5: Gangseo

( I'm sorry, this chapter is bad since I rushed it. I couldn't update sooner because I had an important event irl, I apologize again!)

Min Eunji groaned as she sat up on the couch, waking up from her sleep.

"I ended up sleeping here instead of my room."

She looked at the clocked and saw it indicated 9:30 am.

'wow, I sure slept a lot.'

She sighed and got up, heading to the bathroom.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and huffed.

Her eyes were puffy from crying, her hair was a mess.

her face had been stained with dried tears.

She ran a hand through her hair, feeling the soft strands, sighing again.

"It's a mess.. everything is.. their tragic pasts, present even the future! Ugh.."

She washed her face with cold water and brushed her teeth then went to the kitchen.

She opened the fridge and decided to make a fruit salad for her breakfast.

She grabbed a banana, an apple, a kiwi and strawberries.

She washed them then cut them into small cubes and put them in a bowl.

She took a yogurt, pured it on the fruits and mixed it gently with a spoon.

She took the bowl to the living room, sat on a couch and started eating while watching TV.

After eating, she glanced at the clock again and it was 10:15.

'My appointment for the tutoring part time job is on 5:30 pm. I still have time but since I haven't really gone to Gangseo, I should head there early enough to find the Address and familiarize myself with the area. I wouldn't want to be late and leave a bad first impression because I got lost.'

She washed her bowl and went to the bathroom.

She undressed herself from her pajamas and she started the shower .

When Min Eunji finished washing herself, she wrapped the towel around her and went back into her bedroom.

She picked out some clothes for the day, they consisted of a Cropped Blazer with Pleated Sling Dress and Shirt in color champagne with black platform mini boots.

She went to her room and brushed her hair, combing it into a high ponytail.

She doesn't usually wear makeup but she decided this time to go with light brown eyeshadow with a soft winged eyeliner and soft pink blush along with pinkish lip gloss. (Sorry, I'm bad at this)

After feeling satisfied with her look, she took a small backpack that fits with her outfit and head back downstairs.

She took her phone and other necessary things (money, keys etc) and walked outside, locking the door behind her.

-a while later-

She arrived at the bus station and lucky her, she found omthe one she needed to reach her destination.

She got inside it and since it wasn't full, she found herself a seat and took it.

While waiting, she got lost in thoughts.

'I finished reading that "thing" yesterday and I noticed a few things..

First, the initial Few "chapters" got colored in grey.

Second, the "chapter" where Daniel and Zack fought, became red (still readable though).

My own theories are that, when something (an event) already happened, the pages become grey.

And that time when Zack was in pain and I told Mira to help him, probably because it wasn't in the "Original", I changed the flow of fate and the pages became red.

It's all just guesses though. I'm not really sure..'

Min Eunji sighed, looking outside of the window, deciding to just enjoy the view and stop thinking since it caused her headaches.

The movement stopped, meaning the bus reached its destination.

She stood up, opened her backpack and took money, paid the driver and got off.

'Finally. I'm in Gangseo'

She left the bus stop, walking around trying to find the correct address.

'I haven't come here ever since I was a child..'

She was looking around in awe, heading wherever her guts said was the right way.

Why wouldn't she just use GPS? she doesn't have Data and the last time she tried to use it, she found herself almost in another city.

So this time she just followed her instinct.

She continued like this until she saw a sign with words written in a different font than what was used during her childhood. She quickly read the signs and started walking in circles, trying to find what she wanted.

After a bit, a small cafe that seemed to be newly opened caught her attention.

the cozy and bright atmosphere drew

in people like moths to light.

'I shouldn't waste time here, I need to find that place soon!'

In the end she couldn't resist since sweets were one of her weak points.

'I'll just go in, it's not because I want to try their sweets! I just want to ask for directions!'

She entered and the waitress immediately asked her to take a seat.

She smiled politely and nodded, sitting down at the table.

she ordered a cup of a milky hot chocolate

and a slice of cake and ate slowly while drinking it.

"It's yummy!" She exclaimed, blushing in embarrassment when she heard the waitress chuckle.

"I'm glad you like it, miss. Call me if you need anything else" She bowed and left Eunji to enjoy her dessert.

'I'm eating because I thought it'd be rude to come inside and ask what I needed then leave. I'm not doing this because the cake looked so delicious and..'

While Min Eunji was enjoying her food, she wasn't paying attention to the surrounding area.

If she recognised the nearby customers , she would have freaked out.

"Is this the place you keep mentioning, Jerry?"

A tall boy asked his companion.

"Yes, sir."

The big built boy answered, a smile on his face.

"You are right. It's a nice cafe."

They sat down and ordered what they wanted to eat, along with some packed extra they wanted to take back home for their friends.

Min Eunji finished eating and paid,then she walked out of the cafe, forgetting the reason she first went inside. She checked the time.

'what!? 4:45 pm?! But I wasn't here for that long! Did I spend a lot of time wandering around before coming here?!'

She didn't have much time before her appointment, there was no way for her to find the address on her own.

She had to admit it. She was lost.

'Maybe.. I should have asked Mira to come with me..? No! I already decided to put distance between me and the people mentioned in that weird webtoon!'

She was thinking about any possible ways to find the place without being late, a troubled expression on her face.

The two boys from earlier left the cafe.

She heard them but didn't look at them , yet.

'I need to ask for help!'

She took her phone and turned it on showing the address she screenshotted from the chat last night, walking closer to them.

"Um! Excuse me..! Could you please show me the way to this..place…?"

The moment she saw them, she felt like they were familiar.

They looked at her and the boy called Jerry earlier, took a look at her phone.

"Jerry. Where is it?"

'Jerry? That's a familiar name..'

"it's in xxxxxx(address), sir"

"Ooh, it's near. Come with us, we'll guide you there."

"Thank you!" She bowed, happily tagging along with them.

While walking, one of the boys decided to break the silence,

"I'm Jake Kim and this is Jerry Kwon. What's your name?"

'What the?! Why did I have to run into them here?! Wait.. Gangseo is where bigdeal is! I'm such a dumbass!'

She was crying mentally while she kept a forced smile on her face to hide her panic.

"I'm Mi- hiccup! " Before she could answer, she got hiccups from how nervous she was.

Her face became red from embarrassment.

"Are you alright?" Jake asked, motioning to Jerry something.

The latter left and came back shortly with a bottle of water handing it to Eunji who thanked him and drank it.

" Yes, thank you.. I'm just so nervous since I'm going for a job interview"

'Well, it's not actually a lie.'

Jake gave her a thumbs up with his popular smile.

"you'll do well!"

"Um, thanks "

Shortly after, they arrived at her destination.

She thanked them again and quickly left before they could ask for her name again.

'We're not going to meet again so there's no need for them to know my name. I wasn't included in the story. Not even as a side of background character. I.. don't belong with them.'

She sighed, knocking on the door.

A middle-aged woman opened the door.

"Are you the person who contacted me yesterday?"

"yes."

"Oh my! I didn't think it would be a young lady like you, hurry come in! You must have had a hard time coming here from Seoul!"

The two sat down in the living room, talking about the tutoring job.

"The person I want you to teach is my son. He is a second year middle schooler. He is.. how do I say this.. a little.."

The woman sighed, continuing her words.

"Slower than his peers. He needs to be homeschooled but he didn't want that. I…can't force him to leave his school after seeing he made friends and wasn't bullied anymore. The only solution I had was this but… no matter who we called to tutor him, they all left in the middle of the job saying they don't have enough patience for someone like that..that's why, please tutor him for at least a month! At least until his second term exams!"

Min Eunji didn't know how to respond.

The woman before her eyes was older, yet she was begging her to not leave the job she wanted to do before she even started it?

"Don't worry ma'am, I'll do my best."

She smiled brightly.

" I would like you to work for 4 days a week, from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm. Is that alright with you..? Since you would come all the way here."

Eunji nodded, "Please do not worry, I will handle it."

" Alright. I will pay you *****(Reasonable amount of money) for one hour. And if my son gets better results than he usually gets with the other tutors, then I will raise it to *******(money). "

'She's pretty generous huh? To encourage me, she would raise the pay if I do well. Instead of cutting it if I don't do well."

"deal."

The woman beamed.

"perfect! Then my son will be in your care, miss Min Eunji."

Eunji smiled, nodding.

The woman called someone over, who seemed to be the son.

He didn't look like a middle schooler.

He was well built and a lot taller than Eunji.

His face was handsome and looked mature.

She had to lift her head to stare at his face.

"Nice to meet you, I'm.." he said, smiling shyly and fidgeting with his fingers.

(I decided to not name them since they won't have important roles in the story.)

'unlike how he looks, he behaves like a good child.'

"Nice to meet you too, let's work hard together!"

Eunji smiled, finally securing her part time job.