The Buddy Program

01 | vending machine twix bars

She was a health freak: worked out, ran every morning, and ate some weird, vegan (or was it vegetarian?) diet that she also basically forced Jeongguk to eat because apparently him being sick meant he had to eat healthy too.  

The thing was, she wasn't the vegetarian that had a bunch of cheat days in between. No, she was actually really healthy. Like, so healthy she was featured on fucking health magazines. He couldn't eat junk food or drink soda, and everything he ate had to be green or organic or some type of oat.

Jeongguk could barely give a shit anyway about nutritional health. It wasn't like he had any muscle mass to build anyway. There was barely any fat on his body from all the ruthless rounds of chemo and medication, and the weight he did gain was next to nothing. 

Sometimes he would cheat without Sae knowing, and that "sometimes" would be right about now.

In seconds, he was standing in front of the vending machine, eyeing that chocolate bar, mouth a bit damp as his stomach seemed to gurgle on cue. He ate that morning, but hey, there was always room for some chocolate.

Unfortunately, he didn't have cash on him when he patted down his jeans, only to come up with his wallet that barely had crap in it. He carried it just for the sake of having a wallet. Sue him for wanting to look normal as abnormal as he was.

There was a solution waiting for him in the form of a credit card. But it wasn't just any card. Since Sae was pretty fucking rich, she was fortunate enough to have a black card, which she lent to Jeongguk for medical emergencies.

The idea of a random medical emergency made Jeongguk laugh. It wasn't very specific, really, so technically buying food from a vending machine would count as a medical emergency since he was hungry, and Sae wouldn't let poor dying him die of starvation, right? Right.

Plus that chocolate bar was pretty tempting, and if Sae saw it on her card, he'd reason with her saying it made him less lonely. Anyway, he fished the black card out of his wallet and went to swipe it, only for the machine to beep angrily at him.

"What?" He mumbled, brow furrowing as he swiped the card again. Another angry beep. "Excuse me?"

Jeongguk stepped closer, sliding the black card slower this time. Maybe it was just a bad read. He focused harder, making sure his hand was steady, and watched the machine, much to his own enjoyment, deny him once again.

"You dumb bitch," He said, swiping again and again only to be denied, hoping it had some degrading kink that would get it fired up.

When nothing happened, he brought his fist over the glass, tapping it. "Why aren't you working?"

It was supposed to work! A credit card was equal to money, and money was how one bought food in this godforsaken capitalist society. It was all adding up, but the damn vending machine must have really hated sick people because it seriously wasn't cooperating.

"Please," Jeongguk whined, stomping his feet when the machine denied him yet again. He groaned, resting his head against the surface while his fist pounded at the glass.

"Work you motherfucking piece of junky, dogwater headass—,"

"—You good bro?"

Jeongguk flinched away from the vending machine, nearly fumbling with the black card in his hands when he realized someone was watching him this entire time. Swallowing, his expression paled as his breath hitched in his throat. Fuck.