Want Some Help? - jeongcheol

-1-

/Jeonghan/

I look down at my phone, the rain barely misses its screen. I hold my cheap umbrella over my head, although my clothes and hair are still fairly wet. Small particles land everywhere, blurring and warping areas and of my iPhone. It's all okay though, as long as I can read the messages I receive.
My heart skips a beat upon reading the text notification that appears at the top of my screen. It says-

Shua : Good news, you got the job 😁! You'll start working tomorrow starting at 8'

I tell myself to breathe.
This is it, my start of a stable career in a actual company. I just landed the job as assistant to the manager of a tech company. They sell and manufacture phones, computers, hardware, etc. Shua is pretty high up at this company, so he requested a immediate interview for me whenever a position opened up. I won't be selling products though (for my own and the companies sake), I'll be helping the boss. Best part though, he's smoking hot. Didn't get many rainbow vibes from him though, but I can work around that. It's worked before, so it can work again. I'll just have to grow my hair out again if he's stubborn. But no matter what, I always get what I want eventually- or at least, that's what I tell myself.

I hear gears creak and look up, the bus had arrived. Closing my umbrella while walking on, I shake my freshly blonde hair to get it as dry as possible. There's two seats open all the way in the back, so naturally I walk over there. People naturally stare at me as I walk back there, mostly because of my height, hair, and demeanor.
The light of my phone shines in my face, covering it in a white glow. I don't really pay attention to what's on my screen, my mind is too busy wondering.

The lights in the bus feel so comforting. Maybe it's because of the fact that it's pitch black outside, or maybe because all these strangers are huddled together in peace, without any fighting or chaos?
I don't really know.

The static voice of the speakers announce my stop, and I look up from my phone screen, instinctively pressing the off button. I don't even know which app was open.

As I walk off the vehicle, my hand reaches underneath my arm, pulling out my umbrella. The bus stop is still quite a distance from my apartment because the closest stop is in one of the most dangerous areas in the city. A guy like me who casually wears crop tops and grows his hair long just doesn't feel safe there. I would probably be jumped and/or beaten to the ground. I'm kind of risking it right now though, by walking down a dark alleyway not only at night, but also while it's pouring.

My mind wonders back to the job as I walk. I'm so grateful for Joshua, or 'Shua as I call him. He's noticed that I've been struggling quite a bit recently, ever since I broke up with my last boyfriend. Honestly I don't know how I've gotten to this point, living off of my savings from my job as a store clerk, which wasn't much. One of the only reasons for being able to manage this long is the fact that the rent for the next year is payed for. Me and my boyfriend had plans to move in with each other to my apartment, so we put together our money so we wouldn't have to stress about it at first. Now it's was kinda depressing how little I have. For the first few months, I ate instant ramen for lunch every day. On top of that, there was a 50% chance that dinner wouldn't be a option. Shua started to notice my weight loss and shift in mood, so he begged me to try to get a job, but every interview I had flunked.

That was, until this one. I guess I had just been looking in the wrong industries. One interview was to be the manager of a drugstore, multiple interviews were to be a sales man, and I even lost a job as a cashier at Target to that stupid 16 year old brat Jisung. That one especially hurt my pride. But this interview, I passed with flying colors.