A Fractured Mind | 민윤기

Twenty-six

24 January 2011

Victoria was almost falling asleep at the register. While her other coworkers were functioning just fine on only two or three hours of sleep due to studying, she was dying at five hours because she had to watch her younger siblings while their parents were on a trip. She had to get them to sleep—the most difficult hurdle of all—and then wake them that morning and get them to school before going off to school herself. And because the universe hated her, work was right after school.

The hat on her head felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and the apron tied tightly around her tiny waist was almost suffocating. Her weight had been dropping in recent weeks after a few girls at school had said that she was looking kind of fat.

She kept blinking and yawning as she tried to train the new employee, Nick, a foreigner who was only there for the summer while he participated in an exchange student program.

"Hey," he said apprehensively and reached out to touch her arm but pulled back immediately. "Are you okay?"

His Korean wasn't very good, but she spoke English so she was able to communicate with the blonde boy standing beside her. Though he was concerned because her eyes were closed as she finally gave into the weight of them.

Nobody else was behind the counter as business was very slow and the remaining two employees were either washing baker grills in the back or moving bread in the front. Victoria blinked a few times before raising her head to apologize to him, though she was met with something entirely different.

A customer was standing at the register. She had seen him before—he went to her school. Tall, handsome, charming. There was just something in the twinkle of his eyes and the way he was smirking at her as she stood rigidly.

"Oh—sorry—sorry I was, um....What can I get for you?" she asked shakily, placing both hands on either side of the register screen to steady herself.

He smiled, face lighting up at her nervous disposition. "Just a medium coffee and...your number."

Victoria almost choked on her own saliva as his second request registered with her. That had never happened to her before. Boys usually just wanted to sleep with her at parties, even if they acted like they wanted to date her just to get her into bed. But she'd only fallen for it once and was still recovering from the embarrassing experience.

"Me?" she squeaked, not intending for it to come out so pathetically.

He smiled again and nodded as Nick awkwardly turned around to grab a medium coffee and slide it to him over the counter. The blonde could understand a fair amount of Korean and that made Victoria's cheek burn even more.

"Oh, wow, I—"

A firm hand tightened around her shoulder and pressed her against its chest before she could finish her sentence. "Sorry," he said with a tight-lipped smile. "I'm her boyfriend."

The guy sputtered, eyes widening in shock and embarrassment. "Oh. My bad. Um...thank you for your time." He quickly left with his head down.

Victoria looked up in disbelief to find her dork of a coworker best friend, Seokjin, holding her close with a satisfied grin. "You're welcome."

"Jin!" she shouted, jabbing him in the side and watching him crumble away from her in pain. "You have to stop telling people you're my boyfriend!"

He pouted and stood straight, hands on his hips. She had to admit that he'd become more attractive as he matured and most girls at her school drooled over the thought of dating him, especially since he was in college now. But Victoria was the only one that had access to him aside from him few other friends.

"I'm just making sure you don't get used again, Vic," he said sadly. "If I knew where that fucker lived I'd kill him." Jin wasn't one to swear very often, but he let loose whenever speaking of the jerk that took Victoria out and told her a bunch of sweet nothings just to get her into bed and once he did, discarded her with an 'I'll myspace you'.

She softened and gave him a small smile. "I know. But not all guys are gonna be like him. And you know, I don't wanna die alone because you keep chasing boys off. You're worse than my dad!"

Jin watched her laugh with a fond expression, as it was a sound he'd never get tired of hearing. "You don't need other guys. Just date me," he suggested and flashed a smile while pointing both thumbs at himself.

"Well, now the entire school will think I am because you just told the most popular guy that you're my boyfriend." She sighed and smiled at a customer who was dropping off their used tray. She took it to the end of the counter space and threw away a few cups left on it before setting it on top of the other trays that needed to be washed. "I mean, isn't it time you got a sophisticated college girlfriend? Why keep hanging around kids?" she continued while walking back to him. Nick had gone to busy himself with something else.

He faltered. "You're not a kid, Vic. You're my best friend and you're graduating in, like, two weeks."

"Then it's off to more school..."

Jin patted the top of her head, letting his hand linger there. "College is way different from high school. Trust me, you won't stress as much."

"I don't even know what I want to do, though," she said quietly, staring down at her feet.

He smiled and tilted her chin up with one finger while slightly bending down. "You will soon enough. Now come on. We're both off in a few minutes. Let's get some food." She was about to protest, but he gave her a strict look. "And you're going to eat this time. A lot. You literally look like you're weathering away."

"Fine. Jeez, mom..."

-

A/N: 

I'm such a slut for Jintoria it's not okay lmao 

Thank you to the few readers who are following this book. Y'all keep me motivated to continue writing <3

And thank you for 400 reads ^_^