[CONTENTID1]01[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]PINK POLAROID[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]Word Count: 3.4k/ Published On Nov 23 2020[/CONTENTID3]

[CONTENTID4]

The song above was included by the author so feel free to listen as you read :)

※ underline = formal ※

          “Just in case, don’t say those things to her, hyung.”

           “Why, you bastard.”

           “Even though she looks like that, her personality is .”

           Two male high school students murmured busily as they passed by their private academy1. It was even before they headed to the PC room2 that they always stopped by as if it was their daily routine. As soon as their private academy classes were over, they skipped the bathroom and dashed out. There was a place they had to stop by quickly. Their steps were very quick. The bastard he called hyung asked him again.

           “I can’t even just ask for her number?”

           “Even if you see your chance, I don’t think you’ll be able to grab it from then on.”

             The one who said no was firm. It was in a way where he was saying not to do it out of spite and not to go against it. The rumors were widely known, and her reputation was low, so the answer was set. All that was left was the fact that he should never do it. Hyung didn’t even have the time to be disappointed. When he saw the sign of their destination, the hoobae suddenly began to run.

           Seven steps, five steps, one step from the door. The glass door soon swung open. Ring. The cheerful sound of a bell. The hoobae had entered one of the three or four franchise convenience stores in the neighborhood. The two stood confidently in the store, pretending not to be nervous. And that was where the pair had met her.

           “Uh, we’re reserved under number 13. You got our message, right?”

           “…”

           It was Kim Minjeong at the cash register who stood expressionless.

///

           Minjeong closed the workbook that she had been working on momentarily before she murmured like a machine.

           “48,000 won.”

           “Huh, oh.”

           Minjeong checked once more that the CCTV seen on the checkout counter computer had frozen. The male high schooler spread out a 50,000 won bill and handed it to Minjeong. Minjeong received the money, quickly placed it in her pocket, and handed over six packs of cigarettes with the 2,000 won change. The two guys, who had been hesitant just before, quickly accepted the cigarettes with excited faces and disappeared out of the store. Minjeong opened the workbook again with an indifferent face.

           Twice a week, Tuesday and Friday, at 6:15. The store’s CCTV pauses to organize its past data. After 15 minutes of data organizing, it will start recording the store again in a clean and pleasant state. It was conventional to save at least the last fifteen days of the recording file, but the manager, who was stingy and lazy with age, didn’t want to change his junk computer or recording system. The employees that regularly visited from the headquarters also told them to take care of it themselves. As long as they didn’t get into a big accident. That was why Minjeong sold cigarettes to high school students in the area during those 15 minutes. One pack was 4,500 won but Minjeong sold it for 8,000 won. The market price was the same for everyone, but it changed from time to time. For those that argued about the price, she would never make a transaction with them again. Nevertheless, there was no other high school student that supplied cigarettes as surely and steadily as Kim Minjeong, so she was never short on reservations. Everyone was impatient for their own turn. Today was Friday. Ding, ding, ding. Text messages for reservation arrived one after another on Minjeong’s smartphone which was out of date.

           “…”

           There was a flood of inquiries that made it impossible to read even a single sentence from the workbook.

           “…”

           Minjeong, who had been staring at the display screen for a long time without saying a single word, suddenly blurted out without thinking. In a low voice.

           “Feels like …”

           Kim Minjeong always felt like . Even if her reservations were flooded, the deadline of poverty which had been imposed upon her was indomitable.

///

           Black Sand High School, classroom.

           “Oh gosh, she seriously reads the reservation text really late.”

           It was while Jimin was looking at the hand mirror at her desk. Jimin’s best friend complained as she looked at her phone. While still focusing on her eyelashes and the shape of her eyes in the mirror, Jimin asked without glancing at her friend, “Why, what is it?” Her best friend who had been continuously writing and sending new messages murmured with sulky lips as if she had been waiting for her to ask.

           “Ah, you know. The convenience store in front of chungsol3. GS4.”

           “What about it?”

           “That. Oh, you know that’s the place. Black market…”

           She could have just said that it was the place that sold cigarettes, but she didn’t want to get caught by her friends around the classroom, so she said something about the black market and whatnot. Jimin smiled as if she understood.

           “Are you going to buy it for Wongyu again?”

           “Yeah. I’ve never seen that bastard like anything better than that. If I buy him a luxury brand, that bastard would sell it to buy cigarettes.”

           Jimin’s best friend was a non-smoker that hated the smell of cigarettes and couldn’t get close to them but her one year younger boyfriend was an awful heavy smoker, so she often bought cigarettes and offered them to him. In fact, Jimin always thought that there would be nothing more pathetic than that, but she wasn’t the type to say spiteful things to her friend, so she left her alone. Nothing ever lasts long for her, so their relationship would end soon. They would probably break up before graduation. Jimin put down her hand mirror on the desk and sat up straight before speaking.

           “Do you have to make a reservation? Can’t you just go and buy it?”

           “Hey, she’s really ing thorough. There’s nothing like that. It’s more like a reservation system than a decent shop.”

           She had heard about the story of a black market dealer in the private academy district that had a strong hold over the high school smokers several times before from her friends. The dealer had appeared around a year ago like a comet and steadily started by word of mouth, but the kid was not a boy but a pretty girl. So Jimin remembered being surprised from her memory. Her best friend began talking about things she didn’t ask about.

           “I heard that she was originally really ing rich. I don’t know why she would do stuff like that there.”

           “She’s rich?”

           “She’s rich enough for you to say wow. I heard her house is tremendous. But it might just be a rumor.”

           “Hey, you said she sells the 4,500 won worth pack for 8,000 won and takes 3,500 won. Why would someone rich do something like that?”

           “But they do sell so ing well. Maybe it’s for some pocket money?”

           “If she’s rich, why would she make an allowance for herself?”

           “Ah, I don’t know. They say she’s a second year5 in our school so should I go and find her?”

           Our school? If it’s our school, then it’s a private high school where a lot of quite affluent kids live. Jimin thought that far and stopped. She didn’t want to pay much attention to the anonymous girl that sold cigarettes and the pathetic actions of her best friend. She just wanted to finish her supplementary class quickly and leave school.

           “So, when can you purchase them? You said Wongyu’s birthday party is tomorrow.”

           “Yeah, exactly. I’m ed. Today is also the day she sells...”

           “I don’t want to hear you whine so hurry up and finish it today. I’ll go with you.”

           “Really?! Yay.”

           Her best friend packed her bag with an excited face. Jimin decided to put up with it for a day even if it was annoying. After 2 weeks, the first mock exam for seniors would start and until then, the only time where she could hang out with her friends was tomorrow’s party. A party that was prepared with fever and diligence by her best friend who liked to hold parties. She wanted to have fun with as little interference as possible. Without her friend’s whining, just completely party time.

///

           Yu Jimin didn’t know what it meant to lack something.

           It was in