He made sure to park his car near the exit and scanned his surroundings. He was sitting in his car, all fidgety thinking about what he was about to do.

Come on, you can do this.

He saw a man leave the diner. He wasn’t walking in a straight line and Taemin knew he must have drank a bit too much. The man walked to a red car and left the parking-lot, and now there were only three cars left. They must have been the employee’s.

When he was sure there were no more clients around, he gathered his courage and got out of his car, taking a deep breath as he clenched his jacket tightly. He could feel the gun in his holster and the weight of it only stressed him more.

He put his hood over his head and entered the diner, looking around to make sure there was indeed no one left. He could feel the waiter’s eyes on him but he ignored it, as well as the fear he could feel in his guts.

“You okay, kid ?”

The voice made him jump and he turned to the waiter. He was looking at him with worried eyes while wiping a glass with a towel, kind of like a barman in a saloon would do in a western.

He took a step forward and grabbed the gun inside his jacket, ready to pull it out when he saw a client walk out of the restroom and into a booth in the corner of his eye. He quickly put his hand away from the gun, as if it had burned him, and the man behind the bar raised an eyebrow at his weird behaviour.

“Can I help ya ?”

Come on man, you didn’t came all the way here for nothing. Just do it !

He walked to the bar and he grabbed the gun under his jacket, pointing it at the man behind the bar. He gripped the gun tightly to prevent his hand from shaking too much and he looked up. His eyes met the man’s and he was surprised by what he saw in them. He wasn’t scared of angry, his eyes were… soft.

“You want the cash, don’t you ?”

“Y-yeah, give me the cash !” He said, throwing his bag at the man with his free hand.

The man grabbed it, careful not to make any sudden moves, and went to the till.

“Why don’t you… take off your hood ?”

“So you could see my face and report me to the police ?” Taemin snorted. “I don’t think so.”

“Look kid, this isn’t the first time we’ve been robbed. Even if I saw your face, you’d be long gone before I’d even be able to reach the police. Trust me, I know.”

Taemin clenched his hand on the gun, sweating because of the stress flowing through his body. Without really knowing why, he raised his free hand to pull his hood off, revealing his face to the older man.

“Geez… I’ve never been robbed by such a pretty boy.”

Taemin blinked, frowning. What this guy really flirting with him now ? He was pointing a gun to his head for ’s sake !

“You know most people robbing this place are older and ug-”

“Do you ever stop talking ?” Taemin said, irritated.

“My bad. People like my voice so I’ve become a bit big-headed and I’ve developed this habit ya see, speaking over and over and ov-”

“Just fill the bag with the cash and shut up !” Taemin shouted.

“Okay, okay.” The man said. “There’s not need to scream.”

They fell into a heavy silence and the man kept filling the bag. For a second, he wondered why it took so long since he was only robbing a diner, not a ing bank, but he was too stressed to pay attention. He realized the silence was much worse than hearing the man speaking nonsense as the guilt started giving him stomachache.

“How old are you anyway ?” The man asked softly. “You’re too young to be robbing places like this one. I don’t know why you need the money so much, but whatever it is, it’s not worth it.”

“You don’t know me.”

“No, I don’t. Unfortunately.” The man said with a small smile. “But I know what it’s like, to be young and in need for money.”

Taemin raised his head and his eyes met the other’s ones. His eyes were big and Taemin could feel the sincerity in his stare.

He suddenly heard police sirens and his eyes widened.

“I’m really sorry for this.” The man said, throwing him an apologetic look.

“You warned them ! You bastard ! I’ll ing kill you !” Taemin shouted as he took a step closer, his guns only a few centimeters away from the man’s face.

His eyes met the man’s. There were soft and understanding and he suddenly felt sick. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t hurt him.

He couldn’t hurt anyone.

He grabbed the bag and ran as fast as he could.