In my backpack are the essentials. My phone, a phone charger, chapstick, a small pack of gum, and a black mask. Why a mask? So no one sees my face in this ridiculous uniform.
Thankfully, the fear of being recognized is barely existent as no one from my past is in Korea.
Although I have many complaints about my job, I also really enjoy it. It's a part of a normal life. I made a friend at this café, the owner and manager are unusual but are pretty flexible, the pay is great, and the café is walking distance, so I save money transportation wise. It does take 15 minutes to get there, but it's not bad considering I save money every time I walk and get great exercise.
I walk out of my apartment building and put on my mask. I hang my backpack off one shoulder and begin walking to work.
I'm glad it's cold today.. The trench coat covers most of the uniform.
There's a little bit of snow left over from a day ago lining the sidewalk. It's beautiful. Many people see the snow as an inconvenience after a while, but I love the snow here. From the first snow to the seventeenth snow, I think I'll always love it. I never saw snow in LA, for obvious reasons, so it is the first time I'm ever experiencing this phenomenon.
I live in the part of Seoul that doesn't have enormous skyscrapers. The buildings around me are more medium-sized. The street in front of the café is known as one of the main roads, and the sidewalk that lays between the street and the café is pretty wide. I don't think I can give an accurate measurement though. I suck at geometry, and, well, all forms of math. But to be fair, I didn't graduate high school.
I arrive at the café and enter through the employee side door located in a small alleyway to the left of the café building. The door leads to the locker room where all the employees leave their personal items and take breaks. Our café doesn't open until 11:00, so I normally set up the materials, ingredients, and do a quick clean before opening the doors to customers. I'm usually the first one here, but today someone got here before me.
"Eonnie*! You're here!" My normal coworker, named Dam Soo-Yun, exclaims walking up to me. She's wearing her uniform, the dark purple version of mine. Her hair has a matching purple streak on the left side of her hair.
"Ahhh. Soo-Yun-ah*!" I give her a fist bump. Hugs aren't really my thing. "How come you're here already?"
"The manager said to come in earlier so we can sing her happy birthday."
"Seriously?" I shake my head and sigh. "Oh well. We were gonna sing her happy birthday anyway."
Soo-Yun laughs. "We should finish setting things up before she gets here. If we get caught up in her birthday warpath, we'll never be able to open."
"You're right," I chuckle. "Let me put my stuff in my locker."
"Okay. I'll meet you behind the counter."
Soo-Yun walks out the door of the locker room and into the main room of the café. As she leaves, I open my locker and shove my backpack inside. I take off my mask and hang it on a hook I attatched to my locker door. I take off my coat and hang it on another hook I set up on the back wall of the locker.
Thank God this place has a heater. The cold does give me an excuse to cover the uniform, but it's also torture to walk in 30 to 40 degree weather wearing a short skirt.
I close my locker door and walk out into the café while putting on my apron. The apron only comes up to the waist, unlike the typical barista aprons. In all honesty, I like the style we have better than the full body ones.
The café on the inside is very pretty. The ceiling is really high, making the environment feel lighter and brighter. The whole front of the café is made of thick glass. It has tall double doors made of this thick glass attached to a glass wall made in panels. It lets in the natural light, making the atmosphere of the café romantic. The café's color scheme is white, pink, and green. It really embodies the feeling of romance. The inside and outside walls and furniture are white, and different shades of pink flowers and green vines decorate the café.
If you walk through the front door, to the left you can see the ordering counter, barista area, and kitchen. To the right and middle of the café, tables ranging in sizes, depending on the amount of people in a group, sit soaking in the morning sun. In the back of the café, there is an upstairs loft-like seating area that takes up the right corner of the café building, mainly used by returning couples. Under the loft is a "hangout" area decorated with couches and rugs. On "roof," the underside of the loft, vintage looking light bulbs hang to give off a soft light. High schoolers like to use the area when they come in with their large groups. In the far left corner of the rectangular building is the bathroom.
A big chandelier, the main source of light when it gets dark, hangs in the middle of the cafe and shines insanely bright. All around the café are smaller light bulbs that illuminate the parts of the café, like the loft area, that are hidden from the light of the chandelier. I think that the only way the owner doesn't go broke from electricity bills is by using natural light during the sunny hours of the day.
"Soo-Yun-ah."
"Yea?"
"Where's Miss Manager and the two guys?"
"The manager is picking up her cake, and the guys are... Actually I'm not sure."
"Oh I see." I reply as I begin to wipe down tables. Soo-Yun is behind the counter wiping down the display cases.
Suddenly, a thought occurs to me. I look up from where I am wiping and ask, "Wait, why is she picking up a cake? We work in a café. We have a lot of cakes here."
Soo-Yun laughs and looks up from her task. "I don't know. She said something about how someone on her level can only have a special expensive luxury cake on their birthday."
"She's crazy." I sigh, turning back to my work.
A few moments later, the two boys walk through the door to the café from the locker room. The flirt, whose name is Wan Kyubok, enters singing Kick It by the k-pop group NCT 127 in his obnoxiously loud voice. The shy one, Cha Myung-Dae comes in quietly behind him.
Today the boys are dressed in suits. Their aprons, similar to mine, begin at the waist and fall above the knee.
Wow. I don't know how they can put up with the sporadic uniform changes… at least they suit most of the concepts. I'm guessing that the crazy lady is watching some sort of action drama.
"Will you SHUT UP?" I hear Soo-Yun shout at Kyubok.
I turn to watch their fight. Not a day goes by at work without a fight between Dam Soo-Yun and Wan Kyubok. It usually happens because Soo-Yun gets fed up with Kyubok's personality and bursts into a fiery rage. When this happens, Kyubok loves to feed the flame by teasing and flirting.
I guess it happened early today.
"What? You don't like my singing? Or is it embarrassing to have your heart race because of me?" Kyubok smirks.
"Do you want to die?" She shrieks back and proceeds to chase him around the café with a wet towel, probably with the intent to whip him. Kyubok finds this extremely entertaining and provokes her by singing even louder. Myung-Dae runs around behind them trying to quell the argument.
I burst out in laughter.
I will never get tired of this sight.