Remember me?

Part 6

After another month of feeling hopeless, I finally landed a job at a convenience store. It's nothing like my old job at Chanel, but at this point I would accept anything as long as it can pay my bills.
The store I work at is ironically very close to BigHit's building. It's been almost 2 weeks since I started working, but I haven't seen any idols passing by though, which is kind of a relief for me. I would hate for Jimin to see me at my lowest point in life.
It's my turn for night shift today & business is quite slow.
"Welcome!" I stifle a yawn & instantly stand up as I hear the bell ring indicating a guest is coming into the store.
A tall man wearing all black, with a cap worn low over his face & a mask covering most of his face, walks briskly past me. He doesn't even return my greetings or look my way.
Shit, please don't tell me that he's a robber or something.
I peek from the end of the medicine aisle where he disappeared into & see him jittering suspiciously as he frantically scans the racks of meds.
He must be a drug addict. Look at how restless he is. Please God, don't let him do anything stupid. I don't want to die yet.
Movie scenes in which store clerks are held at gun point by robbers flash before my eyes.
He abruptly grabs something off the shelf & walks to my direction. My heart races so fast that I feel like it's about to explode. I quickly rush back to the counter & act like nothing happen.
"G-Good evening." I forces the words out of my mouth.
Without looking up, he puts the strip of medicine on the counter & opens up his jacket. Right then, I see something bulging at his waist under his black T-shirt.
No no no. That's not a gun, right? Right?
His hand begins to move towards the thing on his waist & that's when I lose it.
"You can take whatever you want. Please don't kill me. I'm still young, I haven't even gotten married yet." I sob as I close my eyes & drop down onto the floor.
After a few seconds of silence, his head pops above me.
"Why would I kill you?"
Wait, that voice..
I look up & meet his eyes. We stare at each other in surprise, before we ask at the same time.
"Song Hyekyo?"
"Jungki?"
"What are you doing here?!" We say again simultaneously.
"Well, my agency is over there. Are you working here?" He pulls down his mask & asks.
Bruh, how can he still look so stunning so late at night without any makeup on? Life is unfair.
"Well duh, look at my uniform. I started working here 2 weeks ago. Why were you so jittery? I thought you were a drug addict trying to rob this store."
"What? Hahaha! Ya, you have a very wild imagination. So now that you know that I'm not a drug addict, can you get up from there? It's tiring peeking down at you like this."
Now that he says it, I realize I'm still stooping behind the counter.
"Ehmm.. I told you stop calling me 'Ya', I'm older than you. What year were you born in? 98?" I clear my throat & change the topic to cover up my embarrassment.
"97. You? 90?" He raises his brow.
"Ya, I'm not that old ok? I'm 95 line." I fume.
"Ahh so you're the same age as Jimin & Tae hyung."
I freeze at the mention of Jimin's name & he notices it.
"What? Do you know any of them?"
"O-of course. They're part of your band right? Anw, let me scan your purchase." I divert his attention back to the item on the counter.
"This is it? Stomachache medicine? You were acting weird because you had stomachache? 3,000 won please." I ask as I scan the strip of tablets & hand it to him.
"Yeah, we were recording something for Run BTS," he says as he shows me the voice amplifier on his waistband, "when I suddenly got stomachache, so I ran here to grab some meds. But after I see you, my stomach magically stopped hurting."
I blush slightly at his statement.
Does he like me or something?
"Because now the pain in my eyes triumphs over my stomachache." He grins.
"Oh. Wait. What? Do you mean that seeing me hurts your eyes? Ya! Do you think I won't hit you coz you're an idol?" I raise my hand & pretend to swat at him.
"Hahaha! I'm just kidding, ok? It's so fun teasing you. I gotta go back now. Here's the money. I'll see you again Song Hyekyo!" He grabs the meds & walks towards the exit.
"I don't want to see you again! So just go to the 7-11 across the street!" I yell at his back but he only turns around & flashes me a huge mischievous grin.
"Huhh.. Why do I have to meet him again? I hope Jimin won't ever come here."
 
After that night, Jungki has been coming to the store almost every single night. Sometimes, he really needs to buy something, but most of the time he just comes to tease me. Actually, I kind of enjoy bantering with him. At least, it makes my job less boring. But of course, I won't admit that to him.
"Why are you here again tonight?" I sigh.
"We're taking a break from practice. Can I get a cup of ramyeon please?" He says as he collapses onto one of the chairs in the store.
"Go make it yourself. The ramyeon is over there & the hot water is right there."
"I'm tired. Can you make it for me? You know, customer is king, right?"
"Ughh.. fine!" I roll my eyes at him & go cook the cup ramyeon for him.
"Here you go. What else do you need, young master?" I ask him in a saccharine tone.
"Sit beside me. I hate eating alone." He says while lifting the noodles with the chopsticks.
"Nahh.. I-" I'm about to reply with a smart remark but he cuts me off.
"Please?" He looks up at me with his puppy eyes & I can't resist him.
"Huh.. ok. But be quick, I don't want my boss to think that I'm slacking off." I feign reluctance, but truthfully my heart skipped a beat when he said that.
"Thanks." He shows me that cute bunny smile of his & I have to swiftly turn my face around to hide my blushing cheeks.
"Sooo now that we know each other better, can you tell me your real name?" He asks through a mouthful of ramen.
"I told you my name is Song Hyekyo."
"Come on. What are you afraid of? Don't worry, I'm not going to do a background check on you." He nudged my arm with his elbow & that's enough to make my heart race.
"Ok ok. My name is Hayoon. See? Song Hyekyo fits me better right?" I joke.
"Hayoon is a pretty name as well. Oh and my name is not Jungki. It's Jungkook."
"What? I seriously thought your name was Jungki. Why didn't you correct me?" I exclaim in surprise.
"Coz I thought it was funny. You're the first person I meet in so many years that doesn't put me on a silver platter & treats me as Jeon Jungkook, not BTS Jungkook. I didn't want to spoil that." He shrugs.
"Why don't you like being treated as BTS Jungkook? Many would kill to be a famous idol like you."
"Believe me, it's pretty lonely up there. Everyone who approaches me has an agenda. Except for my hyungs, I don't really have any genuine friends." He scoffs.
"I'm sorry.." I've never thought about it that way. I guess being famous isn't all it's cracked up to be.
"Anw, tell me something about yourself." He looks right through my eyes & I immediately avert my vision. He's too intimidating.
"There's nothing to tell. My life is just normal, nothing interesting." I try to avoid the question.
"Come on. You must have experienced something worth telling." He coaxes.
"There- There was a boy. He liked me & I liked him too, but I cruelly rejected him in front of a lot of people because of my stupid pride. That incident has been haunting me ever since." I don't know why I told him that, maybe because I don't have anyone else to talk to. I expect he'll laugh, saying something along the line of 'is that guy blind or what?' like most of my friends did, but he doesn't.
"Just apologize then. I'm sure if you do it sincerely enough, he'll forgive you."
"It's not that simple. He- He is a different man than he was back then & I don't think I'll ever meet him again. Plus, he won't recognize me anw. I didn't look this bloated & ugly back then." I chuckle.
"Ya, stop undermining yourself all the time. If you're not confident about your looks, you can always change it. Then, you can face him & apologize."
"You think so?" I suddenly see a glimmer of hope.
"Of course. Not that there's anything wrong with you, but do it for your mental health. It's unhealthy being so insecure all the time. You have a funny & attractive personality, so be proud of that."
Without realizing, I tear up at his kind words. I quickly look down to hide my face & wipe away the tears with the back of my hand.
"Ya ya, are you crying? Did I offend you or something?" He taps my shoulder in panic.
"N-No.. It's just that was the nicest thing someone has ever said to me in a long time." I sob.
Then, he does something totally unexpected. He pulls me into his embrace.
"You can do it. Everything will be ok in the end." He softly says.
Feeling awkward, I slowly push him away.
"Sorry, haha. I overreacted. I'm ok now, thank you." I sheepishly chuckle.
"No worries. I gotta go back now. Good night nuna, I'll see you again." He ruffles my hair & stands up.
"N-Nuna?" I almost choke on my own spit.
"You don't like it? You prefer me to call you Song Hyekyo?" He teases.
"N-No.. Nuna is fine." I try very hard to stop my cheeks from reddening.
"Alright then. Bye nuna!" He waves at me & smiles on his way out.
"N-Nuna.." I mutter to myself as I hug myself, reminiscing his warmth wrapping my body.
Stop it Hayoon, don't even think about it. He was just being kind. Don't start something that's impossible to happen.
I shake my head & go back to work.