Chapter Text
"I'm sorry, (Y/n)," Your manager said. "As much as I don't want to ruin your day, you have to come in at work. Darius is sick and I do not want to call the workers I hate." Rolling your eyes, you sighed deeply. You felt tired, exhausted, despite the fact it was 1 in the afternoon.
As you laid in bed, you were thinking if you should go or not. Today was your day off, which you haven't gotten in days. You worked extra hard since there weren't many workers because they were on vacation. You needed to rest. But as much as you wanted to say no, you couldn't. You needed the money.
"Okay fine," You told her as you sat up in bed, rubbing your eyes. "I'll be there." After, you hung up and started getting ready. You grabbed your clothes from yesterday, which were sitting on top of a chair in your room.
Heading out of your room, you walk into the kitchen to get your keys, which were on the counter. Putting your shoes on, you nearly tripped, making you curse.
You walked out of your apartment and locked the door. You hopped in your car and sighed. Plans for today were unexpected. You planned on doing nothing on your day off. Sleeping would be the only thing you would do.
As you sat in your car, Mikasa texted you. She was a friend of yours, and also an employee at your work. She was 19, just like you. Mikasa started working at the same time you did, which was only a year ago. She was there to comfort you when you were stressed or crying. She treated you like a sister you never had. Mikasa knew the things going on in your life, she was probably the only person. You trusted her a lot.
As you viewed her message, the sound of cars passing by were the only things you heard.
mikasa <3
I heard you're coming in
y/n
yeah I am
but I don't want to
I'm doing it for the money
Mikasa <3
ofc you are
You placed your phone down and started the car. You turned the radio on, instantly regretting it as the break was still going. You would connect your phone to the aux, but you didn't have the time. 15 minutes had already passed and you hadn't driven out of the parking lot.
As you drove to work, a long train was on the tracks and it was holding the cars from going any further. You laid back in the seat and sighed and grabbed your phone.
y/n
I'm stuck.
the stupid train is in the way
Mikasa <3
want me to tell her
you'll be a bit late?
y/n
pleaseee I don't wanna
get fired without giving an
explanation.
After texting Mikasa, the car in front of you moved, and you took this as a sign to step on the accelerator. The drive then on went smoothly and you finally arrived at the mall parking lot. You grabbed your tote bag that had little things inside, like your phone and your wallet
You locked the car and went inside. You opened the entrance door, and the cool air from inside blew against you, making you shiver.
The store you worked in was in the middle of the mall, which was quite a walk from where you're at. You started speed-walking, excusing yourself as you approach people who were walking too slow.
Now, you were a few stores away and the space in front of you had little to no people walking. So you took this opportunity to sprint to the store.
It was a relief for you that no one was there to stare at you as you did so, it would've been embarrassing. But you thought too soon, as you came to realize that customers stared as you arrived to the store. You didn't care at this point, because all you cared about right now, was not getting fired.
You rushed to the staff room, not noticing Mikasa. Pushing the black door open, you quickly hung your bag, grab your name tag, and pinned it to your top. Also, from your little locker, you grabbed the small walkie-talkie and clipped it in your back pocket.
After getting ready, you pushed the door open once again and tried to find Mikasa. The place was a decent size, and although you had been doing this job for over a year, you still managed to get lost. The racks and shelves were all identical.
Your head turned left and right constantly looking for her until a familiar jet black hair came into your frame of vision and walked in that direction. At this point, you were panting from all the running and speed-walking you did.
Mikasa hears your footsteps and turned around, seeing you breathing heavily. She slightly snickers whilst folding a shirt that was thrown carelessly.
"Geez. That was a whole workout, you okay?" Her voice was quiet and sweet as ever, just like the first time you talked to her. You nodded as you were still panting. Mikasa shrugs and throws a shirt for you to fold.
"People who come here really don't know how to put things back properly." Mikasa rolls her eyes while holding a pair of sweats. She felt slightly angry. The reason being, well, people being inconsiderate and irresponsible.
"Mikasa, you're needed in the back for stocking things up." A muffled voice came from Mikasa's walkie-talkie. Mikasa rolled her eyes annoyingly before replying.
"But why me?" She asks, placing a hand on her hip. You laughed lightly since she looked like an angry mom receiving a call from a school principal.
"Most of the boxes and items are heavy."
"And you want me to do it? Because I can carry those with no problem?" Mikasa answered her question but still asked for no reason.
"Obviously. Now hurry up." That's when the conversation ended. Mikasa sighs while clipping the device back into her pocket.
"Need to go?" You ask her sarcastically while trying to hide your smile, while Mikasa had a scowl on her face.
"Yeah," She walks closer to you, placing both hands on your shoulders. "Call me if something bad happens, 'kay?"
"Yeah, yeah okay-"
"No, I'm serious." Her stare was full of care and honesty. She was just being cautious since for the past week, weird guys would come up to you and make you feel uncomfortable. "I don't want anything bad happening to you."
Your gaze softened and nodded your head. "Okay, I will, promise."
"Good. Now I'm going and we'll talk later, alright?" Mikasa backs away from you and started walking away. You nodded, waving your hand at her as she does the same to you.
As Mikasa walks away from your figure, another person walks closer as you continued to fold poorly thrown clothes. His shoes squeaked against the grey tiles, getting louder and louder as he gets closer.
You felt a presence behind you, and you tried your best to ignore it. It could've been a person browsing through the racks behind you, who may or may not need help. Either way, it was your job to help customers find what they need.
You turned around to ask the person if assistance was needed, but it turns out that the person behind you was a step ahead of you.
"Hey, do you work here?"
You were slightly taken aback at the sudden closeness of the guy in front of you. Taking a step back, you examine him carefully.
He had a cap on his head, which was thankfully not put on backward; if it did, you wouldn't have a problem with it, but it looked nicer when it was on the right way.
His long, brown hair was tied messily in a low bun, and it was resting nicely through the semi-circle at the back of the cap. He wore a black men's tank top along with black jeans and wore vans. And the most noticeable one, the one that got your eyes' attention, was a silver necklace, a cross hanging at the bottom.
You immediately stopped staring, scared of being caught by the person. Although it seemed like a long time of staring, it was only a quick look. Luckily for you, he hadn't noticed.
"Yeah, why?" You looked at his eyes. His eyes. It was bright, making it his most noticeable feature. It was green, somewhat blue. Teal, or turquoise was the name's color, but it seemed like you had never seen it before ― it was different, more beautiful.
He had a pair of grey sweats in his hands, and he shuffled it around. "There's no price tag here." He gave you the sweats and you automatically started searching for the tag.
"Seems like you're right. Someone must've ripped it off." Pursing your lips, you grabbed the communicating device from your pocket.
"Hey, can you find item #42348671? And what's the price?" It was a good thing that the tag with the item number was there.
As you were waiting for a reply, the young adult standing in front of you stared, just like what you did. You were shorter than him, your height taller than the height of his shoulder. 'Cute face.' He suddenly thought. You were staring into spacing as you were waiting, and the look on your face was amusing to him ― focused and concentrated.
"It's $14.90." Answered the person from the other side of the walkie-talkie. "Also, put these new ones on the racks after."
"Okay, thanks." You turned your attention back to the person, who was currently looking at you like you were some cute dog. You'd be lying to yourself if you didn't think it was cute. But at the same time, it was weird, due to the fact he was a stranger.
"So how much is it?" He asks, his eyebrows slightly raised and a small smile on his lips.
"$14.90. Unfortunately, though, it also doesn't have the barcode, and I know, for a fact, that workers here don't like typing in the item number since it's so long." Rolling your eyes, he laughed softly at you. "So I'll have to get you a new one from the back." You told him and he simply nodded.
"Yeah, I'll just wait here then." You gave a nod before rushing your way towards the back door with the grey sweats in your hands.
Mikasa was still helping out, but it seems like she and others were almost done. The same, but new, grey sweats were hanging from the clip-on hangers. There were about six, three of each size ― small, medium, and large.
The size of the man's desired sweats was a medium. You took a new one of the same size and tossed the old one somewhere else. Also taking the other five, you hung it on one arm, the cold metal hook sending goosebumps throughout your arm.
Turning around, you exit the room and rush back to the tall man. He was at the same spot before you left, browsing for some other things.
Slowly walking towards him, you cleared your throat to get his attention.
"Here's a new one with a price tag." Your arm was extended towards his figure, holding the hanger, and he takes it from your grasp.
As he did so, he flashes a small smile your way, making you do the same. "Thanks."
"No problem." You turn away from him, walking towards the rack those sweats was always hung on.
A familiar figured rushed towards you as you were making youself busy. Mikasa's hair was all over the place and her forehead was reflecting light, letting you know she was sweating a bit.
"Finally. For a second, I thought I wasn't gonna get out of that room." You laughed lightly at her. "Anyways, no creep talked to you?"
You shook your head no. "No, I'm fine. Thanks for being cautious."
"How could I not? You're like a sister to me. I don't want anything bad happening to you, don't I?"
You smiled at her. "Stop, you might make me cry." Wiping fake tears, she laughed at your action.
20 more minutes passed and you walked around the workplace with Mikasa. Both of you were inseperable and you did everything together at work.
Both of you were currently asking customers around if they needed any help. And thankfully, no one did and that gives you times to hang out with Mikasa.
Both you and Mikasa were hanging out on one of the shelves, simply gossiping.
"Then this idiot named Floch got cheated on. He deserved it." You laughed as Mikasa told you stories from her campus. From her words and the things she said about her campus, it sounded fun, carefree, but also troublesome. Yours was nothing like that. It had strict rules, and if anyone disobeyed, they would either get suspended or expelled.
"Wait, is that Mikasa?"
"Where?
"Use your eyes, stupid."
The whispers ahead somehow didn't make you feel worried of the said girl. Her name was said, so maybe it wouldn't be a problem. It must be her friends or family.
"Mikasa??" Turning around, it was the same guy you helped earlier. "I didn't know you worked here."
"Only because I didn't want you to find out." Mikasa said bluntly. The brown haired boy's face casted an offended look.
"And why don't you want me to find out?" He sassily crosses his arms across his chest, and you caught a glimpse of the blonde boy sigh.
"Because I knew you would act this way." Mikasa responded, rolling her eyes.
"Act what way?" He pretended.
"Oh my god, Eren. Just shut up and go home." Mikasa groaned, turning around once again just to mind her own business folding clothes with you.
"Eren, let's go already." The blonde pulled on the guy's arm, who you know now as Eren, and he stumbled back towards the blonde. "We'll go now Mikasa."
Mikasa nodded, smiling lightly at the both of them. They all waved at each other, and the both of them glanced at you. The one with a blonde undercut smiled lightly at you and waved, while Eren ran towards you and wrapped an arm around your shoulder.
'Ever heard of a personal space bubble?' You thought.
"Hey! You're the one who helped me earlier. Hey Armin! She was the one I was talking about earlier." He pointed towards you and you jerked your head away. The boy so called Armin nodded awkwardly, mouthing an apology to you.
You detached yourself from him, looking at him weirdly. "You were talking about me?" He nodded proudly. "Weird." You muttered as you walked away.
"Hey Mikasa, let's hang out after your shift." Armin said.
"Sure, I'm fine with that." Mikasa replied, this time with a smile. She turns over to face you. "Do you wanna join later?"
You shook your head no. "No, it's fine. I'm visiting mom after." Mikasa only nodded and turned her attention to her friends.
"Now you two, get out. Shoo." She flicked her hands away, making both Eren and Armin walk closer to the exit.
"No." Eren whined. "I wanna hang out here." Armin only stayed silent and watched as Eren tried to convince Mikasa.
"No. You're a distraction. Just go." Mikasa pushed them both further before leaving them outside of the store. "I'll just meet you at the food court." She turned to leave them, walking back to you.
"Eren's weird." You said. Mikasa snickers and nods. Both of you continued to work together until Mikasa's shift ended. You only had an hour left of work and you desperately wanted it to end now.
It was boring when Mikasa left. She was your gossip buddy. You had other friends at work, but they were hanging out with your other co-workers.
When your shift ended, you went straight outside to go back to your car. But when you go to the parking spot, it wasn't there anymore.