Work Text:
The nearest hint of civilization- a fast food chain- was an hour away by bike and even then, it was kind of in the middle of nowhere.
Baek Saheon's shirt stuck uncomfortably to his back as he pedaled down the road. It was... a bad way to show up to a job interview. But dammit, Baek Saheon was the one suffering in the summer heat here. Sue him for not having a car! At least the breeze felt nice.
In the distance, he spotted the golden-arched sign, and stopped pedaling, cruising down the road. Then, he pulled to a stop outside of the old-fashioned McDonalds building.
As he got off of the bicycle, he straightened out the creases in his (sweat-stained) button-up.
Dammit. What a bad first impression.
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"You're hired," was the first thing the hiring manager said to him as he walked in. There were two customers in the building. Baek Saheon couldn't help but feel indignant that he hadn't been classified as a customer.
But he didn't say that.
Baek Saheon forced a smile on his face. "Wow, thank you so much for this opportunity, haha...?"
The hiring manager beckoned at him from behind the counter. "Come back here. I have a lot of things to explain before you start tonight."
...
' What do you mean I start tonight!?"
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Baek Saheon gingerly followed the hiring manager behind the center island of the kitchen. "Er, ma'am, I think there's been a mistake... You see, I applied for-"
"The only opening we have is for the night shift cashier," she told him apologetically. Despite her tone, she was shooting him an impressively steel glare, as if to tell him that he was the night shift cashier already by virtue of walking in.
...And she was right. Baek Saheon needed every bit of cash he could get. Despite how shady this was. Dammit!
"Uh, right," Baek Saheon said after a pause. "Yes. I would love to be a night shift cashier, then."
All of a sudden, the hiring manager's face brightened. "Wonderful! In that case, here's what you need to know..."
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"Our store operates 24/7, but don't worry, the night shift is usually quiet. You'll be alone most of the time and your only view will be the empty highway stretching endlessly in both directions. But there are a few rules you'll need to follow to make it through the week.
"Rule one: Never serve customers who arrive on foot. If someone walks in from the road, no vehicle, no sound, just footsteps, you must lock the front doors and go into the kitchen. Do not look at them, do not speak, just wait 10 minutes then return to the register.
"Rule two: At exactly 2:03 AM, the drive-through speaker may turn on with static. Do not answer it. No one is there. Let it play. After 45 seconds, it will stop. But if you speak into it, it will respond. You don't want that.
"Rule three: If a black sedan parks outside but no one exits the vehicle, watch the headlights. If they flash three times, turn off all lights inside the restaurant and hide in the freezer. Do not exit until you hear a car drive away.
"Rule four: Check the fryers every hour. If you find fries already in them, burnt and bubbling despite no recent order, unplug the machine immediately and mop the floor in front of the counter with the water bucket. Do not touch the fries.
"And finally, rule five: If at any point during your shift, you see your own reflection in the drive-through window blink when you're sure you didn't, clock out and leave through the emergency exit. Do not finish your shift. Someone else will cover it."
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...
Since when did McDonalds have life-or-death rules?!
Saying that Baek Saheon was pissed was an understatement. He was saving up precisely to leave this kind of bullshit! What did you mean that this lame fast food chain was as crazy as Jisan was?
How often did those insane things happen? Did they even get customers at night? This McDonalds was in the middle of nowhere! Baek Saheon was half-sure that keeping an employee on for the night shift was a net loss of revenue.
...Still, it sounded like a rather easy shift. Quiet and peaceful for the most part, and he might get to leave early too. Plus, Baek Saheon hated group projects. A night shift with no incompetent coworkers involved? This might be his dream job.
Baek Saheon had experience with this bullshit, after all.
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That night, the black sedan pulled up in the parking lot and flashed its headlights three times.
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As Baek Saheon sat, knees to his chest, in the walk-in freezer, he realized abruptly that there was no way he could hear the black sedan drive off from there. He wouldn't have been able to hear somebody yelling directly from outside the freezer door, much less a miniscule rumble from the parking lot.
What lunatic designed those fucking rules?
He texted the hiring manager rapidly:
- 01:59 -
BAEK.S: how ima hear the car drive off if IM IN THE DAMN FREEZER
HAN.Y: [is typing]
HAN.Y: [is typing]
Then, the notification disappeared.
...Some help she fucking was!
"...Fuck..."
It was 2 in the morning now, which meant it was time to check the fries. But Baek Saheon was, as he said, in the freezer. How the fuck was he supposed to know when he could leave?
A few minutes passed. It was 2:03. A loud static sound reverberated through the walk-in freezer wall, because the drive-through speaker was louder than a car pulling out of the fucking parking lot. Of course.
BAEK.S: ????? what do I do, i have to check the fries but the sedan already pulled up and flashed 3 times so im hiding rn, but the static is playing from the drive thru and i cant hear the sedan leave cuz of the static
The [read] marker popped up instantly.
HAN.Y: [is typing]
HAN.Y: [is typing]
HAN.Y: Han Yeji is currently off her business duties right now. In case of emergency, call 1-1-9.
That useless little...!
Impatiently, Baek Saheon dialed 1-1-9.
Ring ring. Ring ring. Ring ring. Ring ring. Ring ring. Ring ring.
...After a few minutes of dial tones, he disconnected the call and stood up with a dead expression.
Surely the sedan must have left by now.
If Baek Saheon survived this, he was going to kill whatever bastard wrote that fucking rulebook.
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It was his second shift, now.
A tired-looking business man was walking down the road. No vehicle, no shoes. As he approached the McDonalds, Baek Saheon could see that he had a strangely worn-out suit and old-fashioned glasses.
As the man's hand reached up to pull at the door, Baek Saheon sprinted across the room and locked the door in record time.
The man just stared at him.
Now that Baek Saheon was close, he could see the massive dark circles under the man's eyes. He was even more confident now that this wasn't human.
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24 HOUR MCDONALDS
KIM.S: Says it's open 24 hours but at 1 AM the cashier locked the door in my face. I barely escaped after my GF kidnapped me and I just wanted something to eat, then you lock the door as I was just about to walk in..? 1 star.
Replies:
> GO.Y: You got kidnapped? Should I file a report with the police...?
> KIM.S: The kidnapping was fine. Just report this McDonalds for false advertising.
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The black sedan pulled up in the parking lot again. Was it just Baek Saheon, or was it parking closer every night? Who the hell was in that vehicle?
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Fourth shift.
"One vanilla ice cream, please."
A girl wearing a horse t-shirt was standing at the counter. Baek Saheon blinked blearily. A real customer that hadn't triggered any of the rules? What a first.
"That'll be 3000 won."
The girl pulled out a stack of coupons. "I don't think so. I'll save you the trouble of going through all of this: a 20% discount on desserts combined with a 40% discount on first-time store visits, and then a 33% discount on the vanilla ice cream specifically, plus a 50% discount on any purchase under 3000 won, and it all rounds to 0 won."
He squinted at them. "The first one... expired already."
"No, it expires today?"
"Whatever." Baek Saheon wasn't paid enough for this. "One coupon per purchase."
"That can't be true," the girl said, already unfolding the creased 50% coupon like a lawyer presenting a final piece of damning evidence. "It says right here, 'Offers may be combined unless otherwise stated,' and none of them say otherwise."
Baek Saheon exhaled through his nose, slow and annoyed. “The original purchase has to be under 3000 won before that coupon applies.”
She shook her head, determined. “No. You apply all the discounts first, which brings it to 950 won. Then the 50% off coupon applies, making it 475, which is rounded down to 0. Math.”
This bitch!
“Look," Baek Saheon gritted out. "I know how this works. They review the CCTV every week in these kinds of places.” He leaned on the counter. “They catch me handing out free ice cream? I’m fired.”
She didn’t blink. “You could just not charge me and say the machine broke.”
“I’d still get written up for lying about that, genius.” He sighed and reached under the counter. “I’ll make it easy. Just pay me 1000 won and I’ll key in some other code. Close enough.”
“I don’t have 1000 won,” she said. Her expression didn’t change—it wasn’t embarrassed, just annoyingly factual.
Baek Saheon stared at her. “Then what the hell are we even doing right now?”
“I came here for ice cream,” she said.
He opened his mouth to argue, then stopped. Somewhere in the back, an alarm blinked on the fryer display. It had been an hour. He needed to check it again.
“I swear to god…” he muttered. He tapped a few buttons on the register and tossed a receipt at her. “Fine. Take it. They were desperate when they hired me. No one else wanted this hell-hole. They won’t fire me for giving away one stupid-”
He turned, pulled the lever on the ice cream machine, and nothing happened.
Just a low whir. Then a sick-sounding grind. And then silence.
He yanked the handle again. Nothing.
The girl leaned over the counter, squinting at the machine. “Is it… broken?”
Baek Saheon stared at it, jaw tight. Then he stared at her.
“Yeah,” he said flatly. “It’s broken.”
She blinked.
“Do I get a refund?”
"You never paid anything,” he snapped. "Get out!"
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On his fifth shift, Baek Saheon thought he had it all figured out already.
It was simple: who could stop him from locking the front door despite nothing happening?
After he was locked inside the building, all he really needed to do was check the fryer, hide from the black sedan, and leave through the emergency exit if his reflection blinked. The emergency exit didn't lock from the inside, so he was pretty much set.
Baek Saheon looked into the drive-through window.
Instead of his reflection, the tired-looking businessman from a few nights ago stared back at him.
"Holy fucking-"
Baek Saheon cursed and sprinted towards the emergency exit.
'Your reflection blinking' his ass! That damn bastard who wrote the rule book never mentioned that you could see a demon in the window!
Meanwhile, Kim Soleum was left in front of the drive-through window. He tapped the steering wheel of the black sedan.
"...I see what you mean now about it being impossible to order here. Does he disappear every time you come here? That's kind of creepy... It's like he's a ghost story or something."
"Yes," Lee Jaheon said expressionlessly from the passenger seat.
As if triggered by his voice, the black sedan's headlights lit up. Kim Soleum flicked the button to turn them off again.
"Seriously, when are you going to get these fixed?"