by PetitPau

I checked my tie, then opened and tied it another two times before I was satisfied. I glanced at Jimin's sleeping form and checked that his alarm was indeed set for seven. I put his clothes on a chair, placed his helmet on top of his backpack which stood next to the door, and added his shoes as well. 

I had explained to him that he would have to get up by himself today and practised with him to tell on the clock when he would have to leave the apartment. He did very well yesterday, remembering where the hands on the clock needed to sit, and I was hoping he would still do so today. I did have faith in my brother's abilities. But I guess I also developed the traits of an overprotective parent. 

Once I had prepared everything as well as I could, I finally left the house. 

It was still dark outside, and there was a chilly wind when I left for the bus stop. It was only six o'clock in the morning, but I didn't want to risk being late for my interview at BigHit Motors. The email had finally come through on Friday evening, including the name of the person I needed to see. Thank hell, it also mentioned the job I had applied for. Assembly line worker. 

It was probably the most dullest job one could have, with literally no room for moving up any career ladders, but it was the only interview I managed to get. No one else had any interest in hiring a fucking fool with two criminal records. I guess I was doomed. 

Fucking who cares, as long as it pays the bills. 

My thoughts drifted to Jimin and his flower pots. Darn… his work was more mentally challenging than this. 

Stop it, Yoongs. There is no fucking point. 

There really wasn't. This was my second to last week at the mail office, and if I didn't score anything new soon, I would end up near city market with a cup between my knees, begging passing people for spare change. 

I boarded the bus, suddenly conscious of my outfit. I was wearing black trousers, a black button down shirt that looked semi-ironed—I didn't own an iron or ironing board, so hot water and my hands had to do. It was two buttons short, which is why I had tied my old, purple-coloured school-uniform tie around my neck. I looked okay, I supposed—if one ignored the threadbare and faded converse shoes on my feet. But one usually sat down for an interview anyway, right?

The closer to my destination I got, the more anxious I became. I needed three different busses to get to the business park, which was so far out of town, that the bus fare was almost twice as much as to the mail office. So despite this being much duller work, I would need to earn at least ₩80,000 more a month to make up for the difference in travel costs. 

I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the time. Two minutes past seven. Had Jimin got out of bed okay? Was he confused to find himself all alone in the apartment? I really hoped he was doing okay. 

Darn, I should have phoned MOTS house pottery, excused Jimin for the day, and taken him with me. 

The idea of getting Jimin his own phone sounded better and better. And I trusted he was capable. He recognised numbers well enough, and although he had difficulties reading long words, I could perhaps save mine and Joon's numbers with a picture of an emoji which would be easy for Jimin to remember. 

The bus came to a halt at the business park, and I groaned. Spread over the size of several football fields was factory hall after factory hall, all belonging to different companies. BigHit, apparently, was in section D, and it took me unnecessary time to first find a map, then locate that damn section, and then comprehend that it was literally at the other end of the area. Fuck my life!

I checked the time. It was eight fifteen. I had another fifteen minutes to make it to the interview. I took my feet and ran. 

BigHit was one of the largest sectors I had ever seen, that ranked from hall one to hall seven, all individual, massive and buddings from which one could hear the noise of construction work. Somewhere in-between was supposed to be an office block where the administration sat, only I didn't see it. I jogged up to a security, and asked him for direction. 

"Admin? Yeah… They're in city centre." 

Excuse me, what?  I pulled my phone from my pocket, opened my email. Had I overlooked something? 

The time was now eight thirty five, and I was officially running late. 

I scrolled until I found the one from BigHit then skimmed the text at rapid speed. No, no, no! I literally just made the journey for no reason. Shit. I was such a moron!

"Lemme see," the security guy gestured at the email, which I showed him. "Yeah, sorry, dude. I guess you better call to reschedule."

I thanked the guy then turned on my heels. Wow, the only interview invite I had, and I already fucked everything up with my own stupidity. Was there even a point to call? Stuff it, Yoongi. You can always give up later. 

I dialled the number and got more nervous with every single ring. Goddamnit! Why didn't I read the thing properly?

"Good Morning, BigHit, how can I help?" A chirpy voice greeted me. 

"Good Morning, um… my name is Min Yoongi,… I was supposed to have an interview at eight-thirty, but I confused the location… I'm at your business park address…" I took a deep breath, my heart pounding, "is there any way to reschedule?" Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes. 

"Please stay on the line, Mr Min. I will have to check with Ms Winter."

I realised droplets of sweat had formed on my forehead. Okay, at least this hasn't been an outright no. There was still a chance. I kept my finger and toes crossed, already jogging back towards the bus stop. 

The next one would be due in ten minutes. Good. I would be able to make it to city centre in about, well, two and a half hours from now. 

The hold music kept on blaring, and the seconds ticked by. Then, the chirpy voice was back on line. "Mr Min? I have spoken to Ms Winter, and she would be available to see you at six pm instead."

"Six pm today? I can do that." I immediately agreed. At city centre?"

"Yes, here at city centre office."

"Thank you very much. This is very kind of you indeed."

I hung up the phone then waited until my bus arrived and jumped on. Immediately, I added several calendar reminders, and double checked the route I would have to take. Karma really hated me. BigHit's admin office wasn't more than two blocks away from my office. 

Jimin wouldn't have had to be alone this morning. I wouldn't have had to amend my shift. 

My shift! I was supposed to be on shift until eight thirty today! 

Fucking do I care. The interview was way more important. 

I must have looked utterly frazzled as I arrived for work. Not even Mike made any stupid comments. I checked the rota, hoping I would be working with Mrs Kang whom I was sure wouldn't mind me leaving for an interview in the middle of my shift. 

I was lucky. 

I got up from my chair, then went to the customer service desk where Mrs Kang was supposed to be sitting. Only she wasn't.

I looked at Mike. 

"Kang has called in sick today. You'll be by yourself this evening. Sorry."

"No way, I can't! Can you stay behind? I'd owe you, man."

"Stay behind? Why?"

"I got an… appointment at six. It's last minute, I know, but I really can't cancel it."

"Fuck, dude. Sorry, but you're asking me to do a twelve hour shift!"

"Like I said, I owe you. I do a twelve hour shift for you tomorrow, and you fuck off at noon."

"No way, I got plans, man. Sorry."

"C'mon, help a colleague out, mate."

But Mike went on with his tasks as if he hadn't even heard me. Shit. I needed to do that interview at six. If I called to reschedule, BigHit would scrap me of the list of suitable candidates for sure. 

I went to the employee file on my PC. Perhaps, there was someone else I could call in to cover for this evening. 

"Save your time," Mike huffed over my shoulder. "I already tried. Choi is at his second job, Kim is having a class, and Son can't because it's too last minute to arrange a babysitter. We're fucked."

"Well, one more reason we should help out another," I grumbled, but naturally, it fell on deaf ears. 

I picked up the receiver and dialled Mrs Kang's number. She might not have been feeling well this morning, but perhaps she was already doing better. 

"Hello?" A voice picked up after two rights. 

"Sookie? Hey? How are you? Sorry, I thought you were at work. Is your mum here?"

The line was quiet for a moment. "I took off today." The voice sounded abrupt, as if Sookie was angry with me. "Mum isn't well. I need to look after her. She had a stroke."

"Shit… so there is no way in she can come to work for a few hours?"

"Come to work? She had a stroke, you idiot!"

Shit! I was an idiot. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean it like that. I… I'm just in a pickle here right now…"

"You're in a pickle… that's why you're asking my mum to come in for a few hours. Despite having had a stroke!" Sookie was shouting now. 

"I told you I'm sorry," I shouted back. 

"Well, sorry isn't good enough," Sookie ended the call.

I didn't seem to get rid of my issues. I only seemed to be increasing them. But I had no time to worry about Sookie or Mrs Kang right now. I probably should be worrying though, right? I mean one of my favourite colleagues just had a stroke? Perhaps I should stop by this evening. Check in on Mrs Kang, apologise properly to Sookie. Maybe get some flowers. 

I spun in my chair for a few rounds, then played a round of Solitaire on my computer, before I opened a spreadsheet at random. 

"You're coming out to the front to assist me any time soon? We have a freaking queue to the next postcode. I've been ringing the bell five times already." Mike yelled.

I nodded. "So, I have heard." I clicked on the Jack of Hearts and moved him to another pile.

Then I took ace three and moved it top of ace two.

"So?" Mike quipped. "What the fuck, man?" 

I moved another couple of cards around. "Sorry, I'm on a winning streak here. I'll join once I'm done."

"You can't be serious mate." Mike shouted. "Fucking playing Solitaire at work? While we're busy?"

I watched as the game declared me winner and calculated my points. Then I started a new one. "Must be shitty to have such unsupportive colleagues," I agreed. 

Mike hovered in the doorframe. "I'm going to report you to HR."

"And what are they going to do about it?" 

Mike glared at me owl-faced. There wasn't really anything HR could do. This was my last week. Three more days, and I was out of this shithole. 

I grinned at Mike, winked, then opened  another game. I really didn't like Solitaire all that much and was really getting bored by it, but Mike's expression alone made it worth the suffering. "By the way, I'll be leaving at five-thirty. I don't care if I lock up early today."

Mike's face turned red. I knew he was first in line to become branch manager, and something like this wouldn't look good. "That's bribery, man."

I shrugged. "A man gotta do what a man gotta do."

Mike glared at me. From the background, I could hear customers yelling, demanding attention. Although we only allowed two customers a time for social distancing purposes, there were at least ten different voices. 

"You better get out there," I advised Mike as I celebrated another Solitaire win. 

Mike stomped from the office, yelling some words that rather shouldn't be repeated. I closed the game utterly sick of it, then went back to the spreadsheet I had opened. It was the parcel tracking system I had created, which would tell when an item had arrived in the office, where it was stored, who stored it there, and how long it was going to stay shelved. I stared at it for a little moment, then I emailed a copy to the few colleagues I actually liked, and myself. 

Once done, I reopened the original file, and started to change a few numbers around. Next, I went to the calculations until even the last figure ceased to make sense. Then I password-protected a few cells at random. Mike was a duffel-brain. It would take him ages to figure out what had happened here. 

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