the void devours, a star dies
@pullstrings
part time jobs come easy if you can forge your parent’s signature. jimin’s father is hardly around at home that he doesn’t even know what his signature looks like, but he can guess. it was a poor imitation of his father’s handwriting, but the manager couldn’t care less. how bitter it was to forge his father’s signature but how sweet it was to be given a job so easily. both the manager of the convenience store and jimin himself have been desperate, neither were in the position to be picky.
when did his hunger for independence start, he doesn’t know. maybe it was when he first realised he couldn’t do anything for his weeping mother, or when there was no one to turn to whenever his father raised his hand at him. the hunger keeps him wide awake at odd hours of the night, his attention shifting back and forth from his textbook to the occasional customer in the middle of the night. the fluorescent lights never seems to change despite the sky turning blue to black with time.
the space within the walls of the lonely convenience store at three in the morning doesn’t feel real. the street lights outside are dim and the roads are just dim at the brightest, the store looks like a star being devoured by a black hole. there’s something about the white lights that keeps him awake without the need for caffeine, but it makes his eyes hurt. jimin sinks deeper into the hard plastic chair behind the cashier and presses the tips of his fingers against his eyelids.
he keeps his eyes closed until he hears the door bell ring, a rush of late autumn wind coming in as the glass door swings open. he doesn’t greet her like how he’d greet others, only giving her a smile. he wonders how she can make her way through the dark streets so effortlessly without showing any fear on her face, but he never asks. jimin leans across the cashier and gives her a small wave. “you’re a little early, my shift doesn’t end in another 10 minutes.”
still, he shrugs out of his uniform jacket and head towards the drinks section to hand her a bottle of banana milk. “here, think of this as a compensation for waiting.”