Na Ri shifted in the uncomfortable, blue, plastic chair as she tried to correct her posture. Her hands ached as she wrote down all the thoughts speeding through her brain. She knew this work wasn't going to amount to anything either, but she still wrote. The bell chimed as another customer entered Coco Store. Na Ri had been working here for the better part of her junior year in college. She bowed to the customer, but her hand continued to work on the words through this process. The customer walked to the extreme back, picked up a carton of milk, and walked toward her. Na Ri monitored the old man through the CCTV camera footage playing on her computer screen. That was when she realized she should stop writing.
"Good evening," She said smiling at the old man and ringing up the carton. The old man, with milky eyes, and certain coldness around him, nodded.
He was thinking about his own granddaughter, the curly-haired, shy, Hye Ri. And how much the girl in front of him reminded him of her. The employee, however, could at least talk to people other than two old people that she had grown up with.
But, the old man was unaware of the variety of problems plaguing the girl in front of him. Even though she could talk to people, she usually chose not to. Why? No one knew.
"That's 2500 won," The girl said, accepting the cash, and promptly paying the man back. The man nodded again and left the store. A stone lifted off Na Ri's chest as she noticed the disappearing figure. Even though her job included talking to different types of people, she liked not to. She would like it if people left her alone when she was reading a book or scribbling in her light blue journal.
She looked at the watch, another half hour, and then she could go home.
-
She locked the shop and tugged at the door once more to make sure that no one could open it. Even though the crime was at a minimum in this suburban area near Seoul, she preferred it when she knew for a fact that she had done everything. She had received the worst scare in her life when she woke up one day and read the news, which had said that a Coco Store had been robbed. She thought she was done for, but thankfully, it had been a different branch, in another part of Seoul.
She walked down the four steps outside the shop and tied her open hair into a high bun. She was feeling hot despite the post-summer weather. She straightened her white sweatshirt and made sure that her pad was intact. She hated having her period when she worked at the store. She had finally found a good system. She would change pad before the shift. Sit still during the shift. Change the pad during the dinner break, sit still for two more hours, and change her pad before leaving.
At least it was the fourth day and not the second day, she told herself.
She stopped when she reached the bus stop and began to untangle her headphones. She turned the black phone in her hand to try and find the earphone slot. She put the earphones in when a scream made her look up. A few other people had the same reaction. A confused Na Ri looked at the ruckus caused at the other edge of the bus stop. She noticed a boy holding another shorter boy by the collar. The shorter boy had a small red bag in his arms, that he was holding onto like it was his life source. The taller boy had a dangerous expression highlighting his face.
"That's mine," He said in a sinister voice. The smaller boy shivered but maintained his stance. He pushed the bag behind his back. People began moving away from the scene but Na Ri moved closer.
"Is everything okay?" She heard herself asking before she could think through her question. Something was prompting her to be outspoken. It was the fact there was either a robbery or a bullying scene under session in front of her.
"This boy... has stolen my bag," The taller boy said, pointing at the boy, the collar still strongly clutched by the taller one.
Na Ri turned to the shorter one, who was smiling nervously. "Open the bag," Na Ri instructed. There would be an ID in there somewhere.
"What do you mean?" The taller boy loosened his grip on the shorter one and turned to face her, finally. Na Ri regretted walking to this scene then. She knew this boy.
"Maybe there's an ID in there," Na Ri suggested, her eyes not leaving the taller boy. The shorter one then decided it was a good idea to drop the bag and run away. The taller one did not care to run after him as she looked at the girl in front of him.
"Na Ri?" He asked, his eyebrows raised all the way to his hairline. He smiled and then bowed to say hello.
"Kim Taehyung?" Na Ri managed, trying to conceal the shock rushing through her veins. She was slapped back into reality when she heard a loud horn being blasted. She turned, to find her friend, the conductor, waving her over to the bus. She cleared her throat, looked at Taehyung, fisted her hand around the phone, and turned to walk back to the bus.
Seoul was too big a place to bump into him again.
-
"I'm home, mom." Na Ri said, slipping out of her ballet flats, and into her house slippers. Her mother hummed from the living room in front of the TV.
"Dinner is in the microwave," Her mother said without any concerned expression on her face.
"Okay," Na Ri said obediently, and walked to the kitchen, to find sticky rice and soup in the grey machine. She sighed, pressed the necessary buttons. She rested against the circular dining table that was rarely ever used. Removing the bowls, she sat down on the chair and feasted on the little meal.
"Na Ri, I got a job today," Na Ri sighed, looking around the small room. Her mother never lasted at any job. She waited for the kind of job her mother had taken up this time.
"I am working as a housekeeper at this rich person's house." Her mother said proudly as she walked into the kitchen. Suddenly, the circular kitchen table was full and had been used more than it had in the past few months.
"You mean maid?" Na Ri said like a brat in her head but reserved her criticisms. At least her mother was working again. After what had surpassed this pair, it was a miracle that her mother was moving out at all.
"That's really good, mom." Na Ri said, and her mother smiled back. The little food in front of her was enough to fill her up.
YOU ARE READING
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Fanfiction#2 in the Confetti Series Na Ri's greatest love and fear are books. Since she was young, she always had her nose buried in either this book or that. Her admiration for books drove her to meet a troublesome, yet jovial boy Kim Taehyung. After 5 years...
