5. [12:25am]
You rested your head on your palm while peering out of the large windows of the convenience store, watching the rare car pass by. Your ears perked up at the familiar ding of your alarm, signalling the end of the four-minute wait. Taking a generous gulp from your green grape soju, you peeled the lid of the instant noodle cup open with anticipation. You gave the rabokki, your favourite combo of Samyang spicy chicken ramen and tteokbokki, a quick mix with your wooden chopsticks, basking in the hot puff of fragrance that invaded your senses. You sighed as you took the first bite, satisfied with your purchase.
Normally, you wouldn’t buy two bottles of soju, cup noodles and instant tteokbokki at nearly half past midnight. Your go-to midnight snack was usually honey butter chips and banana flavoured milk. However, desperate times called for desperate measures.
You winced internally at the thought of your group assignment results that were released a few hours earlier. You had slaved away for many nights and tried your best to get your team on the right track to deliver a professional, cohesive presentation about digital marketing strategies. Yet, your tutor clearly had no appreciation for your efforts and gave you a meagre grade, just above the passing mark. You took another swig from the green bottle, cursing the tutor and your useless teammates.
Just as you were about to set the bottle down, you felt a large hand prying it away from your fingertips and replacing it with the familiar, green-lidded, transparent bottle of banana milk. You looked to the owner of said hand in slight annoyance, only to be met with a disapproving scowl.
“Jackson, give it back.” You stared at your brother’s best friend with the same, fiery intensity. No one was going to stop you from drinking your sorrows away, not even the guy you harboured a tiny crush on ever since primary school.
“No way, Jaebeom will kill me if he finds out his baby sister was drinking the night away in my convenience store.” He crossed his arms, stubborn.
You cringed at the reminder that he had always and will only ever see you as Jaebeom’s little sister. “For your information, I’m no longer a baby. I’m a grown-ass woman who is legally allowed to drink. And stop acting like you own the place, you’re just a part-timer.”
Jackson ignored your sassy comment. “Y/N, you just turned twenty like two months ago. At this rate you’ll be so drunk that you won’t even be able to walk in a straight line. Why are you here at this hour anyway?”
You took a giant slurp of your noodles, hoping that he would stop questioning you and leave you to sulk in peace. You didn’t need a midnight heart-to-heart with him right now. You wanted to be alone. “Go away, Jackson. It’s none of your business.”
“Yes, it is, missy. Jaebeom said-”
“It’s always Jaebeom this, Jaebeom that with you. When will you ever stop talking about my big brother? He’s literally halfway across the country and yet I keep hearing his name on a daily basis.” It was true, of course. You specifically chose your current university because it was the furthest university away from your brother that offered your course of choice. Not because the two of you had a bad relationship, but mostly due to the fact that he acted like your third parent, constantly checking up on you and breathing down your neck. Unfortunately, your brother made his best friend, who also moved to the same city years ago, swear to protect you at all costs.
Jackson could sense that you were more hostile and tense than usual. Clearly you were going through a rough patch, so he decided to take a softer approach. “Okay, I’m sorry, Y/N. I just want to make sure you’re alright.”
“I’m not.” You admitted between noisy sips of banana milk. “I’m not alright.”
“You wanna talk about it?” He asked gently, taking the seat beside yours and resting his head on his palm to get a good look at you. You, dressed in your grey pullover and matching sweatpants, mid-length hair kept away from your face in a low ponytail and your wire-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of your nose. Jackson knew you were a grown woman, but he just couldn’t shake away the inexplicable urge to protect your innocent self from the evils of the world.
“Not really. Uni stuff, nothing much.”
“Been there, done that. Let me guess, shitty group assignments? Or incapable lecturers who can’t teach?”
You nodded your head to both, still somewhat reluctant to pour your feelings out to him. You were just too tired and too emotional, and burying your worries seemed like the easiest way out right now. Thankfully, Jackson didn’t question you further and allowed you to finish your midnight supper in peaceful silence. You did, however, narrow your eyes at him when he downed the remainder of the soju.
“You done? I’ll walk you home.”
“You don’t have to, Jacks.”
“I want to and I will, that’s final.”
You rolled your eyes at his insistence, opening your mouth again to argue that you were perfectly capable of walking yourself back home, thank you very much, when he suddenly leaned in closer to you, his face mere inches away from yours. You held your breath and stayed completely still as he swiped his thumb across the edge of your mouth to get rid of a stain. “Such a messy eater,” he commented, shaking his head.
You stared at him dumbly. “I…” Your mind was working on overdrive as it replayed the past few moments – his warm touch, his lopsided grin. “Only if… I get another one of these.” You pointed towards the empty bottle of banana milk.
“Sure. Give me a sec, I’ll tap out to finish my shift.” You watched his retreating back for a while before snapping out of it. Focus, you thought as you cleaned up, he doesn’t see you like that. Once you were done, you waited for Jackson while mindlessly scrolling through your social feeds.
“Here.” He thrusted a plastic bag filled with several bottles of banana milk, strawberry milk, vanilla milk, candy bar flavoured milk and a multipack of almond flavoured Pepero. “I know the banana flavour is your favourite, but the candy bar is the latest release. You can be one of the first ones to try it!”
Jackson was oddly enthusiastic about convenience store snacks, just like you. “Goodness, thank you, Jacks! I’ve been wanting to try this since it came out. How much is this? Let me pay you back.”
“It’s nothing, Y/N. Staff privileges. I work here, remember? Consider it my apology to you for overstepping my boundaries earlier.” He trailed off, looking at you with his puppy eyes. “Listen, I know you’ve always seen me as your big brother’s best friend, but I can be your friend too, you know? This time of your life isn’t easy, and being alone in a big city, away from family, it can get tough sometimes. I’ve been through it as well. I just want you to know that I’m here for you if you need me, as your friend.”
It was the first time Jackson had spoken to you in such a manner, and you were touched. “Thank you, Jackson, really.” You flashed him your bright eye-smile, which was a carbon copy of Jaebeom’s. “Now that we’ve established that we’re friends, let’s share a box of Pepero with a bottle of milk on the way home. Which one’s your favourite?” You asked him with interest, walking out of the convenience store feeling ten times lighter than you did earlier that night.
“Nothing beats the OG, banana flavour is the best!”
“Agreed!”
