The Other Girl

Chapter 11 (First Kiss)

"Are you sure you're okay?" Soo Jin looked at her friend with deep concern, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Seo Hee replied, keeping her gaze away from her friend's judging stare. Soo Jin stayed silent, watching her friend continue with her task of mopping up the convenience store's floor. "Look," Seo Hee finally said, feeling a bit annoyed that her friend was still staring at her. "I said I'm fine. See? No cuts, no bruises. Everything will be fine."

"Seo Hee, this is no fair!" Soo Jin retorted. "I'm your bestfriend, but you never tell me anything. This is unhealthy, okay. He broke up with you two nights ago, and you only tell me this now? You can't just keep everything to yourself. I know you're not okay, and I know that this is not something you can brush off. Taemin dumped you. Doesn't that at least garner some emotion?"

Seo Hee stopped mopping and looked up at her best friend. "He didn't 'dump' me. We're just on a little break, that's all."

Soo Jin couldn't help but roll her eyes at her friend's remark. "It's the same thing. You're not 'together' anymore. So whichever way you see it or call it, it's still being broken up."

"This may be a bad thing, but - whether I like it or not - I can't just brood over it, you know? I'll admit that yes, I spent a good, long hour crying my eyes out the night he called me, but that's all I can do about it. I can't just keep this from pulling me down and overtaking every part of my life. I don't want to be that kind of girl. And besides," Seo Hee added, putting away the mop and cleaning bucket. "I can just look at this as a good thing. School's going to start once again in a few weeks, and Taemin being out of my life for awhile will get me to be able to focus more on the important stuff. Like getting into Seoul National University, for example."

Her best friend frowned at her obstinacy, but mentally admitted that she was probably right. At least Seo Hee wasn't being a total baby about this. That was definitely one thing Soo Jin liked about her own bestfriend: her strength. She was the only who knew the real Seo Hee; only she knew the hardships and strife that she had to go through and how hard she worked just to keep her scholarship to their dignified private high school. Despite her being stubborn and unmoved about the usual things high school girls fret about on a day-to-day basis, Soo Jin was entirely proud of her best friend. She was the strongest girl she ever knew.

The door chimes of the mart tinkled lightly, indicating that a customer had just arrived.

"Annyeong - " Seo Hee was cut short of her usual welcoming optimism, when her eyes registered who had just stepped inside that store she worked at. She froze right on the spot and her breath hitched.

"M-minho?"

The graciously handsome rapper of SHINee stood by the threshold of the mini mart, clearly surprised as well to see Seo Hee behind the counter of some dingy little convenience store.

"Seo Hee. Hi," He breathed out warily. "What are you doing here?" His eyes scanned down to the green store apron she was required to wear while at work. Quickly, his sense and intelligence answered it for him.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Seo Hee replied timidly. She bit the tip of her finger shyly, a blush growing increasingly fast on her cheeks. This was definitely not a good place to be seen.

By the side of the counter, Soo Jin watched with cringing awkwardness. She knew very well that Minho, Taemin, and the rest of their buddies from SHINee had no idea that Seo Hee was poor, let alone working part time at a 24 hour mini mart. She could feel the absolute embarrassment that wavered off of Seo Hee to be caught wearing that hideous apron and working the register. She wanted to close her eyes because the scene in front of her was just too uncomfortable to watch.