"i need the next few days off." kyung eventually spit out to her boss who was cleaning the front windows of the vast movie theater

he suddenly came to a stop, the towel squeaking loudly. he rolled his eyes turning around fully to face her, "excuse me?" he asked thinking his hearing was deteriorating

kyung shut her eyes finding the courage to eventually repeat the same words, "i need the next few days off. something has came up."

the man scoffed in annoyance throwing the towel over his shoulder, "like what kyung?"

she didn't know what to say to him. how was she supposed to explain something that sounds like a jest. he stood there firmly waiting for a good excuse, "i'm not giving you time off." he retorted walking over to the concession stand

kyung followed him, "please mr. han. it's something that is really important—-"

he laughed sarcastically while opening the glass display starting to stock up on boxed candy, "so important that you can't even tell me."

"mr. han, i'm just asking this one time. i never call in, i work holidays, i even come in on my off days—-" he sighed growing tired of her begging, it disgusted him quite frankly

"i'll work twelve hour shifts when i get back—"

he held his hand up in defense, "you choose what's more important right now. this job or your stupid reasoning to skip work." he commanded sounding so heartless

"it's not a stupid reason sir." kyung calmly said

su-ho came over giving kyung a nasty glare then scoffing keeping her distance from her, "mr. hun? i was wondering if i could have tomorrow off? something has came up and i have to go out of town." she informed him with assurance

"yes you can, kyung will work your shift."

su-ho smiled, "thank you." she gave kyung a wink then went to finish her task she was assigned earlier. anyone else would have been surprised but kyung wasn't. her and su-ho don't like each other at all, mostly it is su-ho that has an issue with her.

she is a high schooler who is spoiled rotten. her parents forced her to get a minimum wage job to show her what it is like to have responsibilities and discipline but she barley has learned either of those two things working there.

her attitude with customers in always insufferable, many making complaints to mr. han about her. some customers going as far as threatening to take their business to other rival movie theaters in seoul

mr. han's movie theater is owned by him and his family. it was built in 1957 by majority of his family members who have all passed away due to sickness or old age. the movie theater was passed down to him after he graduated college with a business degree

his theater is busy every single day throughout the week, morning until night. his establishment is respected by many residents and tourists. despite many people trying to convince him to change the architecture of the theater, he has stuck to his roots

keeping vintage style inside and outside of the theater while having touches of korean culture to it. the place was fully remodeled last year with that drawing more people there after it reopened. it is clear to many of his employees that this place is his baby

kyung began thinking deeply about her second job. she always has hated the job due to how she is treated so differently from all her other coworkers. constantly slaving her ass off for mr. hun who barley can tell her thank you or show some tiny amount of appreciation for all that she does. kyung even does stuff that isn't in her description of her position

she sighed deeply looking at him with no regrets, "i quit." she announced clearly, mr. huh came to a pause looking at her with dissatisfaction

but he fixed his face in a hurry, "okay, then that is it. i'm not hiring you back whenever you realize what big of a mistake you made."

kyung stayed respectful and classy nodding softly "thank you for giving me this opportunity to work here, have a nice day." she started heading out of the exit doors, soo got up carrying the car seat catching up to her friend

"what'd he say?" she asked audibly

"he said yes surprisingly." kyung lied which she hates doing but there was no way to explain what she is about to do tomorrow night

after her phone call from the business card, she asked soo if she could watch hana for the next few days. soo said yes with no hesitation, kyung letting her know that her first job has her going to a training camp out of town four hours away

her boss from her first job didn't mind letting her take some time off. she always is working hard.

soo walked her back to her apartment then had to leave to go run some errands informing kyung that she would be back later. kyung took hana out of the car seat laying her in the bassinet soo's parents got for her

she was about to fix some bottles for hana sitting a big container of formula along with multiple bottles of water and baby bottles on the kitchen counter when the door was knocked on

she ran over checking the peephole before opening the door. kyung quickly ran into her room throwing on a random oversized sweater jogging back to the door swiftly opening in breathing heavily, "hey jun-ho—-" she stepped aside, "come in, please!" she said with a smile

jun-ho smiled brightly at her taking his police hat off hanging it on the mounted wall hook he fixed up for her. she quietly closed the door, "how are you?" she asked heading back into the kitchen

he went over to stand near the bassinet admiring the sleeping baby whole looked adorable. her long eyelashes were so beautiful, one of her best features. she genuinely looked like a barbie doll, the cutest baby in the world

the sweet, clean smell of vanilla hit hwang's nose. hana always smells so good, the smell of a newborn baby never will get old to him, soo or kyung. he smiled, "i'm good, yourself?" he asked giving one final look of adoration at the baby before making his way into the kitchen then washing his hands

kyung sighed, "i'm good." she started scooping proper estimates of the formula placing each scoop into the bottles. her voice sounded tired, she looked drained

jun-ho looked at her worriedly sliding a bottle his way, "you don't sound good. talk to me, what's wrong?" he asked opening a bottle of water pouring it into the baby bottle then gradually shaking it, his clean thumb covering the silicone nipple

kyung shook her head, "i'm just a tad bit overwhelmed is all." that wasn't a complete lie

jun-ho just sighed, he knew all of this was new to her and could see where she is coming from. only at nineteen, she has endured so much loss and pain.

"you know i'm here for you right?" he asked with sincereness looking at her, kyung stopped shaking her bottle coming to a pause to glare at him

she toothlessly smiled, "i know... and i appreciate you so much."

"i appreciate you too and hana. without you two, my life would be dark and very boring." jun-ho admitted thinking of what he went through last year. getting shot was an experience that will never leave his head.....

kyung thought he was bluffing, "you're just talking now." she chortled moving on to the next bottle to fill up and shake

"i'm serious. i don't know where i'd be without you plus hana being a new addition has made my life more colorful." jun-ho avowed

kyung smiled, "she really is a great addition huh?" she asked gazing over at the bassinet

"the best addition." jun-ho quietly said, silence hit the room for a second. he looked at her noticing the black cap on her head, it seemed like she was hiding something

jun-ho stood up heading her way gently taking it off, a rectangular bandage was exposed placed on her head. kyung snatched the hat back putting it back on, "i tripped and fell when heading home from work the other day, it's nothing." she said knowing what he was about to ask

her defensive demeanor was too obvious, kyung's voice sounding assuring but he didn't buy it. "did someone do this to you?" he asked leaning closer sounding like he was getting angry

"no."

"if someone did this to you, i'll deal with them." his sharp voice badgered

kyung sat the bottle down, "jun-ho, i'm fine. i promise no one did this to me, okay? let's just drop it." she pleaded

"why do i feel like you are lying to me?"

she started getting irritated with him, "i'm not." kyung promised remaining calm, his gaze refused to leave her making her grow uncomfortable. hana's sudden crying luckily appeared, kyung almost breaking her neck to go pick up her

jun-ho gently put his hand up, "i got her." he assured kindly going over to pick her up

"hey...." he whispered carefully scooping her up, her head resting easily in his arms. she kept crying, kyung quickly put a full bottle into the microwave but not for too long

she tested it making sure it was the right temperature handing it over to hwang who quickly fed the fussy baby. she hushed up really quickly drinking the milk rapidly all while looking up at hwang with her beautiful brown eyes

her tiny newborn body relaxing, he went to take a seat in the living room bringing his full attention to hana. kyung sighed ready for tomorrow night to come quicker than ever now...

i swear we are almost there to stuff hitting the fan in this book, thank you for being patient with me!! also we hit over one hundred reads... thank you everybody!! sending you all love and hugs :'')