Love 101 || NewJeans' Minji

vii.

For the last few hours, Jungwon had been pestering Jun-seo about how it was to see Minji in real life and if the persona that she put on for social media was a fake one, or if she was a genuinely soft-spoken lady that she showed in her videos.

In the end, Jun-seo gave up on ignoring his friend's questions because he was getting ready to head to his part-time job. He sighed softly and raised his head, looking up at Jungwon, "well, I wouldn't say she was as soft-spoken as she was in the videos that you showed me, but yeah, she was polite and kind while speaking to me," he explained while putting his shoes on.

"Man, I envy you," sighed Jungwon, leaning against the wall. "I mean, you get to see one of my favorite creators in TikTok. If it was me who met her, I would've freaked out," he added with a shrug.

Jun-seo chuckled and got up with a grunt, turning around to look at Jungwon. "Come to the convenience store, then. Who knows, you might see her," he told him. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before laughing together. "Well then, I'm off to work," said Jun-seo, tapping Jungwon's shoulder a few times before turning toward the door.

Jungwon nodded, "alright, take care!" he said, waving at him as he watched Jun-seo leave the house.

—

Jun-seo was two hours into his shift. The store was unusually quiet today with only a few customers coming to buy things, and the number of customers who came could be counted with one hand. Jun-seo was sitting on a stool while humming a tune before seeing his coworker, Yi-zhuo. "It sure is quiet today, isn't it?" Yi-zhuo pointed out, approaching the counter.

"Yeah, it is," nodded Jun-seo in agreement. He let out a heavy sigh and rested his head on his hand, staring at the empty street while swinging his legs lazily. "I wonder where the customers went," he added.

With a heavy sigh, Jun-seo planted his face on the counter and groaned, "dear customers, where are you guys? Please come so my pay will increase," he prayed playfully, earning a chuckle from Yi-zhuo.

The red-haired girl patted Jun-seo's head and crossed her arms afterward while looking outside the store. "What do you expect? It is Chuseok in two days, so people are probably on their way to their hometown," she exclaimed.

"It is?" asked Jun-seo, raising his head to look at Yi-zhuo. He was so busy with work that he didn't even realize that such an important date was approaching. "Huh, I wonder why my mom hasn't called me yet," he muttered, looking at the calendar behind him.

A mischievous smile formed on Yi-zhuo's lips as she heard Jun-seo, and her eyes shifted from the aisles. "Oh, Jun-seo, I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but I think it was because Yujin is your mother's favorite child," she teased. Her words made Jun-seo look at her wide-eyed. The reaction she elicited from him was amusing, so she kept going, "I mean, I can't blame your mother. After all, daughters are usually better than the sons," she added with her arms crossed.

Jun-seo rolled his eyes, "oh, shut up," he retorted. "Just so you know, I am way better than my sister, okay?" he huffed before spinning around on the stool, "the only thing she has going for her is her height. If she's shorter, no one would even look at her," he added.

Just then, someone emerged from between the aisles; a tall girl with dark brown hair tied to a ponytail with some hair strands on each side. She was wearing a blue striped shirt, tucked underneath a pair of black pants. It didn't take Jun-seo long to recognize Yujin, and when he did, his eyes widened.

"What did you say about me, brother?" asked Yujin while smiling creepily, the way she would when she wanted to scare Jun-seo. "My height is the only thing going for me?" she repeated while slowly walking toward the counter.