borderline

壹.

part 1

the day park jimin ended up working the night shift at a hypermarket, was the day he hit rock bottom.

or at least, that's how it should have been.

despite his bleached hair and current wardrobe choices, he was actually a university graduate. so, this was definitely not how life should be.

he has a degree in mechanical engineering and even managed to maintain a decent gpa throughout the years.

jimin had been told about how connections were everything, but he never realized how literal that statement was until he got to this point. he was about to start his first shift at a 24 hour hypermarket but he already hated it. how can a place smell like nothing and everything at the same time? he never knew the word bleak could describe a smell so well.

jimin walked in through the glass doors and approached the man leaning against the counter.

"hello," jimin greeted him, he was waiting for a response but the man took a while to reply. "uh hey? can i help you with something, sir?"

"no, i'm actually supposed to start working here" jimin explained, he literally got off the phone with the manager 10 minutes ago. weren't they expecting him?

"ahhhh" the man responds after a brief silence, "are you jimin?"

jimin nodded.

"the manger just left but he told me to show you around, i'm the assistant manager," the man got out from behind the counter as he continued to explain "although the hierarchy doesn't matter much when you work at a small hypermarket."

jimin nodded politely, he felt a bit uncomfortable. this man was being really casual and friendly so there was no reason for him to feel that way, but he couldn't help it.

"my name is taehyung, by the way" he smiled.

the two quickly exchanged greetings again as they learned that they were the same age and agreed to speak casually.

taehyung began to babble about organizing shelfs and stocking, but the whole experience, although seemingly very natural, was very unnerving.

all jimin could feel was unease.