Chapter 21 – I know that already, idiot
"Are you planning to confess?" I looked at her as if she had just heard the weirdest thing ever. "What? Why are you giving me that look?" Daisy asked and I took a sip from my drink. "There is no one to confess to" I stated. "Don't kid with me. You are aware of the fact that we only have one week left until school is over, right? After that, we will all go separate ways, not knowing whether we will meet again or not. You shouldn't waste your time."
"I think that this blue dress will suit you," I said getting off-topic, as I showed her a dress. She took it from me and examined it and gave me a nod of approval after she had placed the dress in the basket, where other dresses, she might buy, were too. "I think I should go to the trial room and try these on," she said and soon, I was left alone in the almost empty shop.
Maybe, she was right. "I like this one the most" Daisy said as she suddenly appeared. She was wearing the same dress I had recommended to her and I was glad that she had appeared and brought me out of my unnecessary thoughts. "You should buy that" I suggested. After that, she bought her dress and we started to walk back home. "Don't you want to buy one too?" she wondered and I shook my head. "I already have something to wear. Anyway, I have to take the bus now. See you"
Somehow, I felt bored. I don't know why, but I want to do something exciting. My revenge will take place on the prom night, so I don't have anything to do for a week.
As I was strolling through the supermarket, I noticed that I had run out of pasta at home. I walked to the pasta section and I saw Jonghyun was there too, busy examining the various kind of pasta. "This will taste the best," I said and pointed to a certain pack of noodles. His attention adverted to me and he nodded, picking up that packet.
"What are you doing here?" I wondered as we walked to the cashier. "I wanted to cook something" he explained. We paid the friendly cashier and started walking towards our apartments. "Do you feel bored too? I mean we just a week left, we should do something" Jonghyun voiced. I felt like he had just read my mind.
By now we were in front of our main doors. "Let's get some ice cream," he said. "Fine. Let me drop this in the kitchen first" I agreed. I quickly placed the food in the kitchen and walked outside to see that he had also put his belongings in his apartment and was waiting for me while being occupied with his phone. "Let's go"
As soon as we reached the shop, which was near our homes, we ordered our ice creams. "I think this the shop sells better ice cream than the shop near our school," I said after I had tasted it. "I heard that a new shop has opened near here too" I added.
It was really crowded and the few workers were running around, serving the customers and cleaning the empty tables. Not only did they sell ice cream, but also pastries and other sweet items. "Really? Let's go there next time" Next time. Right, when there is a next time. As long as I remember, you'll be gone after a week.
"From where should we get workers right now?" I looked over and saw that a man in a similar code dress as the other workers, probably the boss, was scolding his worker. "I am sorry. My siblings got ill suddenly, they will be back tomorrow" He sighed and looked at him irritated. "Um, excuse me, I could work"
The boss, the young worker, and Jonghyun looked at me, who had just stated that. "You?" Jonghyun said shocked. "Why not?" I said and looked at the man, waiting for his answer. "I could substitute the missing worker until they come back" Well, I was bored anyway; something new won't hurt. "If you could, that would be great"
"Fine," I said and stood up. "Ha Neul, show her how to do everything here" he ordered. "Wait" Jonghyun stopped. "I'll work too"
Ten minutes later, after having changed into the same attire as Ha Neul, the worker, we listened to the instructions he gave. "Inside of that drawer is the key for the storage. Actually, the lock of the door isn't working well. You can open it without any problem, but you must use the key to open the door from the inside. So beware, don't forget to take the key with you." He explained. "You may start working now"
"Excuse me" I heard a girl say and I hurried to the cash desk. "I would like a vanilla ice cream," she said and I started preparing her ice cream, just like he had explained. "Here you go. That would be 3,000 Won" I said and she handed me the money as I bid her a goodbye. Soon, the next customer came and I became busy, not noticing how time had quickly passed by.
A few times I glanced at Jonghyun, to whom the most buyers went to, which made me a feel bit irritated, and saw that he seemed to be in quite a good mood. He was very enthusiastic and smiled a lot. "Are you two going out?" For a moment, I was shocked because Ha Neul suddenly appeared like a creep, but soon calmed down. "No, why are you asking?" I asked as we both entered the kitchen.
"Just because. You seem to look at him from time to time" he explained as he started to clean the dishes. "No, it's not like that," I said and helped him in cleaning. "I wanted to thank you. My siblings work part-time here with me, but both suddenly got ill. Thanks to you, I didn't get in much trouble"
"No need to thank me. It is fun here anyway" I said and smiled. I looked outside of the kitchen and noticed that Jonghyun was handling many customers alone. "I better help Jonghyun now," I said and excused myself.
By the time it was already 19:30, when we were about to close the shop, a small girl was standing at the side of the counter and looking at the ice cream. "Would you like to buy something before we close the shop?" I asked as I kneeled to her eye level.
She shyly shook her head. "I don't have money" Somehow, she reminded me of myself when I was younger. Since we never had much money, I also once drooled in front of a shop, where they sold ice cream and pastry. At the end, I went back home, with teary eyes, wondering why we never had money to afford this kind of things.
"I'll buy you one" I looked up to see Jonghyun. "Really?" she asked excitedly. "Sure. Which flavor do you want?" he asked. "Chocolate!" I laughed and went to the counter and prepared her ice cream. "Here you go" I voiced and gave her an ice cream, not forgetting to hand her a tissue, in case she gets herself dirty.
"Thank you!" she said cheerfully and took it from me. After that, she left the shop, while she happily licked on her ice cream. I started cleaning the counter and sometime later, only Jonghyun and I left were left, cleaning. The boss was still here as well, but he was in his office. "That doesn't even make sense. We are working overtime even though we aren't even official workers" I said.
"We should demand extra money for that" he joked and I laughed. "I'll be right back," I said and he nodded. I took the crate, opened the door and walked inside the storage. Remarkably, it was very large, like an extra room. I shivered as I put down the box and wrapped my hands around my arms. Well, it is certainly cold in here. As I opened the door, my smile fell.
It was locked.
The key. I forgot about the key. I face palmed myself as I didn't know what to do. Shall I bang on the door? The next moment, I was slamming the door like a madman, hoping for Jonghyun to hear the noises. After a minute, I gave up since my hands were hurting and I knew that it wasn't helping. Don't worry, Jonghyun will notice my absence and look for me. Unless he leaves, thinking that I left already.
I nervously walked around and cursed myself for not having taken my phone with me. At that moment, someone suddenly opened the door and I looked at non-other than Kim Jonghyun, who had opened the door. "What's taking you so long?" he asked as he entered. "No. No. No. Don't let the door close!"
The door closed again.
"Please tell me that you took the key with you" I pleaded. "What key?" I laughed like a crazy woman. "This is too funny. Are we shooting some kind of drama?" Not knowing why, I was acting like a person who had lost it, he turned around and tried to open the door and soon, he realized what was going on too. "Oh"
"Were you even listening to his instructions?" I wondered. "No, they were too boring" he shrugged. "If you had listened to him, maybe you would have brought the key with you" I mourned. "Hey, you listened to him yet to forgot to take them with you. You are even worse than me" I shot at him my death glare and he looked at me terrified. "Chill, someone will come to look for us"
"Like who? The only person is here is the boss and he will probably leave in a few minutes. You didn't even hear my bangs from the outside, so it will probably be useless to make noises so that he notices that someone is stuck in here."
"Great," he said and somehow, I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. "We don't have any other choice than to wait" he continued and sat down on a box, using it as a chair. Sighing, I sat down on the floor, my back facing the wall. "We are going to die here" Jonghyun laughed as if he had just heard a funny joke. "Stop exaggerating, someone will notice sooner or later"
"It's cold here. I bet that by the time someone notices us here, we will have been frozen to death. It's Saturday and the shop won't open tomorrow."
"So, before you die, do you have things that you want to share? It's your last chance"
"Why do I feel like you aren't taking this situation seriously?"
"Because I am not. Anyway, do you want to share something?"
"Well, I have refused to accept many things in my life I regret having denied"
"Like what?"
"I never hated you"
He laughed like I just stated the most obvious thing. "I know that already, idiot" He looked directly into my eyes, searching for something in my eyes. "Have you denied other things in your life as well?"
"I did" I replied honestly. "What about you?" I wondered, not wanting to continue with my list. "No, but there are some things I would like to say. Things I've been wanting to say" he said. "Like what?" I questioned, just like he had asked me. "Like, I am sorry. I wasn't open to you even though you were" he answered and I shook my hand, indicating that I didn't mind. "I understand" I looked at the door, hoping for someone to magically appear and open it.
"There is another thing that I would like to say" he continued and my attention averted back to him. "I like you" For a moment, there was silence. We just stared at each other; he was waiting for a reaction and I was looking at him expressionless. I tried to suppress my smile but soon, I couldn't hide it anymore and showed him a wide smile. "I know that already, idiot"
End of Chapter 21