!

Having regained his cool, March stands up to his full height, gives Mina his sweetest smile, (this is how he gets what he wants,) and says “Anything for you, ma'am! I would hate to disappoint.” His sarcasm leaks in at the end a touch, but no worries. He'll show her. Showing people up is always fun!

March turns and runs off the kitchens--though not before giving both Minkyu and Mari handkerchiefs--and runs right into Rebekah. He honestly forget she was here and now he has no idea what to do with her… But, since this chaos is similar to home, he'll just pretend she's April and boss her around. (Sorry!)

“Hey, um, Idon'tevenknowyournamewhatamIdoing, can you start chopping up all those veggies for the omelette specials?”

March begins his preparation--making crepe batter, since it needs to be chilled and such--and turns back to Rebekah.

“While you're at it, might as well cut up the fruits as well.”

Sweet perfection. Prepare to have your socks blown off, random customer who honestly needs something better to do than terrifying unprepared new recruits.

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With everything set out and ready, Rebekah fidgeted and fussed with every item in the kitchen, making sure everything that either she or Sprouts would need would be within easy reach, pushing away all thoughts that what she was doing was totally inappropriate and how if this was her kitchen she'd have kicked herself out back to her mom to relearn her manners.

Thus when Cute Girl poked her head inside and started scolding her, Rebekah couldn't help but involuntarily jump like a cat seeing a cucumber. Startled, Rebekah faced Cute Girl and did a panicked salute, meeping out a hurried "Yes ma'am sorry sir ma'am I'll do my best!" But she didn't make a move out of the kitchen since Cute Girl also didn't exactly say that she couldn't help.

Which as it turned out, the Sprout ordered her to do just so by prepping the greens and the fruits the moment he rushed in, and since he was the head cook Rebekah couldn't possibly refuse him in any way, shape or form.

Giving a smarter salute to Sprouts than what she had done earlier, she confidently belted out a "You got it boss!" Being most confident in her knifework, she scraped out a menacing hiss as she honed a chef's knife with steel before gleefully getting to work slicing, dicing, and pruning whatever needed to be done. Still, prep work wasn't the most engaging of tasks and she had always enjoyed a certain amount of banter being flung around when she worked in a professional kitchen and knowing next to nothing about her fellow cook made her instantly blurt out "So Sprouts, where'd you learn to cook?"

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_{Relationship Scores}

Mari blinked a bit and cocked her head to the side, wondering why Minkyu wasn't replying to her question. Had he heard her? With all of this commotion, maybe she had spoken too quietly? The expression on his face mirrored how she was feeling inside, and for one brave moment she turned to follow his gaze toward all of the people currently gathered in the dining area. She noticed how the older gentleman seemed to handle the angry customer really well... That must have been why the siblings had been so happy to see him. Still, why was he serving her? They weren't open yet, right? All of the noise had nearly made Mari think she was late to work. This was turning out to be a very stressful first day! Unsure of what to do, she shifted her weight from foot to foot, glancing around. Bad move. Her gaze met that of the angry customer, her annoyed gaze enough to make the young woman freeze. A shiver ran up her spine and she quickly turned back toward Minkyu, shrinking just a bit. Will there be a lot of customers like that...? She didn't know if she could handle it if she made a customer angry! Her hands shook a bit and she locked her gaze on the pretty desserts, trying her best to calm down. It's okay... I'm sure Amelia or Minkyu or someone will show me what to do, right? I can do this...

Suddenly, March walked by and handed her a handkerchief, making her pause momentarily. Her panic must have shown on her face if he handed this to her- did she look like she was going to cry? Flushing bright red, she stood up straighter. No, I need to show them I can do this! I did really well at our class' maid cafe for the school festival- I just have to be as confident as they taught me to be for that! A small smile crept on her face as she began to feel a bit calmer. The customer was being handled, many of the people had retreated to the kitchen, and the commotion seemed to finally be dying down. Glancing back up at Minkyu, she saw that he had also been handed a handkerchief and giggled, lightly. Something about him being just as nervous as her was calming... It made her feel that she wasn't quite so alone. It was normal to be nervous on your first day, right? And that didn't stop him from running a whole restaurant! She shifted her gaze to Amelia as she spoke, standing up straight. "R-Right!" The sudden orders caught her off-guard as she suddenly found herself saluting the pink-haired commander (like an idiot! What was she even doing?).

Okay. Her task seemed simple enough- put on the uniform and watch her serve a customer. She could do that! As things started to look up, she happily went into the back, though found herself in the kitchen. Uh, where was the dressing area? She remembered the table where they had her interview... Timidly, she walked around the back area until the found where women were supposed to dress. It was a sigh of relief as she found a locker with her name, and inside of it... Her eyes sparkled. Inside was the cutest little yellow dress with a frilly apron! Was this really her uniform? It was so cute! Suddenly, she was excited. This was going to be so much fun! It was with no hesitation that she changed into the outfit- it was even cuter on! Happily, she did a small twirl, observing herself in the mirror. Her favorite blue bow even matched! The shoes were practical and cute, as well, and the plastic ears were surprisingly comfortable! Not to mention adorable! This whole place just oozed charm that Mari found completely irresistable! It was why she had chosen to apply here, after all. Now that she was dressed, she gave herself a determined nod. It was time to prove she belonged here!

The moment she stepped out of the dressing area, she nearly bumped into Rebekah who was rushing around the kitchen preparing... everything? Did she even work here? She was in awe of the girl's skills for a moment, noticing how carefully she chopped everything. The young man also seemed quite skilled, delegating tasks to her. He must be the main cook, with how he had control of the kitchen. She stood there just watching them work for a moment before realizing she had been in a daze. Now wasn't the time to get distracted! Hurriedly shaking her head, she moved to go back out to the dining room, looking for Amelia. The moment she left the back, Mari became very self-conscious. This outfit would probably draw a lot of attention. She didn't do well with people staring at her. And now that she thought about it, wasn't the skirt a bit short? Nervously, she pulled on the hem a bit as her cheeks flushed red. Soon, she spotted the woman-in-charge she had been looking for and timidly approached her. "I-I'm ready to l-learn, m-m-ma'am..." Amelia was quite tall, wasn't she? At least in comparison... "What, um... W-What would you like me to do...?"

Upon Rebekah's salute and “You got it boss!” March feels quite proud of himself. He smiles softly at the thought of being a boss, straightening out his navy vest and bowtie, and pulls on his kitty apron.

The crepe batter is coming along nicely, so he turns his attention to the croissant dough. He made some ahead this time around, so all he has to do is roll it out and cut it into croissant shapes. He's working quietly, feeling wonderful when he realizes that maybe Rebekah isn't good at cooking and maybe everything will be ruined, and maybe he ought to check in her. So he turns to check, rather panicked, (already forgetting that she makes beautiful pastries,) when he realizes that she is, in fact, quite good. March relaxes.

“So Sprouts, where'd you learn to cook?”

Sprouts? Who's Sprouts? Bean sprouts? Bean sprouts are tiny, he thinks, so obviously you don't cut them--is he Sprouts? It's not a bad nickname, really. He rather likes it. He also loves this question! He loves his mother and everyone must know!

“Mama.” It occurs to him now that this might sound childish. “I mean, she taught me how to cook when I was younger, and then when she had to go work because--” Hold up, March. She doesn't need your whole life story. “Anyways, I had to cook for my siblings a lot so I thought I'd try to make it interesting… Did a bit of experimenting once I got better, had one of my neighbors teach me some stuff… yeah. So like I'm not professionally trained, but I'm good with cooking quickly and ahead of time.” Mission don't spill out your life: passed, but only with a C. He could do better next time. It then occurs that he ought to ask her something, so he simply says, “You?”