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Description
To be completely honest with you, working at a convenience store has its perks. I’ll admit that about sixty percent of the time, this job is more boring than watching your grandma slowly count out a hundred dollars in change, but for the remaining percentage of time, this job is definitely amusing.

I work from Tuesday to Saturday each week and I get off work at 9 on weekdays and 2 in the morning on Saturday. As you can probably guess, Fridays and Saturdays are the most interesting days for me, what with college and high school students out of school and partying all night. Believe me, I’ve encountered a few close calls. One time, the fire department and the police had to come and my manage was obviously not impressed with having to wake up at one in the morning and drag his butt to the store in thin pajamas only to find half the chip aisle set on fire. It was a good day. May the chips rest in peace.

Today was supposed to be a slow day, if it weren’t for the fact that most schools weren’t in session tomorrow due to a holiday. So I’m stuck here, in my ugly green and red striped uniform shirt, on a Thursday, working late. My manager told me that the colors were chosen to be eye-catching. Right. I just feel like a walking, talking, Christmas tree all day.

It was approximately midnight when the ding of the automatic doors sounded and slid open. I was too busy checking the stock to see whom it was. Around ten long minutes later, someone rung the bell on the counter and I headed back to the cash register to check them out.

“Hi, welcome to Titan-Eleven. I’m (Name). Did you find everything okay today?” I announced my regular greeting as I began to ring up the items. All I saw were…feminine products. A bit curious, I looked up at the person. The customer stepped back just as I did.

“What are you doing here!?” We screamed in unison. Said customer with the basket of feminine hygienic products was Jean Kirschtein, a guy in my math class.

I suspiciously eyed him, then his shopping basket, then back. He held up his hands in his defense.

“I was dared by my friends, okay?” he yelled. I heard him whisper something about “that damn Jaeger.” I suppose he was referring to Eren Jaegar, a guy who also goes to my college. He and Jean don’t mix well. “Ugh, I’ll never go to one of those stupid ass parties ever again.” He continued to complain about this and that, how the drinks totally sucked, how there weren’t any hot chicks to begin with other than Mikasa, and how the game they played was totally rigged.

I cleared my throat to get his attention.
“So do you still want these or not? Because there’s quite the line forming behind you.” I pointed out. Jean took a look at the long chain of people behind him, mostly to purchase drinks and snacks for upcoming parties, and shot me an apologetic smile.

“Ah, sorry ‘bout that. Guess I kind of droned on, huh.”

“Do you still want these?” I gestured to his items.

“Hell nah, I ain’t going back to that place.” He told me and scooted over to the side for the next customer. I smiled as I apologized to them about the wait and began to scan their items.

“Hey…” Jean whispered. I looked at him oddly and wondered why he still hasn’t left yet.

“Yeah, what?” I asked and counted out the change for the customer.

“What time do you get off work today?” I paused in the middle of my money counting and tried to process his question. I realized that I had lost count and dropped all the money back into the register and started over. The customer impatiently tapped his foot.

“In about and hour and a half.” I answered after I handed the customer his change and gave him a wave goodbye. Jean nodded as he carefully thought about how to phrase his next question. I turned around to grab a box of cigarettes for the next customer.

“Meet me behind the store after you get off. I’ll be waiting.” I heard him say. When I turned around, he’s gone. The automatic doors slid shut.

The sudden rush of customers kept my mind off the honey-eyed man and his peculiar request. By the time the last customer walked out, there were only five minutes left of my shift. Sasha, who has her shift right after mine, barged in the entrance while she ate a sandwich. She was an average-height brunette who loves food to death. I’ve never seen her not chewing on something. Just a couple days ago, she confessed to me that she really only applied for this job just for free food.

“Hello, (Name)! How was your shift?”

“Same old. Be careful though, I had quite a handful of trouble during the past hour.” She laughed at my friendly warning.

“Haha! If anyone dared touch me, I would feed them my iron fists!” In other words, not only does Sasha eat like a bear, she fights like one too.

“Sasha, the most you could probably do is throw a pickle from your sandwich at them and pray to the high heavens that they don’t touch you.” Her shoulders slumped.

“Yeah, I know…but one can dream, you know!?” I gave her back a pat.

“It’s alright Sasha, pickles are nasty anyways.”

“(Nameeeeeeeee)!!!” She whined as I walked away, laughing. I don’t know whether she was angry at the fact that I insulted her fighting ability or at my pickle comment.
---
After I changed out of the ugly uniform and popped on my hoodie and jeans, I left the store via the backdoor. Like he’d promised, Jean was there, propped up against the brick wall with his hands in his pockets.

The lighter top of his bi-colored hair shined under the moonlight and for a second, I felt out of place. I didn’t belong here right now, I should be back in my room watching anime or reading my manga. Jean didn’t belong here either. He should be back at that party with his friends, having the time of his life. Neither of us should be here right now. Beyond that, the two of us don’t belong together.

Jean and I, we went to high school together, we got accepted into the same college together. We were close yet worlds apart from each other. He was the cocky, cute, popular guy while I was the quiet one whom everyone liked or generally accepted. I never ran into any problems as a student and as a person. Jean, on the other hand, had one too many problems. From relationship troubles to his best friend currently in the hospital with a coma due to an accident, his life was far from carefree.

We’ve never talked to each other much other than discussing homework or just exchanging formalities. For some reason though, I was the first person he went to after the accident. We didn’t say much, just merely enjoyed each other’s company. He’d watched me quietly as I laughed and cried over animes. He stayed there for three hours that night.

As I stood there and reminisced over the times, Jean pushed off the wall and walked over. Before I even said “hello”, he had enveloped me in a warm hug. His breaths came out in quick, short, huffs. He held onto me so tightly, as if I was the only string of hope he had left.

“Jean? Everything alright?”

“(Name)…” His voice was shaky. “I’m just…so tired of everything. What the hell am I even doing with my life?” He asked in a pained tone. My arms rested around his waist and I laid my head on his chest. His sudden seriousness piqued my interest yet it concerned me. This was so unlike the usual overconfident asshole Jean.
“Marco’s in the hospital right now and even the doctors don’t know whether he’s going to make it or not while I’m just out here drinking and partying away! My best friend’s half dead in the hospital; the hell is wrong with me!?” He cried and I was at a lost for words.

“I’m such a damn coward. Hell, maybe I should just move far away and start a new life or some shit. I’m useless anyways. Even my own parents kicked me out after seeing me drunk every weekend.”

“Jean.” I whispered, cutting him off from his rant. “You’re not useless. There’s nothing wrong with you. Heck, you’re even smarter than me! You’re one of the top in our class, as much as I hate to admit it. You can’t move away. What about Marco? How would he feel if he suddenly woke up and realized that his best friend was gone? And…I don’t want you to leave either.” I quietly admitted.

“But (Name), he’s been in there for a whole year. It’s practically hopeless.” He sighed, clearly defeated.

“You shouldn’t give up so easily! The world is a cruel place…but it’s also very beautiful so please, Jean, don’t give up. Wait for Marco, I know he’ll wake up. I just know it…” I whispered and bravely reached up to touch his cheek. He leaned closer to my touch and I took it as an okay to move on. Gently, I cradled his cheek in my hand and brought his head closer. His warm breaths fanned my lips and I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. Jean molded his lips against mine and held my free hand against his beating chest.

A tear made its way down my cheek from my (e/c) orbs as one after another, they followed. Jean kissed them all away and hugged my body to his chest.

“Idiot, why’re you the one who’s crying anyways? I should be the one bawling here.” He jokingly said in a hushed tone. His long fingers brushed through my hair as he gently rocked us back and forth.

“I like you, you know. Even if you’re an idiot sometimes.” He confessed. I smiled.

“I like you too, you know. Even if you’re a jerk sometimes.”

“Heh. Hey, that’s kinda harsh.” He mumbled and kissed my forehead. I stuck my tongue out at him and he smiled. Just then, his phone vibrated.

Jean removed one hand away from me to pull his phone out of his pocket. His face shifted into a puzzled expression as he read the caller ID.

“Who is it?” I asked him.

“It’s…Marco’s Mom.” I cocked my head to the side and tried to figure out why his best friend’s mother was calling him at nearly two-thirty in the morning.

“…Hello?” I watched Jean’s face as his eyes grew as wide as saucers then finally broke out into a huge grin.

“Really!? That’s…that’s great! I’ll come right away. Oh, and do you mind if I bring a friend?” I was even more curious from the tidbits of conversation that I was able to hear.

“Awesome! I’ll see you in thirty minutes then.” He ended the call and looked at me with the happiest expression that I’ve ever seen on his face.

“Guess what? Marco’s Mom just told me that he’s showing signs of waking up! The doctors say that it won’t be too long now before he’ll be fully up!” Jean excitedly spoke like a child on Christmas morning.

“That’s great! Are you going to see him now?” Jean nodded and grabbed my hand.

“Come with me?” I’ve never agreed to anything faster in my life.

“Of course!” He smiled and kissed me again before he intertwined our fingers together. We walked together that night, two-thirty in the morning, middle of winter, hand-in-hand.
“The world is merciless, and it’s also very beautiful.”- Mikasa Ackerman

Description
To be completely honest with you, working at a convenience store has its perks. I’ll admit that about sixty percent of the time, this job is more boring than watching your grandma slowly count out a hundred dollars in change, but for the remaining percentage of time, this job is definitely amusing.

I work from Tuesday to Saturday each week and I get off work at 9 on weekdays and 2 in the morning on Saturday. As you can probably guess, Fridays and Saturdays are the most interesting days for me, what with college and high school students out of school and partying all night. Believe me, I’ve encountered a few close calls. One time, the fire department and the police had to come and my manage was obviously not impressed with having to wake up at one in the morning and drag his butt to the store in thin pajamas only to find half the chip aisle set on fire. It was a good day. May the chips rest in peace.

Today was supposed to be a slow day, if it weren’t for the fact that most schools weren’t in session tomorrow due to a holiday. So I’m stuck here, in my ugly green and red striped uniform shirt, on a Thursday, working late. My manager told me that the colors were chosen to be eye-catching. Right. I just feel like a walking, talking, Christmas tree all day.

It was approximately midnight when the ding of the automatic doors sounded and slid open. I was too busy checking the stock to see whom it was. Around ten long minutes later, someone rung the bell on the counter and I headed back to the cash register to check them out.

“Hi, welcome to Titan-Eleven. I’m (Name). Did you find everything okay today?” I announced my regular greeting as I began to ring up the items. All I saw were…feminine products. A bit curious, I looked up at the person. The customer stepped back just as I did.

“What are you doing here!?” We screamed in unison. Said customer with the basket of feminine hygienic products was Jean Kirschtein, a guy in my math class.

I suspiciously eyed him, then his shopping basket, then back. He held up his hands in his defense.

“I was dared by my friends, okay?” he yelled. I heard him whisper something about “that damn Jaeger.” I suppose he was referring to Eren Jaegar, a guy who also goes to my college. He and Jean don’t mix well. “Ugh, I’ll never go to one of those stupid ass parties ever again.” He continued to complain about this and that, how the drinks totally sucked, how there weren’t any hot chicks to begin with other than Mikasa, and how the game they played was totally rigged.

I cleared my throat to get his attention.
“So do you still want these or not? Because there’s quite the line forming behind you.” I pointed out. Jean took a look at the long chain of people behind him, mostly to purchase drinks and snacks for upcoming parties, and shot me an apologetic smile.

“Ah, sorry ‘bout that. Guess I kind of droned on, huh.”

“Do you still want these?” I gestured to his items.

“Hell nah, I ain’t going back to that place.” He told me and scooted over to the side for the next customer. I smiled as I apologized to them about the wait and began to scan their items.

“Hey…” Jean whispered. I looked at him oddly and wondered why he still hasn’t left yet.

“Yeah, what?” I asked and counted out the change for the customer.

“What time do you get off work today?” I paused in the middle of my money counting and tried to process his question. I realized that I had lost count and dropped all the money back into the register and started over. The customer impatiently tapped his foot.

“In about and hour and a half.” I answered after I handed the customer his change and gave him a wave goodbye. Jean nodded as he carefully thought about how to phrase his next question. I turned around to grab a box of cigarettes for the next customer.

“Meet me behind the store after you get off. I’ll be waiting.” I heard him say. When I turned around, he’s gone. The automatic doors slid shut.

The sudden rush of customers kept my mind off the honey-eyed man and his peculiar request. By the time the last customer walked out, there were only five minutes left of my shift. Sasha, who has her shift right after mine, barged in the entrance while she ate a sandwich. She was an average-height brunette who loves food to death. I’ve never seen her not chewing on something. Just a couple days ago, she confessed to me that she really only applied for this job just for free food.

“Hello, (Name)! How was your shift?”

“Same old. Be careful though, I had quite a handful of trouble during the past hour.” She laughed at my friendly warning.

“Haha! If anyone dared touch me, I would feed them my iron fists!” In other words, not only does Sasha eat like a bear, she fights like one too.

“Sasha, the most you could probably do is throw a pickle from your sandwich at them and pray to the high heavens that they don’t touch you.” Her shoulders slumped.

“Yeah, I know…but one can dream, you know!?” I gave her back a pat.

“It’s alright Sasha, pickles are nasty anyways.”

“(Nameeeeeeeee)!!!” She whined as I walked away, laughing. I don’t know whether she was angry at the fact that I insulted her fighting ability or at my pickle comment.
---
After I changed out of the ugly uniform and popped on my hoodie and jeans, I left the store via the backdoor. Like he’d promised, Jean was there, propped up against the brick wall with his hands in his pockets.

The lighter top of his bi-colored hair shined under the moonlight and for a second, I felt out of place. I didn’t belong here right now, I should be back in my room watching anime or reading my manga. Jean didn’t belong here either. He should be back at that party with his friends, having the time of his life. Neither of us should be here right now. Beyond that, the two of us don’t belong together.

Jean and I, we went to high school together, we got accepted into the same college together. We were close yet worlds apart from each other. He was the cocky, cute, popular guy while I was the quiet one whom everyone liked or generally accepted. I never ran into any problems as a student and as a person. Jean, on the other hand, had one too many problems. From relationship troubles to his best friend currently in the hospital with a coma due to an accident, his life was far from carefree.

We’ve never talked to each other much other than discussing homework or just exchanging formalities. For some reason though, I was the first person he went to after the accident. We didn’t say much, just merely enjoyed each other’s company. He’d watched me quietly as I laughed and cried over animes. He stayed there for three hours that night.

As I stood there and reminisced over the times, Jean pushed off the wall and walked over. Before I even said “hello”, he had enveloped me in a warm hug. His breaths came out in quick, short, huffs. He held onto me so tightly, as if I was the only string of hope he had left.

“Jean? Everything alright?”

“(Name)…” His voice was shaky. “I’m just…so tired of everything. What the hell am I even doing with my life?” He asked in a pained tone. My arms rested around his waist and I laid my head on his chest. His sudden seriousness piqued my interest yet it concerned me. This was so unlike the usual overconfident asshole Jean.
“Marco’s in the hospital right now and even the doctors don’t know whether he’s going to make it or not while I’m just out here drinking and partying away! My best friend’s half dead in the hospital; the hell is wrong with me!?” He cried and I was at a lost for words.

“I’m such a damn coward. Hell, maybe I should just move far away and start a new life or some shit. I’m useless anyways. Even my own parents kicked me out after seeing me drunk every weekend.”

“Jean.” I whispered, cutting him off from his rant. “You’re not useless. There’s nothing wrong with you. Heck, you’re even smarter than me! You’re one of the top in our class, as much as I hate to admit it. You can’t move away. What about Marco? How would he feel if he suddenly woke up and realized that his best friend was gone? And…I don’t want you to leave either.” I quietly admitted.

“But (Name), he’s been in there for a whole year. It’s practically hopeless.” He sighed, clearly defeated.

“You shouldn’t give up so easily! The world is a cruel place…but it’s also very beautiful so please, Jean, don’t give up. Wait for Marco, I know he’ll wake up. I just know it…” I whispered and bravely reached up to touch his cheek. He leaned closer to my touch and I took it as an okay to move on. Gently, I cradled his cheek in my hand and brought his head closer. His warm breaths fanned my lips and I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. Jean molded his lips against mine and held my free hand against his beating chest.

A tear made its way down my cheek from my (e/c) orbs as one after another, they followed. Jean kissed them all away and hugged my body to his chest.

“Idiot, why’re you the one who’s crying anyways? I should be the one bawling here.” He jokingly said in a hushed tone. His long fingers brushed through my hair as he gently rocked us back and forth.

“I like you, you know. Even if you’re an idiot sometimes.” He confessed. I smiled.

“I like you too, you know. Even if you’re a jerk sometimes.”

“Heh. Hey, that’s kinda harsh.” He mumbled and kissed my forehead. I stuck my tongue out at him and he smiled. Just then, his phone vibrated.

Jean removed one hand away from me to pull his phone out of his pocket. His face shifted into a puzzled expression as he read the caller ID.

“Who is it?” I asked him.

“It’s…Marco’s Mom.” I cocked my head to the side and tried to figure out why his best friend’s mother was calling him at nearly two-thirty in the morning.

“…Hello?” I watched Jean’s face as his eyes grew as wide as saucers then finally broke out into a huge grin.

“Really!? That’s…that’s great! I’ll come right away. Oh, and do you mind if I bring a friend?” I was even more curious from the tidbits of conversation that I was able to hear.

“Awesome! I’ll see you in thirty minutes then.” He ended the call and looked at me with the happiest expression that I’ve ever seen on his face.

“Guess what? Marco’s Mom just told me that he’s showing signs of waking up! The doctors say that it won’t be too long now before he’ll be fully up!” Jean excitedly spoke like a child on Christmas morning.

“That’s great! Are you going to see him now?” Jean nodded and grabbed my hand.

“Come with me?” I’ve never agreed to anything faster in my life.

“Of course!” He smiled and kissed me again before he intertwined our fingers together. We walked together that night, two-thirty in the morning, middle of winter, hand-in-hand.
“The world is merciless, and it’s also very beautiful.”- Mikasa Ackerman