Help || Hwang Hyunjin

SEVEN

It was a Saturday. I didn't exactly belong to a rich family but we were pretty well off which meant that we weren't really in the need of an additional source of income. Yet, my sister and I, surprisingly, were thoughtful enough to pick up part-time jobs just to learn what endurance it took to work and study at the same time.

Our grandparents were just worried about the fact that we were unnecessarily stressing ourselves too much when we didn't have the need to do so.

Our parents on the other hand were simply ecstatic and even impressed at our aim but asked us to be aware of the fact that we could never let the jobs interrupt our academics. Therefore, we stuck to the plan of working only on weekends.

It had been close to seven months since I had started to work.

I worked at a store that sold instruments; musical instruments. I played the violin and I was actually pretty passionate and maybe even a had passel of talent and potential when it came to vocals.

I had picked up vocals on my own and had also gone under professional training from the age of six to thirteen, in the US. So, in a way, music was a pretty big thing to me.

Working at the instrument shop felt just right for these reasons. Since I had the basic knowledge of music, I found it easier do the jobs at the store such as tuning and differentiating between the types of instruments. Over time, the owner of the store was patient enough to teach me the various varieties of each instrument, how to pick out instruments according to the level of experience that the customer came with and even to fix prices with appropriate deals.

The walk from my house to the store took approximately 10 minutes at my speed. It was around half a kilometer away.

I started going on my way by 7:15 in the morning, still showing signs of somnolence.

When I reached the store, I panicked at the sight of a vacillating customer as I could sense that the owner was definitely on his edge.

I could relate with him. It's like how kids can't pick one flavor when it comes to ice cream and make a fuss, no matter what you pick out for them. Except for the same synopsis was taking place thirty minutes after getting out of bed.

The weather was very fickle then. I was wearing a rain coat just in case it rained and my precautions clearly didn't go futile when it started to rain as soon as I took off my raincoat in the store.

The numerous flukes accompanying me in the past month was indeed surprising.

The subtle joy that that thought had brought me, instantly vanished when I saw the once confused customer, now indignantly storming out of the store, leaving my boss completely bewildered.

"What happened?" I dubiously asked, seeing that the man looked somewhat sensitive at that point of time.

"She was first confused about whether her son should learn a mandolin or a guitar and from nowhere, she comes up with the statement that there is something wrong with the quality of chips that we sell," he almost complained to me, markedly offended by the latter part of her vexatious behavior.

I saw the woman walking through the rain holding up an umbrella and felt a little frustrated myself.

---

The owner instructed me to carefully arrange the new supply of the majestic wind instruments that were piled up in the storage room.

All that physical labor had me on the floor in just thirty minutes.

The rain added to the humidity, making me sweat the most I did in months.

All that fatigue was completely washed away when three boys rushed into the store, drenched from head to toe.