New World | SOOKAI

Chapter 10

I sat in the darkness of my kitchen at my dining table, hunched over a cold and sad bowl of soggy cereal, staring at it more than consuming it. I didn't know why I was bothering, I wasn't even hungry. I pushed it back from myself and rubbed my hands up and down my arms. My power was still off from the previous evening and I hadn't managed to feel warmth for the past 12 hours.

I took my bowl of unfinished breakfast to my sink and dumped it into it without so much of an ounce of care not to damage it. I wandered upstairs to my bedroom and pulled open my wardrobe, grabbing the edge of a mint green hoodie out from the inbuilt shelf and pulled it down over myself. Even though it was thick and heavy, I could still feel the chill that had set into my bones since the previous evening. I took a shower earlier but of course, the water was cold and I wondered if I was starting to become sick from the raw feeling in the back of my throat. I had a headache too, but I in part knew that it was mostly due to my still tense mood.

I looked across my room at the small circle of plush toys on the chair, the rabbit in the middle sat there smiling at me and I crossed the room to it. I grabbed it by its ears and forced it face down. I couldn't stand to look at it and it's little curved mouth that reminded me of Soobin's.

The raw anger I had felt the previous night when I got home had seemed to simmer down from a boil due to sleep, but it was still present in me. If there was one thing my life had forced me to become accustomed to, it was forcing my emotions down. Condensing them into a fraction of their size, like when a car goes into the crushing jaws of those machines that turn them into a metal cube of wreckage. But although they appeared small in size, the weight they held was still heavy. My heart was a cold steel ball in my chest.

I walked off to my bathroom and grabbed the bottle of cologne that Jack had given me. I tucked it into the uni-pocket of my hoodie, turning around to make my way down the stairs to exit my house.

I looked up at the dreary and bland grey clouds, covering the atmosphere like a dulled, old blanket. The ground was still wet from the rain and I brought my hood up over my head, forcing myself to begin my commute to work by foot.

I arrived 10 minutes early by how fast I had travelled. I usually liked to take my time to enjoy the outdoors, but I didn't much care for it that morning. I entered the store and saw Jack behind the cash register, readying it with the float money for the start of the business day.

"Hey, kiddo."

I pushed my hood back off my head and continued to approach him without replying.

"How'd yer date go last night?"

I withdrew the bottle of cologne from my pocket and set it down on the edge of the counter, still not indulging him with a response. Jack looked down at it and slowly brought his gaze up to my face and looked me over. I gave him nothing but he had still figured out my silence.

"Not well then, I take it?"

I felt the corner of my eye twitch ever so slightly at his words and I decided to change the subject.

"As much as you're probably going to say no, Jack, could I please have an advanced payment on my wages? My power was cut last night because I couldn't pay my bill on time."

He walked over and picked up his cologne, flipping it in his hand as he thought about my request as he continued to look at me. As much as he was trying to figure out an answer to my question, I could tell he was still pondering my oddly dismissive nature.

"I suppose so, Kai... s'long as ye' stay behind tonight and help me with stock take. I won't be payin' ye' extra for it though."

"Fine."