perfect blue | jay park

iv.

This specific brand of window cleaner had a blue label. That chip brand had a blue bag. The cans of soup that you were currently restocking were blue. It was like your eyes were suddenly open for the first time in a long time, though only to certain things. You did your best to not let your gaze linger on anything blue, but you supposed it looked like you were spacing out. Your co-worker, Sunghoon, snatched a can out of your hands, which you now realized you'd been holding and looking down at blankly for several minutes. "Alright, what's your damn problem?" he asked, pushing the can back on the shelf before reaching back into the boxes for more. He resurfaced with two more cans, one in each hand. "You're worse than usual."

"I'm feeling kind of off today," you said vaguely, mirroring his actions and picking up two more cans. You waited for him to push the cans all the way to the back of the shelf before you did the same.

"Kind of? You were looking at that can of cream of mushroom like it was the answer to eternal life," he snorted. "You don't have to tell me what's going on, but Yeonjun's already come by twice and you didn't even realize he was trying to talk to you. He's gonna tell you to just go home if you do that again."

"Fuck, seriously?" you asked under your breath, "I didn't see him."

"I know," he said solemnly, "trust me, I know." His dark eyes scanned your weary frame, making you feel self-conscious, but you were too tired to really do anything about it or tell him to fuck off like you normally would.

"I can't get fired, I just stopped mooching off my parents for rent again!" you exclaimed, running your hand through your hair nervously, running your tongue along the inside of your bottom lip.

"He won't fire you," Sunghoon said, "seriously. This job isn't that serious. We restock shelves. But he will tell you to go home and sleep it off, and you won't get paid as much."

You grimaced as Sunghoon pushed the last few cans onto the shelf and smashed the cardboard box with his foot, folding in half effectively. He picked it up and tucked it under his arm. "Last time he came around he said the shampoo's running low, wanna head there next?"

"Shampoo, soap... what's the difference," you muttered.

Sunghoon raised his thick eyebrows. "I'm just gonna stop asking you for your opinion and start dragging you wherever I want."

The shampoo aisle was even worse than the soup aisle. Countless blue bottles in every shade imaginable looked down on you, gleaming menacingly in the bad lighting of the store. Sunghoon pushed a large cart full of boxes towards you and you cut one open, only to be met with an annoying bright blue—coconut scented shampoo. You picked one up and examined it. It felt the same as always. Cold and slippery plastic under your fingers. The light bounced off the surface the same. But now there was color.

"And that's enough," a gruff voice said, plucking the bottle from your hands. "Just go home, (Y/N). You're freaking everyone out." Yeonjun pushed you aside gently and handed the bottle to Sunghoon. "Sunghoon can manage by himself for a day."

"No, I can do it!" you protested, reaching into the box again and pulling out another bottle. You eyed it, and Yeonjun sighed.

"Just go home, okay? I'm not mad, I just think you really need some rest, or something. Come back tomorrow and we'll work out extra hours for you." He clapped you on the shoulder, making you groan.

"Fine," you mumbled, slipping out of your dark blue vest, which you had also stared at before putting on earlier in your shift. "See you tomorrow," you said dully, and Sunghoon barely nodded at you as you exited the store, squinting in the bright sunlight and staring into the bright blue of the sky. It hadn't been this sunny in a very long time. There were no clouds in the sky, not a single little white puff, and you wondered why the sky had decided to clear now, when you mysteriously got some color back in your life.