You Are Everywhere | Jikook

Two

• Two Years Prior •

It was raining. That made Jimin's job at the nearest grocery story ten times worse than it actually was. It was always monotonous with the routines, and he never really talked to the customer other than the basic greetings he was trained to say, but with the rain outside it seemed so much more gloomy. 

He handed the man his credit card and said, "Have a good day," with a bright smile before turning to the next person.

"Hi welcome to—"

Jimin's words had stuck in his throat then.  His mouth went dry.

"Hi." The man had said, his voice deep. His smile was only slightly there but his eyes were bright.

It was the most beautiful thing Jimin had seen in his entire life.

"How are you?" Jimin barely managed to get the words out as he started to ring the few items up.

"Wet." He said, "But otherwise okay. You?"

"Fine." Jimin said as he rang up another pack of ramen and put it in the bag.  A few moments passed. Normally the silence between a customer and himself was bearable, but this time it felt taut.

"Do you always work this register?" The man asked. Jimin shrugged.

"It depends." Jimin put the last item in the bag. "Are you a member of our rewards program?"

He shook his head no.

"Would you like to sign up? It's free and you get discounts on every item."

"No, thank you." With that he handed Jimin his card. The rest of the transaction passed in silence but it was once again uncomfortable. At least it was for Jimin because for a change, he actually wanted to talk to the person he was servicing.

He handed the man his card back, and a question that was categorized under something he was never supposed to ask a customer passed his lips before he could stop it.

"What's your name?"

The man's smile returned.

"Kim Taehyung."

~~

• Now •

This shouldn't come as a surprise, but Jimin didn't spend a lot of time in his apartment. It was full of memories, both the good and the bad, but they all made Jimin's chest heavy. He felt trapped when he was there.

He had started taking more shifts at his job at the nearest retail store. He went home late and woke up early. He never slept in their bed anymore.

Well, now it was just his.

It was early in the morning when he left hours before he needed to. It was around four; the streetlights were still shining brightly, casting a yellow tint over everything that was previously cloaked in white moonlight. He had a light jacket on to fight off the slight chill that lingered from the night.  He knew he would regret bringing it along later when the temperature rose, but for now he was warm in at least this one regard.

Jimin took this walk nearly daily. Of course, he was always up until eleven or midnight which explained how his skin looked weighted and the bags under his eyes were purple. He was utterly exhausted, but every time he got into that bed his mind would not shut up. The only true moments of bliss he got occurred when he ended up falling asleep on the couch; it wasn't that his mind wasn't racing. It was. His body was just that incredibly tired and drained that it shut down.