Three Dollars and a Singular Cent

I Love Brownies

“We’re out of milk again.”

“But you just said yesterday that we had more than enough milk.”

“But I’m making brownies. I need more milk.” Alice pouted. Reko sat in one of the kitchen chairs with her leg propped up on another seat, phone in hand.

“Yeah, Y/N. He’s making brownies. We all know Alice is the best cook around. He needs his milk.”

You looked at her phone. She seemed to have some text thread open. “When’s Miss Nao coming back around?” You changed the subject.

“Go get the milk.” Reko’s face burned a faint pink. She stood up and gave you five dollars.

“Oh boy. A whole five dollars. I could get, like, six McDonald’s cookies with this money.”

“It’s for the milk. Go get it.” She grabbed your shoulders, turning you around and pushing you toward the door.

“Fine. I see how it is.” You made a fake crying sound, slipped on your shoes, and left.

When you entered the store, you expected to hear Shin say, “Welcome in,” Like usual, but when you looked up at the counter, you instead saw Hiyori staring at him.

Your eyes went wide, and you hid behind a shelf.

“Shinnie…” Hiyori said. “That waiter said that you had to leave early last night because of a work problem. So, I came here, but you were nowhere to be seen. Mind explaining?”

“Hiyori, I-“

He cut him off, “No, why don’t you just call me Sou, huh? Just like back in high school.” Just from the way he was talking, you could tell that he was grinning eerily down at Shin.

“I got a call from my boss… and I thought it was an emergency, so I started on my way over here, but I wasn’t needed at the time, so I wasn’t…” Shin’s voice trailed off.

“Is that the truth?”

Shin was quiet. Yes, you go, king. Don’t answer anything you don’t want to.

“I’ll talk to you later, Shinnie. It seems you have a customer here already.” He turned around and stared right at you. “The waiter…” He walked out slowly.

Shin let out a huge breath once Hiyori was gone. “Oh my god. He’s gonna kill me or something. Oh my god.” Despite being pointed out, Shin seemed to have forgotten your presence. You walked over to the counter.

“Are you alright?” You asked. His head was in his hands, but he peaked up at you for a second.

“How does he know… everything about me..? How did he know I’d be… You didn’t tell him I worked here, did you?”

“Of course not. I’m not an idiot.”

“…If you hadn’t shown up, he probably would’ve pressured me into meeting out with him again,” Shin said quietly. “Thank you.”

“It’s weird; The kind of situation you’ve gotten yourself into.” You said, walking to the back of the store to grab the milk.

“Yeah, I’m sure it is. That’s just life.” He scanned the gallon of milk once you’d given it to him. “$4.39.” You handed him the five Reko gave you, and when the coins rolled into the dispenser, he picked them up and placed them in your hand.

“Thank you, Shin. Will you be alright?”

He looked a bit shaken up already. You weren’t sure if Hiyori would come back for him after you left.

“Yeah… I should be. I’ll text you if anything happens, I guess.” You nodded your head, turning towards the door. “Oh- wait.”

You turned your head to him again. He stood from his chair and bowed slightly, “T-Thank you so much for driving me home last night. I don’t know if I’ve thanked you yet.” When he stood back straight up, his beanie almost fell off his head.

“Oh.” Was all you said.

“O-Oh?”

“Sorry. Don’t worry about it. I’d be willing to do it again if ever needed. You can just call or text me. Preferably text because I’ll probably have a panic attack if you call me.”

“Alright. Thank you.” He sat back down as you left the store.

“Maybe I don’t like 7-Eleven anymore.” You announced upon entering the house.

“Why? What happened?” Alice peaked his head out of the kitchen.

“That Hiyori guy was there.” You walked past Alice into the kitchen, where Reko was still on her phone, except upside-down, now.

She looked away from her phone to give you a weird look, “Really?”

“Yeah…” You told them about what happened, and by the time you finished explaining, Reko was right-side-up again.

“That’s so fucking creepy.” She said. “I’m worried he’ll start fucking with you, too.”

“He won’t,” I think was something you meant to add to the end of your sentence, but you decided to be more firm with your beliefs because your therapist always told you that you should always stand strong with what you think. Like gay rights.

“And if he does, he’ll die for real this time.” Alice said, “I’ve never been afraid of the law.” He stood up from his crouched position in front of the oven. “I love brownies.”

“I’m sure you do, Alice. You make them almost every week.” He stuck his tongue out at you and Reko before sliding out of the kitchen on his socks.

He’s like Michael Jackson except he was Japanese and not a child SA. Smooth Criminal, heehee.

“Damn, I love brownies,” Alice said, shoving a flaming hot square in his mouth.

“We know.”

“I love these brownies.”

“Are you just making fun of me?” You questioned.

“I fucking love these brownies.”

“Alright, that’s enough out of you.”

Later that night, you were just chilling in your room. Not really doing anything. Probably doom scrolling. Then, you got a message from your mysterious 7-Eleven cashier friend.

Moon Shin(e)

hey
are you awake
It’s like 2am so. Idk
Ahh

You tapped on his message and wrote back,

You

yeah I am??
are you alright
r u dying yet

Moon Shin(e)

not yet
hey ;)
sorry am just
/fakes a yawn/ really tired.

You

What
Then why are you texting me instead of sleeping

Moon Shin(e)

🤷‍♀️
I am a bit too worried to fall asleep
What if I die

You

Ur not gonna die

Moon Shin(e)

yeah but I /am/ gonna sleep
bye 👋✨

You

??
Okay
Goodnight ig 🤨

You rolled onto your side and set your phone on the charger, letting sleep consume you. Just like how you’d let Shin if you were in a more intimate relationship with him 👍

~*~

1088 words
4/27/22