Chapter 29 - Convenience

‘’Park Aerin come on, now,’’ my mother urged grumpily as she piled our plates up with much clatter before she disappeared into the kitchen.

‘’I’ll do it in a bit mom,’’ I shouted after her as I made myself comfortable on the couch. I absolutely hated doing the dishes. Especially right after a stomach filling meal. I would become incredibly dull and therefore lazy and it was often then that my mom would tell me to do the annoying task. Her timing was always perfect.

‘’No Aerin. You’re doing it now,’’ she told me once she stood in the living room again. Her voice sounded somewhat pissed and I wondered what caused her to be so stern all of a sudden.

‘’Bu—‘’

‘’No buts Aerin. You’re doing it now otherwise it won’t be happening at all!’’ Her tone got even angrier as she continued: ‘’I’m not planning to do them for you. I’m sick and tired of cleaning after you and your father all the time. It never crosses your mind to help me out of your own, I always need to ask. Your father as well. He is never home and when he does he eats and sleeps, but he does absolutely nothing in here. I have a job to attend to as well so why is it that I have to do every—’’

I had long shut the rest of her lecture out and sighed as I realized that my mom was throwing one of her tantrums again. They were annoying to say the least and I reasoned that this behavior solely occurred because she missed some attention from my dad. She would always bring up his absence. She would always nag about her having to do everything and all of that only because I needed a couple of minutes before tending to the dishes. It was ridiculous and her mood started to rub off on me as well.

‘’Alright mom. I’ll do it right now. Happy?’’ I sighed in annoyance as I walked up to the kitchen and began the task my mother had so kindly asked me to do.

The pots were awfully dirty and I couldn’t help but to groan whenever the filthy parts of food wouldn’t come off as easily. It was amazing how the task of fifteen minutes had caused my mood to shift 180 degrees. I didn’t even bother to respond to my mother’s thank you when I passed her in the living room and headed to my own room once I was done.

I slammed the door shut behind me with much more force than intended and heaved a huge sigh as I finally dropped myself on my bed. As I stared at the bright white ceiling I allowed my thoughts to be completely overtaken by none other than Jung Daehyun. The male would, somehow, always find a way to surface and I sighed as I realized how absurd that actually was.

The nth sigh escaped my mouth as I slowly turned my head and let my eyes wander for my phone. I took notice of a red flashing light and found the device obediently laying on the pillow, ready to be picked up and swiped over.

A wide grin started to grace my lips once I noticed that the red light, that indicated a text, was, coincidentally, a text from the exact person I had wanted it to be from. My grumpy mood was harshly shoved away and immediately replaced by a blissful one as I read his simple greeting for the second time. Was it even healthy that his simple text could make it seem as if I was having the entire world?

Daehyun: Hi

Aerin: Hi

Daehyun: How are you?

Aerin: I’m good, you?

Daehyun: Same

Daehyun: Do you finally mind telling me why you were acting so strange a couple of weeks back?

Daehyun: Was there something wrong?

Aerin: No

Daehyun: Really?

He wasn’t going to let this go. He had, subtly, pressed about it multiple times already and I honestly had no intention in telling him why I had acted so distant. I wasn’t going to let him know that everything he did, or everything I heard about him, affected me because I liked him so much. My pride wouldn’t allow that. There was something scary in admitting your true feelings to the one you liked and therefore I had no intention in confessing what was really on my mind. I wasn’t brave. In fact I was quite the opposite. I wouldn’t dare to be the person to take the first step. I honestly wanted him to do that, as old-fashioned and selfish as that probably sounded, I did.

Aerin: Yes

Aerin: I was just grumpy because of my period.

Aerin: Sorry I took that out on you

I lied. But at least this would make some sense. Boys often don’t understand the monthly cycle and so they buy almost every excuse made out from it. It was perfect in that sense.

Daehyun: You had your period for three weeks?

Daehyun: That sounds ty

Daehyun: But alright, if you say so Rinnie

Aerin: Rinnie? What?

Daehyun: That’s my new nickname for you

Aerin: Iew no. Cut that out.

Daehyun: Haha alrightttt

Daehyun: But do you know what helps whenever you’re grumpy?

Aerin: Well?

Daehyun: Food hehe

Aerin: LOL

Daehyun: Whenever you feel grumpy you should just call me. Then you can come over to my place and then I'll cook for you :)

Aerin: You cook?

Daehyun: Kind of

Aerin: Right… I smell a lie here

Daehyun: It’s true though. If you come over right now I’ll show you.

My cheeks grew hot as I reread his indirect invite. Was he seriously asking me to come over? To his house? I swallowed thickly as I caught a big part of me desperately in need of seeing him. The other, sensible, part of me was reluctant about this invite however. I wondered what my presence in his house would possibly derive. I had never really been alone with Daehyun. Or at least, not ever since I developed serious feelings for him and the thought of being alone with him was a bit frightening. A girl and a boy in a boy’s room. What if he had different expectations from it than I had? I honestly only wanted to be in his presence but I couldn’t tell if he would want the exact same thing. Then I slowly breathed out as I figured that this was probably a joke anyway.

Aerin: Hmm

Daehyun: Seriously. Come over!

Or not.

Aerin: I think I’ll have to decline

Daehyun: Why? You aren’t busy right now are you?

Aerin: No

Daehyun: You aren’t busy, I am not busy (plus bored). You do the math!

Aerin: HA! Wouldn’t your parents question my, girly, presence in their house though?

Daehyun: No they wouldn’t. We’re friends after all.

Daehyun: Plus they are working till late. They always are. I’m practically always home alone ^^

Aerin: Oh

Aerin: But I can’t anyway. I would go over to an acquaintance with my mom later.

Aerin: Sorry :(

My heart was beating incredibly fast as I waited for his answer. Obviously I had lied but I just saw no other way to get out of this situation without actually admitting that I was scared to death to do a thing such as visiting him in his own place. I wanted to go over, honestly, but somewhere it felt so easy of me. And moreover, a tad wrong as well.

Daehyun: Don’t apologize

Daehyun: You should have said so immediately though, Rinnie

Aerin: Stop the nickname Daehyun :(

Daehyun: Alright. Anything for you ma’am

The weather was beautiful on Sunday the 20^th of April and I was cycling peacefully as I headed to work. That was until my forehead started to drip with sweat as I, unfortunately, realized that I had underestimated the weather. I hadn’t expected for it to be as hot as it was today and therefore I regretted my choice of a quite thick jacket.

‘’Dad I’m here,’’ I panted heavily once I entered Convenience and spotted my father behind the counter as usual. I immediately undid myself from the suffocating jacket and dramatically fanned myself before wiping the sweat of my forehead. The shop had air conditioning and the cold air immediately soothed my body as I felt myself cooling down already. My father only chuckled at the poor sight of me.

‘’Ah Aerin,’’ he finally worded with a smile, ‘’Good you’re here already.’’

‘’Already?’’ I stepped closer to the counter, my heavy jacket in my hand as I watched my father with raised brows.

‘’Your shift is officially only starting in half an hour,’’ he chuckled before he cheerfully greeted a customer who happened to enter.

‘’Oh,’’ I responded dryly, not too fond with this fact. I could have sworn that I was supposed to begin now. I could’ve slept more, even if it were only 30 minutes. My chat session with Daehyun continued untill late in the night and so every minute I could sleep was very much appreciated and cherished.

‘’Well, I’m going to put my stuff away,’’ I spoke before I headed for the private back of the shop. I thought I heard my father say something but didn’t quite catch it anyway and shrugged it off as my hand reached for the doorknob to our small staffroom. Once opened, I was met with the unexpected sight of a guy’s broad back. He was cleaning the cupboards of our small kitchen and I automatically assumed that this was the co-worker my father had spoken so proudly of – months ago.

The said guy turned around once he heard the door open and he placed the cloth he was using on the sink before he grabbed a different cloth and dried his hands while he took my sight in. He was about to open his mouth to say something, but was soon interrupted by the sudden voice of my father who had apparently left the shop to be. I figured that there wasn’t a single soul in there anyway.

‘’This is Kim Kyoungjae who I hired a couple of months back. I believe I’ve mentioned him to you before. He’s going to work during the weekends now as well and so the two of you will probably work together often. Kyoungjae this is my daughter Aerin,’’ my father introduced us in his usual chirpy tone. Kyoungjae stepped closer to me and bowed slightly before he took my hand and shook it politely.

‘’Kim Kyoungjae,’’ he repeated.

‘’Park Aerin. It’s nice to meet you,’’ I spoke politely as I brought myself to smile faintly. 

‘’Great that you finally met. Great! With that done,’’ my father cooed, causing me to turn to him in suspicion, ‘’I’ll leave the shop to the two of you today. I’ll continue with the stocks and once I’m finished I’ll be leaving. Don’t worry I don’t believe it’s going to be packed in here. Most people are probably seizing the opportunity of the beautiful weather so I’m guessing that there won’t be that much to do. I would appreciate it if you were to clean a bit and fill the racks. There are a couple of boxes stacked up. But more importantly just take it easy today, alright kids?’’ He finished with his signature smile. My father loved to startle people and he chuckled once he noticed that he had very much accomplished that.

‘’What? Why are you leaving?’’ I asked dumbfounded. A bit taken aback by the fact that I were to be alone with the guy I had just met.

‘’I’ve decided to head out early today. I’m going to enjoy the weather with your mother before she’ll drown in loneliness,’’ he laughed jokingly, apparently not even bothered by the fact that Kyoungjae heard our private matters as well.

There emerged only a split moment of silence between the three of us. Which I immediately broke: ‘’that sounds like a good idea,’’ I replied with an uncertain smile.

Of course I was glad that my dad were to, finally, spend some time with my mom but leaving all of the store to me and this guy I just met felt a little unexpected. My father was always unexpected like this however and I figured that he wouldn’t leave his precious shop to two youngsters if he didn’t believe that they were able to handle it. Besides, there were times when I was running the shop alone solely because my father had appointments and was therefore absent. There was nothing I couldn’t handle and so I reasoned that he should enjoy a day off with my mom. Perhaps it would lift her spirits again. If that were to be the case, then I wouldn’t have to deal with her annoying mood swings as well.

And so my father finished counting the stocks as promised before he told us to call if something were to come up, waved goodbye and left Convenience to me and my new coworker. Kyoungjae had taken it upon himself to clean the rest of our small staffroom while I just lazily stood behind the counter, waiting for another soul to appear and purchase something. My eyes wandered around the shop in boredom until they finally fell on the bucket that lay in the counter. A sigh escaped my mouth as I figured that I would be using my time more efficiently if I were to actually do something. I decided to clean the counter and was about to grab the bucket and head for the sink in our staffroom when Kyoungjae’s sudden presence in the store stole my attention instead.

‘’So…’’ Kyoungjae trailed a bit out of breath as he walked towards a rack a couple of meters in front of the counter I stood, in his hands he carried three heavy boxes.

‘’So…’’ I mimicked him unsurely as I finally took the sight of him in. He seemed definitely older than me and I assumed that he was in college. His hair was as dark brown as chocolate and styled up, showing his forehead. He wore a simple dark jeans with simple black Chuck Taylors’ on his feet and, of course, our embarrassing white Convenient t-shirt.

‘’I have heard quite a lot about you,’’ he began with a friendly but troubled smile before he finally dropped the heavy boxes in front of the supposed rack, causing a loud thud on the floor.

‘’That can never be all too good,’’ I spoke jokingly in order to create a light friendly atmosphere between the two of us.

He chuckled. ‘’It was actually good. I was curious about you in all honestly,’’ he spoke as he wiped some of the sweat of his forehead. I smiled troubled as I realized that I couldn’t say the same. In fact, I had almost forgot about the existence of another colleague. I never saw my father’s few employees. They always worked whenever I didn’t. Moreover, the announcement of Kyoungjae’s employment was back in January. It was the end of April by now.

‘’Oh really, why was that?’’ I asked with a smile as I made my way towards him to help him with the boxes. I had nothing better to do anyway. Why not bond with the guy I would work with rather often?

‘’Your father bragged quite a lot about you, that’s why,’’ he chuckled as he bent down and started to fill the racks with the products from the box.

‘’He did?’’ I asked curiously as I bent down as well, mimicking his actions.

 ‘’Yes,’’ he laughed, ‘’especially how well you do in school.’’

‘’I’m not doing that well,’’ I muttered quite embarrassed. I figured that this guy probably knew a whole lot about me just because of my father’s usual running mouth. My mother was the same as my father in that aspect and it always made me realize how much the two of them could be as much alike as they differed. Or perhaps it was a parent thing in general.

It took us about an hour to get rid of most of the boxes. Occasionally costumers would come in but never too many. I was often the one to tend to them while Kyoungjae continued with the boxes. He was about to get rid of the last box as I was walking back to the counter. My eyes fell on the bucket I had forgotten about and I grabbed it before I headed for the sink in the staffroom. Once I filled the bucket with water I grabbed two cloths and walked back into the shop, placing the heavy bucket on the floor behind the counter.

‘’So what to do now?’’ Kyoungjae questioned while he folded the final box until it was tiny enough to be thrown away. He joined me be behind the counter once he was done, carefully stepping over the bucket as he didn’t want to knock it over.

‘’There is not much to do honestly,’’ I shrugged.

He simply nodded and there emerged a peaceful silence between the two of us.

‘’So what do you do in life except for working here?’’ I asked to bring up a topic.

‘’I live the University life. Go out sometimes. Nothing too fancy,’’ he smiled good-naturedly before humming along to the store’s faint music.

‘’Oh really what do you study?’’ I asked interested.

‘’I studied Economics back in the States but then I decided to study here and instead chose to study Finance and Accounting. I have a thing with numbers,’’ he explained with a chuckle.

‘’The States?’’ I repeated in surprise. Awaiting his answer, I bent down and grabbed some cleaning liquid from the counter before I poured its content into the bucket. I never understood why my father found it necessary to place all the cleaning products, and the bucket, in our counter, given the limited space it held, but I had to admit that it was pretty convenient right now. I didn’t have to walk all the way to the back again after all.

‘’How long have you been living here then? Was it hard to adapt? No wait, how old are you actually?’’ I asked all at once. ‘’Sorry, I’m just curious,’’ I chuckled sheepishly before I grabbed the cloth and slowly began to clean the counter.

He laughed before he reassured me that he didn’t mind my questions. ‘’I’m 22 and I have lived here for only a couple of months now. I grew up in the States but I am quite familiar with Seoul. I came here with my parents quite often when I was younger. Besides that a good friend of mine has always lived here and he showed me a lot as well. Because of that I adapted pretty quickly. I always spoke Korean at home as well.’’

I simply nodded at his answer.

The following minutes had been of a friendly conversation filled with light-hearted jokes. I honestly enjoyed it. I was often bored during work, especially whenever it would be as calm as it was now. I usually didn’t work with anyone besides my dad and even if I did work with other people, the other employees were of my father’s age which made it a bit difficult to connect with them. This was different with Kyoungjae however and being able to talk so freely to him was somehow refreshing.

‘’Aren’t you supposed to go on your break now?’’ I asked at some point as I glanced over my watch. It was around 4:00 PM and I hadn’t seen him take a break ever since I got here, which was around twelve. He had been here even before me.

‘’Oh yeah, I guess so,’’ he laughed sheepishly. I shook my head in amusement and watched him as he headed for the racks with the different kinds of instant noodle cups. He choose a shrimp flavor and came back to the counter as he purchased it together with a cold drink. It didn’t cost him anything as the charge would automatically become a, pleasant, zero after entering an employee number – whenever the costs wouldn’t be higher than a certain amount, that is.

Once he had ‘paid’ he disappeared to our staffroom and I immediately felt utterly bored again. The store was completely empty and I wasn’t sure of what to do now. I decided to sweep the floor only minutes later. I figured that I would, at least, be doing something productive. I, secretly, hoped that a lot of customers would come in, but seeing how the weather was keeping people from doing any (small) groceries I concluded that that scenario wasn’t a very likely one.

A glint of hope returned when I heard the door of the shop open. I immediately turned around to greet the customer and met with an unexpected sight.

‘’Good aft—‘’ I stopped midsentence as I took notice of the familiar figure who had just entered.

‘’Aerin?’’ Jin questioned pleasantly surprised. There was a smile on his face as he scanned my appearance, confirming whether it was really me. His gaze then shifted to my t-shirt, or chest rather, and I noticed him narrowing his eyes as he read what was written on the white cotton.

‘’Oh hey Jin... Hadn’t expected to see you in here,’’ I spoke semi awkwardly not quite sure what else to say.

‘’Convenient huh?’’ he laughed as his eyes were still on my t-shirt.

‘’It is terrible right?’’ I jokingly spoke in order to brush the embarrassment of my clothing off, ‘’my father is very keen on his workers wearing this particular shirt, so I guess there is no other option than to go along with it. Unfortunately.’’

Jin couldn’t help but to laugh at this. ‘’Your father sounds like a funny man.’’

‘’He can be,’’ I chuckled before there fell an awkward silence between the two of us. The truth was that Jin and I weren’t as close as I had thought we would be after that partner project. Sure, we talked during class but those talks were, surprisingly, quite minimal and they were mostly about class affairs rather than other, personal, things. I don’t know how this had happened, but somehow it did and now that we were alone in my workplace I felt a bit awkward and tense talking with him.

‘’So,’’ Jin trailed as he was the first one to break the silence, ‘’I didn’t know your father owned this store.’’

‘’You talk as if you come here often. Your house is pretty far away right?’’ I spoke a tad more relaxed. I don’t know why I had felt awkward just now. This was Jin after all, and if there was one guy I could be completely relaxed with, it was Jin. I figured that seeing him outside of school must have caught me off guard somehow.

‘’Yeah that’s true but I come here after school often. Also a friend of mine lives nearby so sometimes I make a quick stop here before going over to him,’’ he explained as he scratched the back of his neck.

‘’I see,’’ I spoke before I walked up to the counter and put the broom I had been holding all along in a corner, ‘’you come by at the exact right moment honestly. I was bored out of my mind,’’ I chuckled as I watched Jin grab a couple of Coke cans from the cooler.

‘’I guess that my presence is only appreciated by you whenever you’re bored. You don’t really talk to me in class after all but now we seem like perfect friends again,’’ he spoke once he stood in front of me, the counter being the only object between the two of us. His face had no traces of even a faint smile and I gulped as I wondered whether Jin was perhaps frustrated with my strange and ever changing behavior.

‘’Jin I—‘’

‘’I’m joking Aerin, God, you should’ve seen your face just now. A stunned Aerin is adorable,’’ he laughed good-naturedly as he placed the drinks on the counter. I only chuckled nervously as I scanned the drinks, all the while thinking that a small part of that joke had been true. I hadn’t been as social with Jin as the both of us had thought I would be, but I had been more social just now. But on the other hand that was only natural as well right?

I absent-mindedly put Jin’s cool purchases in a plastic bag once he had paid, somewhere feeling guilty towards him.

‘’Aerin,’’ Jin disrupted my thoughts with his crystal clear voice, ‘’I was really joking just now.’’

‘’I- I know,’’ I spoke as I handed him his drinks with more of a smile, ‘’so where are you heading with all of those drinks?’’

‘’Aah that. I was playing basketball on the playground in front of our school with some of my friends. I lost, so guess who got to buy,’’ he chuckled. It was only then that I really took his appearance in. He was wearing shorts together with a shirt and I guess that it did make sense that he was out playing.

‘’That sounds like fun,’’ I spoke sincerely as I thought about the beautiful weather. If only I were to be free I could’ve enjoyed it as well.

‘’You should come by, whenever your shift ends maybe. You’ll be our lucky charm,’’ Jin winked greasily. I shook my head in amusement as I once again realized what a dork this guy was.

‘’I will be here for a while though,’’ I pointed out.

‘’We will be out playing until late so that’s okay. But oh well, think about it. I c- we could really use the luck,’’ he laughed as he walked towards the exit, ‘’hope I’ll see you,’’ he spoke at last as he waved and eventually disappeared. I watched him until I couldn’t spot his figure anymore and pondered over his invite for quite some time after. It took me awhile but I eventually decided that I would come by to watch him. It was very unlike me to give in to invites such as his, but I figured that I needed to cycle past them anyway and therefore it wouldn’t hurt to make a stop and enjoy the outside air.

We closed the shop around 19:00 PM. A cool breeze blew by gently once I stood outside. The weather was luckily still pleasant despite it being a bit colder and Kyoungjae and I friendly bid goodbye before I half determinedly cycled towards the playground Jin would most likely be.

It was a bit crowded on the playground but I spotted him soon enough. He sat on a bench with some other guys I recognized as his friends. He intently watched two other guys play one on one against each other. He only spotted me when I came up to him with my bike in my hand and a wide grin started to grace his lips once he realized that I had actually stopped by. Something that surprised myself as much as it probably surprised him.

It was unexpectedly pleasant to enjoy the evening outside, watching some guys I barely knew play basketball. Though I had been there only briefly I quite enjoyed hanging out with Jin.

And, coincidentally, he did win the first match I watched him play.  

______________________________