Chapter Text
Heejin hates this.
Heejin hates taking inventory. She hates counting oranges.
Because yes, she's counting the stock of oranges. And she absolutely hates it.
She doesn't know why her mum decided that getting a grocery job is a good idea. But then again, it's basically what she wanted, to work and get paid, so she took it. It's not like she has a lot of choices —In fact, after all her poor experiences, she only had one, work in a grocery store that her mother practically paid for her to have.
She never wanted to get a job like that. She promised herself that she'll take full control of her life since going into Junior year. But with just a tiny sign of desperation, her parents were already in full swing.
(It started with her having an oh so normal chat with her mother.
AdultJeon: How's work going, hun?
- Complicated
- But I'm getting there, been finding around for a few weeks now
- It's harder than expected
AdultJeon: we're here for you, we'll help you with all you can
The help came the next day when her mother texted her about the grocery job she already got.)
Thirty-eight.
Thirty-Nine.
Forty.
*Beep*
Heejin glances up at the crowd that passed by, silently hoping that her manager isn't one of the people in it who could have heard the phone she miraculously managed to sneak on the job.
She has a silent inner brawl with herself, her thoughts trying to control her body, don't answer the phone Heejin, don't you even dare.
Forty-One.
Forty-Two.
*Beep*
Forty-Three.
Forty-Four.
*Beep*
Forty-Seven...
Giving in to the temptation of her social media addiction, she fishes her phone out from her back pocket. Don't get her wrong, she knows it's wrong, but after staying up the whole night writing her essay and drawing drafts for her art project, her brain is slowly blurring the line of how much cares she should be giving at the moment. Her fears of getting caught with the device out in the open gone as she strolls through her notifications.
Justastranger: Heejin
Justastranger: Hey puppy
Justastranger: anyoneeeeeeeee?
- What do you want, Hyun?
Justastranger: Boredom is infesting my brain
Justastranger: I think I'm going to die.
- A miracle.
Justastranger: Come back home already
Justastranger: I'll just come over.
- No.
Justastranger: I want bread
- We barely have money to pay for rent
Justastranger: Fine, I'll solve this myself.
- I'm already in deep shit after last week, I don't need you making more fuzz around the place.
- Behave
Justastranger: But I'm bored
Justastranger: As my best friend, you’re entitled to care for me.
- We are n- hsh,jsfosnmevjd
"Hey!" Heejin slowly lifts her head to face the man, only realizing her fault a second too late. She couldn't do anything but smile sheepishly, straightening her back to regain her composure. And regaining a proper composure means putting on a fake smile that mimics the poster in front of the supermarket, which has an all too pretty model —who probably has no sense of working in a grocery store. A broad bright smile that's definitely not fake and white teeth that aren’t edited. She can't believe that someone would waste their time to wear a tacky red uniform and pose for a poster that no one reads. But whatever works, works.
“My bad, how may I help you, sir?"
The man's scowl was tempting Heejin's temper, but she manages to just about keep herself at bay. This customer is most probably in his fifties if his unattended for ash grey hair is enough evidence for her assumption. His skin is clearly creasing between the eyebrows and below his cheekbones. He is slightly taller, looking down to loom over the shorter girl.
"Can I get a discount on these oranges?" His chin is slightly raised, an irritating smug visible all over his pale face. Obviously showing the little young employee the unequal positions between a staff and a customer.
In spite of all of the rules of being polite and shit, this kind of customer always made her want to drop-kick their faces.
"I don't think I can help with your request, sir."
"Look, woman, I've been going to this grocery store for years, I deserve something in return for all the money that goes in here."
"I can't do anything about it even if I wanted to, sir. But I can have a word with our manager about giving you a couple of promotional coupons."
"Coupons?! Is that how lowly you think of your costumers?"
"Of course not, sir."
"I demand to speak to your manager!"
The man is weird. Probably has some sort of problem she didn't want to be involved in, so she responds with her utmost respect, "As you wish, he's in the little office by the Dairy aisle."
Maybe her response was wrong but a scoff escapes from the man's lips as he hands back the iPhone. She shrugs him away as he struts to her given directions before deciding to return to her phone again.
Justastranger: Puppy?
Justastranger: How long does it take you to type a sentence?
Justastranger: I'm on top of the Big Ben, demolishing intruders. Stupid 193 countries who thought that the old Brits were gone for good. They'll never know what hit them.
- Do you ever shut up?
Justastranger: Oh you're alive
Justastranger: What happened to you?
- Just some annoying dude that wouldn't leave me alone.
Justastranger: Interesting.
Justastranger: Can I come over and cast my judgment upon him?
Justastranger: In case you forgot, punishing people was my job. And I'm still pretty good at it, one of the best even
- Absolutely not, and why would you punish him for anyway?
Justastranger: Umm... Being annoying?
- why have you never cast judgment on yourself then?
Justastranger: I'm always perfect.
- Suck up ass crap.
Just a stranger: Rude
Justastranger: I'm visually pleasant.
- Whatever
"You know that it's not allowed to use your phone at work, right?"
Oh. He's back.
"Yes, I am aware, sir. Sorry for my actions." She tucks it in her back pocket. Sometimes, It's better to play along than to get in trouble. No matter how rich and popular you are out of this grocery store, the needs of a customer are most important. —But still, she wishes this guy would leave her alone rather than give her yet another hard time. She just wants to get through this day peacefully.
"May I ask why you're back here again, sir?"
"I can't find the office."
"Very well then, I'll assist you there."
Heejin is not particularly clumsy, nor even unaware of her surroundings as a matter a fact, but when she tried to maneuver the cart that is in her way away to the side, she loses control of the cart that accidentally hits the man. As if a gush of wind pushed the cart.
Baffled, she stares at her hand.
"Hey!"
"I'm so sorry."
"You did that on purpose!"
"I swear I didn't, sir."
"Yes you did, I saw you."
"Sir-"
"I'm having a talk with your manager about you!"
"But s-"
"I've had enough of you."
The audacity.
"All I did was accidentally hit you with my cart, that's right 'Accidentally'! You were in the way and failed to move away even when you saw me moving. And besides, you're ass is not even remotely hu-"
"Jeon, what is the meaning of this?"
Oh shit...
She turns her head slowly, her mind somehow convinced that the slower she moves the less rage her manager would feel. But of course, that never works.
Please don't let it be Mr. Park...
Please don't let it be Mr. Park...
It's Mr. Park.
"Hello, Mr. Park." She gives a nervous half-smile, her brain slowly calculating the percentage of screwed she's in.
To summarize it: Very.
"Another customer just informed me about this ruckus. What is going on?" His presence is intimidating and not only because of the manager title pinned on his shirt. Maybe it's his bald head, not that Heejin is looking down on bald people, amazing bald people exist too, like Bruce Willis, The rock, Peniel Shin, Mahatma Gandhi and many more. Please don't take offense. But that's beyond the point.
"Um..."
The orange man beats her to it, "I'll tell you! This lady here was using her phone at work and when I asked her for help with my situation, she assaulted me with this cart of oranges."
Mr. Park sighs, and not just sighs in disappointment, more like an exasperated sigh filled with regret and probably trouble. Heejin notes how he starts to rub his wrinkled temples, the stress catching up to his pent up frustration. "I will deal with Ms. Jeon. As for now, Ms. Hwang will assist you with further problems." He said, presenting the all too perfect Yeji to him, the customer seems content with the switch of help. But then again, it wasn't her who offered to help him, it was more like forced service.
Yeji sends a small sympathetic look at her, and it reminds Heejin why Yeji is one of the only coworkers she could deal with within this place.
"You're gonna be in so much trouble, lady." The man warns her, and Heejin just stares back, feeling very wronged, but more worried about her manager's health. Maybe she couldn't see his grey hair coming out, but she's sure that if he had hair, they would be grey and he would look like Jack Frost.
With that thought in her head, she reaches out to smooth the area between his eyebrows where all his problems can be seen.
Idiot move.
"Jeon." Once seeing the fire raging behind his eyes, she decides that keeping herself still and muting is ideal.
"This kind of behavior is unacceptable in this workplace, Jeon. I gave your mother another chance after what happened last week, but this is getting out of hand."
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad."
"You scared a seven-year-old child."
"He knocked the vintage wine bottles off the shelves and I had to be the one held accountable for it."
"You told a man that his girlfriend is rotten."
"Well, he was the one that asked me to find him avocados that looked like her girlfriend. How would I know that he actually meant mature?"
"Still, did you have to say that?"
"I only say the truth."
"And now this!"
"He was getting mad at me for not giving him discounts on the stupid oranges, what was I suppose to do?"
"That's my point. You don't know how to handle situations that need handling. Therefore, I'm officially firing you. You would have been five days ago if your mother didn't beg for your position."
"But s-"
"I'm sorry, but it's final. Effective immediately. Hand over your nametag." With an angry glare, she unclips the silver name tag on her chest, placing it on his open palms. "Thank you, now please kindly return your uniform. And I'll speak to your mother about your salary."
She huffs in annoyance, but nonetheless, makes her way to the staff's room, making sure that none of her coworkers catch a glimpse of her walk of shame. Losing a job in a week and three days is a new record for her.
Her phone vibrates against her bum again and she doesn't hesitate to reply anymore.
Justastranger: So yes to bread or not?
Justastranger: Hello?
- I just got fired
Justastranger: And Is that supposed to be bad news?
- Yes?
- Our rent
Justastranger: Just use your rich ass parents
- Whatever
-I'll buy you bread
- Just don't do anything stupid
She sets the phone down, sighing deeply as she changes back to a more comfortable set of clothes. A plus for not working there anymore is she doesn't have to wear that appalling uniform again.
She quickly hurries to where the breads are after returning her uniform, (she didn't want to bother going to a bakery, wanting nothing but to go home as quickly as possible). And as promised to her fellow brunette, Heejin finds a suitable pack that tallies with their budget and hopefully pleases the taller girl.
But If only she knew how hard it is just to pay in the counter, she would have just left and not bother buying at all. But It was already too late when she saw an all too annoying man lining up in the cue, gripping tightly on his very much discounted oranges.
"Oh, hi."
She turns the other way and ignores his existence, not exactly interested in getting in trouble anymore.
"Sorry about what I did earlier. Hope you didn't get fired." The lad's arms are crossed, the same smug smile plastered on his lips. And Heejin lets out a loud scoff, hand squeezing the croissant inside the pack from her provoked grip, choosing to stay silent. For now.
"Really? You're not even going to fight back?"
Keep cool.
"Not so cocky now eh?"
She shuts her eyes, remembering the wise words of her elders, Haseul unnie.
Five seconds of tranquility.
("Girls, calm down. We're fine."
"No, they were being assholes! How dare they even say that?!"
"Yeah! Who are they to say that?!"
Jiwoo's cheeks puffed out in anger. She's rather adorable if you think about it, but looks can be deceiving, she can kick anyone's ass if she wanted, and her third-degree black belt is enough proof for that.
Heejin is pretty harmless, she's the kind of person who wears the school polo a little too big on her, has broken specs like Harry Potter, and can't even throw a proper punch. Yet it's fascinating how her nose hair is flaring, fist rolled into an agitated state, ready to throw a fight. She never liked people who discriminated against her, they're mean and awful. But she especially hates people who even dare to speak crap about her friends, especially about the sexuality of her high school parents.
Parent #1, Kahei rubs her arm gently, attempting to calm the raging storm in her, "It's okay, Hek. We're fine about it, some people are just not as accepting. We understand that."
"Yeah, it really didn't affect us, we still love each other." Parent #2, Haseul, reassures her two friend, pulling them away from the homophobic group of teenage boys in the cafeteria.
"Still, it just makes me so mad!"
"Me too! I'll kick their asses!"
"Let's go!"
"Let's not cause trouble now." The eldest held on to them before they could leave, they already knew the results for it anyway. Big-headed Heejin will most definitely end up being helpless, Jiwoo will have to be the knight in shining armor and beat their asses, then they're all going to get detention. And that's not acceptable, as their seniors, they have to make sure that the girls keep a clean and pristine record.
"Come here, listen to me."
"Fine."
"Close your eyes." They oblige.
"Take a deep breath and count to five.")
Five.
Four.
Three.
"You should learn from this experience for future jobs,"
Two.
"That's if you ever get one ever again, usually girls like you don't."
One...
That's it.
"That's what you ge-"
Before it triggers in her head, her fist lets go of the snack and is flying forward to give him a fistful to his face. And fuck, that hurts more she thought.
Her eyes drift between the man on the floor and her hand then back to man. She can't quite comprehend it either.
No one can imagine that Heejin would actually physically hurt someone, she radiates big loser energy. And honestly, she can't imagine it either, so she stares at her shaking fingers in confusion. She didn't even know she had that strength to hit someone. It was like for a second, she was possessed or some crap, the memory of why she even did such action is hazy and pass by like a blur.
Heejin felt security holding on to her stick-like biceps and the former manager coming to help the man on the floor, who is still whimpering in pain.
"You'll hear from me again! This is not over." His voice is muffled by the palm clutching on his bruised jaw, and he practically flies from the floor to have a go at the girl, only for him to trip on his own foot and fall flat on his stomach on the not so clean marble floor. Mr. Park quickly comforts him with his injuries.
Heejin steps back from his attempt, saying a quick, "Um, I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry."
"You don't know?"
"Sure, he was getting on my nerves, but I didn't know I would actually do that..."
She looks up to the crowd, and as if the adrenaline is dying down, her brain slowly recollects back to a normal state, a nervous pit suddenly bubbling in her insides, because oh my god she just did that.
I just did that.
She felt holes burning at her back, but out of every curious face in the whole crowd, a particular one catches her attention. The stranger's gaze is strong, even with the crowd covering her, she couldn't take her attention off the girl. Blonde straight hair that tumbles down like a waterfall, as if, when you run your fingers through, it will smoothly travel through. Her eyebrows are, as Heejin noted, an unusual shape, slanted down and straight. And despite her left eye being covered by an eyepatch, Heejin still feels a strong pull towards her doll-like eyes.
"Jeon Heejin! Are you even listening to me?!" She jumps upon hearing her name, meeting the gaze of the now even more frustrated Mr. Park.
"Uh, what?" She quickly looks at the crowd again, the girl from earlier gone.
Huh?
"Unbelievable, get her out of here!" With a demanding tone to his voice, he points to the automatic doors. Heejin instantly snaps out of her observation once feeling the security's handhold on tighter on her forearm, attempting to drag her away.
With all her might, she pushes away his muscular grip that attempted to come for her again.
"No touchie Jung-soon, You know I'm leaving."
He lets go, raising his hands in defense. "Just doing my job, Jeon."
Jung-soon the security guard is the second staff member Heejin can tolerate. And it's not just because he gave her a banana when she didn't have enough time for lunch on her second day of work —Okay, maybe it is. It's because he's nice.
Everyone's eyes follow her movement as she picks up the snack from the floor and pay for the squished bread on the counter, tossing the money to the cashier before leaving. Security follows her every move until they have confirmation that she is out of sight.
"Here take this," Jung-soon rounds his post and opens a little compartment. "You may not feel it yet, but the adrenaline will slowly die down. You should get it checked out, it looks like it's swelling there." He hands Heejin a cold pack, settling it on her knuckles. She thanks the older man with gratitude.
"Guess I'm banned from coming here, huh?"
The man lets out a low chuckle, "You bet you are, you're lucky Mr. Park didn't call the authorities on you. But that guy might still press charges."
"I know who can help me with that."
"That's great, how do you expect to leave, can you ride your bike?"
"I don't think so, can you keep it for me until I can pick it up?"
"Alright Jeon, any place to treat that hand of yours is quite far, sure you don't want to call a taxi?"
"I can handle it."
"I know. See you around, Jeon."
(*Beep*
Justastranger: Do you have what I asked for?
- I'm coming.)