innocence - namjin

1

Kim Seokjin, 25 years old, worked at a bakery on a busy street corner. He had a couple friends there, and enjoyed being able to do what he loved- baking, and working with people.

Jin stood at the counter, typing into the log to make sure he was entered in for coming in for work that day, and inhaled the delicate, light smells that filled the shop. He had gotten up two hours before opening to start the baking going, with shortcakes, cupcakes, croissants and other delicious things. Just smelling them could allow him to almost taste-

His fantasizing thoughts about food were interrupted by a light and pleasant tinkling of the bell that regularly alerted him of a customers arrival. Looking up, he saw a shirt woman entering with her toddler, who wore a bright grin across her face.

The little girl smiled excitedly and pointed at the powdered blueberry doughnuts that were arranged in neat rows behind the glass of the display. Jin recognized the little girl and her mother, as they were regulars, and he smiled sweetly at them and said, "Those are actually our special today. They're half off the normal price!" He features at the front of the display where written across the glass was "blueberry doughnuts- $1.00."

The woman that held her daughters hand smiled back and said, "Then we'll have a half dozen- no, actually make that a dozen. I bet daddy would like some too" she looked at her daughter as she said the last part, who nodded.

"How- how much does one donut cost of its half off?" The little girl looked up shyly. Her jet black pigtails and bangs along with chubby pink cheeks made her adorable. This made Jin smile even more.

"Well, if you take half of one dollar away, then you're left with the other half. So half of 100 cents would be 50 cents."

"Whaaattt!" The child exclaimed. "I'm learning that in math right now!" He realized now that she might be more of a kindergartner than a toddler.

"Well you can tell your math teacher about that!" Jin laughed, as he squatted down behind the display to grab twelve of the doughnuts with a square of parchment paper and place them in a large flat doughnut box. He made sure to carefully not let their powder fall onto the floor, as his manger was specific about such things.

"Will that be all?" He asked and placed the box on the counter, sliding it across.

"I think so," replied the woman. The girl was staring up at Jin with wide brown eyes as he announced "That'll be $6.57, ma'am."

The woman thumbed through her wallet to pull out the exact amount, leaving a tip of a dollar, and placing on the counter. "Here you go," she said and grabbed the box of doughnuts.

"Thank you! Have a nice day!" Jin waved goodbye as she left with her daughter, who waved back with a gap toothed grin. "You too Mr. Seokjin!"

Throughout the rest of the day in the shop, he had similar encounters with people, some rushing through and not paying much mind to him, others stopping to chat. Jin loves to observe people in addition to just talking to them. Sometimes he would just watch the people who were rushing and try to figure out where they were going based off different clues about them. Like one lady, who probably worked as a secretary, with a tidy pantsuit, long nails, and papers flying out of her bag that she had to clean up, and he of course helped her with. Or a man with a suntanned leathery face and worn hands, who he guessed was a construction worker.

Many people came to this bakery not just because of the food, but because of how relaxing it was and how Jin was such a pleasant person to talk to. Because of this, they often had busy days that were tiring but nice, in Jin's opinion, because he got to see everybody.