exhilarating | mark lee

two

It was currently 9:34 pm and Chaerin was starving. This is the story of why she was now walking to the nearest convenience store.

There wasn't any food in her house since she was supposed to go grocery shopping last weekend but for some reason, she got lazy and thought she didn't need food. Which was wrong because you always need food. Happy? Food. Stressed? Food. Depressed? Food. Food is always the answer.

She scolded herself once more for not going grocery shopping last week before pushing the glass door open. A little bell rang throughout the store.

The clerk, Eunha greeted her with a smile.

Eunha has been working here for a while and was already familiar with Chaerin since she frequently came here to pick up coffee and snacks.

"Good evening," Chaerin greeted, Eunha smiling in response.

"What are you having today?"

Chaerin shrugged, thinking of all the possibilities. "Maybe ramen or maybe whatever I find appealing at the moment, I haven't figured that out yet,"

She then went to browse the aisles and picked out what she thought looked good. After grabbing everything she liked, she went to the cashier to pay for everything.

"Ramen it is then," Eunha commented while she scanned the items and placed them in a white plastic bag, leaving out the ramen.

Chaerin then got the ramen and started filling it up with hot water in the small station near the counter.

"There's a new delivery out back, I'll just settle it and be back, is that okay with you?" Eunha asked making her way to the back room.

"Yeah no problem, take your time," Chaerin responded.

"Thank you! Oh and chopsticks are behind the counter," Chaerin shot her a smile and a thanks, then continued to make her ramen.

She went behind the counter to look for the chopsticks when the small bell rang.

Chaerin looked up to meet a pair of dark brown eyes filled with panic. The guy flinched and she looked down to see that he was clutching his stomach in pain.

You couldn't see much of his features since he was wearing a cap and mask. Not to mention black from head to toe.

He frantically looked around the store, glancing back at the street every few seconds.

Chaerin raised her eyebrows at his strange behavior, internally battling with herself before finally talking.

"Hey," she caught his attention and he snapped his head to look at her.

She gestured and pointed to the back room. He tilted his head slightly to the side and stared at her in confusion.

After observing her for a few seconds, he then nodded and went to hide in the back room.

Chaerin then went back to looking for her chopsticks when the small bell rang once more. She got her chopsticks and looked up to more newcomers.

There were now three men all dressed in black and gray with tattoos covering their arms.

One rushed towards the counter where she was and the other two searched around the store.

"Have you seen a man dressed all in black, with black hair?" He demanded, which made Chaerin's eyes widen slightly.

She tried to look as confused as possible and scrunched my eyebrows together. "No," she shook her head softly, "Not that I remember,"