Let's Play a Game.

Chapter Five

Once I got to the store, I walked in, greeted by my mom who was standing behind the counter with one of her co-workers. I said hello to her and walked towards the food isle, looking around and trying to decide what I wanted. After about a minute of standing there, I just grabbed cup ramen and went towards the front, setting it on the counter. 

"This is all you're getting?" My mom asked and I nodded. She scanned it and I handed a dollar to her, but she didn't take it. "No, I'll buy it, you keep and save your money." She said, placing the cup ramen in a small plastic bag. 

"Are you sure?" I raised a brow and she nodded, humming in response. I hesitated but put the dollar back into my wallet before slipping the wallet into the pocket of my sweatpants. "Thank you." I said as she handed me the bag. 

"Of course." She smiled. 

I stared at her for a moment, reading her facial expression. "Don't overwork yourself." I said and she looked at me, raising a brow and tilting her head at me. "You look exhausted and once you're done here you have to go to your other job til tomorrow morning." I sighed. 

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." She said, putting her money into the register before taking her change. 

"I am worried about you. I wish you would let me get a job so you don't have to work so hard." I responded. 

"No, I'm fine. You need to focus on school anyways." 

"Speaking of which, since you get off work around 6 in the morning, don't worry about taking me to school. I can walk, so when you get home, go to bed." I said in a somewhat demanding yet worried tone. "Please?" 

My mother nodded and I sighed in slight relief. The bell on the door rang as it was opened and I looked, seeing Somin. I pursed my lips together before seeing Jimin step out from behind her, to which I quickly looked away and turned my back to them. I heard my mom call out to Somin and I winced silently, closing my eyes. My mom looked at me with a concerned look and I shook my head, telling her it was fine. 

Somin walked over to my mom and started talking to her, almost as if I wasn't even there. I only prayed Jimin wouldn't try to talk to me, I looked over my shoulder and saw him head towards the back to the drinks. I sighed in relief and turned to look at my mom, interrupting her's and Somin's conversation. "I'll see you in the morning." I said as I walked to the door, avoiding eye contact with Somin. 

My mom said goodbye to me and I walked out of the building, closing my eyes and huffing in annoyance. Why in the hell was she with him? I had quite a few questions but unfortunately, they would have to wait.  

--

As I walked home, I was focused on my surroundings, making sure Jimin and or Somin wasn't following me. Somin knew where I lived, but Jimin didn't and I didn't want him finding out. Unless Somin already told him. 

Were they already best buds or something? I frowned and pulled my phone from my pocket, looking at my notifications. Two messages from Somin and one from Jimin. I bit the inside of my cheek and unlocked my phone, opening Somin's messages first. 

Do you wanna hang out?

I'll take that as a no. 

The messages were sent within an hour of each other. She knows I study after school... We literally just got into a fight because of Jimin, and she asked if I wanted to hang out but because I didn't answer, she decided to hang out with him? Or were they already together when she first messaged me? 

I kept walking, looking at my phone instead of my surroundings as I texted her back.

Not in the mood. Thanks for the invite though. I see you two are having fun.

 I hesitated, contemplating on whether or not I wanted to say that. Did it make me sound jealous? Would she think I was jealous? I pursed my lips together again before I deleted "I see you two are having fun." and hit send. Leaving it at that, I opened Jimin's message. 

You should come chill with Somin and I. We're gonna be at the football field at school with a few of our friends, on Monday's and Friday's, that's where we usually hang out. Feel free to tag along. I'd love to see you.

I mouthed the words as I read his message, rolling my eyes at the last part. He'd love to see me? He did see me, at the store but he didn't say anything to me... maybe he didn't notice me? Why was I letting this get to me? I stared at my phone, continuing to walk. 

Not paying attention, I stepped right out into the street and heard tires screech before the horn blared, my eyes shot up from my phone and I yelped, quickly stepping backwards and losing my balance, I fell on to the ground, along with my phone, hearing the screen crack. I looked at the car, seeing the window was down. "I'm so sorry!" I yelled out loud enough so they could hear me. 

The car came to a complete stop when they saw me fall and they turned the flashers on so if someone were to drive by, they would know to be careful and something was wrong. The woman got out of the car and quickly jogged over to me. "Oh my god, I didn't even see you! Are you okay?!" She asked, quickly helping me back on to my feet. 

With her help, I was back on my feet, brushing the dust off my sweatpants and placing my hand over my heart. "I'm fine, I wasn't paying attention, I'm sorry." I grabbed my phone off the ground and saw the screen was completely busted. I gulped, pressing the power button. I sighed in relief when my phone turned on, though it was a bit hard to see some things with all the new cracks. 

"Oh shoot," She exclaimed, seeing my phone screen. "I'm sorry, oh my god." She ran her hand through her thick black hair, looking around. It was obvious she was just as scared as I was. 

"It's honestly fine, it's nothing to worry about." I forced a smile, looking at her. "It still works." I assured her. 

"Here, one sec," She said as she jogged back to her car and opened the driver door, I raised a brow and watched her, standing there awkwardly and unsure of what to do. I looked at the ground and picked up the bag, blowing my hair away from my face as I stood up straight, slipping my phone into my pocket, seeing her walking back to me, holding something in her hand. "It's not much, but here." She grabbed my free hand and placed some money in my palm. 

I looked at it, gasping to see she'd given me a fifty bucks. "Oh, no I can't take this," I looked up at her, she was a bit taller than me. Maybe in her late twenties or early thirties. 

"No, no, take it. I owe you. I almost hit you with my car because I was texting my boyfriend and because of me, your phone broke." She frowned. 

I stared at her, thinking for a minute before shaking my head. "It wasn't your fault though, I was also texting someone, I wasn't even paying attention, and there's no crosswalk either. It's not your fault." I handed her the money. 

She gently pushed my hand away. "But I was texting while driving. So we're both kind of in the wrong, but you could have gotten severely hurt, so just take it. Your phones broke and I almost hit you. Everything of mine is fine, I have plenty of money, this is nothing. Okay? Just keep it." She took a deep breath, smiling widely at me. Though, she could tell by the look on my face I was unsure about it. "I promise you, it's okay." 

Before I could say anything else, she started walking back to her car. She got in and slowly drove away, waving to me. I watched her as she drove off before I looked at the money. I felt guilty for her giving me money, but now I couldn't give it back to her. "Thank you" I whispered softly as I put the money into my wallet before I looked both ways and continued to walk home.