Sweet Shot

#7

Ha-min smiled sheepishly. It was true. He avoided tutoring because he lacked the speaking skills and sociability to teach others. The night shift at the convenience store wasn’t hard except for dealing with the occasional drunk customer. There were fewer people than during the day. And thanks to being the son of a supermarket owner, manning the counter and organizing items was a piece of cake.

“I’ll come visit next time. I should stop holing up and go out.”

Woo-kyung smiled like a puppy wagging its tail. Ha-min smiled back and said, “Okay.” As he was thinking to himself that he should buy banana milk when they visit, Chae-rin also chimed in curtly, saying she’d visit too. He nodded, saying okay. He changed his mind, thinking he should buy something more expensive than banana milk for her.

**

“How is it these days?”

On his way to the convenience store, Ha-min received a call from his mother. As he walked, kicking a small stone on the ground, he answered.

“It’s good.”

It was an honest answer without any lies. To the point where he wondered if it was okay to be this peaceful. Contrary to what he had prepared for, he was attending lectures and living without any problems, having met good people. Moreover, having Tae-in around made him feel more secure. Above all, there was something else that was the best, but he kept that to himself.

“If you ever feel unwell, come home right away.”

“I know. How many times are you going to say the same thing?”

Ha-min smiled faintly at the same repertoire of lines his mother always used. Perhaps because he was always somewhat tense despite the peacefulness, hearing his mother’s voice made him feel better.

“If the part-time job is crappy, just quit. I still have enough money to feed you, you know.”

“You’re saying the same thing again.”

“I’m even more worried because you look so weak after losing weight.”

While other mothers would be happy if their sons lost weight, his mother always grumbled. Well, even when he was fat, she had insisted he was just chubby.

“I’m eating well. Don’t worry.”

“…Should I prepare some health tonic for you?”

“Don’t waste money on that.”

“Sigh, I didn’t want to make you worry about money.”

“At this age, everyone earns their own spending money.”

Ha-min dutifully responded to his mother’s endless list of worries – about how her son had grown up, how reliable he was, to be careful on the streets at night, to watch out for cars – and then ended the call. He knew he had to respond to each concern for his mother to worry less.

He entered the convenience store, changed shifts, and put on the store vest. As he was putting out some items that hadn’t been fully stocked, he received a call from Tae-in. It was an invitation to hang out and have a drink, but Ha-min flatly refused because he was working. Tae-in yelled loudly, asking what kind of part-time job he was doing during prime hangout time. Ha-min quietly listened to these complaints while sitting at the counter, reviewing the lectures he had attended. By doing this bit by bit, he wouldn’t have to rush later as if his feet were on fire. When he heard someone calling for Tae-in over the phone, Tae-in finally cut the conversation short. He must have been drinking with friends, as he announced that he had to go and would call back later. You don’t have to… Ha-min muttered as he continued skimming through his major textbook.

After that, a few customers came and went. An already drunk college student came to buy a few more cans of beer, a couple came to buy condoms. Then some middle-aged men came to buy cigarettes, and a group of students came to eat cup noodles. After the busiest time in the university area passed, it finally became quiet.

Ha-min, who had been sitting blankly at the counter for a moment due to leg pain, suddenly seemed to remember something and took out his phone. He was using an old-model smartphone that was rare these days, saying it was still usable. Eun-soo had praised him for being frugal when she saw it.

“…”

It was a photo he looked at alone once a day. After working hard or when he thought a rather tough day had ended. If he searched through his gallery, there was a photo saved at the very beginning. It was Tae-rim’s high school entrance photo that Ha-min had stolen from Tae-in’s house when he was young. There was no graduation photo because Tae-rim had gone abroad to study while in high school. Not being able to see that was Ha-min’s eternal regret.

The high school entrance photo was ordinary. Of course, the subject wasn’t ordinary, but he didn’t look particularly happy. Hyung often had that kind of face. When he was alone, or with his parents. Ha-min knew this well from stealing many glances. Of course, he smiled kindly in front of Ha-min, but in reality, hyung wasn’t a person who smiled much.

Ding.

Just as he was appreciating hyung’s photo as a reward for enduring a hard day, a notification sound rang. It was a KakaoTalk messenger alert. The sender’s name that popped up in the preview at the top was hyung. For a moment, Ha-min looked around in surprise. It was an unbelievable timing.

[Are you sleeping?]

The last time he had seen hyung was a few days ago. When he had stayed at Tae-in’s house. That was the last time. It wasn’t easy to run into hyung at school, as he didn’t come to school often.

Ha-min scratched near his neck at the message with unclear intentions. It was past midnight, so it was time to sleep. Ha-min replied immediately.

[Not sleeping. Why? ^^]

Thinking it might seem odd to send nothing else, he added a smiling emoticon to his reply. His hand trembled as he sent just this one reply. Even though he knew it was just a simple message, he couldn’t help but feel excited for no reason.

[I miss you^^]

The reply came quickly. As soon as he confirmed the reply, his heart pounded so much that his Adam’s apple bobbed. Ah… this was too much. It was too much to send a KakaoTalk message saying he missed him at this hour. Moreover, the smiling emoticon was just like hyung. Ha-min looked at the phone screen preciously, pondering how to reply. That’s when it happened.

Ding-a-ling. The convenience store door opened. Ha-min quickly tucked his phone into his uniform. Without having sent a reply.

The customer who entered the convenience store was wearing a thin black cashmere coat. It was a long coat that reached down to the ankle bones, a length that most people couldn’t pull off, but he was wearing it perfectly. The sound of dress shoes clicking against the tiles echoed. He approached the display shelf, picked up something, and came to the counter.

“Marlboro Red.”

The customer spoke without even looking at the part-time worker, staring at his phone. His tone was indifferent. And what he put down on the counter was a condom. Big size. The largest size of condom that wasn’t commonly sold just anywhere. Ha-min felt his face flush for no reason.

Ha-min stopped touching his face and carefully looked at the customer in front of him. The customer still held out his card while looking at his phone.

Ha-min processed the payment with a dazed expression. He pushed the condom and cigarettes towards the customer.

“…Are you busy?”

The customer muttered quietly without taking his eyes off the screen. Ha-min carefully looked at him before giving back the card.

“Um…”

“…”

“Hyung…?”

The customer who had entered wearing a long coat and smelling of the wind was none other than Tae-rim. Ha-min carefully called out to him, who still hadn’t noticed.

“…?”

Only then did Tae-rim look up and discover Ha-min, his expression changing completely. The face that had been as cold as the night wind suddenly lit up. It was almost unbelievable how quickly a person’s face could change.

“Ah.”

Tae-rim let out a sigh with a smile. He was clearly pleased to see him.

“You work part-time here?”

However, as he looked down at Ha-min wearing the convenience store vest, his gaze became subtle. For some reason, Ha-min felt small and awkwardly smiled while grabbing the end of his vest. Just wearing a convenience store vest made him feel like he was living in a completely different world from Tae-rim.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Hmm… until what time?”

Tae-rim asked, staring intently at Ha-min who had answered with an awkward smile.

“It’s the night shift… until dawn.”

“Don’t you have class tomorrow?”

“…I do, but it’s okay. I can sleep for about two hours and then go…”

“…”

“I don’t have many classes tomorrow, so if I attend them and then take a nap… it’s fine.”

He found himself explaining as if making excuses. Tae-rim furrowed his brow for a moment as if in thought, then asked gently.

“Is auntie having financial difficulties these days?”

It was a question Tae-rim could ask because he knew well about the financial status of Ha-min’s family, who used to run the biggest supermarket in the neighborhood when they were young. Yet, he easily spoke words that could be considered rude.

“No, it’s not like that… I just think it’s better if I earn my own living expenses.”

Ha-min answered with an awkward smile. Tae-rim’s face crumpled with worry, and he reached out to caress Ha-min’s cheek. Ha-min’s body froze at the sudden touch.

“Is that why you’ve gotten so thin?”

“…”

“Seeing you struggle like this doesn’t sit well with hyung at all.”

Even though he knew it was just a polite remark, for some reason Ha-min felt as if it might be sincere. Tae-rim’s hardened face was clouded with worry. Ha-min’s mood lifted somewhat at that face. Because of the illusion that Tae-rim was truly worried about him. Tae-rim gently rubbed Ha-min’s cheek with his thumb. The touch was ticklish, and Ha-min felt his face heating up. Before that could happen, Ha-min thought he should avoid it and naturally took a step back.

“Everyone does this… It’s fine.”

At Ha-min’s response, Tae-rim’s face looked thoughtful for a moment. But soon he nodded as if understanding.

“I see. Then…”

“…”

“Take care.”

Hyung smiled kindly again and received the card. He stuffed the embarrassing condom case and cigarette pack into his pocket and turned around.