paroxysm // jikook

two

A deep sigh escaped from Jimin's parted lips. He'd opened up the last box of chips and stocked them on the shelf. Right now, he was back at work again, job #1; grocery stocker at the supermarket near his apartment. He had been worked there since he was in high school, his friend at the time hooked him up with the job so he could save money for university. But that was never the case, most of the money he earned went to buying comic books and fried chicken.

Jimin almost regret it now, but those comic books were his source of entertainment till today since going to university was out of the question. Not with his grandma depending on him like she does now. Jimin would never abandon her and leave her in a seniors home when he was capable of being there for her.

University could always wait.

Jimin began to flatten the empty chip boxes to put them in recycling and save the trees like a good boy. Tucking them under his armpit, he started to walk to the back of the store where the recycling bins and locker room was. Once he dumped the flat boxes in the bins, he headed to the locker room to get his bag and head out for his lunch break.

He rarely sits and eats during this time, but spends the 45 minute break walking through the gardens and sketching the beautiful flowers that adorn the pathways leading from the grocery store. Before his life turned for the worse, his mother gave him a string-bound sketchbook, which he has used since he was 5 years old to draw everything from colourful flowers to his deranged nightmares to the architectural wonders that Korea had to offer. Like his grandma's radio, no one could dare to touch his sketchbook.

When he went to reach for his bag inside the locker room, the sudden weight surprised him. His arm sunk with his bag, and he let it drop as carefully as he could to the ground. Clearly, as you can tell, his upper body strength wasn't that great.

Cautiously, he opened the bag to see 2 hand rolls and a box of cookies with a little note attached, saying:

MYG

A smile crept onto Jimin's face, stretching at his cheeks until his eyes smiled along too. His manager had left him some food, for the 785th time this year. Every week or so, his manager snuck food into his bag to eat during lunch time or take home to share with his grandma. The manager was quite close with Jimin, and knew about his situation and wanted to help out as much as he can. On the day of Jimin's 16th birthday, his manager bought some heat suppressants, a pack of expensive art pencils and fresh new kicks that Jimin could never even think of buying. When his manager arrived at work that day with the big gift bag, Jimin actually started to cry because he was so thankful.

But afterwards, it made Jimin feel bad. The generosity made him feel like he was a charity case living in pure poverty and starving himself daily....which was not the case. In his life, he just started to learn how to play with the shitty cards he was dealt and make the best out of them. He preferred if others didn't butt in to try and give him better cards. But of course, he always put on a smile, bowed, and said "thank you".

Jimin walked outside quickly, slinging his bag over his shoulders as he exited through the back doors of supermarket doors. The bright sun rays surprised him, making him squint his eyes to see around for his manager, who always smoked during his lunch break. His eyes adjusted to the brightness, and zero'ed in on a small figure sitting on a rock near the docking stations. He walked up towards the figure, going to tap him on the shoulder but the figure spoke before he got closer.