Tuesday, March eleventh 1997.

‘Thank you for your help, Yebin, you can go home now, I’ve held you back here long enough.’ Said a laughing Jang Jihee, her boss, who had promised her a salary increase of 20000₩ if she stayed to help her clean the tables. The bar wasn’t closing anytime soon, but only few people stayed after the clock struck 12AM on working days. Yebin thought any money increase in her paycheck was good so she accepted and in less than twenty minutes she and Jihee had cleaned all the bar tables, except for the few ones that were still occupied. She gathered her belongings in the backroom, said goodbye to Jihee and Won Hayoon, the waitress who would take the next turn until the bar closed, and walked straight to the bus station, to take the last one of the day. Everything in her life was a routine.

While sat in the bus she could not help but think in how the day had flowed, she always did that, plus, thinking about the day during the bus trip prevented her from doing so later in bed.

That day had been a good day, her score on the project Mr. Jeon sent was the best of her class, –it doesn’t surprise me at all, I even forgot about buying the groceries to do the goddamn project well–, and there hadn’t been any annoying clients in the bar that night. And the best part of all is that her best friend, Hwan Yoonji, had phoned her to say she would be back in town for the spring break week. Even if her apartment wasn’t in the best conditions, she offered her to stay at her place, Yoonji didn’t have the option to stay at her parent’s because they were overseas due to work, and Yebin thought it would be a nuisance for her friend to have to rent a hotel room after traveling 250 kilometers from Yongin, the city she was studying in.

She was so focused in thinking what she was going to do with Yoonji once she arrived there when she noticed she was in front of Level’s shop windows. She thought she would grab dinner when she left work, since it caught her on the way home. She pushed the door and the music followed after the soft door bell sound. In that store they always played contemporary R&B. Your Body’s Callin’ by R.Kelly. She smiled, she really liked that song.

‘Good night, Mrs. Go.’

‘Good night, Yebin.’

She smiled at the friendly owner and took a fast peek inside the store, that day seemed to be more people there. She sneaked a look at the other clients, who just like her, were buying at the convenience store that late because of an emergency.

There was a boy, in his thirties, not too tall, looking for something in the bakery section. He wore a somewhat worn out purple sweatshirt, and a black beanie. His eyes looked dull. Beside him there was another boy, around the same age as the first, a little younger maybe, dressed in red. He had a plastic bag with what seemed to be a canvas and some brushes inside. He was talking gleefully to the first boy but he didn’t seem to be listening.

Yebin grabbed a cup of instant BBQ, and headed to the cold beverages zone. Once she reached that aisle she saw him. The same boy from the previous day, he stood still opposite the refrigerators, with a bag of chips under his arm, deciding what drink he would choose. She frowned as she approached the refrigerators slowly, gripping the instant meat cup like her life depended on it. When she was right in front of the Sprite bottles, he seemed to be aware of her presence and turned to her to give her a smile, a boxy one. Only then could she notice that he was wearing the same clothes as her, just like the other day. A black sweatshirt, with a picture of Donald Duck; black jeans, ripped on the knees and a pair of worn out black low top sneakers. She was so surprised about this fact she didn’t even realize he was saying something to her. She came out the trance when the boy snapped his fingers two centimeters away from her nose.

‘Oh? I’m sorry, I was dumbstruck.’ She bowed politely before him and he smiled again. He was really handsome, probably one of the most beautiful boys she had even seen in her life.

‘I asked you if you were also a night client. Yesterday you were here as well, am I right?’

Does he even notice we are wearing the exact same clothes?

‘Ehh…yes, well, I mean, no. I don’t come here too often, but yeah, I was here yesterday.’

‘I see, my name is Kim Taehyung.’ He reached out his hand and Yebin intertwined the boy’s long and slim fingers with her own in a cordial handshake.

‘I am Han Yebin.’

‘Oh! Nice to meet you, Han Yebin!’ Taehyung grinned one more time, showing his white set of teeth. Yebin smiled too, but it was a nervous smile.

‘Well, I already have what I wanted from here, so I shall go. My pleasure, Kim Taehyung.’ She flashed a smile and he bade a farewell with his hand, happiness never leaving his face.

She walked up to the cash register with a fast pace, there was no sign of the two other boys who were grabbing sweets. Mrs. Go was hitting a TV that apparently had no signal.

‘This thing always loses the signal at this hour!’ Yebin’s eyes directed to the clock that was placed beside the neon sign, it announced the store had vinyl records and VHS tapes. Twenty-five past twelve. She laughed and put the products on the conveyor belt as she opened her purse.

‘It will cost 9400₩, please.’ She handed her the money and left the store, after saying goodbye to Mrs. Go.

Nobody welcomed her home, except for Ddalgi, who rubbed against her leg because she was hungry. At least today I haven’t let the windows open. Yebin thought as she walked towards the kitchen. The cat followed her and she chuckled.

‘You are really clingy when you want something. You probably aren’t interested in what I’m going to say, but I’ve seen that weird boy again, and he was wearing the same clothes as me…one more time. Plus, he talked to me, and I felt quite uncomfortable because he seemed like he didn’t notice we have worn the same set of clothes.’ She said as she drank a whole glass of cold water.

Ddalgi meowed several times and pushed her little head against Yebin’s leg to bring her closer to her food bowl. She smiled and petted her head.

‘OK, OK. I’m going to feed you right now.’

Yebin began boiling the water she needed for her dinner and later she poured some of the content from the cat food bag into Ddalgi's bowl. While her dinner was cooking she showered quickly and put on her pajamas, when she got out of the bathroom Ddalgi was already on the sofa, waiting for her. Once with her dinner in her hands, she put on the TV. While she ate her dinner and petted her cat, who purred in delight, her mind wandered to the convenience store strange boy.

He was pretty nice, but I can’t help but feel uncomfortable under his mere presence.