He stared at the condiments and flavour packets as if awaiting the profound answer to the meaning of life.

If chilly flakes had any answers to the philosophy of it existence, it would be its lack of use for almost every meal.

Should pepper had any say in the debate of transhumanism it would be that its taste would seem pretentious to millenials.

If adzuki bean power had a seat in the pantheon of a Greek composed simposium it would simply question its own purpose.

The price gun in his hand remained frozen in his grasp, with the heaviness of time unallowing his movement. He felt slow, weary; a shift in his world had caused his motions to be encumbered by an emotion he felt before but seemingly forgot about: longing, sadness and hope, all mixed into a cocktail he would gladly keep drinking, even if it would cause him to regurgitate, for its taste gave him a justified path to norexistence. He sighed, for what seemed the thousandth time, growing tiresome to the quiet company that were the spices. However, it was the straw that broke the camel's back for his boss.

“Kyungsoo, give me the gun.” demanded an authoritative voice behind the crouching Kyungsoo.

“Huh,” reacted rather slowly. He stood up and turned, seeing his voice with an expression of apathy, “I'm sorry.” he mumbled as he handed the price gun to his boss.

Jongwoo cocked his head to the side and smiled sympathetically “Why don't you take a break, huh?”

“I've already taken it, I'm fine, sir –“ the mild teen shook his head “I mean, Jongwoo.”

“You've been like this for a while. What happened to you?”

“Nothing.” replied the deflated teen, walking towards the cash register.

“Kyungsoo, what did I say was one of the rules you must follow under this establishment?”

Kyungsoo closed his eyes, regretful, and sighed said rule, “I must not lie.”

“That's right,” psyched the boss, cocking the gun towards his employee, he then shirked his shoulders “and it's not as if you're good at lying either, so just tell me the truth.”

“My best friends have moved – one from the Municipal School to the Academy, the other, all the way to Seoul.”

“Ah, I see,” nodded Jongwoo, comprehending the boy's situation. He crouched to the condiments and flavour packs and began pricing them accordingly, “that explains your really sad expression. And your waning work ethic.”

“I'm so sorry.” apologised a dejected Kyungsoo.

“It's understandable, you've lost people precious to you, I mean, in your day-to-day life. It's sad.”

Standing next to the till, Kyungsoo leant over the counter of the register and buried his head in his arm, ashamed of his despair “But it shouldn't affect my work like this, should it?”

Jongwoo looked to the bent Kyungsoo in concern, “Kyungsoo, I want you to work, but I am not asking you to be a robot, or a machine – it's okay to be sad, it's okay to be feel lethargic. You're human. I don't get why you seem to deny yourself.”

“B – but I'm not,” riposted Kyungsoo, taken aback by the notion that he seemed emotionless like a machine, when he felt anything but, “I even wish sometimes I could be machine, so I wouldn't feel this way.”

“But it's normal to feel sad,” Jongwoo stated, returning to pricing, “if you don't know sadness, you're not living life right.”

“But I should be happy, because their life is going forward, to a better place. How does me moping around help them?”

“I think you're confusing yourself, Kyungsoo,” declared Jongwoo, standing up, deeming the pricing on spices done, “the feelings of others are not your own. It's fine to distinguish one from the other, because otherwise, you're living vicariously through others, and if they leave, you cannot function anymore.” Jongwoo then headed behind the cash register, then next to the teen worker, where he placed the pricing gun underneath the counter.

Kyungsoo having followed, stood opposite his boss, asking him “So it is bad that I am not working properly.”

“It is for the shop, but you should think of yourself first. You haven't signed your work contract in blood, Kyungsoo, you can cry, you can call off sick, I want my workers to be happy humans, not functioning dolls.”

“I don't know what to think.” Kyungsoo shook his head.

“Maybe don't think until you're ready to? Or spend time with your other friends? Do you still keep in touch with your best friends?”

“Yeah,” nodded Kyungsoo, showing a small smile to himself “we text throughout the day and call each other in the evening.”

“Then, life must go on, they are moving forward, so must you. Any other friends?”

“I do know this other guy, but he is quite awkward and I don't see eye to eye with his mother.”

“You're befriending the boy, not the mother.”

“It's Mrs. Li's son, Yifan.”

“Oh,” his boss' face churned in a grimace, aware of the woman's latent reputation “That might be tricky.”

“But Yifan is a good guy, he often takes me out to eat burgers.”

“Good, just because you're moving on, does not mean you're replacing people. Surely your heart is bigger than that Kyungsoo. I mean, you're such a diligent worker and decent person, you must have space in your heart.”

“Thanks, Jongwoo.” replied Kyungsoo, lowering his head trying to hide blush and wide smile.

Hours later, in evening, Kyungsoo was opening the front door to the house when something caught his attention, a smell. It was delicious, enticing and the amalgamation of all the guilty tastes that Kyungsoo adored.

He rushed the door open and across the house, he saw his sisters prepare the dishes in the kitchen. He closed the front door, locked it appropriately and beelined for the kitchen. Upon approaching the kitchen, he addressed his sisters:

“Sooyeon-noona, Soojung, what's going on?”

“We're preparing dinner, silly, can't you see?” Soojung pointed out the flat carton box placed upon the table.

“But you girls don't want to eat fast food.”

“Once in a while is fine,” said Sooyeon, standing next to her little brother, “and besides, it's your favourite, isn't it?”

“How did you - “

“I saw you, sometime ago, while I was running errands for the boutique,” said the eldest, “in the western diner, with Mrs. Li's son. You seemed to be enjoying eating burgers a lot, so I thought why not treat you tonight?”

“But why tonight, it's not my birthday or anything...”

“Because you've been sad since Chanyeol moved schools and Luhan left.” Soojung said, standing beside her sibling and joining her elder sister and rubbing circles on the hard working boy's back.

“You miss them a lot, don't you.”

Kyungsoo's eyes went from gazing at his elder sister's concerned eyes to the floor. The wooden floor became undistinguishable blurry and he closed his eyes, feeling moist trails staining his cheeks. He then slowly nodded, “even if Chanyeol is just at the Academy, or Luhan is just a phone call away, it's like... someone ripped a part of me away and I am scared I can't function. Even my boss mentioned that my work was affected by it.”

“Was he angry?” asked Soojung.

Kyungsoo shook his head, explaining his rather kind and empathic boss, “no, he said it was OK to be sad and lethargic, because... I was sad, and it's good to be sad, because it's human.”

“And he's right,” added Sooyeon, “I don't want you to hide your sadness,” the eldest leant her head against the shoulder of her little brother, pulling closer, “share it with us, because we care about you and we love you. We're family.”

Following her sister's action, Soojung did the same. Kyungsoo was fully enveloped in his sisters' love.

“Thank you both. Thank you so much... for being here, with me.” Kyungsoo's words were almost inaudible due to his apparent sobs, but both siblings found gladness in the melancholical tones.

“Okay,” Sooyeon was the first to detach herself, “what are we doing crying our hearts out when we have such delicious food in front of us, huh?” questioned the eldest, get