2 bottles. There are now 2 bottles sitting in her fridge, completely untouched.
Jiwoo sighed as she ruffled her bed hair from the annoyance that had been itching her for a while now. 'Now what?' She thought to herself as she shot another look at the mini-fridge that her roommate never used.
Kang Yejun, the pretty honey boy from yesterday invaded her mind all over again. This time it wasn't his fault, it was hers. She let him in way too quickly for her liking.
It wasn't like she trusted him or anything, but she could see that he was anything but bad.
And that's not good.
She let out another sigh as she stuffed both cold bottles in her tote bag along with her hoodie. Her mood wasn't the best today, and obviously, she wasn't looking forward to her lone shift.
Especially when the golden-skinned boy who always pops out from nowhere appears, breaking her concentration to pieces,
But at least for today, she would let him unnerve her just to hand him one of the bottles. Just for them to drink together before work.
No, she didn't mean to offend him by regifting the soda he bought for her. And yes, she knew it's pretty much impolite, but the untouched glass bottles of carbonated drinks just made her feel somewhat uneasy.
Of course, she could just chug them in one go, she thought of that before but her stomach churned just from imagining the outcome of drinking that amount of soda. Yikes.
She would ask her roommate to finish them with her if she was there but sadly, she wasn't.
Her roommate was barely home, probably only once in a blue moon to the point she didn't even know why the latter still paid for the vacant bed and near-empty closet. It was almost like having the whole room to herself just by paying half the price.
Jiwoo squeezed her eyes shut, dismissing the thoughts before pushing herself up, much quicker and painless this time. She saw a glimpse of herself in the mirror, her body was clad in a comfy pair of mom jeans and a white graphic tee.
"This should be enough," she thought out loud as she clumsily slung the white bag over her shoulder before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.
The sun hated her and she hated it. When she said that, she meant it. The unpleasant heat attacked her skin as soon as she stepped out of the room, annoyingly nudging her to go back to the comfortable unit.
She took a lesson from last time and decided to go for online taxi services.
Her fingers swiftly typed in the call center number as she hopped down the stairs, it was connected immediately to the staff at the center.
She should've done it sooner, the price wasn't even that high compared to the pain and suffering she could've experienced from the devilish ball from hell.
After impatiently waiting with a thin random brochure covering her head, a grey sedan stopped in front of her.
"Choi Jiwoo?" The driver called out after lowering the window on his side with a polite smile.
"Ah, yeah that's me."
The older man nodded before unlocking the door, letting the girl hop in the back seat. She fastened her seatbelt before relaxing her back at the comfortable seat with a content sigh.
"Good morning miss, heavy mornings?" He chuckled lowly at how the girl slumped on the seat, earning a sheepish grin from the younger.
"Yeah, I can't sleep too well last night."
"Ah, I'll play these songs from my daughter's playlist. She usually listens to them to relax," he uttered as he reached for his phone. Jiwoo quickly refused, she didn't want to trouble him too much.
But he shook his head in disapproval and played the playlist anyways, filling the car with pleasantly soft melodies.
"Everyone deserves to rest whenever they got the chance. Let yourself recharge in the smallest chance you get, just like this quick ride. That's how you live properly." His statement somehow drew a small smile on her face.
It was cheesy, really. But she liked how the kind words set the atmosphere into a safer one, at least to her heart. She made sure to give him a tip.
"Alright," she let herself lean on the warm window, admiring how the trees at the side of the road disappeared as they move, blending in with the colorful buildings and making unique rainbow strikes each time.
She knew that it would probably be her last time riding a taxi to work because she took back what she said earlier as soon as she took a peek at the price meter.
Heck, she could buy a pack of eggs with them, so it was better to enjoy the air-conditioned ride while it lasted.
The soothingly bumpy ride and the warmth from the window slowly lulled her to sleep. The weight on her eyelids grew heavier as she leaned in even more to the window.
Her half-conscious self could feel her head bumping on the window stirring her awake, only for her to fall back into a drowsy state just like a neverending loop.
Soon, the ride slowed down until it eventually stopped, making the sleepy girl's eyes flutter open just to take an unfocused look at her surroundings. She let out a small whine as her eyes caught the familiar bright building.
The driver seemed to notice her displease, his lips pressed into a sad smile, "You really remind me of my daughter, kid. I think God lets me see her one more time."
"Is she... away from you now?" Jiwoo asked, her voice low and careful.
Another beat of silence filled the room.
"Yes, very far away. Unreachable for a mortal like me who could only pray."
Jiwoo sat frozen there as the songs from Lauv played in the background, all of them were love songs with light beats but somehow they sounded sad, sending painful aching to her heart.
Is this how he felt when he heard them?
"No need to pay, kid. Today it's my treat," the older man forced another smile as he unlocked the door.
Jiwoo mumbled a small and heavy, very heavy 'thank you,' before getting her bag, ready to leave.
She stopped herself when she heard clinking sounds of glass and the surface of the bag being cool to the touch, 'Ah, the soda.'
The girl pulled out one of the glass bottles with slight hesitation, what if the driver got offended thinking that she was pitying him? But she decided to just suck it up and hand it to the surprised man.
"T-this soda is really nice," a lie escaped her lips, "I drink this every day and I always feel much better, please take it!" Another lie.
The gap of silence after that made her gulp, the man just eyed the bottle in silence before taking it. His eyes were glossy, blurring his worn-out sight even more than usual.
"Thank you, I'll drink this later," he smiled, a genuine one this time. Probably it was the warmest thing she saw that day, even warmer than the hot summer sky.
"Have a nice day, sir."
"You too, miss."
Then she exited the grey taxi, waving eagerly at the smiling man whose eyes still glued on the bright yellow bottle sitting on the cupholder beside him.
That day, Yejun didn't come to buy his soda again, she was slightly upset because no one was going to drink the soda for her, but it's fine. She was feeling too content with the warm fuzziness from making someone smile that day.
The simplest thing that made her feel full at heart.