Hazelnut - Ryeji

6

"I'm here!" I yelled in a dull tone as I entered the ice cream store.

My boss stood up from her seat and placed my apron and hat on the counter. She looked at me and a concerned expression formed on her face. "Are you feeling well? you don't have to go to work today." She said.

I forced a smile as I walked to the counter. "I'm fine." I replied and placed my bag on the ground. I inhaled and exhaled sharply as I am expecting another stressful day at work. I honestly want to go home and cry myself to sleep, but I need to make money.

The woman chuckled at me and gave me a pat on the head. "Alright. I'll go now. Stay healthy, Shin Ryujin."

I forced a chuckle while getting the dust off my hat. I wore my apron and slightly bowed my head at my boss. "You too, Ma'am." I said and wore my hat.

My boss smiled at me and walked away from me. As she stepped outside of the ice cream store, she immediately ran to her car. She looked like she was in a rush.

While I was watching my boss enter her car and fix her things, I sat down on a chair and I let out a big sigh.

"I'm so tired." I rested my head on my palm out of boredom.

I looked through the clean and shiny window and I saw a lot of people passing by the ice cream store. I clicked my tongue out of frustration. It was a cold day, maybe that's the reason nobody wants ice cream.

I looked at my watch on my right wrist and my eyes melted into misery. "It's 4:00pm and I have to stay here for 2 hours." I said to myself.

Scooping ice cream and faking a smile at customers are very tiring. It is a boring job, but I don't want to quit because I need to earn a lot of money and I got easily accepted by the owner of this ice cream store.

After minutes of thinking about my decisions in life, I started to feel a little dizzy.

I was sleepy.

My eyes were starting to close on its own and I kept on yawning every 30 seconds. It was truly a depressing day.

I rested the left side of my face on the counter and I let out a big yawn. I wanted to stand up and do a few exercises and stretches, but my body won't cooperate with me.

I was tired physically and mentally.

While struggling to stay awake, I started daydreaming about random things to entertain myself and prevent myself from falling asleep.

I imagined a ninja blasting his way through the window and pointing his katana at me. I imagined a helicopter dropping a giant bomb on the ice cream store. I kept on imagining about scenes from movies that I've watched, but it didn't work unfortunately. I yawned once again. 2 hours is short for some people, but for people who have boring jobs like me, it is long.

Suddenly, someone tapped the bell in front of me that made me snap out of my thoughts.

My daydream got shattered into pieces. I immediately got up and tried to regain my composure. There was a girl standing in front of me. My eyes were too tired, that's why I couldn't see clearly.

"I-is that a cat on your head?" I spoke like a drunk person. I clenched both of my fists and I rubbed my eyes to improve my vision.

I blinked twice and I looked at the long-haired girl standing in front of me. As my eyesight slowly got better, I started to notice that the girl is wearing a beanie and she's wearing the same uniform as me.

My eyes widened when I recognized her face.

"Hwang Yeji?" I asked.

"Yep. It's me!" She happily said. "Do you work here?" Yeji asked and placed both of her hands behind her back.

I fixed my hat as I straightened my back and started stretching my limbs to wake up my sleeping soul. "No. I don't work here. I am wearing an ice cream uniform, but I don't work here." I said in a sarcastic way.

Yeji chuckled at me. "You're so cute." She said that made me a little pissed off. "Anyways, can I order chocolate hazelnut ice cream?"

I stood up from my seat and I grabbed a cup and a scoop, a shovellike utensil used for scooping ice cream. I forced a smile at her. "You like hazelnut that much?" I said as I searched for the flavor she wanted. There were so many flavors that finding hazelnut was difficult for me.

"Yep." Yeji said.

While I was looking for the flavor she liked so much, Yeji suddenly took out her hand and pinched me on the cheek that made me flustered.

"Cutie." She said.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "The hell?" I shoved her hand away out of frustration.

Yeji giggled at me like a little child. "Can I order two?"

I nodded. "Alright."

"The other one is for you." Yeji said.

I slowly nodded at her. "Sure." I replied.

--

"You don't have that much customers today, right?" Yeji asked while sitting down outside of the ice cream store besides me.

I nodded while looking around the streets of Seoul and eating the ice cream Yeji bought for me. "Yep. It's really cold today."

Yeji looked at me. Her eyes were filled with colors and curiosity. They were glowing like stars across the Milky Way.

She had a concerned look on her face that made me a little confused. Her eyes started to go down to my neck that made me a little uncomfortable.

"Can you stop staring at me?" I said.

Yeji let out a small smile. "I noticed that your neck is as red as a cherry tomato." She placed her hand behind my back. "You tried to hang yourself, didn't you?"

I weakly nodded. "Y-yeah."

Yeji gave me a pat on the back. "I've been there." She said. "When I was diagnosed with cancer, I thought everything was over for me. I tried to kill myself countless times. I wanted to end my life because I didn't want to become a burden to my parents."

I was silent. There were cars beeping and people running and talking around, but it felt it like Yeji and I are having a conversation in a dark room.

"How did you get through it?" I asked.

Yeji showed me the ice cream cup she is holding. "My suicidal thoughts stopped when my dad bought hazelnut ice cream for me." She smiled.

I chuckled. I was genuinely happy at that moment. The big smile on Yeji's face was contagious. Even though I am still a little annoyed at her presence, she still made me a little happy.

Yeji pointed at me. "You just smiled." She said.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Y-yeah."

Yeji laughed and threw an eyesmile at me. The joyful look on her face made me feel something. I must admit, she was very adorable. "You know, you should always put on a happy face because if everybody around you is sad, then who'll make you happy? no one, but yourself."

"And don't worry. I'll be your friend, Ryujin." She added.