The Adventures of Minwoo - Again?

Skipping down the aisle, Minwoo couldn't stop grinning.

::Waaaaaaa... Amari hyung smiling. And giggling! Daeeeebak...::

He giggled gleefully to himself until a loud voice broke through his happy thoughts.

"Park Minwoo!"

::Aishhhh...::

A squat, middle-aged Korean man was staring at him from outside the stock room. He was scowling and had his arms folded angrily over his chest, but all Minwoo noticed was how comfortably they rested on his large bubble of a belly. As hard as the man tried, there was nothing intimidating about the image, and he couldn't suppress a short giggle as he rushed over.

"What are you laughing at?"

He cleared his throat to compose himself. "Nothing. Sorry, maenijeo-nim. I ran into an old friend that I haven't seen him in five years. Five years! No cap! Waaaa... Michyeoss-eo, michyeoss-eoyo... So crazy, ne? And he had this large b... friend with him, and he was smiling... Smiling! Ut-go-isseoyo!! And-"

"Park Minwoo!" The volume had increased and the tone showed the manager wasn't impressed in the least, so Minwoo quickly swallowed the rest of his words.

"Ah, ne."

"You are continuously late for work, and when you do show up, you are too preoccupied with non-work-related things." The man frowned and moved his arms, clasping his hands behind his back. "And I have told you a million times. I am Mr. Kim or sir. We only speak Korean if a customer doesn't speak English. We don't throw it around here and there as we please."

Minwoo copied the frown. He really didn't like this man, and he hated frowning. "Keundae... you speak Korean."

"BUT, that doesn't matter. English."

"Yes sir."

"Good. And since you missed the start of your shift, you'll be working stock tonight. You're in such a good mood, that shouldn't bother you."

The manager found himself funny, leaning forward to smirk at his young employee, but Minwoo was too distracted by the thin beard hanging from his face. It was a little sillier every time he saw it. The man looked like he had stepped off the set of a historical drama and forgot to remove his glued-on facial hair. And he was definitely playing the villain.

::The Minister of Taxation. His character always dies at the end.::

The thought put a smile back on his face and he completely ignored the man as he growled out another "Park Minwoo," skipping past him into the stockroom. Even the evil Minister of Taxation wouldn't ruin his mood tonight.

Or so he thought. It only took thirty-minutes of stocking and organizing shelves for Minwoo to collapse to the floor next to his cart.

"Aishhhh..." he groaned out, loud enough for surrounding customers to stare. He only flashed them a quick, half-heartedly apologetic smile.

::Jin-jja... stock is boring as fuck...::

In an instant, a grin returned to his face, and he grabbed his phone, stretching his legs out wide in front of him. Scrolling through his contacts, he let out a high-pitched giggle, seeing that Yangyang had actually entered himself as Yangyang hyung, and Amari as Amari hyung. He was going to like that man.

After a few more taps, his grin turned into a beaming smile and he sent his messages.

'Hyung'

'Hyuuuuung'

'HYUNG!'

'Amari hyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggg'

'R u ignoring me rn?'

'Waaaaaaa rude'

'Hyung'

'Work is SOOOOOOOOOO boring'

'Boring AF'

'Adulting is so hard, jin-jja'

'And the manager is so basic'

'He said I can't use Korean'

'But he's Korean!!!!'

'Like, ok boomer'

'Jin-jja babo moron asshole'

'Mwo, idgaf'

'Hyung'

'Your man is a real snack, no cap'

'Your nam-sa-chin'

'Ha! Just a friend my ass'

'He really likes you, fr'

'But I ship it'

'He def passes the vibe check'

Minwoo paused for a second, but there was still no response, and his smile dimmed slightly.

'Hyung'

'I said don't leave me on read'

'Hyung'

'Hyung'

'Hyuuuuuuuung'

'Ya! Hyung!'

Suddenly, a shadow was over him, short and wide, and barely reaching to his feet.

"Park Minwoo!"

"Aishhhh! Ya! You scared me!"

It took a moment to process, then Minwoo scrambled to his feet, his phone hidden behind his back. He tried to give the best puppy dog eyes he could, the brown sparkling on his scrunched face, but the manager couldn't care less.

"Ya? And did you just swear at me?" The man's eyes were wide in disbelief.

"Not really," Minwoo said in a quiet mumble. "I would have just said the full ssi-bal if I wanted to swear..."

It wasn't quiet enough.

"Park Minwoo." They were face to face now and the manager pointed toward the door. "You're fired."

"Ah, ssi-bal..."

------------------------------

Minwoo wandered up and down the street, not wanting to go back and face his brother, and after about twenty minutes, he heard a cute, little girl's voice calling "mesiji wa-sseoyo" from his pocket. Pulling his phone out, he saw Amari had finally responded to his messages, and a grin covered his face.

'Jesus. Minwoo. I was trying to sing.'

'Do you know how many notifications that was?'

'And you have to write out your words.'

'The voice assist on my phone can't read any of that shit.'

The small amount of disappointment and anger he felt had disappeared and Minwoo giggled loudly as he blocked the flow of people. There were grumbles from all around, but he didn't care.

'Hyung!'

'You replied!'

'Hyung!'

'I got fired!'

'AGAIN!'

There was a brief pause, then another reply.

'Jesus. I just saw you less than an hour ago.'

'Wait. Again?'

Minwoo giggled louder, high-pitched and joyful.

'Ne hyung'

'This is'

'8? Or 9?'

The reply was instant this time.

'What the fuck. You were fired nine times?'

'Impressive. And probably not very upsetting anymore.'

'So you don't need comfort and can leave me alone.'

'I'm on a date and not responding anymore.'

Minwoo had a fleeting thought that maybe he should be offended, but instead he only giggled more energetically, arms around his stomach, not moving from the middle of the sidewalk. He had really missed this grumpy hyung.