Tick tock tick tock.

Okay, there were no actual ticking and tocking sounds since it was a digital wall clock. Mina couldn't help but make up the sounds in her head. It was a slow day at the Apple Store. Thank goodness. She kept her notes below the counter top so she could study for her statistics exam later. She'd be off by three in the afternoon, assuming Momo could get here in time to take over. But Momo rarely ever made it by three in the afternoon. She sighed.

By now, it was thirty minutes before three. It didn't seem like any more customers were going to bother her at this point. Most people went in, fiddled with the devices and left without so much as an inquiry. Just as Mina preferred.

"Excuse me," a soft voice interrupted Mina's studying, prompting her to quickly sweep the notes to the side as if she wasn’t just avoiding her actual “work”. She looked up at the customer with a polite smile. She was a girl with bright, somehow perfectly tousled blonde hair and an even brighter smile. She was around Mina’s age, maybe, but she looked more mature. It could be the way she carried herself or the way she dressed, looking very neat and professional with a buttoned down cream top and a blazer to match. As opposed to Mina’s polo shirt and jeans work uniform or her usual oversized hoodie or sweater with matching Chuck Taylor sneakers

The customer suppressed her giggle at Mina's nervous gesture, "Sorry to be a bother, but I'd like to buy a new phone."

Mina nodded, "It's no problem at all," she walked over to the display units and gestured for the customer to look over the models, "Are you looking for something in particular?"

Now, Mina was an Apple girl. Always had been and always will be. All her major electronics were of the brand: desktop, laptop, mobile phone and all other accessories that go with them. There weren't many iPhones to choose from, which was a good thing she supposed. iPhones were easy to use and they handled well in whatever situation. She’d fight anyone who would say otherwise. Not that other brands using the Android OS were any less capable, but the iPhone was the whole package of functionality and durability. She could go on and on about the good points but there were only two problems with them: (1) the storage capacity -- she would like to not be asked to make room for more storage before snapping a photo; and (2) the battery -- lugging around a power bank (or two) all day was a bit of a nuisance, especially when going on a trip. But Mina had been using her iPhone 6 for quite some time and it was starting to lag. She couldn’t play her games properly! She’d thought of buying a newer model but her iPhone 6, which sufficed, to say the least, performed all the necessary functions. She wasn't about to burn her next paycheck (and a sum of her savings) on a new phone. She had more sense than that.

The customer pondered, staring at the few models in front of her. Only the iPhone 8 and up were on display. Older generation iPhones were no longer made and sold in official stores. Even the iPhone 8 was about to lose its spot on the shelf.

"I don't really know. I still kind of like my old phone," she said as she pulled out her rather mutilated iPhone 7. Cracked screen, chipped off corners and a glitchy display. Oh, the horror. Mina twitched.

"I'm sorry, but we don't sell those units anymore."

"Oh, I know. I mean I just really like my old phone because everything is in it already. Photos, apps, notes. Everything. I don't want to have to transition to a new phone," she said while pouting cutely and looking at Mina pleadingly. Mina subconsciously pouted along with her. 

"Ah, well, I understand. It can be hard to move on," Mina said. 

She chuckled and asked, "Who hurt you?"

It didn't quite register in Mina's head what she meant until she repeated her own words to herself. She smiled and showed her her old, beat up (though not as damaged) iPhone, "I guess I have the same problem."

"At least yours isn't hanging on by a thread, clutching on to dear life," she said dramatically as she caressed her phone in her hands. She then turned to Mina, who was trying to hide her amused expression, "Well, actually, I already have a new phone but I think there’s something wrong with it."

"I can have a look at it if you want," Mina suggested, “I mean, if it’s practically new, we can have it replaced if you still have the receipt.”

She did a light little hop and clapped her hands, "Oh, that would be great!"

Okay, so maybe she was the cutest customer Mina ever had the pleasure of entertaining.

"Mina, right?" she asked as she took the new phone from her bag.

Mina almost forgot she was wearing her name tag. She always got caught off guard when customers said her name. Introductions were usual protocol but Mina would really rather not be remembered by customers.

"Sana," she said with the brightest smile. She found it a bit strange. Customers didn't usually go around dropping their names. She handed her her phone, which was still in its box.

The phone didn't seem damaged at all. It worked fine in all aspects of what this particular phone could do. Mina didn’t need to take it apart to tinker with the hardware, much to her relief.

"I ran a few tests but I don't see anything wrong with it, Sana."

"Really?" Sana asked, the tone of her voice higher than normal. "I couldn't figure out how to transfer my photos and apps to the new phone. There was some error message that kept popping up."

Oh... Do I get paid for this?

"Okay. I could help you with that. I can walk you through it if you want in case you encounter this problem again," Mina suggested.

"That'd be great," Sana smiled and scooted closer to Mina with their shoulders pressed together. Sure, Sana probably did that so she could see Mina work her magic. But it was enough to make Mina forget to breathe for a few seconds.

After a few minutes of pressing on-screen buttons and scrolling through a bunch of files on both phones, Sana inching closer to Mina's face to presumably get a closer look at the screens or listen to her instructions because her voice was quite small, and Mina panicking just a wee bit too much every time she felt Sana's breath against her skin or every time a strand of her golden blonde hair brushed her cheek whenever she leaned in, the deed was done. Well, at least the deed was in the process of completion. The apps were downloading and the files were transferring. It would only take a little bit longer.

Momo arrived, waving at Mina, who let out a sigh of relief that she could finally leave work but there was a tug on her chest, telling her to stay for a while to help Sana. But she had more sense than that (school was important).

"Sana, I'm really sorry, but I need to get to class. Momo can help you out with the transfer and everything," Mina said quickly, "I'm here most days at this time so you can come back if there are any issues."

She wasn't really sure why she was being so reassuring. It wasn't normal to treat customers this nicely. Well, she should be treating them as such and she did. But she really meant it this time (unlike other times where kindness was out of duty). Sana must have felt her sincerity because she smiled and nodded, thanking Mina for all her help.

Just like that, Mina was off to class, leaving the seemingly technologically illiterate Sana in Momo's care. 

***

Tick tock tick tock.

The paper was due in two weeks but Mina thought it would be better to start as early as now. She wasn't going to be a procrastinator. Since Dahyun would be taking next week off, she and Momo would have to take two extra shifts each so, yes, working on her paper now made the most sense. Who cared that she was preparing her report during her working hours?

The glass doors opened and Mina greeted, not sparing a glance,  "Hi, welcome to--"

“Hi, Mina!” Sana greeted cheerfully. Mina looked up to meet her eyes

"Hi Sana," Mina said perhaps too happily, closing her laptop and pushing it to the side.

“Looks like I'm here to bother you again," she giggled. It was cute. She thought she wouldn't ever hear her whimsical giggles again after she left for class the other day. But there it was. There she was, being all cute and technologically challenged.

Sana went through her dilemmas. Firstly, she couldn't get Kakao Maps to work properly. Solution: allow Kakao Maps to have access to the phone's GPS loc