it's been hard for daeun to keep employees at the cafe in recent months. nothing about daeun has changed, nor has anything about the cafe, so she's not sure what the problem is—but it's got her standing at the counter, preparing an iced matcha because her morning lead had decided not to show up. she'd rather have no employees than incompetent ones though, so all things considered, she's not in too foul of a mood. any lingering resentment dissipates when she sees nari walk in the door, anyway.
she gives her a disbelieving look when she claims that she won't be staying long, but keeps her comments to herself; she likes nari's company and has no desire to push her to prove herself. maybe she'll make a joke about it when nari does decide to leave, probably well after opening time for sanbit stones.
"yuna!" she calls into the mostly empty cafe, setting the finished drink on the pickup counter. she makes brief eye contact with the customer, already on her way to grab her order, but quickly gives her full attention to nari.
"you don't even know," she starts, rolling her eyes. "i started training a new employee yesterday. some kid who just graduated from high school. he doesn't want to work. his mom came in here begging for me to give him a job, and i felt bad for her, so i did. but the kid sucks. he spilled a jug of cocoa powder in the back, like, twenty minutes into his shift, then busted his ass on the wet floor when i had him mop. by the time he left, i wanted to kill myself."
maybe she shouldn't be talking about her employees like this. but considering yuna has already left the store, and the only other customer is a middle-aged man with earbuds in, and her morning shift had decided not to show up, she gives herself grace this time.
"so, yeah, i wish i'd had a boring day. but what made yours so boring? slow business, or what?" she wonders, truly curious. "... and just for the record, you should always stop by. it sucks when you don't."
the thing about nari is that she has a weak spot for other people's misfortunes. it sometimes rubs people the wrong way with how easily she laughs at people retelling their own or someone else's low moment, but she never intends to be cruel. more often than not, she is laughing at the way things unfold or the timing of things rather than at the person, but the two are so close that there's no point in her trying to explain it. so it's not much of a surprise that the moment daeun gets to the part about the cocoa powder and the fall, something in nari breaks and she lets out a loud laugh.
"you have to be lying. there's no way someone has a disaster shift and i missed it. i should've come in. i'm starting to notice that all the fun things happen whenever i try to be responsible. looks like i need to make it a requirement to come by daily for the both of us." she says, still smiling. "witnessing that would've actually made my entire year. seriously. i would've dropped everything and found a way to teleport here." her laughter fades into a quieter breath as her hand slips toward the strap of her purse to take it off. but she pauses midway, and her fingers linger there before adjusting it higher on her shoulder instead.
"maybe it's good i missed that. i'm not sure my laughter would've been great background music. you really do deserve better employees. ones that can make it through at least twenty minutes of their shift. you know... honestly, he sounds better suited for me. low expectations, little to no working, minimal chance at creating a mess…" she tilts her head slightly, genuinely considering it. there's a pause long enough for her to mull over it, and she's already taking it back. "i'm not offering myself up or anything. i'm not really open to the idea of training anyone new right now."
the question about her own day reminds her of how boring it was, and nari lets out a groan. "don't even get me started," she mutters, though she clearly intends to continue anyway. "it was just so mundane," she says, placing emphasis on the word so daeun knows just how serious she is. "like, nothing fun ever happens. yesterday, i decided for once in my life maybe i should follow the business hours. i get there, and it's just me, the store, the employees, and maybe one or two customers if i'm lucky, and then i'm just basically standing there. it literally feels like i'm house-sitting. except i can't even leave and never return because i own the place. then i start feeling even worse with my employees there because that feels like i'm just babysitting them. it's making me look obsessive when i don't even care that much about what they do as long as they do their job whenever someone comes in."
she lets out another breath, quieter this time, but just as dramatic as the one she let out before she started rambling. she feels lighter having finally gotten that out of her system. "if i'm not reorganizing inventory or doing something to keep myself busy, it genuinely feels like i'm watching paint dry, so that's saying something. maybe i should become like those sellers on tiktok doing auctions on lives. you think that's a good idea?"
