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❈Kun Jung-Hee
Jubilee, Cluoshire
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Friday came all too early and had already proven that today was going to be crap. Not only did I miss my alarm today to go out to my day job at the market, but the twins were also running late. And to add to matters Jae-Yun was sick and could barely move. My mother had already left home for work so it fell to me to get the twins ready and on the bus. I didn't arrive at the market until halfway through my shift due to making sure Jae-Rin had medicine. Luckily the market was owned by a family friend of ours so she cut me some slack. But already I could feel the strain of a hard day coming. By the time I made it to Jubilee, the third job of my everyday life, I was less than happy.
'Money, think of the money Jung-Hee' I chanted in my head.
"Jung-Hee! You actually came?" Sounded a soft but familiar voice.
I turned my head slightly to see a petite face with large brown doe eyes looking up at me.
Alica Richards was always a strange factor here at Jubilee. She is small and delicate looking, with long dark-colored hair curtained around her. Wide-rimmed black glasses are perched on her nose as she tilts her hand with a smile at me.
Alica is a sweet and personal girl who does her best to be kind to the customer, the "Delicate Rose" of Jubilee is her nickname from both customers and some of the staff. She has a nasty habit of attracting the wrong kind of attention from certain customers due to her kind of pushover attitude. That troublesome customer I had mentioned before was actually after her which lead to me breaking his hand.
"Yeah, and I'm already regretting it!" I let out a sigh, adjusting my sore shoulders.
We were in the employee hall just between the restaurant area and the changing rooms. The hall had many other employees filterings through, chatting amongst themselves. The doors that lead to the restaurant were closed as it wasn't yet time for the waiters to enter.
Samuel was a theater junkie back in the day and just loved putting on a show. Jubilee itself was a testament to that as it was landscaped and crafted to appear like a castle-like setting. "To make all our customers feel like the kings and queens" was his reasoning, which was a load of bullshit. During a special event such as this, the waiters would only enter once everyone was in the seat and "perform" for the guests.
Basically, just be all smiley and sweet which made me almost gag the first time I did it. I could hear the laughter and voices in the restaurant started to filter as the birthday party was just starting to get into full swing. Alica smiled and stood next to me.
"Remember to smile Jung-Hee." She chimed sarcastically next to me, her smile kind of straining at her face.
"Yeah, fuck that.." I grumbled.
And then the doors were opened as the elegant music of Jubilee began in a fervor. And then the performance began. We all entered in unison, each already having our assigned table to wait and began. It was a birthday party or so I'm told for some rich kid which meant more than likely a rowdy crowd. The restaurant was in a flurry of waiters/waitresses, gliding between customers and taking down orders. Even though I may hate the general feeling of Jubilee and Samuel, I had to admit his business decision and choreograph were always on point.
My table was, fortunately, an older couple along with an elder woman. Each was dressed richly in the finest of attire. The man was a bit more on the lighter skin of chocolate brown skin. Tall, broad-shoulder, and with a kind expression on his face. Stylish glasses were perched on his nose with honestly brought out the more vivid golden almost amber color of his eyes. The woman next to him has a richer dark color to her skin. Her eyes were a dark brown which felt a bit on the stern side. Her obsidian black hair was long and slightly curly towards the ends. The couple seems to be in the midst of an argument with the elder woman who sat across from them. A grandmother most likely? The elder woman was more on the smaller size height wise but judging for the nonsense look on her brown eyes, I'm sure she could handle her own.
It wasn't until I got closer that I fully understood how elite this party is and just who the so-called 'Birthday boy" was.
"Honestly mom this is ridiculous!" Said the long-haired woman
"Oh? Is it now? Well, then you must be fine with your son's picture being spewed across almost every magazine and new of his latest...fling come up?" The elder woman said
"Of course not!-"
"Then why is this ridiculous?! Someone had to curb that boy since you two clearly won't! Ever since he got that damn club this continues to happen!"
"And who gave him that club?! Especially after I said no!"
"Come on, you two.." The husband tried to interrupt the oncoming argument.
At this point, I decided to myself noticed as I step closer to the table with a plastic smile.
'Of course, I would get the family of the "birthday" boy. Just my luck...'
And I'm sure you're trying to get how I know? Well, you'd have to be living under a rock to not know the Young Family by face at least in this day and age.
The husband is Tyson Young, the legendary chef and also the restaurant owner for The Atlas. A restaurant that is known for its large assortment of dishes from all around the world. Carter with the best chefs known to man, all hand-pick by Tyson.
Next was his wife, Jannet Young, a fair but vicious food critic. Her words both made or broke restaurants around the world and with good reason. She was skilled at picking out key flavors with just a simple taste, she also didn't believe in the ideal of the elitism of fancy dinner. She would go from 5-star high-end restaurants to pubs and family-owned businesses if requested. Her reviews could be harsh but also constructive, any restaurant that followed her advice was destiny to succeed. And last but certainly not least is Michelle Young, owner of Heartful Foods, an extremely profitable food disrupter who works with both restaurants such as Jubilee and also The Atlas. Heartful Foods also supply healthcare facilities and other services.
"Can I start you off with any drinks or do you want to order?" I asked in my most polite tone and smile.
"Just drink-"
"Both"
I looked back at Michelle who spoke over Jannet. Clearly, she didn't want me to interrupt their conversation again if I came back. And honestly, it suits me just fine. However, Jannet didn't appreciate her mother's attitude.
"Ma..."
"Don't argue with me, we need to have this conversation."
I quickly took down their orders and menus then left the table. For the next 2 hours, the restaurant floor was filled with waiters moving from serving to assisting to the refilling of drinks. Every so often I would glance over at the table where the guest of honor sat. How unfortunate that Alicia got his table, I could see the strained smile on her face weaken further. They were loud and just overall arrogant. Also getting drunker by the minute judging by how much alcohol they were consuming. It was until afterward that I noticed there were some murmurs coming from the surrounding tables.
Apparently, Birthday Boy was having a temper tantrum.
"Ugh, this tastes just... bad!" He complains rather loudly.
His friend's lean over to his plate, grabbing a few slices and taste from his dish. Each agreed that taste was certainly lacking. He continued to insist that we changed either the chef or the food for this dish. His words were slurred and unfocused. It was obvious to anyone that he and his friends were clearly drunk and weren't thinking straight but he was so loud that he was influencing others. Apparently, he has been subtly complaining about the food tasting bland for the past hour however now paired with his drunkness, he has made his complaints more vocal.
From where I stood I could see Samuel stopping towards the kitchen in a rage. Someone was definitely getting fired today...
I throw a look over at Alicia who is trying her best to pacify the spoiled prince. However, he is now just completely refusing to eat anything further. I quickly move into the kitchen as the floor was becoming much too confrontational. Samuel's voice was practically booming down the small hall leading to the kitchen.
"I don't give a fuck what you can and can't do. Make something!?"
I finally reach into the kitchen and immediately see the problem. You see in Jubilee, Sam always tried to have a certain layer of chefs on hand. The range for the professional to average, that way he would always get a good blend no matter what. But unfortunately, today seems to have been a bit of mix-up. Our lead chef, Francis was nowhere to be found.
"And where the fuck is Francis?!"
"Uhh, he-he ran out s-sir about 10 minutes ago. H-he said he was a family emergency!"
I could almost see the blood vessel from where I was on Sam's head. Now normally Sam wouldn't have any issue with this but today is "special" most likely become he was banking on getting back from the prominent Young family after a successful party. I let out a small laugh and went to turn and leave.
"Jung-hei!"
'Ah, shit...'
I turn slowly and there was Sam, looking at me like a goddamn lion stalking a fresh kill.
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