Chapter 1 : Mint Choco

Mirae's POV

"Mirae-ya, are you okay?" he said. I just nodded, tears rolling down my cheeks. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm okay. But you bruises..." He had some bruises on his cheeks and forehead.

"I'm okay." He pulled me into his arms, caressing my head. "Don't worry. It's going to be okay." I hugged him back as more tears started rolling down my cheeks.

I was still hugging him when he suddenly pushed me away, making me fall on the ground. I quickly turned back to look at him.

Just then I heard the sound of a gunshot. My eyes widened when I saw the red liquid flowing out of his stomach. My heart just dropped on watching that.

"SAN-AH!..." I went to him and held him as he dropped to his knees.

"S-San-ah!... San-ah!..." He was slowly losing his consciousness. "Come back to your senses! San-ah, get a hold of yourself!..."

I was panicking at that time. I covered his wound to stop the flow of blood but it was of no use. I held him to my chest and cried hard.

"SAN-AH!..."

***

[Few months ago...]

"It'll be 17,440 won, ma'am," I said.

She handed me the money and I passed her the bag of things she just bought.

"Have a nice day." I smiled and bowed a little to her before she left.

I plopped on the chair and sighed, massaging my shoulders. "Ah, my shoulders hurt..."

It's a very tiring job to work in a convenience store. But still I have to do it. I quickly stood up on seeing another customer enter the store.

"Welcome, sir."

Soon my shift ended and I headed towards my next job. I went to the cafe, put on my apron and started my work.

There were a lot of dishes that were to be washed in the sink. I made my hair into a ponytail and got started. I tried to wash them as quickly as possible.

"Mirae-ya," Jiyeon, my coworker, said. I looked at her, still washing a plate. "Finish this quickly. We have a lot of customers now."

By saying that, she left, leaving me with a pile of new dirty dishes. I sighed heavily, looking at those.

"...Start working or you'll be fired," I mumbled to myself.

***

"Table number eight," Sohee, my coworker, said as I was putting on the apron.

"Eight?" I asked to confirm it to which she nodded. I took the tray and went straight to the said table.

"Enjoy your food," I said with a smile before walking away from there.

I went back to the counter and saw another tray of food to be delivered. "Table number seven."

I picked up the tray and went to deliver it. It was the weekend so there were a lot of customers at that time, which also meant we had to do all the work in double speed.

I was going to deliver another order when I bumped into a man. And as a result of that, the drink which I had on the tray spilled on his coat.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry sir." I quickly apologized, bowing.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at me. "Were you dreaming while walking?"

"I'm really sorry sir."

"My coat... It's all dirty. Aishh! Where's your boss? Call her now."

Ah, I'm doomed...

***

"Exactly what do you do, Kang Mirae-ssi?" my boss said. She was really mad at me for what happened earlier.

I'm not sure either. I work as a part-timer at a convenience store, a cafe and a restaurant.

"I'm really sorry ma'am," I said, head still hung low.

"We can't afford to hear anymore complaints."

"It won't happen again ma'am. I'm sorry."

"You're right though. It won't happen again... Cause you're fired!"

***

It was already 9:54 pm now. I was walking back home, staring at my phone screen. It was a message from my landlord.

It's already been twomonths late to pay the rent. If you're not going to pay it within two days then I'll not hesitate to kick you out of my house.

I sighed and kept the phone back in my bag. "Ah, jjinjja eottokhae?!..." I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. "What do I do with my life?"

Annyeong, I'm Kang Mirae. And as you all can see, I'm broke. I don't even have enough money to pay my rent. My life is a complete mess and I don't know how will I survive in this cunning world.

I was on my way home when something caught my attention. It was a flyer which was stuck on an electricity pole.

"Recruiting?"

It was a flyer by an entertainment company who were looking for a bodyguard.

"Bodyguard?... It would be a boring job though."

I shook my head and walked past the pole, but came back to that place again.

"But they would pay a decent amount though. And now I need it the most." I took off the flyer from that pole and kept it in my bag. "I'll think about it at home."

On my way back home, my stomach started to grumble. I was passing by a convenience store so I thought to buy me a cup of ramyeon.

I went in and searched for my favorite ramyeon. I picked it up from the rack and went to the counter to pay for it. But then I wanted to have something for the dessert too.

"Maybe an ice cream would do."

I went to the ice cream section to get my favorite flavour. "Mint choco..." I mumbled to myself as I looked for it. "Uh! There's only one left... Lucky me!"

I was about to pick it up when I saw another hand reaching for it and we both held the ice cream at the same time.

I turned to my left to see who it was. It was a guy who was dressed all in black, but his hair colour was hot pink. He had his hat and mask on so I couldn't see his face.

"Excuse me," I said, politely. "Can you please let go of it? I held it first."

"I held it first," he bluntly said. "You should let go of it."

"It's mine. So I'll take it." I tried to snatch it from him.

"No, it's mine! I'll take it." But he didn't seem to let go of it.

"There are many other flavours. You can take one of them."

"No! I need mint choco only."

"I want it!"

"I want it too!"

This guy really...

I sighed. "...I'll give you double the original price if you give this to me," I said, thinking money would make him weak. I held that amount of money in my other hand.

"I'll give you five times the original price." He too did the same.

Looks like he has a lot of money. But I can't bet more than that...

Then my gaze landed on something which brought a smirk on my face.

"Okay. You can have it," I said.

"Already giving up?"

I took the money from his hands and walked away from there. I went to the worker who was bringing a new carton of mint choco and took a nice one for me. I raised it in the air, showing it to him.

"You!..." I heard him say.

But it was too late for him to do anything. I quickly paid for the stuffs and headed out of the store.

"At least I won." I smirked.

To be continued...