UNDERLEVELED

Chapter 2

TING!

It was the sound of a bell that will ring if a customer entered the A-mart convenience store.

A student entered and bought a cup of noodles. After purchasing, the student sat on one of the chairs inside the store and peacefully started eating his food.

However, his peaceful moment quickly faded away as two other students entered the store.

"Oh, look, he's here!"

Two students approached the one eating.

Pak!

Along with a slapping sound, the two students were also laughing. Those sounds were heard by Kane, the cashier employee. While also trying to work peacefully, he couldn't just ignore the annoying slapping sound inside his workplace.

"Hey, kids! If you're gonna try to hit that student, do it outside, not on this store."

"Old man, just mind your business."

Kane became more annoyed upon being called an Old Man. Kane was just 21 years old. Obviously, their age difference was not that far for him to be called an Old Man. Kane approached one of the students. He grabbed the student's coat and glared at him, face to face.

"Get out or just buy something."

The other bully tapped his friend.

"Let's go for now."

Both bullies left the store but not without glaring at Kane.

*Sniff* *Sniff*

'Poor fellow.'

That was the only thing that Kane could say upon seeing the crying student beside him. He didn't say anything and went back to the counter. But before turning around, he saw the student thanking him by giving him a subtle nod.

KKRRRING! KKRRRING!

A few minutes later, Kane's phone rang its alarm. It was finally the end of his boring shift. He leaned over the counter to look at the student, but he realized that the student already left.

Seeing that the store was empty, Kane left the cashier and flipped the store's signboard from OPEN to CLOSED.

As he went out of the store, he immediately saw an old man sitting in one of the benches beside the store. Kane smiled as he knew who the old man was.

He went back to the store and took two bottles of juice from the fridge. Kane gave one of the juices to the man and sat beside him.

"How long have you been waiting, Mr. Lee?"

"Just a few minutes. You don't have to give me this juice."

"No, just take it."

Mr. Lee took out his wallet and handed Kane some money to compensate for the juice, but Kane waved his hands as he didn't want to accept any payment.

"It's fine, it's been years since we've met. Why are you here, anyway? Don't tell me you're still sorry about what happened?"

Mr. Lee returned his money back to his pocket first before answering.

"Yes, I'm still sorry about what happened. But that was not why I'm here."

Mr. Lee raised a paper bag and gently placed it on the table.

"Mr. Lee, what is this?"

"It's Joshua's VR set."

Kane was taken aback. It was his friend's most valuable item, so why would Mr. Lee give it to him?