❝02 converse;
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                                   there's a different person that's not me inside of me. he's trying to hurt me. - hyde by vixx 

He’s back, Kei thought to himself as the tall, brooding figured shuffled into the store. With curious eyes, Kei watched from behind the counter at his unfeeling movements.

The man grabbed three cans of beer from the freezer, stalked to the counter, slammed down the exact change in front of Kei, and was out the door before Kei could even greet him.

Having watched him take a seat outside at the same table, Kei sighed and started up the cash register.

“Why is the happiest employee in all of South Korea so upset suddenly, huh?” Mr. Kim, the manager of the convenience store, called out good-naturedly as he came out of the back staff room.

Kei sighed again. “That man...” he nodded towards the shop front window where Leo was in clear view. “I made him angry yesterday. I feel really bad.”

Mr. Kim followed Kei’s gesture, and enlightenment spread across his old, pleasant features when he saw Leo. “Ah, him. Leave him alone, Kei. That kid has been coming here to drink for years, always around this time of the year, actually.”

Kei stared out the window as Leo popped open the first can and took a huge gulp. “Why?”

“I don't know,” Mr. Kim shrugged. “He's a very cold and private person. I never bothered to ask.”

“How long does he stay there?”

“He doesn’t leave that spot until he has finished three cans of beer. He usually comes every day for two or three weeks. Then he disappears until the next year.”

“... He must be sad.”

Mr. Kim shrugged again and patted Kei on the back. “Who knows? Just let him be, Kei.” He gathered the store daybooks and retreated back into the staff room.

Kei looked as the door to the room closed and then back at Leo’s silhouette.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kim,” he whispered to himself, “but I can’t just let a grieving soul be alone.”

---

It was nearing two in the morning, also known to that particular store as the quietest hour of the night shift. Mr. Kim usually took over the counter at this time and allowed Kei a break, and Kei knew how he was going to spend it tonight.

He quickly put on his coat and stepped out of the store into the cold air. Kei walked with a bounce in his step, something Leo had come to hate in people.

“Hi! May I sit with you?”

Leo eyed the boy in front of him. The word no hung on the tip of his tongue, but he remembered how unkind he had been to Kei the night before, and Kei’s eager smile wasn’t helping to alleviate his guilt.

Leo sighed. “Fine. Sit.”

As Kei excitedly plopped into the chair, Leo cringed visibly at the cheerful aura that now engulfed him. Kei opened his mouth to say something, but Leo raised his hand abruptly. “Don’t! Talk. Don’t make me regret letting you sit here.”

With shining eyes that still showed a tinge of achievement and happiness, Kei nodded and zipped his lips with his fingers. He took a medium-sized, thin book out of his coat and started reading.

Leo sighed again and opened a new can of beer.

It wasn’t like him to give in to guilt. In fact, it wasn’t like him at all to even feel guilt, especially towards a stranger.

The old him would have been proud. He would have said to Leo, “Good job. You’re human again.” But Leo didn’t care about the old him anymore. He had died a long time ago, as far as Leo was concerned.

There was an unfamiliar, unwanted presence.

But nonetheless, silence. Just how Leo liked it.

And half an hour went by.

---

“What are you reading?”

Kei looked up, his wide eyes betraying his shock and his wide grin betraying his happiness at being spoken to. “The Little Prince!” he chirped. “It’s my favourite book.”

Leo scoffed and took a swig out of his can. “It’s dumb.”

“No, it isn’t!”

“It is, and it has a stupid ending.”

“... Do you hate sad endings?”

Leo turned his head and looked straight at Kei. “I didn’t say it was sad; I said it was stupid.”

Kei nodded. “Yeah, and I asked, ‘Do you hate sad endings?’”

Ignoring him, Leo looked away, and the familiar silence between the two men returned.

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(A/N).

I think I'm trying really hard with this story because I want to make it angst, a genre I've never been good at writing. ;;; that's why it's coming out so weirdly and just not flowing in general, sigh.

the ideas sounded really good in my head, lol. maybe I just need to spend more time on it, but I really don't know, ahahha.

(or maybe I should just stick to my usual style of writing)

hope this was ok. ;; on to chapter 3!~

( h a r l e q u i n. )