It was 11pm. 

 

Minji had been bawling her eyes out when they first reached Mingyu's house but her loud sobs soon turned into crying then small sniffles. She lay quiet in his arms. 

 

"Hey Minji, wake up," Mingyu looked down at her but she snuggled in closer to him. 

 

"5 more minutes," She mumbled unconciously in her sleep. 

 

He smiled at this contact. He'd never been this close to her ever since her Mom stopped them from sleeping on the same bed when they turned 13. 

 

Minji and Mingyu's moms were best friends since high school so when they both had children they decided that it was only right to make them both be friends too. This resulted in Mingyu having to go to Minji's kindergarten which was located far from his house. Mingyu used to come over and sleep at Minji's house during the school days so he wouldn't have to travel a far distance to get to school. The two used to share a bed, sleeping head to toe which was why Minji would sometimes wake up to having Mingyu's foot in her face. "Hey Minji, wake up," Mingyu would say as his digital clock beeped the time. Minji would always kick him while she stirred in her sleep asking for another 5 more minutes. Mingyu smiled at this memory. He missed the constant bickering at night for who would stand up to switch off the light, the pulling of the only blanket they had to use for their own and the story telling. Ah, the story telling. Minji loved reading as a child. Her favorite fairy tale was Peter Pan. She'd read books all the time, even skipping playing at the playground during lunch just to finish reading Three Little Bears. Later on at home, she'd tell Mingyu all about the books she read that day. He'd sit on the carpet, rolling his toy car around as he listened to her tales of princesses and princes. He'd always been fascinated by the way she could remember everything. "Tell me more! Tell me more!" Mingyu would stand up and jump, wide-eyed at the stories about pirates and aliens. Minji would always smirk before saying, "I'll tell you tomorrow, good things take time," 

 

Mingyu looked at Minji again. 

 

"Minji? Tell me a story," He whispered in a childish tone. Minji smiled. She remembered too. 

 

~~

 

"Damn, what do you eat?" Mingyu muttered as he carried the sleeping Minji bridal style into his room. 

 

He put her down on the bed gently before grabbing a new blanket to lay on top of her. He brushed her hair out of her face and admired her for a while before standing up and walking to the door.

 

He looked back at her one more time and whispered, "I'll off the lights this time," Then, he flicked off the light switch. He grabbed his house keys from the counter and left the house.

 

~~

 

The midnight air was cold, Mingyu tugged on his sweater and hugged himself trying to keep warm. He hopped up and down as he made his way to the nearest convenience store. The store always had no customers and Mingyu wondered how it was still running. He stood outside the convenience store door, tiptoeing and pressing his hands onto a street lamp for warmth. He shivered before finally entering the store. 

 

The store was quiet. There seemed to be no one working the register. Mingyu approached the "daily necessities" rack and picked out a pink toothbrush, pink towel and pink rubber bands. I think this should be all she needs? Mingyu thought. He knew that girls needed a lot of stuff for their daily routine but these were the only ones he could think of at 12 in the morning. He spotted cookies and cream ice-cream tubs at the back of the store. He grinned. Minji loved those. Holding all the items he had in one hand, he opened the fridge, stretching out his hand to grab a tub. 

 

"OH COLD COLD COLD," He pulled away, keeping his hand in his sweater for warmth. 

 

"THIS IS NOT YOUR FIRST TIME," A low voice shouted sternly at the front of the shop. It was probably the manager scolding one of the dumb employees, Mingyu thought. Always loving some drama, Mingyu ducked down behind a random rack, and listened closely.  

 

"I'm really sorry. I just had a bad day and-" The employee tried explaining.

 

"I DON'T CARE. ONE MORE TIME AND YOU'RE FIRED. F-I-R-E-D. FIRED. I AM GOING TO-" 

 

Mingyu burst out laughing at the manager's reference to Ratatoullie.

 

The manager look around, "Who is that?"

 

Aw man, Mingyu slapped himself for being dumb and interrupting the unfolding drama. He wanted to see some more action. The manager approached the area where the sound was coming from and stood in front of Mingyu, tapping his foot, "What are you doing here? Stealing?" 

 

"NO. Uh, no. Of course not, just uh taking a look at the neat stuff you have here," Mingyu stuttered as he gestured wildily at the rack in front of him. 

 

The manager looked at the direction he was pointing at before clearing his throat and awkwardly saying, "Well, thank you. We like to give our female customers good quality choices for the sanitary napkins they want to use. And I am surprised that a young man like you would take interest in such things," Mingyu looked up and nearly choked. Sure enough, in front of him were rows and rows of neatly stacked sanitary pad packages, ranging from "scented" to "super soft". Whatever that meant. Mortified, Mingyu scrambled to the cashier wanting to quickly leave this place that he had now deemed horrid. He reached the cashier not after tripping several times over some toilet paper rolls and stepping on a bag of chips. The manager chuckling as he went back to his office at the corner of the store. 

 

The employee was not there at the counter, though. Typical, Mingyu thought as he placed the items on the counter. Then, he rang the bell impatiently as he tapped his foot. 

 

"Coming," A glum voice called out before the employee emerged from behind the chocolate section. The first thing Mingyu noticed were his converse. Black, high cut converse. Could it be? He looked up and there he was. Captain, star goalie, lead singer. Kwon Soonyoung. His hair was dishellved, eyes tired, and he had a frown on his face. He rubbed his eyes as he dragged himself towards the counter. 

 

Soonyoung rung up the bill before yawning, "That would be $3.95. Would you like a…" His eyes widened in realisation as he registered Mingyu's presence in his mind. Mingyu returned the gesture, mouth gaping.

 

They both pointed at each other simultaneously, "You!" 

 

"What are you doing here?" Mingyu leaned in closer to study Soonyoung's face searching for a guilty expression. He had hurt Minji after all. However, all Mingyu saw was fatigue. 

 

"What are you doing here?" Soonyoung tapped Mingyu's chest with his finger. 

 

"I asked first," Mingyu stood up straight, crossing his arms. For a moment, they both just stood there, glaring at each other. 

 

"I thought I saw a tall freak in power rangers pjs standing outside the store caressing the lamp. I should've known it was you," Soonyoung scoffed. Mingyu looked down, embarassed at his choice of pants.

 

"Do you not feel sorry? Regretful? Guilty? No?" Mingyu changed the topic. 

 

 

 

 

 

"What's going on here?" The manager looked at the mess, "Goodness me! My store!" He stomped towards Mingyu and continued, "Get out now," 

 

"And you. You're fired if you don't clean this up asap," The manager pointed to Soonyoung who then immediately started gathering Skittle packets sprawled on the floor. 

 

"He hasn't paid for his stuff yet, sir," Soonyoung called from the floor. The manager stopped pushing the tall boy out the door and looked down at the boy's hand. 

 

"Yeah, I haven't. Let me pay first," Mingyu took out his wallet before pulling out a $5 note, "A tip for your hard work and don't fire him please," The manager's face lit up before grabbing the note and skipping to his office, forgetting about whatever it was that made him angry with Soonyoung.  

 

Soonyoung got up and Mingyu handed him the cash in silence. 

 

"Thanks man," Soonyoung said quietly. Mingyu raised an eyebrow.

 

"For saving my . I really need this," Soonyoung smiled a small, sad smile. Mingyu didn't get the last part but he shrugged, smiling back. 

 

Mingyu took his stuff and walked to the door.

 

"Hey Soonyoung?" The tired boy at the counter looked up from arranging candy. 

 

"I saved your . But don't make me save your girl. You'll regret it," Mingyu called out. 

 

Soonyoung sighed. 

 

"Kwon Soonyoung you pathetic waste of space," He mumbled as he stacked the final packet of skittle on the rack and having it fall off again. 

 

-------

 

 

 

 

A/N: It turned out shorter than expected :( Don't worry next chapter will be longer. I hope haha. til then

-T