The exam period was finally over. JongHyun had a three week break from school now. Well, it wasn’t much of a break since he’d be working the whole time. He still had a bunch of student loads to pay back and he was already late with his rent for his apartment. Needless to say, he was very stressed out with money. Which was probably why he was at the shop now begging Onew for extra shift (he wasn’t about to ask for a raise when he was already over paid).

            “Please hyung! Can I please have more shifts? I’ll work with Jessica even! I want to work triple shifts! Quadruple shifts would be great!” JongHyun begged. He let out a heavy sigh when Onew shook his head for the hundredth time.

                “JongHyun, I’m not going to give you extra shifts. You already ered me into giving you double shifts – you’re going to end up working more than me if I let you work anymore,” he said.

            It was like a massive blow to the gut. If JongHyun couldn’t get extra shifts then he wouldn’t be able to pay off all his debts. He was drowning in the money – or his lack of it rather.

            One look at Onew told him that he wasn’t going to get any more shifts so he went back to his work. Grabbing a box of sparkly pink pencils they’d just received and went to go sort them far away from his boss. His mind reeled with ideas of what he could do to get more money. Even with the salary he had now he couldn’t keep up with his bills. The only solution he could think of was getting another job. But that would mean he would have to work nights… Then how would he get any sleep?

            Stuck in the middle of his thoughts JongHyun didn’t’ even realize that he was setting up the pencils improperly. The only reason he noticed his mistake was because Key’s saucy voice spoke up behind him.

            “You idiot, what are you doing?” he asked, grabbing the pencils away from JongHyun with his good hand. He worked quickly and efficiently, rearranging the display until it was arranged to his satisfaction. “What’s wrong with you?” Key demanded.

            The other boy sighed, not being comfortable enough with Key yet to reveal all the issues he was having. To avoid a confrontation he picked up the now empty cardboard box and headed back to fetch another box. To his displeasure, Key was still there. His still slightly bruised eyes were narrowed at him and his casted arm was crossed with the other.

            “What do you want?” JongHyun asked quite crankily.

            “Don’t get snappy with me. I came here to check up on you,” Key answered.

            “Well, I’m fine. Can you move please?” He tried to nudge his way around the guy but he stood his ground.

            “Listen to me,” he prodded.

            “I said please,” JongHyun ignored.

            Flustered that JongHyun wasn’t listening to him, Key grabbed the box from him and tossed it aside. He embellished in the fact that he was taller than the elder and sized him up.

            “Onew hyung is worried about you, okay? He told me that you’re begging him for more shifts even though you’re already working double. I came here, on his behalf, to figure out why,” Key hissed.

            JongHyun sighed, already annoyed. He just wanted to get his work done with no interruptions so he could go out and look for a night job.

            Key was still expecting an answer, though, so he would have to lie a little to get rid of him.

            “I’m asking Onew hyung for extra shifts because I have a student loan I need to pay off. I’m a couple hundred short and I thought I could pay it back faster if I picked up some extra shifts,” he said.

            It wasn’t a complete lie… He did have a student loan to pay off – two actually – but he still had about five thousand plus dollars left to pay on it. Plus rent… Electricity… Water… Food…

            Dollar signs flashed crazily in JongHyun’s mind until he felt nauseous. He needed to make more money. He had to if he wanted to keep living… If you could call what he was doing now living.

            “Yah… JongHyun… JongHyun…”

            A light shove set the stocky male temporarily off balance. His eyes blurred, refocused and then blurred again until they fixated on the narrow brown eyes belonging to Key. They were wiped clean of hostility, instead bearing an unusual look of worry as he stared at JongHyun.

            The older boy stared back in confusion.

            “What?” he mumbled, finally managing to push past Key to get to the display he should have finished a while ago.

            “You spaced out all of a sudden,” Key grumbled. His usually moody attitude came back; all traces of caring disappearing.

            “I’m fine,” JongHyun lied.

            “I didn’t ask if you were.” He gave his co-worker a snobby look before strutting out of the aisle. No matter how hard he tried to pack venom into his behaviour, though, he couldn’t neutralize the concern swelling up in his chest. Like a snake hiding in the bushes, the concern came out of nowhere and bit him in the ankle. And now matter how much anti-venom they pumped into his veins the venom continued to spread – slowly seeping into his heart.

~

            JongHyun had never been happier to leave work. Usually he always felt a little down leaving work since even Key couldn’t dampen the lively mood of the shop, but today he was too under the weather to care. Bidding farewell to Onew he set out for the walk home. His messenger bag bounced lazily against his thigh with each step he took. Loose change jingled around at the bottom reminding JongHyun about just how pathetically broke he was.

            The corner that intersected JongHyun’s street and the street he was on loomed up ahead. He was ready to pass on as usual but a big red sign caught his attention.

            ‘HELP WANTED.’

            The setting sun seemed to shine brighter and the air seemed fresher. This might just be the break he needed.

            There were no chiming bells to announce his arrival and no bright smiled Onew. The place was colourful – with food, energy drinks and snacks lining nearly every shelf – and a short girl stood behind the counter. Her long brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail that made her baby cheeks stand out even more than usual.

            “Hello~” she greeted JongHyun as he walked towards her. “Can I help you?”

            “Yeah, actually, I saw your sign and I was wondering if I could apply,” he explained.      

The girl instantly lit up. “Sure! But I warn you, it’s night shift that we need; convenience stores don’t close till one am on this street,” she warned.

            “That’s fine,” JongHyun assured. It was perfect actually. Now all he needed was to get hired and he might have some of the financial stress taken off his shoulders.