graveyard shift // pjm [completed]

microwave chicken ramen

Jimin reluctantly started his fourth shift without seeing Nari. Jimin was glad it was a Friday night, hoping to distract himself with other customers.

The activity started to die down after 11 pm, as expected. There was a lull around 12, where Jimin came so close to falling asleep, that he hallucinated someone was calling his name. He jumped up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He examined his surroundings: an empty store. He sat straight in his chair and gently slapped his face, waking himself up.

"Psst." He heard a quiet sound come from the candy aisle. He sat tall and waited for another sound. None came. He brushed it off as a candy bar falling or maybe the wind outside.

"Pssssssssst." A longer noise came from the same place, followed by a high pitched giggle. Jimin stood from his chair.

"Hello?" He paused. "Who's there?" Jimin's heart began to race, as he looked around more frantically.

He looked down at the counter and grabbed his cell phone, opening the call page, and began to type the number for the police station, when he heard another giggle.

He snapped his head up to see a head poking around the lower corner of the aisle. He stood up quickly and ran towards the person, cell phone in hand.

The head disappeared behind the rows of food. He heard flip flops slapping against the linoleum floor as he got closer to the aisle. He then heard a gasp and a loud thump, followed by an "oof!"

He turned the corner to find Nari, sprawled out on the floor, her hands clutching her knee. Her face was twisted in a grimace and she was whining loudly.

"Nari?!" Jimin yelled, relieved but still shaken up from the situation. "God, I thought you were here to steal something, or to kill me or something!"

She erupted into a fit of giggles. She smacked her hand on the ground as she attempted to catch her breath.

"I'm gonna get you!" She tried to stand up, but she fell over halfway.

It was obvious she was drunk.

"Nari, how drunk are you?" Jimin bent down so help her sit up.

"Somewhere between very and very very." She laughed loudly again, her cheeks flushed deep crimson.

Jimin sighed. "Well you scared me, again." He added softly.

"It's fun to scare you! You're cute when you're afraid." She said between giggles, her words slurring the more she spoke.

"Are you alone? Where's your boyfriend?" Jimin said flatly. He didn't really feel like talking to her. It's almost like when he saw her, his mind just went null. He knew he was just doing it to protect his feelings from getting hurt, but a small part in his brain was begging for him to continue their conversation.

"Why? Are you gonna beat him up? I bet you'd win, he's a pussy." She spat out, but her eyes danced with amusement.

Jimin let a loud laugh escape his mouth before even thinking. He slapped a hand over his lips after hearing his loud cackle.

"Hey, that's an awesome laugh!" She reached for his hand and took it off his mouth, as he stared at his hand, then back at him. Her skin was soft and warm. It was so warm, it melted away all the previous coldness that Jimin once had as a wall around him.

"To answer your question, no, my stupid boyfriend isn't here. And for your information, we broke up." She said pointedly.

"Oh. Why?" Jimin was cautious about his questions, it was almost as if she was fragile, one wrong thing said could have her running for the hills again.

And he never wanted her out of his sight, ever.

"I don't want to talk about it." She shook her head, her eyes struggling to keep open.

"Oh, sorry. So you walked over here by yourself? This late? And you're drunk?! Nari, you could have gotten hurt!" Jimin spoke stern, but soft. He couldn't help it. One look at her and he practically turned into an anxious ball of mush.

"I'm fine, I'm stronger than I look right now..." She giggled again and wobbled, totally disproving what she just stated.

"C'mon, let's get you up." He grabbed her hands and pulled her up. He still felt strange and anxious and shy talking to her, and even being around her, but for some reason he wasn't feeling it right in this moment. Maybe it was because he knew that she didn't have a boyfriend, or that she was being totally vulnerable around him, but either way, it made his insides bubble with happiness. She fell into his chest, and his hands automatically fell to her waist by instinct. She was slow to remove her body from his, and he was obviously glad for that.

"I didn't even drink that much." She defended herself. Jimin couldn't help but chuckle at her state. Either she was lying completely, or she was an extreme lightweight.

"How much did you have for dinner?" Jimin asked.

"Uhhhh," she thought. "A bowl of cereal." She smiled triumphantly, like it was some sort of accomplishment.

"Nari! No wonder you're so drunk, you have to eat a big meal before you drink, or it'll hit you harder." He said sympathetically and matter of factly.

"Sounds good to me." She was still holding onto his hands, and Jimin could feel every brush and movement of her fingertips on his. It felt like fire and ice, mixed together.

And it was the best feeling in the entire universe.

"No, that also means the hangover hits you harder." He said gently, but also biting the inside of his cheek to resist the urge to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, to hold her, to kiss her...

Nari shrugged her shoulders to the ceiling and grinned.

"Well, might as well start eating now. Might soften the blow." Jimin led her slowly, still holding her hand, to the more filling foods. He found the microwave ramen as he peered up at her when she wasn't looking. 

Nari looked the same as she always did, which was breathtaking. Her cheeks were a sickly red, matching the colour of her lips.

Just another thing Jimin noticed about her that she never knew.

"They all look so good." She said, staring at the rows of different flavors and spices. 

She settled on a plain chicken ramen to ease her stomach. Jimin decided to close early, so he could take care of her in her drunken state.

They microwaved the ramen in the breakroom, and they sat together at the small table. She slurped down the noodles, leaving a mess of broth on the table, on herself, and on Jimin. He cleaned everything up with a napkin as she ate. As she looked down in her bowl, he looked up at her.

He bit the inside of his cheek even harder.