All In: Side Hustle

Chapter 17

Once we get back to the warehouse, I'm surprised to see so many people inside.

While we were putting flags out, I didn't see anyone, besides the hand that took one flag in. I didn't think there was so many people living in the allies, but this is proof I was wrong.

Inside the warehouse is about 20 to 30 people, all either sitting on the now set out benches, or standing in line to receive their items for the week.

Seungmin let me take in everything for a second before tugging the fabric on my shoulder to pull me along. We head to the back room, and he immediately starts taking off the gear we put on for the flags.

"Come on. There are a bit more people than usual, they need our help at the tables."

I don't respond but follow his lead, taking off the jacket he gave me along with the walkie talkie. When we finish, he leads me out to behind the long tables.

Once we're behind our table, he pulls some boxes over to us and stacks some empty boxes on the table. This is a similar set up to their little training session yesterday, so I'm not too nervous about assembling the packages for people.

Almost as soon as he's done setting up our station, a lady comes up to the table, looking tired but still happy.

"Welcome back, ma'am. Do you need your usual?" Seungmin says softly.

She smiles. "You already know, dear. Thank you." She looks over to me. "Oh, and who is this handsome young man? I don't think I've seen him before."

Seungmin looks up from where he was preparing her package, looking from her to me. He stands and introduces me.

"Yes, he's new. We recently admitted new members to our group, so he's still in training." Seungmin explains. He nudges me, motioning me to introduce myself as he goes back to preparing her things.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am. I'm Hyunjin. I'm glad to be able to help everyone here." When I finish, I hear a noise from Seungmin that sounded like a scoff.

The lady lights up and smiles wider. "It's nice to meet you too. My, you'll certainly bring more people in. I know a few people who refuse to get help from anyone, but with a face and voice like yours I'm sure they might stop by." She goes on.

I smile at her praise as Seungmin places her finished package on the table. "Here you are, ma'am. I made sure to include an extra snack for you."

"Thank you. It's not considered extra if you give me extra everytime, dear." She faces me. "And welcome to the family, dearie." She says before walking out of the warehouse.

"She comes here every week for as long as we've been in operation. She's one of the people that are very special to us. They're our motivation to keep doing this." Seungmin says. He faces me, making sure I understood what he said before moving on.

Before the next person could come up to us, Chan comes in to tap Seungmin on the shoulder.

"We got the tables, Min. You and Hyunjin can go walk around to make sure everyone is doing ok." We nod and leave Chan and Felix to help the next person in line.

Everyone sitting at the benches are talking, laughing, enjoying some snacks, or checking what they got in their packages. There doesn't seem to be much signs of sorrow or struggling anywhere.

I follow Seungmin up to a table with some laughing ladies, ranging in age. When they look up they first all smile at Seungmin, but their faces change a little when they see me.

"Oh my, Mister Seungmin, who is this?" One lady says.

Seungmin pushes me forward. "This is Hyunjin. He's one of the new members we recently added to our group."

"Good morning, ladies. It's nice to meet you." I say as sweetly as I can manage.

They all brighten up and smile together. One or two of them stand to come around to me, rambling about how handsome or tall I am. One woman reaches up to pull on my cheek a little. I shyly smile and try to reply a 'thank you' to every compliment, but lose track of who is saying what about which one of my features.

At this point, I don't know where Seungmin is, maybe he was pushed to the side at one point? Hopefully he comes in soon before one of these ladies decide to drag me home like one of those cats in the alley.

The little fan-girling session only lasts so long before Chan comes by to see what the commotion is.

"Ok, ladies, ladies. What's going on?" He sees me in the middle of the group. "Oh, I see you all met Hyunjin. Let's be courteous of personal space, ladies, yeah?" Chan says while pulling me out of the group.

"Where did you find him, Mr. Chan? I've never seen anyone with features so sharp and beautiful." One lady asks excitedly.

"He's a new member of our group, ladies. So we shouldn't coddle him and scare him away, right?" He asks, to which the women all agree and just stare at me from their seats.

I nod at Chan as a thank you before going back to Seungmin who was just hanging around in the background. When I'm back at his side, we move on, only for me to see Chan trying to get Felix out of the ladies' hands too.

A/N:
Sorry, I know I'm really late with this one, today was just a lazy day for the house.

This chapter was really cute to write, mostly because of the old ladies with Hyunjin (and Felix in the end too). 

Is he warming up to the new situation? That's up for yall to decide.

Love you guys! ❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤