The Hideout I Need

Chapter 8: You are amazing, Kim Tae-young

Tae-young and Hyeong-jun sat for their weekly dinner at the convenience store. However, this time it was the actual store Hyeong-jun worked at. It was located further away from his apartment than the one they normally ate at, but it was the only one he could manage to get a job.

The very second it turned 9 PM, Hyeong-jun clocked out of work and went out back to change out of his work uniform - which was actually just a black long-sleeve shirt and a vest with the company logo. As he stood in the break room, he felt his heart skip a beat at the thought of having to eat dinner with Tae-young. Sure, they had been eating together once or twice a week since school started, but this time it was late. They normally had dinner together at around 6 PM or 7 PM, so Hyeong-jun felt a little bad he made Tae-young wait so long for a meal.

He walked out of the staff room and grabbed banana milk and chocolate milk from the fridge, as well as a big instant noodle packet and a small serving of kimbap to share.

"Thanks for today, ma'am," Hyeong-jun bowed to his manager, who was standing behind the cashier. Luckily she was a kind, older lady and not some kind of witch out of a youth drama. She always loved having Hyeong-jun at work, because as socially awkward as he could be, he was kind; and that's a good quality to have as a service worker.

"Wow, Hyeong-jun, you always work so hard," she leaned over to pat his head.

"Thank you, ma'am," Hyeong-jun giggled, "Even though I spent the past many hours here, I actually have to buy something." He placed the drinks, noodles, and kimbap on the counter and she started scanning the items.

"You must be hungry," she joked.

"Indeed I am!" Hyeong-jun joked back, "Actually no, my friend and I will be eating dinner right outside."

"Is that your friend out there?" she pointed out the huge window. And there he was. Hyeong-jun's eyes widened a little, his heart fluttering at the sight of Tae-young standing right outside the store, the lights from inside the store shining beautifully on him.

Hyeong-jun looked back at his boss, "Oh, uh, yeah! That's him," he looked down at his items, as he had completely forgotten about buying something for a moment. He gasped and instantly grabbed his wallet, fumbling, looking for his staff card so he could save a little money.

"Hyeong-jun, you've been working so hard lately, it's nice to see you meeting up with some friends," the lady smiled.

"Thank you so much, ma'am," Hyeong-jun smiled back, politely giving both his debit card and his employee card for her to scan so he could pay. As soon as the transaction was successful, he hurriedly put both cards back in his wallet and held all the items in his arms. "See you tomorrow!"

"Yes, see you! Now go out! I've seen him sitting there for a while now," she laughed.

Hyeong-jun nodded happily and bowed quickly before he walked out of the store. Tae-young reacted at the sound of the door opening with a little bell ringing and turned around. He gave a happy smile the moment he saw Hyeong-jun standing there.

"How long have you been waiting here?" Hyeong-jun giggled, walking up closer to him.

"Oh, you know... half an hour," Tae-young laughed, "But only because I thought you got off 8:30 PM! So I figured I could just wait."

"Aw, I thought you were stalking me," Hyeong-jun laughed.

The two of them took a seat on the metal chairs at one of the round metal tables that were right outside the store. Hyeong-jun put all the items on the table as if he were setting it up for a real meal. As they both sat down he chuckled out of the absurdity as he realized what he forgot to do.