Player 9 | Cho Gue Sung

01

PLAYER 9 | 01

It was that time of the year where countries from all around the world compete for what is best known to football fans as the FIFA World Cup. The competition that occurred once every four years.

It was not a surprise that many people had already begun betting on which country would dethrone them all and finish on top.

Posters of Korea's own Heung-min Son had been plastered all around town, advertising the upcoming event, encouraging citizens to show support for the star and the team.

"Brazil is going to win this year."

"No, Argentina will."

"Actually, France is for sure winning."

Lana, however, showed no interest in the conversations that was revolving around her as she had never been a fan of sports, to begin with. Her father on the other hand was the opposite as he had been collecting jerseys ever since she could remember. He also had a collection of soccer balls signed by almost every player existing.

She tugged her earbuds into her ears as the sound of chattering faded away and soft r&b tunes began to play.

The week had gone by extremely slow for Lana as her current schedule consisted of studying and spending her time at the convenience store covering the evening shifts. It was expected as she needed money to pay for her university tuition as the cost had been extremely expensive these days.

The perks of working the evening shifts meant that she got the weekends off. She was definitely looking forward to the weekend although it was only just Wednesday.

She began wiping the front counter of the cash register with a rag to keep herself occupied.

It was a peaceful and enjoyable environment as she was able to work at her own pace, restocking drinks and snacks occasionally, and making small conversations with customers.

The customers were lovely, especially the old people that always complimented her whenever they got the chance. They weren't shy to let Lana in on their what seemed to be chaotic lives.

Her eyes glanced toward her phone, there were still two hours left before her shift was over. Luckily for her, it wasn't too busy. The store was somewhat still packed as customers sat at tables to lounge and chat with their friends. They were installed for customers to chat, hang out, study or eat and were placed near the windows, giving them a view of the busy road of Ansan city.

As time went by, less and less customers stopped coming in causing her to be alone. When she first started working, she got scared because of all the scenarios she made up in her head of what could happen to her while working an evening shift but those thoughts were eventually gone over time. She didn't mind being alone.

By the time she finished restocking the drinks, it was already 11:30 pm. The store was like a ghost town since it had been 15 minutes since the last customer showed up. This meant that she would be able to close the store early and head home, straight into her cozy bed.

She began sweeping the floors and tidying up the cash register until the door chimed indicating that a customer was there. She sighed in disappointment—the thought of closing early was too good to be true.

A young man walked in with messy hair and glasses, hands tucked in his pockets. He disappeared into the aisle that had all kinds of ramen without a word and so quickly. He was so tall that she was able to see him from his chest to his head from behind the shelves.

It wasn't until the man had made his way back to the counter moments later, setting down a pack of ramen, sweets, and a couple of energy drinks.

She took a glimpse of the man and noticed how tired he looked. His hair was messy and parted in the middle. His dark circles were noticeable from under his glasses.

Despite the obvious signs of exhaustion, the man was undeniably handsome. He appeared to be someone who knew what he was doing with his life because of the way he kept his head up and walked with a purpose — the opposite of Lana.

Lana was hardly ever self-conscious about her appearance but the sight of him made her nervous. Lana tried to shrug it off, focusing on scanning the items in front of her instead.

His eyes wandered around the store before landing on the poster of the face of Heung-min Son. He began mumbling to himself before swaying his body from side to side. He looked stressed and she wanted to ask him if he was alright but bit her tongue to avoid making conversation. He looked like someone who didn't want to be bothered and so she didn't want to bother him.

That wasn't until Lana went to hand the man his receipt that he seemed to become aware of Lana's existence. Lana held out the thin slip of paper, waiting for him to take it.

His eyes finally met hers. He was a regular customer and had never seen her before. Now it was his turn to take a glimpse at her. "Where is the worker that's usually here?"

"You mean, Mark? He only works here during the day." Lana answered, tearing her eyes away from him, and tucking her hair behind her ears. "I only cover the evening shifts."

"Oh," His face relaxed, slightly dumbfounded, suddenly realizing that he had always seen Mark because he came here every morning and never this late. "You should expect to see me often then."

The man grabbed the bags from the counter and walked towards the door leaving Lana frozen and confused, "Oh, uh... see you later too I guess."

What was that all about?

—

posted: December 7, 2022

hello to my lovely readers,

First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you for checking this book out! It means a lot to me to see that so many people are interested in this book and are waiting for updates!

I have recently gotten back into writing and am trying my best to improve my skills and work on my updates. As you can see from my profile, I have plenty of books that have been published from many years ago so the writing isn't the greatest LOL

Anyways, here's the first chapter to Player 9. Please leave a vote and don't be shy to leave any feedback or comments, I check them out a lot!

Stay tuned!

much love,

ruth<3