Chapter 4: Chapter Eight
He's laughing, surrounded by a couple of guys, and I quickly figured they're his friends.
I turn and wave goodbye to the guys when they start to leave, jumping a little when a large hand wraps itself around my shoulders.
Turning, I smile at my twin. "Were you waiting long?"
"No."
"Great, let's get going. Dad wants us at to the restaurant."
Nodding, I salute in response and we head for the gates. Once we arrived at my father's restaurant I smile at the sight of the restaurant's name 'KANG'S', written in big golden letters in the middle of the building.
Slipping into the restaurant after my brother who gentlemanly opens the door for me, I take in a deep breath. For some reason, I'm always floored by how much renovations my father has put into this place and how much it has grown.
The restaurant is noisy due to the number of people crowding the place and the waiters running around to attend to customers.
I can still clearly remember what the place used to look like before I left, bleak walls with peeling wallpaper, barely functional ceiling lights, and an odd stale smell permeating the air.
But it's thanks to the help of a friend of my dad's that I got my first job as a child model in a commercial for a food company. The advert had been a big hit and thanks to the money I'd been paid, we were able to pay off some of our debts, renovate the restaurant a bit, and pay for my mother's surgery.
Unfortunately, she never made it through the surgery.
Jayden taps my shoulder, startling me from my thoughts, and I turn to him in surprise. He gives me a curious look but doesn't ask questions and instead nods his head towards the kitchen.
Moving forward we wave at the smiling hostess and manoeuvre our way past tables, pushing through the swinging double doors leading into the kitchen.
Immediately, we're accosted by the frantic noise of the busy room as the kitchen staffs move around quickly to get orders filled on time, our nose assaulted with the aromatic smell of Korean cuisines.
Making our way with ease we head towards the door on the other end and walk into our father's modest-looking office, he'd converted the storage room into an office and had bigger storage built out back.
"Hey, dad!" I greet cheerfully as soon as I see him. He's bent over his desk with his grey hair falling into his line of vision.
The square-shaped glasses he's wearing is perched low on the bridge of his nose, and his forehead is folded in wrinkled lines thanks to the thoughtful frown on his face. And as always he's seated with his back hunched.
Upon hearing my voice, he sits up with a startle before a loving smile teases his lips at the sight of us in his doorway. "Hey kids, did you just arrive?"
"Yup," Jayden responds and walks further into the office, the cold air from the air condition making the room a bit chilly. So unlike Jay, I keep my coat on as we settle on the chairs facing our father. "What's up dad, you said you wanted to see us?"
Removing his glasses we watch him rub his eyes wearily with a sigh and settle back in his chair, slipping his glasses back on his face he glances between both of us. "I know you guys probably have stuff to do so I won't take your time, I just wanted to ask for a favour?"
"Shoot, we're all ears."
"You guys know most of the waiters and waitresses I hire are foreigners looking for part-time jobs to fund their yearly travels?" He asks and we nod.
"Well, 10 of my waiters have finally secured enough money to leave for their next trip and right now I'm stomped, I need replacements asap and I've only been fortunate to find 2 new waiters. I was wondering if you guys would like to help while I look for more—"
"I'll help dad; I mean I hardly have anything doing after school at the moment so I don't mind. What about you?" I turn to my brother.
"Well, I don't mind helping either." Jayden shrugs, and our father's face lightens in relief. "But I can't promise to help everyday dad, you know I have band practice with my friends and—"
"You're in a band!" I lean towards him in disbelief, and he rolls his eyes.
"Not the point, but yes. Anyways—"
"You guys don't need to worry; this won't be a long term thing. I just need you to work here until I can find more waiters, Jayden I also know you have other priorities and can't be here every day so I'll try to work around your schedule. Yours too Lana." My father reassures me with a beaming smile.
"I'm okay, I don't have a schedule."
"For now, but when Sam finally finds an agency you both can trust to handle your career; your schedule will be booked for sure." I keep silent, knowing I couldn't disproof that.
"Anyways, we can talk about schedules later, so tell me Lana how was your first day?"
Once I was done telling Jay and my dad about my first day at school, I head home with Jayden to change out of my uniform.
Changing into a light blue turtle-neck top and dark-washed jean trousers, I slip my feet into brown suede boots and pick up the coat I'd worn this morning. Heading downstairs with my phone, I look through the locations of Seoul on my Google map.
Seeing Jay in the kitchen I head closer, noticing he's also out of his uniform and in a fitted plaid shirt, grey knitted sweater, with washed jeans. "Hey, do you know where Dream-Mall is?"
He pulls out a bottle of water from the fridge and takes a long drink, rounding the counter. "Yeah, why?"
"I'm supposed to meet some friends there and can't figure out which one am supposed to head to, there are like 4 different branches in Seoul."
"Well, the most popular one is in Gangnam-gu, and I know a few kids from our school hangs out there a lot so maybe they meant that one. Why don't you call whoever invited you and ask?"
"We never exchanged numbers."
"I'm heading there now to meet someone," He points over his shoulder and tilts his head with a questioning look. "You can come with and check if you want?"
"Alright." I sigh in relief and wait for him to head upstairs to get his phone and wallet, when he comes back down we left the house immediately.
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