Beer and Spicy Rice Cakes

Chapter 2 - Calm

With a strange feeling inside of me, I threw away the butt of my cigarette and entered the small convenience store I was working at. I didn't know what kind of feeling it was, but I somehow knew that something was going to happen today. I didn't know what it was and when it would start, but there was something. And whatever it was, it was going to have a huge impact on my life.

I walked towards the cashiers counter and put my backpack underneath it. Not that I had so much stuff to bring to work, that a backpack was necessary, but it was the only bag I had, to at least put my wallet and some clothes in it, which I could wear after my shift. I looked around and eventually found my way to the dressing room behind the walls of the cash corner to change into my ugly ass cashiers uniform which consisted of a plain black polo-shirt with the GS25-Logo on it and some old ripped jeans I had for at least five years. I checked myself out in the mirror on the door of my locker, when someone suddenly pushed it back into its original state. Locker closed. A little bit confused I let my glance wander to the right, just to see the raised eyebrows and crossed arms of no other than my co-worker slash best friend Jinhye. I gave her a smirk, before I leaned my shoulder against the locker and raised my eyebrows back at her. "Something wrong?", I provokingly asked her and didn't dare to loosen the eye-contact. In the next moment, she leaned in and gave me a hard smack on the side of my head before I could even think about doing something against it. Still rubbing the spot she hit so perfectly, I stared at her with my eyes wide open.

"And what was that for?"

"You know exactly what that was for!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about.."

"Oh, you sure about that? Can you explain to me, in detail, why you're not at the hospital where you're supposed to be?"

I slightly rolled my eyes for a second and silently locked the door of my locker, which I instantly regretted after lifting the wrong arm for that. I put one hand on the rib section that felt like it was going to jump out and smilingly wave at me in the next few seconds and clenched my teeth again.

"Told ya."

"Shut up, would you?"

I slowly straightened up and looked at her with a stubborn smile. I wasn't going to stop pretending I was okay in front of her. Even if she slapped me a million times, I didn't want to. And I couldn't. Because I hated that look of sorrow in her eyes whenever I got hurt. I hated it more than my own goddamn life and that was a huge thing for me.

I lifted my hand to softly put it on her head and gave her a gentle stroke, still not letting go of my own hurting ribs. I felt like crap for making her worry again, but I just couldn't help it. Whatever happened last night, it happened and I wasn't able to make it unhappen. She looked at me and I could watch her face become more soft from second to second, before she carefully lifted my shirt up a little and examined the purple-blue bruises that showed up. I didn't look at them. But I knew, they were there. I slightly turned my face away and let her do what she had to. Not because I wanted to, but because I knew that I wouldn't be able to protest against it.

"Jae-ah.. I'm begging you right now, please go to the hospital.."

I lowered my head and stared at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world, just to not meet her eyes. I knew the look was there again. And I didn't want to see it right now.

"You know, I can't do that.."

"Why not..? Listen, I know you don't like doctors, but.."

"Hospital means money, Jinhye. Money which I don't have. Plus, I have to work, to like, earn money, you know?"

Silence. I knew exactly what was going on in her mind right now. And she probably knew how I was going to respond to that, so she stayed put. I watched her silently argumenting with herself inside of her head, until she looked at me again and slightly pressed her lips together.

"Fine, but.. At least let me take care of you for now."

I gave her a slight nod and sat down on the bench in the middle of the dressing room to wait for her to come back from wherever she went to.

When she appeared in front of me again, she was holding some packages with stuff inside that I couldn't recognize at first. As she came closer, I identified them as band-aids, ointment, a coolpack and a small bottle of disinfectant. For a moment, I smiled at her and watched her, as she sat down next to me and started to carefully apply the ointment to my black eye. When she got to the point of cleaning the cut on the other half of my face, I drew a sharp breath from the stinging pain that her treatment gave me and looked at her with a confused glance, as she snapped my forehead for that action.

"Just endure it, you sissy. It's your own fault for letting someone beat you up like that."

"Tsk."

I put on a pouting face which made her giggle for a second, before she returned to treating my wounds. It felt strange to see her from up close like that. But it was soothing. To still have her as a friend, as I had nothing else at the moment. She was the only thing dear to me.

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg, even if he knows, you're slightly cracked."
-Bernard Meltzer