The Purse and the Milk Carton

Life was stupid.

Life was boring.

Life was average.

Life was just...life.

Choi MinHee was not the happiest girl on the planet. Her parents had died in a car accident when she was eighteen, and since she was legal age, no orphanage would take her in. She had no siblings, and--ironically--neither did her parents. Her grandparents lived in America, but there was no way MinHee would have been able to dream of affording a plane ticket to the other side of the world. She lived in a single-bedroom apartment deep in the heart of Seoul and worked three part-time jobs to pay for the bills. And university tuition? No, she was attending a community college. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't what she had dreamed of as a little girl.

However, despite the hardships she'd endured, MinHee never complained. At least, not often. She had a home, clothes, food to eat, and a little spare money for groceries. The only thing she didn't appreciate about her current life was how repetitive it was. Wake up, go to school, then work, head home sometime before midnight, and sleep. Her schedule only changed on Saturdays, when she went grocery shopping--but that was hardly anything significant enough to call "different."

Today was Saturday, and MinHee was walking to the grocery store down the street. Absentmindedly, she checked the time on the cracked screen of her cell phone, which read "10:43 p.m." and placed it back into her purse she'd bought back in high school. She adjusted the worn-out straps of the bag for the umpteenth time and brushed her messy hair behind her ear. Once she entered the small grocery store, she took a basket in hand and made her way to the fourth aisle, where she got a couple microwavable meals. After placing the items neatly in her shopping basket, MinHee turned to walk to the back of the tiny store, where the frozen and refrigerated items were kept. She picked up a few bags of frozen mixed vegetables and walked a foot or two to the milk section. She stood in front of the foggy doors for a few minutes, silently debating over whether to buy 2% or 1%. Times were getting harder, and 2% did cost a little more than the other. Then again, 1% tasted duller, but it was healthier...

Decisions, decisions...

After another minute, MinHee finally decided to just buy soy milk. It was only a half-gallon carton, but MinHee never had any time to drink that much. The last time she'd bought a full gallon of milk, she had completely forgotten about it, and it had gone spoiled. Resting the shopping basket on her right arm, MinHee opened the glass door with her left and reached for the soy milk on the top shelf. At that moment, a clicking sound was heard and a metal object was pressed to her forehead.

Her hand frozen in mid-reach, MinHee turned her head to face the masked person to her right. Raising an eyebrow, she half-heartedly asked the man,

"Can I help you?"

The man stared at the young woman for a moment, thinking that "Why are you pointing a gun at my head?" would have been a more appropriate question. But he snapped out of his daze and yelled,

"Give me your purse!"

MinHee just stared at him as if he had told a very bad joke and turned back to reach for her soy milk. The man shook his gun wildly, letting her know that he did--in fact--have a weapon and demanded her to stop. Irritated, MinHee pinched the bridge of her nose, put her hand down to her side, and angrily shut the door to preserve energy for the refrigerated milk cartons. Turning to face the robber, MinHee took a brave step towards him and condescended,

"Look here, Mister. I'm in a really bad mood right now, and you just interrupted me in the middle of something that I only get to do once a week! Do you know what that means? That means buying this stupid milk and debating on what kind to buy is the most amazing thing that ever happens in a week of my life! So I suggest you put that gun away before I get really mad. And trust me, you do not want to see that side of me."

The masked man blinked in stupor before lowering his gun to his side and taking a step back. With a huff of approval, MinHee adjusted the straps of her purse and finally retrieved her long-awaited soy milk. With a quick "Thank you" to the man she had just yelled at, she walked to the counter and politely asked for the employee to start scanning her groceries, glaring at the second masked man behind the said employee.

 

Just something I wrote last night~ No romance, no drama, no death--just life~ This actually brought up a lot of questions after I wrote it. If this girl's life is so boring, why did she react that way to a robbery? Does it happen often? Does she understand the danger of the situation? XD Because of that, I've considered making this a full story. Hahaha.

Thank you for reading~ ^^