Hairstyle | nct

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

It was my first day of my part time today.

I was nervous. So nervous I couldn't sleep properly last night and now I was regretting it because I felt so tired that I could knock out any second.

But I couldn't.

I sat at one of the bench outside my apartment that was shaded by a row of palm trees, providing shade from the sun today. I kept checking my phone, hoping my friend would update me about his whereabouts. He was also the one who was picking me up from my apartment and sending me to E-Cube Mall to work in their name sticker store. He was also the son of the boss, who was my mom's friend.

I heard a honk on the sidewalk and saw a red Honda car parked beside it. The window rolled down and I see Renjun waving at me. I grabbed my things and walk to the car, opening the passenger seat's door and taking a seat inside.

Renjun adjusted a few things in the car and smiled at me. "Hey!" he chirped. "Good morning! Excited for the first day of your work?"

"Nope," I answered, putting on my seatbelt.

Huang Renjun and his family has been my family's and I's closest friends ever since four years ago when my mom heard his mom speak on the phone in a dialect my mom recognized at the school both Renjun and I went to. Renjun's mom and my mom just clicked instantly. So did our entire family.

Renjun and I were the same age but he was in a grade ahead of me, thus he graduated a year before I could and could drive now. I just graduated a month ago and the thought of me leaving high school was still very unreal to me.

"Your parents left for work already?" Renjun asked, looking at the 30 storey apartment.

I nodded. "They left this morning at 6. I would've asked them to send me off to my part time but E-Cube Mall doesn't open until 10. And since you're also heading there, why not right? Carpooling to save the earth and all."

Renjun shifted the gears and stepped on the pedal. "Oh, I'm all about saving the earth. Which reminds me, did you read the links I sent you?"

I was on my phone, reaching for the aux cord so I could blast some songs and not have a car ride filled with silence. I picked an EXO song—an old one from the year 2013.

"Nam Jinseo, yes or no?" he persisted as we stopped at a red light.

"Yes," I answered so he would stop pestering me.

"Are you going to follow it?" He shifted his position—one hand still on the wheel while the other one was on one of the gears—and looked at me intently, waiting for a reply.

I sighed. "Yes, I will not drink milk from cows. I will switch to almond milk or soy milk. I will stop using plastic bags and bring my own reusable bags. And I'll stop using plastic straws. I even bought a metal straw! I'm not sure if that will make a difference."

"Everything counts," he said with a smile before the spotlight turned green again and we continued driving.

"You're a weirdo," I remarked.

He simply smiled. "Thank you. I just try to save our dying earth."

We arrived at E-Cube Mall and Renjun drove straight to the basement parking, where it was mostly empty since it was only 10 in the morning. There were barely anyone out by now since everyone was mostly at school or at work. Besides, it was a Monday.