Kim Taehyung shielded his eyes from the August morning sunlight. How could it be so hot so early? Turning away from the window, he grabbed his green apron and slung it over his neck, reaching behind him and tying the strings together around his waist. Running a hand into his hair to smooth it into some sort of shape and stretching out his neck, arms and back, the young man headed downstairs and prepared himself for another long day of work.

The shutters of the store front made a ruckus as they rolled upwards, blinding him in light and revealing to the street corner in the city centre all of the fresh fruits he had to offer. The fruit store belonged to a senior friend of his who had given him work there after graduating university and having no luck finding employment in any of the big banks as he had hoped with his finance degree. His senior would join him later to take over for the evening and night shift, the bastard was still soundly sleeping upstairs in their shared apartment.

Taehyung blinked as the sun beamed down and stood outside the shop as more people started to pass by on the street. Checking out Instagram and messaging friends helped the time go quicker, he found, for some reason they didn't get tons of business despite being so central. It was comfortable enough to get by, but less than what would be expected for such a location. Smiling at a meme, Taehyung locked his screen and pocketed his phone returning his gaze to-

Wow

Taehyung gaped a little as a gorgeous girl with long sandy hair, tan skin and a cute heart-shaped face casually walked by, scrunching her nose up at the smellier fruits. Before he knew what he was doing, English poured out of his mouth:

"Hello! Would you like papaya?" he called, instantly feeling like slapping himself.

The girl turned back, her big brown eyes finding his and smiling before shaking her head and continuing on.

Jesus Christ she was beautiful! Why had he never seen her before? She didn't look like a tourist, though she did look like she might be foreign. Should he have just spoken in Korean? He probably should have just spoken in Korean, he had no idea what he sounded like when he spoke English. Also, she might not speak English, but she did seem to understand what he had said. Taehyung smacked his phone against his forehead. Be normal next time.

*    *    *

"Bro, bro, bro, look!" his senior hissed, nudging him as they unloaded boxes of fresh fruit from the delivery truck.

"What?"

"Girl at nine o'clock!"

Taehyung glanced over to see a young woman waiting by the lights with short black bobbed hair and wearing a floral dress. He was able to see her face when she turned to look down the street, she was cute, but she wasn't anything special.

"Eh, if you say so." he shrugged, hauling boxes of apples up the short set of stairs ready for display.

"This is why you don't have a girlfriend, you're way too picky."

"I am not!" he argued.

"Do you remember that hot girl Lisa you dated for a few weeks? There was nothing wrong with her, she wasn't crazy, she wasn't a total , she was really into you-"

"She was too tall!"

"That's exactly my point." his senior sighed, thanking the delivery driver. "There's a lot of suitable girls out there who you'll get along with just fine."

"I'm not desperate for a girlfriend like you are. I don't want to date anyone right now anyway." he shot back, moving to work on unpacking and arranging the apples for display.

"You don't realise that's a luxury for guys who look like you. It's not difficult to get someone. Think of all the sad cases like me who are lucky to get a successful date once a year."

"You're not that unfortunate."

"Not far off." he replied, "let's eat after we finish unpacking these."

Two days later, rain was pouring out of the sky and so Taehyung found himself standing under their sun umbrella in the same spot outside on the corner. Business was even less that day and he stared at the trucks on the road as they passed by, bored out of his mind. His eyes followed the last truck as it drove away and then snapped back to the street, where a pink umbrella was crossing the road. Underneath it, the same stunning girl he had seen some days before was holding the handle. Oh no, not agai-

"Hi! Would you like pineapples?"

The girl spoke this time, in Korean:

"No, thank you." she sang, or it seemed like she sang for her voice was melodic.

Taehyung blinked before switching back to Korean too:

"They're tasty!"

The girl walked a few more steps before calling back to him: "No, they're not!"

"They're really tasty! Amazingly tasty!" he yelled before breaking out into a grin as she laughed at his attempts to persuade her.

Taehyung jumped up and down on the spot a few times, swinging his arms back and forth, trying to get rid of his giddy energy, spinning around and scratching his neck. Why did he feel so damn giddy when she passed by? Maybe she was new to the city, or had moved to his area? She would have to be rich to live in any properties in that area, though. Maybe she was rich, who knew?

"What the was that?" his senior said through a mouthful of something.

"What?" Taehyung spun on his heel to see his senior standing by the stairs that led to the apartment above, bowl of instant noodles in hand.

"I saw that upstairs. So you like blondes, huh?"

Taehyung considered cussing him out, but decided against any reply, instead turning his attention back to the street, not in the mood to deal with his senior's bull. He never ing stopped talking about girls, getting a girlfriend, articles he had read about getting a girlfriend, how to impress women - he was so desperate Taehyung felt embarrassed for him. But he figured that if his senior was the biggest problem in his life, then he was probably doing pretty well for himself.

*     *     *

Taehyung slurped up noodles from his ramen bowl, his nose almost touching the broth and the steam wetting his cheeks. Proper ramen, with fresh noodles and fresh veggies and meat - it was something he treated himself to once a month. One day he would get a good job at a bank, and he could then buy a house and get a car and find a wife and have a family. That seemed like a distant dream. He was still hunting for better jobs, but the fruit shop would be enough for the time being. He was studying for more certificates to bolster his CV so he could stand a better chance. He just wanted an ordinary life with a family, and living above where he worked wasn't exactly what he had envisioned for himself when he stepped foot on campus for the first time.

Yet there he was.

Some time later, Taehyung found himself outside a convenience store sitting at a plastic table, two bottles of soju empty and the third half gone. His head fell back and he gazed up at the night sky - but he couldn't see anything because the light pollution was hiding all of the stars.

"Pour me a shot?"

Taehyung returned his head upright to see a stranger standing before him in a satin blouse. He didn't look homeless. A young guy around his age with sharp eyes, pale skin and a slouched posture. He threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out, running a hand through his brown hair. He seemed normal enough. Without a word, Taehyung poured alcohol into the paper shot cup and handed it to the guy, who drank it in one go.

"Thanks." he mumbled, putting the cup back down and giving him a wry smile before heading into the convenience store.

Drinking the rest from the bottle, a little too fast perhaps, Taehyung got up and staggered a bit before gaining his balance. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he slowly made his way back towards the fruit shop a few blocks away. The night was nice - not too hot, cool air in the breeze and the cicadas had finally died down. He was almost feeling a bit more sober as he trudged along the pavement.

Squinting into the distance, he thought he could see the girl standing by the lights, clutching something closely. Well, that was as good a time as any to try and sell fruit. Taehyung sauntered towards her, not fully aware of her body language as he reached her, plucking the doll she was holding right out of her hands.

"Is this for me? Thank you so much." he said, hugging it to himself.

The girl turned around to face him and only then did he see clearly. She laughed at him, but through tears. Her eyes were totally red and swollen, tears running down her cheeks

"What's wrong?" he asked, her state suddenly smacking some sober into him and handing back the bear, though she didn't take it.

She simply shook her head.

"Come on, you can tell me. I'm a total stranger. I won't judge." he smiled.

The girl thought for a moment and then spoke.

"I found out my boyfriend cheated on me." she said, her breath shaking. "I broke up with him an hour ago but he didn't seem to care at all."

"What a total !" Taehyung blurted. "You're so beautiful. Don't cry over that dickhead! You deserve better. Do you want a durian? Go throw it at his head."

She looked beautiful even when laughing through her tears, he smiled for a second before frowning again:

"I'm being serious! Durians do some serious damage, you know? Wait here, I'll grab one."

The girl laughed again before chasing after him, grabbing his arm and telling him it was fine and that she didn't want any. After a few minutes, the pair sat down on the store steps. Silence fell between the two and a more serious atmosphere arose.

"I'm sorry to hear what happened to you." Taehyung said finally. "Just try not to think about him, even if you're hurt. Be glad that your relationship didn't go any further."

"You're right." she agreed.

Taehyung looked down at the teddy bear, playing with its arms. "Is this a gift from him?"

"No." she replied. "I just left it at his place. It's mine."

"Oh!" Taehyung gasped. "At his place? That bear must've seen some things."

"Well. It's my bear but the things it saw didn't involve me. I guess I should've done this earlier, things had been getting cooler between us for a good while before all this."

He handed the bear back to her, which she accepted.

"I need to go." she said finally.

"Oh. I'll walk you. It's too late to go alone." he offered and to his surprise, she nodded in agreement.

Her apartment building wasn't too far from the store, but far enough to warrant a companion. The two made awkward small talk, both very aware of the tension between them as they walked along the dimly lit streets.

"I just live over there." she said, pointing to an unremarkable building but one that sure looked expensive.

"Okay. I'll leave you here then." he smiled.

"Thanks for talking to me. I feel happier on the days when I pass by your-" the girl stopped suddenly.

Taehyung's heart was beating faster than it had for a while. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but worried if that would be too forward. Maybe he should do the gentlemanly thing and bid her goodnight and go home? Her large eyes looking up at him, her cheeks flushing a little, innocent and shy expression, it took all of his self control not to pounce on her. No, he had better not - why ruin a fun thing? It would be better if he didn't do anything, regardless of what he thought she was trying to tell him with her eyes.

But then again...