convenience my a$s! | myung jaehyun
Pairing: familyshop!worker!myung x jobless!reader
Synopsis: After having a horrendously pulcatrudinous start to the day, the very last thing you needed was your mom sending you to the convenience store. The same convenience store that the cute (but the ‘cute’ is silent cause MAN is he annoying) guy that you flipped off this morning after nearly running you over works at. The same guy that also happened to have stolen your snacks thanks to the vending machine being a total prick and not giving you your moneys worth, like it was made to do. The same very guy you had tripped and fell face flat on the ground in front of. That very same guy. That very same store. The very same day. It couldn’t possibly get any worse, except for some darn reason, your mother just can’t seem to grasp the full list of groceries she needs!
Word Count: 1.8k
Author’s note: I genuinely wrote this without a singular serious thought in my mind and with minimal proofreading so… sorry children. These events are inspired by the real life experience of my brother being sent to the store 8 times in a day by my mom.
It was nearing the late afternoon hours when Jaehyun’s dad phoned him up from the store sounding all frantic.
Something about an urgent matter popping up, having to leave the shop unattended and not being able to do the closing.
Jaehyun did try to weave his way out of it, but apparently his older brother was busy too, which essentially meant that no one would be able to do the closing shift. Except him.
With such a messed up start to the day, this was the last thing he needed.
He hadn’t stopped by the family owned business in ages, but he knew enough to close up just fine without any extra assistance.
He just wished it wasn’t today of all days.
Jaehyun huffed out an exhausted breath, performing a u-turn to re-route for the shop.
Sure, whatever. It was just a small favour. What’s the worse that could happen?
Somewhere on the other side of town, you swore under your breath as you exited the house for the 5th time.
You wish you were joking.
Just because it was close by and a brisk walking distance did not excuse you having to genuinely hit 10k steps against your will.
“If she sends me one more time I’m gonna—”
You kicked a loose pebble, wrangling your fists and pumping them in the air. An animalistic groan filtered through your lips.
This time…this time, you swore it’d be the last time.
You walked through the old and cranky door to the shop, a deep scowl already etched on your face.
You couldn’t even make it past two steps when you saw him.
His eyes equally widened at your presence.
What appeared to be the most unhide-able level of irritation mixed with the fakest passive aggressive customer service smile one could EVER muster up.
For a moment, you stood there, making sure your eyes weren’t messing with you. But no, he was there, in the flesh.
The same dude you met like 3 times now, was staring at you with just as much misery as you.
You couldn’t help the words that left your lips shortly after your mutual disappointment, rasping it out with genuine frustration.
“Don’t you go to school or something?”
He looked at you from behind the counter, an unreadable glint to his eyes.
“I, in fact, do not.”
“Well don’t you have a job or something?!”
He stared at you silently for a brief second, pointed at his named badge on his uniform and glowered at you with such mockery, like you were the stupidest joke on the planet and you just hadn’t caught on yet.
“That, in fact, I do have.”
That’s it! That just about does it!
Resisting the urge to jump him right then and there, you scoffed in disbelief, grabbed the stuff you came for, and harshly dropped them on the counter.
He passed the products, you paid.
All this without a singular verbal exchange.
You went home. An hour passed.
Your mother begged you to buy onions. She ran out. She needed them asap otherwise how else would she make her famous French onion soup for your sick little brother—and she already started cooking so she couldn’t possibly go herself!
Because of course.
The corner of your left eye twitched in vexation.
You kicked the front door open for the 6th time that day. Stomped your way over. Hood up. The “don’t talk to me or you’re dead” face on. Pushed the entrance to the small corner shop open with what could only be described as the force of a professional wrestler, waltzed to the fresh produce, gripped those red onions so hard that the poor old man beside you saw it’s juices squishing out through your fingers, and stomped your way to the front.
Surely he’d be busy right now. There ought to be another worker working alongside him, there was no way—
You looked up.
From behind the till, his back faced you as he adjusted the display of alcohol.
You sucked in a breath, turned around, and walked right back where you came from.
“Nope, nope, NoPE—” only to hear his annoyingly attractive and unnecessarily cheeky and husky voice ringing much louder than usual. As if he was deliberately trying to get under your skin.
“Next please!”
The rush to your steps halted. You shut your eyes like you just got caught stealing something in broad daylight by an armed officer.
He didn’t mean you.
There’s no chance he meant you, right?
Ever so slowly, you risked a look behind you.
He was already smirking down at you with such mischievous pride, you could practically see the little demon on his shoulder jumping for joy.
Giving the most strangled smile you could attempt to wear, you tentatively took baby steps to the counter.
He scanned your item. You paid, avoiding eye contact throughout the whole thing.
Haha. You think that was the end of it?
YOU REALLY THINK THAT WAS THE END OF IT—
You stared up at the illuminated sign before you. The store’s front greeting your blank face. Tired eyes, dark circles, grumpy expression.
Okay, this was actually going to be the last time…for your own sanity, it had to be.
It was a good few hours later.
You were hungry.
Yes, yes, you had food at home but it just wasn’t the same!
You tried. You really did, but you craved your favourite snack so bad only to not have it stocked at home.
You did debate going to another store, but your residence was a small town, well-separated from most assets. This was practically the only walkable store in the area.
Maybe you could pretend to be another person…
You had changed into your sleeping clothes anyway. You also looked much more haggard than earlier, so maybe you’d be unrecognisable.
As it came to pass, you had fallen asleep half way through the day, resulting in your current disheveled appearance. You couldn’t miss out on your routinely siesta. That would have truly been the last straw, but that’s beside the point.
Should you just cry yourself to sleep and say no to your late-night cravings instead?
Logically, his shift might’ve ended.
You tapped your foot against the damp concrete, shoulders twitching from the slight chill of the night.
Nahhh, there was no way he was still there. It had been hours!
Your stomach grumbled in agreement.
It’ll be quick.
This time, your eyes burned with determination, this time it was really the last time you’ll be there—for the day, because it was friCkiN 11:30pm.
You squished the bottom of your oversized, fluffy jacket, your thin cartoon-decorated trousers swaying lightly at every step you took.
Your cold fingers gently pried the door open.
It was quiet in the store, empty even.
There wasn’t a single worker on sight and for a moment you wondered if you magically got transmigrated to another dimension with the same layout.
You ignored your thoughts, walked to your designated isle and caressed the snack you’ve been craving ever since approximately hours ago.
This was worth it, dramatised tears began to brim in your eyes.
“Wow. I’m not even that snack and I feel genuinely uncomfortable.”
You jumped in surprise.
The worker, the one with the name tag “Myung” leaned against one of the freezers nearby, arms crossed over each other, watching you with tame amusement.
“I think I’ve seen you more than my mom.” He added, chuckling to himself— which was a little attractive…just a tiny bit…but you would never admit that.
You soured at his presence.
Great. Yay.
At this point, your embarrassment meter had already stopped working, you were basically immune and entirely numb to all sorts of potential humiliation rituals the universe could throw at you.
Perhaps this was what finding inner peace was all about.
You wordlessly stared at him.
At your bland silence, he coughed meekly, a tinge of red crawling up his ears.
Jaehyun forgot that ignoring someone was also an option. Not that you ignoring him hurt or anything… of course not.
“I’ve definitely seen you more than my mom,” you finally replied, eyes still on him. A very monotone volume to your voice.
Scratching the back of his head, he shifted his weight from one foot to another, your serious gaze melting his teasing tone with ease and rendering him slightly awkward.
“Well, uh, whenever you’re ready for me to ring that up,” he pointed to the product you were holding. “just give me a shout—”
“—AH!”
The male shuddered so viscerally that he ended up tripping over his own feet.
He genuinely died for a second there.
You watched him tumble all the way to the floor, holding his heart as if it would stop beating at the mere sound of a pen hitting paper.
Your unfazed expression slowly morphed into you trying to hold back your laughter. Snorting, you replayed the scene in your head. You broke, vibrant chuckles squeezing out of you, your loose arm went to grip your stomach.
The day was definitely getting to you.
Maybe you were losing your mind.
Jaehyun only looked up at you, glaring at first, until it transformed into a quiet expression. He observed you, noting how your smile stretched on your lips. His heart did a little flip. He tried to ignore it. Such a foreign expression.
He didn’t expect you to literally shout. You were certainly not sane. But wow. He hadn’t seen a real smile from you before, despite all the times you’ve visited the store today. The most he got was your strained and quite lethargic-looking “I-don’t-want-to-be-here” smile.
As with all happy moments, your laughter eventually came to a gradual stop. Wiping an overly amused tear from your eye, you breathed in a liberated breath.
Half a smile grazed your lips, you lightly shook the snack in your hand.
“Ready when you are, Myung.”
His heart fluttered the tiniest bit, which was strange because he couldn’t ignore it this time…was he into crazy people?
The world appeared to mull into a soft stop… except it didn’t, because he actually had to do his job and scan your item, as another customer had walked in briefly after the moment you both shared.
After that, you paid.
This time, you did it without frowning. Instead, an easy atmosphere lingered on your shoulders.
“I’m guessing I’m definitely seeing you tomorrow,” the male behind the counter joked as he watched you gather your snack, ready to leave the small shop.
You cockily lowered your voice, a gruffness to your next phrase.
“If destiny calls,” you signalled a finger to the sky, then you halted your steps. You looked over your shoulder and added, “and by destiny I mean my mother.”
You walked out feeling less hateful towards this so called “Myung” guy.
The store tingled with the remaining resonance of the bizarre encounter.
An oblivious Myung Jaehyun was left gently smiling to himself like a little weirdo as he continued to scan the next customer’s beer cans. The customer, who was a towering male with an extremely muscular figure, peered down at him in mild concern.
Once finished, Jaehyun bid him farewell, the grin on his face still present.
Sighing to himself, he scouted the building for any more customers.
Seeing none, He bit his lips in thought.
Seems like covering closing shifts wasn’t that bad afterall.
