It was another boring morning at work for Jiwoo, no one was there to be with her during her shift that day and she was getting a bit lonely.
Jiwoo wasn't a big talker when it comes to someone she wasn't close with (read: Minjun) but still, sitting all alone in a store is much worse and awkward to deal with. Plus, it's kind of scary.
She tried to busy herself with work, she really did. She filled all of her daily reports, restock the drinks on the fridge, and even did 10 pages of her summer homework but she was still pretty much bored.
Sure, she could do a small stroll around the market, pretending to check on the full freshly stocked shelves along the aisle but her aching legs refused to do so. She shouldn't have run yesterday after all.
The shift was supposed to be done together with another girl who seemed to be around her age. She was kind and friendly -yes, even with her unhealthy habit of gossiping while putting her lipgloss on- but she was running late today due to private matters leaving the poor girl alone taking care of the store.
But at least alone in the store means she had the whole store to herself and she could play her favorite songs on full volume without any complaints.
'Well, that's not too bad,' she mentally convinced herself, letting her fingers scroll through the endless playlist before clicking on a song that had been playing on her phone for a week straight.
"Hi again."
The melodies quickly faded in, blending with the muted buzzing noises from the busy road outside. Sometimes the weirdest combination sounds the best, she had no idea why.
Maybe that's just how things work, kinda weird, right?
She thought so too.
Despite the blaring music with colorful catchy beats resonating throughout the room, her head still felt quite empty as if it was demanding something more to fill the empty spaces.
Instead of dancing on her seat like she usually does, she settled with sitting still with her hand propping her chin, staring blankly at the morning view outside while letting her mind float somewhere else.
Suddenly the welcome bell along with a loud thud was heard, making her click the pause button on her playlist reflexively before shooting up from her seat.
"Shit," she cursed out, voice straining from the sudden shot of pain on the back of her thighs, forcing her to sit back down slowly with a groan.
Should she consider breaking her bank account for a massage session?
No, no, no, a cheap hot patch will do.
She leaned closer to the glass door for a better view, did a bird somehow flew and smack the door? Did someone throw a damn brick?
Or did a ghost decided to pay her a visit from the dead-
Thank God, it was nothing like that.
Someone -a boy, a living human being- walked in while rubbing on his red forehead. She couldn't picture his face clearly due to his slightly overgrown dyed hair falling over his eyes, but she could tell that he got big, deer-like pair of eyes.
"Good morning," he groaned out. Jiwoo furrowed her eyebrows at the weirdly polite stranger who bumped on the glass door rather hard earlier. He looked back with an equally confused look which didn't last long before it turned into a sassy eye roll.
It wasn't anything much, really. It's just uncommon for a customer to say good morning to her, especially at the damn minimarket. And apparently, this customer looked like a hell to deal with.
"Aren't you gonna greet me back?" He asked while tilting his head to the side as he crossed his arms. Little bitch, what's with that attitude?
"Well, with that attitude? No shit," Jiwoo spat out, she wasn't really in a mood to go all kiss ass to her customer today and only satan could stop her from teaching the Bambi boy some decent manner class.
A small smile crept on his face along with a small chuckle that successfully broke his bitchy impression, "I was just joking, but I appreciate that 'hi', though."
"Ah, I see," Jiwoo muttered back in confusion before he quickly disappeared into the aisle. He was weird, she wasn't sure if it was the good kind or not, but it wasn't creepy -at least not creepy enough for her to call the cops.
A couple of minutes later, he reappeared in front of her, his hands full of drinks. She thought it was some kind of alcohol he tried to sneak just like most students, but they were sodas? A huge variety of them.
"You know that those basket existed for a reason, right?" She pointed at a tall stack of dark blue shopping baskets with bright yellow handles right beside the entrance, how could he miss that?
He just giggled sheepishly before dropping all of the bottles on the counter, making the girl flinch from how loud the colliding glasses are.
She was surprised at how none of the bottles shatter from the fall.
"Can you put these bottles a little bit gently next time? It'll be a huge mess if it breaks you know?" Jiwoo mumbled as she scanned the colorful bottles.
"Ah, I'll try," he beamed, his big smile reaching his equally bright pair of eyes, successfully making the other look away.
After scanning the bottles absentmindedly, Jiwoo decided to look up –her pair of curious eyes involuntarily analyzing the boy.
He was a really, really pretty boy. The boy wore a grey hoodie, a fairly big one, making his slim figure look even smaller. His fluffy bleached brown hair looked slightly disheveled, probably from headbutting the glass door earlier, but what caught her attention the most was his eyes.
His golden-brown doe eyes are so round, naturally making them look innocent and pure just like a white-furred puppy. His lips also looked naturally plush and pouty, adding a nice touch to his friendly persona.
Wait, his eyes?
"Miss cherry cheeks, do I look that interesting to you?" She was too busy staring until she didn't even realize the boy had lowered his body to meet her at her eye level, his "innocent" pair of eyes now glistening with mischief.
"Did you just call me cherry cheeks?"
"Yeah," the corners of his lips curled into a cheeky smile, "it suits you well, you know?"
Jiwoo's hand flew up to her warm cheeks, feeling the burning hot skin on her palm.
Tomato.
She must've looked like a tomato.
"No, it didn't," she inhaled shakily, trying to save the few last drops of her remaining dignity, "will you pay now?"
"Of course, how much?"
"$12.60," she mumbled as her right hand ripped the receipt off from the machine. Jiwoo could hear a rustling from the boy, probably getting his wallet from his bag, she was way too embarrassed to look up and make sure.
"Here," he smiled, almost too sweetly as he handed her the money. She muttered a quick "thanks" before rummaging the old cranky machine for his change.
Jiwoo's awareness of her surrounding was terrible, terrible enough for her to not notice the boy silently staring at her with such a fond look on his eyes.
"So," she mumbled lowly, almost like a whisper, before carefully handing the money, "here is your change and the receipt. Thank you for the visit, have a nice day."
The lad just nodded before stuffing his eco-bag with the sugary soda bottles. When he grabbed the last glass bottle he stopped and stared at the young cashier before staring back at the bright yellow bottle.
"What?"
Suddenly, he pressed the cold glass bottle on the other's cheek, making the latter yelp from the sensation of the freezing surface colliding with her cheek.
"The fuck?!"
"Take it, it's my favorite flavor," he giggled out as he retreated the
condensing glass, gently placing it on the counter.
"Can't you just ask me normally?" She grumbled as she stroked her left cheek, this time it's cooler to the touch, contrasting to her other one.
"Where's the fun in that?" He exclaimed dramatically before walking to the glass door, thankfully he was being careful enough to not bump on the door.
The boy looked back before letting the door close with a grin, "See you tomorrow, cherry cheeks?"
Jiwoo wanted to shoot up another remark, she really did, but her body was not listening.
She waved her hand awkwardly before mumbling a small but audible,
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."