Hanbin, against his will, applied for as many jobs as he could. He was in dire need of money. His parents made him pay rent and those landlords of his would most certainly kick him out if he couldn't make ends meet.

At his age it was humiliating to be working at a convenient store. He was not a high school kid. Showing up the way he had the owner assumed he would have turned up to buy something. When he said he was there for the job advertised at the window, the owner was surprised. But professionals said nothing and neither did the owner. Thus Hanbin went from being a respected doctor to a part timer.

The job could be described as ‘pure e.’ Hanbin spent most of the day watching out for pickpockets. He had to confront underaged kids who were trying to buy cigarettes and alcohol.

Sometimes he met people he knew. That was where things got embarrassing. Hanbin hated the memory of his downfall. However it was brought up whenever these people came.

Rearranging shelves was a snooze. He didn't like stocking them either. In sum, Hanbin was miserable. There was never a day he went to work happy. Steadily the boredom was killing him. His head ached when he thought of how to make ends meet. He knew in the back of his mind that he would need a series of these jobs if he wanted to appease his parents but then he would really die from glum.

Now might be a good time to mention that Kim Hanbin hadn't told his parents of his outstanding suspension. They had always hated his career path, preferring that he take over the family business instead but Hanbin had never liked clubs even in his youth; when he was a toddler left to toddle around the booths.

The idea of having his parents know his truth make him want to retch. They would see it as an opportunity to whip him up as a gang leader. Hanbin cringed.

The door swung open yet again and he rolled his eyes. These customers were disrupting him. He forced his lips to curve upwards and unwillingly lifted his eyes from his text book. “Welcome!” He honey glazed that rotten word.

From appearance he knew there would be a problem. It was another one of these pesky high school kids. Hanbin wanted to throw the kid out of the shop quite literally when the pest began to browse.

He really ought not to have cared about it, pretend he didn't know the swine secretly hid something and kept shuffling through the aisle. However that short moment of a falter really ticked him off. If it had been him in the kid's place Hanbin would never be so obvious.

“You there!” He threw an accursed finger. “Stop what you're doing or else I'll hang you outside the shop with a sign to warn others like you.”

The teenager froze and defended himself as bravely as anyone would. Hanbin cracked his knuckles. “Right then, have it your way.”

A chase ensured around the little shop. Another customer entered and was humoured by the show.

The hooligan staggered to the door where he was stopped. Hanbin doubled over to catch his breath. When he glanced up the crook was pinned to the ground, struggling while sprouting the nonsense arrogant teenagers came up with.

Finding his chance Hanbin examined the crazy kids bag and found a packet of pot noodles. A wave of pity washed over him, drenching his insides and melting his heart. He replaced the item and sent the teen on his way.

“Why did you do that?”

“He must've been hungry,” Hanbin appealed.

“So you just let him go like that?”

He said no more but decided to deposit the lost money once the cash register opened.

“You've gotten really weird. Maybe this just isn't the job for you.” Lee Yowon was scrutinizing him quite mercilessly.

“What do you know about going to bed hungry?”

“Nothing. I'm privileged enough not to be. Since when did you become a Samaritan, the great Kim Hanbin who used to steal people's lunch?”

He still did not reply. In fact Hanbin did not say a thing for as long as she was there, assuming to be more interested in his book than in her questions. She didn't seem too bothered by that.

Understanding he didn't wish to speak, she coolly paid for her item and left him all alone. He was shocked yet not exactly. Hadn't they parted ways years ago? He was the only one left to get over it. He might have done so successfully if it hadn't been for that time where she'd almost died in front of him. Seeing that, Hanbin didn't think his heart would do anything but ache if he couldn't be by her side. Of course Yowon would never understand that.

*

Mrs. Lee sat unhappily. Although on her rocking chair with a warm cup of coca in her hand she was infuriated. Her daughter was a tyrant. A completely irrational, completely uncomprehending tyrant. She was shortening her mother's lifespan and thinning out her frame, the cause of every hair lost.

In her lap lay crumpled pictures, unfathomable! Mrs. Lee was fuming alone. Her temper was enough to boil a kettle, a stream, a lake of any other body of water, maybe even cook an egg.

This was the last straw. Mrs. Lee refused to see further ruin. Her little fist was trembling. The coca was no longer delectable. She poured the contents into the fireside letting it fizzle in hisses and dread but probably not as much dread as Mrs. Lee felt.

“You!” She called once the door clicked open.

Obediently, the object of all her dejection came into view. “What is this?!” Thundered the elder tossing the proof of her grief at her daughter.

Stonily the latter glared back. “Stop following me.”

“Nothing! Nothing in life has brought happiness. I've wasted my years for my precious children. Pampering my son who was sick and my daughter. What is the result? The son dies leaving his widowed mother and sister. And you, you rebel against me! Do you not see how much I care for you? Don't you know the great pains I've taken just for you? How dare you do this to me?!”

A mug shattered. She was shaking from the contents of her own speech. The speech had been repeated many times. The daughter was habituated. It was part of a routine.

“And now,” growled Mrs. Lee. “You want to become a further disappointment by hanging out with that rag tag boy? I won’t allow it!”

“His name is Kim Hanbin,” the daughter replied with a sigh.

“What does he do for a living? Knowing you, he must work in a host bar. How dare you!”

“He’s a doctor.”

Mrs. Lee cackled menacingly. “Don't joke with me! I'm not mental yet! I can see through you. All you've done is destroy me. Bring me back my brilliant daughter! If there's any intelligence left in you, you will know what I am thinking.”

“I don’t want to be part of your scheme. Please mum, can't you just accept me?”

“I want to meet that boy and his parents.” She pointed to the photographs. “I won't allow you to see a gigolo.”

Yowon pursed her lips. “I've a night shift.”

“A night shift, ha! Don’t act smart with me. You're not a doctor. Who would give you a night shift?”

Yowon wondered why she'd even gone home. There was no point in arguing with her. Her mother wasn’t going to listen.

She couldn't stand there any longer. Feeling more exasperated than when she’d entered, she left with a darker cloud hovering above her.

A small car with tinted windows was more inviting. Yowon hopped into the back seat where her uniform lay. Quietly she began to change. When she was done she folded her civilian clothes and placed them into a plastic bag to be stowed away under the seat.

From here she climbed into the front seat and opened the glove compartment. Her makeup was stored here. She grabbed a bag, ped it and placed it into her lap. Flipping the visor, she slid open the mirror. A fed up countenance reflected back at her. The job of her makeup was to make her look less of that. Hurriedly she hid her expression behind a veil of paint until the only thing left was a pretty, young police officer.

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