Special Chapter

"Noodles and tears"

"Can I get two more bowls of noodle soup and some side dishes as well!" yelled Jin over the counter and his request was followed by a "Yes, Chef" from the kitchen staff.

"Part timer," yelled Jin and got Hyun Joo's attention, "can you clean up those two tables so we are ready for the next customers?"

"Yes, Chef," answered Hyun Joo, "I will do it right away." The part timer almost ran to the tables and started stacking up the dishes and carried them to the kitchen, making sure to move steady so he wouldn't drop anything.

So energetic, thought Jin to himself as he watched Hyun Joo work. It had only been a few weeks since the young boy, came to ask for a part time job. The timing was perfect, because the restaurant's popularity kept increasing, so it was hard for Jin to keep up with both the orders and the cleaning at the same time. Hyun Joo was indeed a great help.

The ringing sound from the doorbell made Jin turn around immediately to great the new customer. He put on his best smile, ready to bless the person with his handsomeness.

"Welcome to Kung Fu noodles," said Jin, to the young woman who walked inside. She seemed a bit startled by Jin's over-enthusiastic behavior and when Jin looked closer, he noticed how her eyes were red and swollen.

Trying not to make the woman uncomfortable, Jin quickly continued: "Let me show you to a table."

The woman slowly nodded, lowered her head and then followed right behind Jin without a word. After she had sat down, Jin was ready to go over the menu, but the woman immediately interrupted him.

"Just give me whatever," said she in a low, lifeless voice.

"Y..yes," said Jin and nodded before going back to the counter.

"What is wrong, Chef?" asked Hyun Joo when he saw Jin standing with a concerned look in his eyes, "do you need my help with anything?"

"No... yes..." said Jin, his head still in a haze, "tell the kitchen to make another bowl of noodle soup, chicken flavored and not too spicy."

"Yes, Chef!"

"There you go," said Jin when he served the bowl of soup to the woman, "I hope the flavor fits your taste." The woman was still sitting with her head lowered and she just answered with a simple nod before grabbing the chopsticks and slowly started eating her food.

Jin quietly backed up and walked back to the counter where he took a seat in his chair.

"Part timer!" he called out.

"Yes what do you need, Chef?" asked Hyun Joo.

"Can you greet and take orders from the customers for a bit?" For a minute, all color on Hyun Joo's face seemed to fade away, but he hurried back to his senses and then nodded aggressively.

"Yes, Chef! I promise I will do my best to live up to your example."

Jin watched as Hyun Joo ran to the door, ready to greet the next customers like his life depended on it. He probably saw it as a big responsibility, granted by Jin because he recognized his potential, but in reality, Jin was way to unfocused right now to even take orders.

His eyes followed the woman's every movement. She was wearing a blue denim dress with buttons all the way down and had a small waist belt that elegantly highlighted her waistline. The dress was a V neck with a collar that only made it seem even more elegant. Her hair was dyed a light blonde, but her face completely bare, no makeup, not even a hint of mascara, even still, she looked beautiful.

The woman was still quietly eating her noodles, her every movement so slow and steady that it almost calmed down Jin as well. She lowered the chopsticks into the bowl, perfectly caught a few noodles and was in the middle of leading it to her mouth when suddenly, she stopped. Her hand just stopped in the middle of nowhere, the warm heat from the noodles damping in the air. That was when the first tear left her eye. Small and lonely it slid down her cheek and then fell onto the table. But this small tear, as lonely and insignificant as it might seem, turned out to be the one that was able to break down the walls, to open up the gates, because soon after, the next tear would follow, until the woman found herself quietly sobbing, the chopsticks with the noodles, still in her hand.

Jin watched her with a sunken heart and eyes not willing to leave her. It had been a while, her noodles would be cold by now and Jin wondered if he should offer her a new bowl. But he couldn't move and just stayed there until she got up on her own and went to pay Hyun Joo who was taking his new responsibility very seriously.

"That woman seemed to be really sad," said Hyun Joo after she had left. Jin finally came back to reality and got up from the chair he had been glued to until now.

"Yes," said Jin just, "yes she did."

1 week later

As any other day, the restaurant was full to the max and with the weekend getting closer, there were even more people than usual. Being a bit understaffed in the kitchen, Jin decided to help and let Hyun Joo handle the customers since he did seem to have a nag for it.

"Chef!" called Hyun Joo from the restaurant, just as Jin had begun arranging the next set of noodle soups.

"Just a second!" yelled Jin and hurried up, figuring he might as well take the bowls with him to give to Hyun Joo.

"There you go," said Jin.

"Oh thank you," said Hyun Joo and took them. A second passed by without Hyun Joo saying or doing anything.

"What did you want?" said Jin then.

"Oh right!" said Hyun Joo, "there's a woman here who is asking to be served by you."

"Is there?" said Jin and couldn't hide his smirk, "I guess my handsome face is being missed when I am in the kitchen.

"She is at the small table by the window," said Hyun Joo before rushing to the customers with their food.

Jin walked towards the table, filled with confidence, confidence that all falters when he saw the woman who was sitting at the table. She wasn't bare faced today. Instead she had done a light and natural makeup and had her hair in a loose ponytail.

She finally seemed to notice Jin who stood in front of her table completely frozen and she tried to send him a smile.

"Good afternoon," she said, making this the first time Jin ever heard her voice loud and clear.

"Good afternoon, welcome to Kung Fu noodles," said Jin and tried to hide his shyness.

"I was here about a week ago, do you remember?" Before Jin could even reply, she continued, "of course you remember, how could you forget a crying woman who didn't even finish her food and left without a word?"

"I..." Jin didn't know what to say.

"I just want to thank you for your kindness," said she, "thank you Mr..." the woman squeezed her eyes to see what his name tag said and just as Jin thought he couldn't get anymore nervous, the woman let out a cute giggle and that was it for him.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you," said the woman, "it is just that-" she stopped talking when she noticed that Jin's eyes were no longer on her and the fainted smile he showed was completely gone, his expression changed to despair.

"Hyung," said Jin and looked at his older brother who was standing in the door, halfway in and halfway out. 

"Let us talk."

After calling over Hyun Joo to help, Jin left the restaurant without sharing another word with the woman and instead showed his brother to his small office room.

"So this is what you call a big fancy restaurant," said his brother; Seo Joon, while looking around.

"I never said it was fancy, I only said it was a restaurant," corrected Jin him, "but business is running pretty smoothly."

"Little brother... why are you doing this?" Jin looked at Seo Joon who showed both sadness and confusion in his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't be stupid, because I know you are not!" said Seo Joon in a harsh tone and Jin held his breath, "I understand you don't want to work for dad's company and since I am already doing that pretty well, he was okay with it. But you could have told him anything you wanted to do and he would make it possible."

"But I-" Jin was immediately cut of when Seo Joon continued.

"You wanted a restaurant? Okay, fine. If I came and said I wanted a restaurant he would have laughed in my face! But because it is you, mommy's little angel and daddy's favorite, he would have just bought you the restaurant you wanted and made you the head chef. But instead you use your savings to buy this shady place. You even have to serve customers rather than being in the kitchen where you belong and really want to be."

"Are you done?" said Jin after a minute of silence, "because, I would like to say something now."

"Go ahead," said Seo Joon with a sigh.

"First of all, this is not a shady restaurant. It is a small and cozy restaurant that is inviting people inside, making them feel comfortable."

"Okay and so what?"

"That is what I want, I don't want dad's money or success. I want to make it on my own and this is my way of doing it."

"But why do you have to do it alone?" Jin took a deep breath and then looked at Seo Joon.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but when people come to eat at my restaurant I want them to do it because they like the food, not because of my name or my money. I don't want people to look at me and say 'he doesn't have success, he was just born by the right people',"

"So you are saying that is how people look at me?"

"I told you not to take it the wrong way..."

"You know what, forget it! I came to help you realize what a big mistake you are making, but you are too immature to even understand what I am saying." Seo Joon turned around and opened the door.

"Call me when you are ready to have an adult conversation."

Jin backed up and collapsed in his chair, resting his head in his hands, as he replayed the whole conversation in his head. He needed to rest, he couldn't go back to the restaurant in this state, so he just had to trust his workers for a little while longer.

"Chef." 

Jin was woken by the familiar voice of Hyun Joo and he almost jumped up from the chair where he had been sleeping for the past hour.

"Yes, yes do you need me?"

"I just wanted to say that we cleaned up everything and are ready to go home." Jin looked at the time and mentally hit himself.

"That sounds great, thank you for your hard work and get home safely."

"Yes, Chef."

"Wait, part timer!"

"Yes?"

"The woman... did she eat?"

"What woman?" said Hyun Joo, but then his face lit up, "ah the woman who wanted to be served by you? No, she left the same second you did." Jin felt his heart sink when he thought about the bad service he had provided, which now had resulted in a lost costumer.

"Okay, that was all, thank you." Hyun Joo left the room and Jin started packing up his things before he left himself. He shut off the rest of the lights in the restaurant and then locked the door behind him.

After turning around, Jin was ready to head home, but he was stopped by a woman who stood as if she had been waiting for a long time.

"Mr. Kim," she said and Jin now recognized her as the woman from earlier, "I am sorry to disturb you just when you are about to go home."

"No it is okay, I am sorry I left after you specifically asked for me," said Jin and somehow felt his heart beat a little faster, "I promise to treat to a free meal if you come by again."

"Actually, I didn't come to eat, I came to tell you something."

"Oh really?" said Jin surprised, "what did you want to tell me?"

The woman looked around and watched as several people were passing by, all ready to go home for the day and she took a step closer to Jin.

"Can I buy you a drink somewhere? I am not really comfortable talking here."

After agreeing to the woman's proposition, Jin soon found himself sitting at a small cozy bar with a drink in his hand and the woman sitting very close to him while staring into his eyes.

"So..." said Jin who was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable, "what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh yes I am sorry!" said she and quickly pulled herself together, "I... I wanted to both apologize and thank you." The woman took a deep breath before continuing.

"I want to thank you for cheering me up when I came in a week ago feeling awful. Your honest smile and your amazing food made me feel better, even if I might not have looked like it. I am sorry for coursing a scene in your restaurant, sitting at my table while crying uncontrollably. People must have been looking for sure, and then I left without finishing the soup or at least thanking you for the meal. So all in all, thank you for your kindness and I am sorry for my behavior."

Jin looked at the woman who had just been pouring out her thoughts so honestly without holding back, and he felt unsure of what to do.

"Did you come by my restaurant again just to thank me for that? You really didn't have to, I was just acting like any polite human should have."

"Actually, I have been walking by your restaurant every day for the past week, wanting to thank you, but I got scared every time I walked up to the door."

"Why?" asked Jin.

"I was afraid you would find me strange, or maybe think I am a lunatic or something."

"I would never think that of you just because you were sad," said Jin in a firm tone, "I just hope you are feeling better and whatever was troubling you isn't anymore."

"Thank you," said the woman and gave him a smile, but it didn't seem like a true smile.

"I know this might sound weird as we only just met each other," said Jin after thinking for a while, "but if you want to talk, I am here." The woman lifted her head and looked into Jin's calming eyes.

"You might be weird for proposing that, but I am probably even weirder for taking advantage of it," said the woman and looked at her hands that were settled around her glass. Then, just before she was about to start talking again, a small giggle left her mouth.

"It is so stupid, when you hear the reason you will think I am weak for crying because of it."

"Try me," said Jin. The woman looked up and then took in a deep breath.

"I have a sister, a twin sister whom I love and cherish with all my heart. Our family isn't rich, but we never felt like we needed anything. We have had love and care for all our life. We shared a room since we were born and we did everything together. It never occurred to me that one day we would go our separate ways. But that is what is happening now. My sister is moving to Japan to study. She is leaving in two weeks."

A dark silence overcame both of them, as Jin was politely waiting for the woman to gather up enough courage to finish her story.

"I haven't told her how sad it makes me that she is leaving, because if I do, I will surely not be able to hold back my tears and if she sees my crying, then it will be harder for her to leave. I have done everything I can to support her, but my sadness just gets bigger and bigger. So a week ago it was all becoming too much for me. I had to get out of the house, away from my family and my sister and just go somewhere I didn't have to hide my feelings. That place ended up being your restaurant." The woman who had been staring at the wall finally turned her face and locked eyes with Jin. "You think I am stupid, right?"

"Why would I think that? You have every right to be sad and it is a good thing you are. If you weren't sad, it would mean you didn't care your sister is leaving." The woman was about to well up again, but Jin just kept talking. "I don't think you showing your emotions would make it harder for your sister to leave. It is probably hard enough on her already, you get to stay with your parents and your friends and in the place you know. She is going to a foreign country without knowing what she will encounter. Don't you think she is entitled to know how much her sister will miss her while she is gone?" The tears were streaming down her face while Jin spoke and she nodded along to everything he said, knowing he was right, but her tears made it impossible for her to talk right now. Jin just let her be and let her cry as much as she wanted and just sat quietly without doing or saying anymore.

"I can't believe I am crying in front of a total stranger, again," said the woman as she wiped away her tears.

"Don't worry, crying isn't something bad."

"You know, you are a really nice guy!" said the woman.

"I don't know about that, to be honest I think I am a pretty selfish guy."

"No I don't believe that, you just listened to me rant about my problems even though you don't know me, and then you kindly gave me advice and even gave me a shoulder to cry on. I don't care what you say, to me you are the kindest person I have ever met."

"In that case I won't say anything else besides thank you." Jin smiled at the woman and she smiled back. They both finished their drinks and the woman was then the first to get up.

"I won't take more of your time then," she said and put her glass on the counter, "goodbye."

"Goodbye," said Jin, but then quickly got up himself, "wait! There is just one thing I am curious about."

"What is it?" asked the woman.

"Earlier, when I was about to take your order you suddenly started laughing, why was that?" The woman didn't answer, but just let out another giggle, making Jin even more curious as to what it was.

"Now that I think about it, we haven't introduced ourselves yet."

"You are right!" said Jin, "How rude of me, it is nice to meet you, my name is Kim Seok Jin."

"It is nice to meet you too," said the woman with another giggle, "My name is Kyung Soo Jin."

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this "special chapter". It was written from the result of a poll I made back when this book was on Wattpad. As a celebration for getting 2K reads on this book, I decided to write a special chapter, focusing on one of the side characters and the poll ended on Jin.

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it didn't have much to do with the main plot. It was a lot of fun writing, partially because I drew inspiration from something in my own life.

When I was 14 years old I was in a really bad place, I didn't have contact with my mom at all and I had trouble communicating with my dad. So my dad advised me to get some girl friends I could talk to, someone a bit older who could help me when I was feeling down. And I found such girlfriends and we became as close as real sisters. But then a few years later they told me they were moving to Greenland. I remember how I started crying like crazy and I couldn't stop and I kept apologizing, saying I should support them rather than being sad. But they told me that if I had not been sad, they would be disappointed. Because considering how close we were, it would only be a normal reaction for me to get sad. So yeah, that's how I thought up this chapter.

Please don't forget to leave a comment down below and remember to stay happy and healthy wherever you are!

Love, Annalise~