The alarm rang off in the silent apartment as Joon-won silently got up and stopped it. Getting up from the bed, he stretched his hands and made his way to the washroom. While brushing his teeth, he looked at the lean body in the mirror and couldn’t help but groan. The body looked too weak.

‘It’s sad to say this but looks are also a major part of acting. Even though I might act well, it doesn’t guarantee me a role, I look ok, but not good. I can’t change my facial features much but this body, I need to gain some weight first.’

He got out of the house with a bag on his back; he was planning to go straight to university after the job. As he walked towards the convenience store, he checked his watch and noticed there were still 15 minutes.

Finally reaching the store, he noticed there were already a few students and men in business wear inside, buying breakfast or reading the newspaper. Going inside he noticed it was a different worker and wasn’t Seonu Hwan, it was someone who looked like he was in his late twenties.

After waiting for some time and noticing the crowd thinning out, he walked up to the man and asked, “Ugh, is the boss Gim Da here?”

He looked up and asked, “Why? Is there a problem?”

Joon-won shook his head and replied, “No, no. I got the job to work here from 8 last night. Boss Gim Da asked me to come in the morning.”

As Joon-won explained, the man had a look of realization and replied, “Oh, so you are the new kid the boss said yesterday in the group chat. Yes, you can go back and change your clothes. The boss asked me to teach you the basic stuff before I get down from the shift at 8:30. So hurry up.”

Joon-won nodded and quickly made his way back and into the men’s changing room. He opened his locker with the keys Seonu Hwan gave him and started changing clothes. He kept the clothes neatly back inside the bag and kept it inside the locker. Wearing his new work clothes he made his way out of the room and back into the store where there were lesser people.

He walked up to the man and saw him sitting on the chair behind the counter with a magazine in his hands. He got up as Joon-won got nearer and kept the magazine aside.

“Well, before we get to teaching you the basic things, let me introduce myself. My name is Eum Kyung. I work here from 3 till 8:30. So it’ll be me you will be seeing every day here.”

Joon-won nodded and introduced himself too.

“Alright, in the morning there will generally be two people because there would be more rush. Your partner would come by 8:30. Before then let me teach you the basics.” And he proceeded to slowly teach Joon-won the basics.

After teaching the basics, he looked at Joon-won and said, “Alright, these are the basics in the counter. Now, try to handle that customer coming on your own. Remember to have a smile on your face, no customer would like to see a stoic face like that.”

Joon-won nodded and saw a student coming his way with a few items in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he broke the stoic expression and had a slight smile. For him, it was almost like he was practicing his acting skills.

“Can I get all of these?” The student dumped all the items in his hand on the counter. Joon-won nodded and slowly scanned through all the items.

He noticed there was an instant noodles cup and asked, “Do you need me to heat this up?” Pointing at the instant noodles. The student nodded and Joon-won poured some hot water and heated it up for a few seconds before handing it back to the kid.

“That would be 75.” Checking the monitor, he told the amount. The student simply handed him a 100 note. Joon-won typed 100 and clicked enter, making the register come out of the drawer. He took out the change and handed it to him.

“Thank you for coming.” Not forgetting to greet the student.

As the student went out, he felt a pat on his back and Eum Kyung’s voice, “Not bad for your first time. Your smile looks so real. Well, not bad you can get by.” Joon-won didn’t mind the sarcastic remark in the middle and simply nodded.

“Well, alright, it’s almost time for me to get down from my shift. Your partner should be coming by now. I’ll go and change my clothes.” He walked towards the back door.

Seeing that there were no customers, he sat back on the chair and took out a magazine from the rack beside him. He slowly went through the magazine, not knowing what to do.

A few customers came towards the counter and he performed similarly and looked at his phone and noticed it was already 8:45.

‘This partner of mine is late. I hope he/she comes. I don’t want to stay here alone not doing anything.’ he thought and sat back on the chair. He took out his phone and started reading world news to get more knowledge about the present situation of the world.

As he went through the news, he heard the store door open and looked up to see a young girl panting while holding her knees.

She stood up and looked around. She saw him and said, “Oh! So you are the new guy. Sorry, I’m late today. But I’m your partner and the name is Gah Soo.”