Another You - Hwitae

8

     Youngkyun hoped to sleep in as late as he could after getting home past midnight. His parents, though, weren't having it. They sympathized with him and let him get an extra hour of sleep, waking him up at 7:00 am instead. No matter how badly he wanted to sleep, he knew he had to get up for work. It would be a long day, but he hoped he could call Taeyang later, having been too tired to do it last night. 

     "Youngkyun-ah, I know you got home late, but we need you there today. It's inventory day." His mom told him while trying to shake him awake. He began to move under the blankets but he still wasn't fully conscious. "Youngkyun-ah, if you aren't up in the next 15 minutes, your father and I are leaving without you. Then you'll be walking." He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes while yawning.

     "How's Taeyang?" He asked, his voice slightly hoarse. The older lady giggled at the disheveled boy and shook her head.

     "I could ask you the same. You saw him yesterday, didn't you? Now c'mon, breakfast is getting cold." She laughed out as she headed back out of his room and into the kitchen. He took a little bit longer before finally pushing his blankets off of him and getting up. He sleepily waddled over to his closet and pulled out some clothes before heading to the bathroom and showering.

     When he was out, he walked into the kitchen to see his parents waiting for him. His eyes widened slightly as he saw they were all ready to go. He began stuffing food in his mouth, not wanting to keep his parents waiting for too long. After a few bites he turned to face them.

     "You guys can go. I don't mind walking over there. I'll obviously be a bit late, but I'll stay after if I need to." He said before going back to his food. His mom raised an eyebrow and slowly picked up her keys.

     "Are you sure? I want to make sure you'll be okay." His dad asked. Youngkyun nodded and gestured that they could leave before swallowing. 

     "Yeah, it's all good. I might stop to see Youngbin on the way. Maybe I can get some cookies for you guys." He said. His parents laughed and said their goodbyes before leaving. He finished his food before putting his plate in the sink and putting on his shoes. He went back into his room before shouting at his sister and locking the door behind him. He pulled out his phone before beginning to walk down the street.

Are you home rn?

Binnieee
For the next few hours. What's up?

I'm stopping by

Binnieee
Ughhh why????

I want some snacks and I'm already walking to work

Binnieee
Oh so you've been exiled to walk huh?

I chose to walk actually. I woke up late since I got home so late

Binnieee
When you get here I wanna talk about your little trip 

I'll see you in a few

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     As soon as Youngkyun set the box of cookies down on the small table in the break room of the store, Jaeyoon popped his head in and stared it down. Youngkyun laughed and grabbed his vest from the hook on the wall. He slipped it on and looked at his name tag. He smiled at the "7 years" written under his name. He looked up to see Jaeyoon still watching the cookies.

     "Do you want one?" He asked before taking one out and tossing it at the older boy. Jaeyoon smiled as he caught it and shoved it in his mouth.

     "Your late today." He said before walking to the box and pulling out another one. "And you stopped at Bin's before getting here. Their still warm."

     "My parents know. I got home pretty late. And don't eat all of them." Youngkyun added before walking the doorway and clocking in. He exited the room and walked off to find his mother. He wasn't sure where he would be stationed for the day. He found her helping an old lady by the produce. When she finished talking to her, he went up to her. "Mom, what needs to be done?"

     "Well, Jaeyoonie should be doing check-out." Youngkyun rolled his eyes. "Can you restock the cans for me, hun? I think we're low on all of the canned vegetables." He nodded and headed off to the stock room. His father was in there with a clipboard, scanning the boxes. He squeezed behind him and grabbed a few boxes of cans. He navigated his way through the familiar aisles and set the boxes on the floor when he reached his destination.

     He had grown up running up and down the aisles of this store. His father had inherited it from his father and it was going to eventually be passed down to him. He helped their customers whenever they needed for as long as he could remember. When he turned 14, his parents offered him an official position, which finally meant he could make some money for his work. His first pay check was all spent at the store on candy and snacks. His parents laughed at him and warned him to be a bit smarter with his money.

     He had always known that one day the store would be his. As a kid he couldn't wait to own this place. It was like a well-oiled machine. Everything worked out. It wasn't until he grew up and started working more that he realized just how much work it was. When he was 9, everything worked on it's own. The employees worked with no issues, items suddenly appeared for people to purchase, and customers would do just that. Now he could see the truth. His parents made sure the employees were comfortable and had good working conditions, so much money went to restocking and leasing the building and bills to keep the electricity and water running, and they could go weeks with little to no customers. He was proud of his parents. Through everything, they kept the place going and seemed to do it with ease. Like there wasn't a problem in the world.

     He was snapped out of his thoughts by a sweet voice.

     "Um, excuse me." Youngkyun looked up to see a girl standing there. She looked slightly nervous and she was messing with her fingers. He got off of the floor and smiled at her.

     "Is there anything I can help you with, Miss?" He asked. She gave him a worried smile and nodded.

     "Oh, uh, yeah. I just moved here and my mom sent me out to get some things. I found most of them but I can't seem to find a few. Can you help me?" She asked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and clearly struggling to maintain eye contact with him.

     "Of course." She handed him the list and he looked at the items that hadn't been crossed off. "Follow me." He said as he began to lead her down the aisles. "So you just moved here?"

     "Oh, yeah. From Jeju." She said as she followed him.

     "Well, this will be quite the change. I'm Hwiyoung. Or Youngkyun," he gestured to his nametag. "You can call me either. It's nice to meet you."

     "It's nice to meet you too. I'm Sooyoung."

~~~~~~~~~~

word count: 1226

so i meant to put something up while we were bomBARDED but their "unlimited spoiler" fest but HOLY SHIT DOG THIS IS REALLY THE PRIME TIME TO BE A FANTASY LIKE IT'S FABULOUS FOR PEOPLE WHO STANNED SF9 BEFORE THIS BUT IT'S A WONDERFUL TIME TO JUMP IN i love them a lot stream now or never

this is completely unedited i apologize heh :')

~~Peachy~~