"Your total is 36 dollars."
The convenience store clerk looked at me with concern. His pale hands trembled slightly as he held the meal boxes I had just placed on the counter.
Hmm… let's see… antiseptic and bandages cost 11 dollars, 23 dollars for five Japanese-style instant meals, and another 8 dollars for two bottles of mineral water at a convenience store. I sighed. In just a moment, nearly half of the money from a hard night's work was gone.
Slowly taking the 100-dollar bill out of the envelope, I looked at it for a long while before handing it to the clerk.
"Do you have… smaller bills?"
I shook my head, then wiped my forehead. The cut from earlier was still oozing blood, and it stung every time I touched it.
The clerk glanced up at me, but after lifting his head, he nervously looked away. My mud-stained appearance and the wound on my forehead probably made him uncomfortable.
"What?" I tilted my chin up and smiled. "Never seen someone bleeding from the forehead before?"
"You… are you talking to me…" the clerk muttered.
"Yeah."
"I'm not concerned about that. It's just… the girl next to you… is she alright?"
He pointed, trembling, at the girl leaning against my shoulder. She was the one who had nearly killed me earlier. Since she had fainted from blood loss, I kindly carried her with me. Leaving such a beautiful girl lying outside in the rain would've felt wrong.
Blood from her wounds had seeped through the cloth wrapped around her and stained my shirt, forming blotches across the rain-soaked fabric.
"She's fine. Just drank too much last night and fell down the stairs."
I said, lifting her slightly on my shoulder, then turned back to the clerk.
"You heated up three meal boxes for me earlier, right?"
"Yes. Here you go." The clerk bowed his head and handed me the plastic bag. "Have a good day."
I nodded, slid the bag onto my arm, and stepped out of the store. The doorbell rang "ding ding," and in front of me was still the night and the unending rain. Luckily, the wind had stopped, so with the umbrella open, I could still walk with the girl on my shoulder without getting rain blown into my face. Just a bit slower, that was all.
Returning to the bus stop, I placed her down on the wooden bench and adjusted the straps on her shoulders. If they slipped, I wouldn't know how to explain it to the police. Then I set the food bag beside her and quickly ran out to check the next bus on the schedule board.
Wiping the water droplets from the glass, I sighed when I realized I had just missed a bus and would have to wait more than half an hour for the next one.
"Just my luck…" I let out a frustrated sigh, lightly tapping the glass.
Returning to the bus stop with an annoyed mood, I looked over at the girl and saw her eyelids twitch slightly. Pushing aside my earlier fear, I sat down next to her and lifted her chin.
"Wha… what…?"
Her lips moved while her eyes were still tightly shut.
"Hey, girl, you're finally awake, huh?" (Hey, you, you are finally awake.)
I smiled, then took out a warmed meal box from the bag and placed it in front of her. Almost immediately, her nose moved, and her eyes slowly opened, though still dull. Even with the food right in front of her, she couldn't lift her hand to touch it.
"Can you eat?" I narrowed my eyes and asked.
"Yes. But I probably can't move my arms."
That made sense. She had just lost a large amount of blood. Temporary weakness was understandable. But the fact that her mouth was still so active was a bit strange.
"Tch. Then what do you want?"
"Please… I'm starving… feed me…"
She kept whining with dull eyes, making me soften. Even though I didn't like it much, I reluctantly took a spoon and opened the meal box to feed her while eating myself. After all, I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon.
I scooped a spoonful of rice with meat and put it into my own mouth first. The meat was a bit dry, and the rice a bit mushy, but what could I expect from a meal under 8 dollars? Then I scooped a spoonful of rice with vegetables and brought it to her mouth.
"Nom."
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
Almost immediately, she lunged forward, biting down on the spoon, nearly taking my hand with it. After a few seconds of shock, I calmed down and tried to pull the spoon back as she chewed on it.
"Hey! Let go of it!"
With all the strength of a twenty-two-year-old, I pulled the spoon back. But when it finally came free, it was only broken black plastic pieces. She might have swallowed some of it too.
"What's wrong with you! Hey—" I was about to scold her, but suddenly noticed the change in her face.
Her red eyes were crying—crying uncontrollably. Tears and mucus streamed down her face, soaking everything, while her mouth kept chewing even though there was no rice left.
"Are you okay?" I said, worried, shaking her shoulder.
"So good… it's so good…"
She couldn't stop crying. Maybe she really was starving.
Seeing that pitiful sight, I sighed and gently stroked her black hair. It hurt me too, but there was nothing else I could do except take another plastic spoon from the bag and put the remaining rice into my own mouth. Afraid she might not see it clearly, I stood in front of her and ate spoon by spoon under her hungry gaze. Her hand clenched tightly, but she couldn't do anything except watch helplessly.
After finishing, I threw the empty box into the trash, not forgetting to turn back and wink at her. She deserved that after attacking an innocent person like me for no reason.
"Well? Mad?" I stepped in front of her and smirked. "Giving you one spoon was already generous."
"You really are a bastard…" she muttered, but her sharp glare was enough to make others shiver.
"Well, you just tried to kill me. And if you want food, you should kneel and beg."
As soon as I finished speaking, her body moved slightly. Her weak arms tried to push against the bench to stand up. It seemed like she really intended to kneel.
I might have gone too far.
"Alright. No need. I was joking." I stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"So you'll feed me, right?"
She leaned forward slightly, her face bright with excitement. Drool formed at the corner of her mouth.
"No. Who said that? I worked hard to earn this money. You want to eat for free? Not that easy."
Her face darkened with anger. Satisfied with my teasing, I smirked and handed her a still-warm meal box.
"This is…"
"For you. Consider it me saving your life." I said, opening the box, scooping a full spoon, and bringing it to her mouth.
Her eyes widened in surprise. Then she reached out, took the box, and ate another spoon. Then another.
And she cried again. Tears fell continuously down her cheeks, dripping into the meal box on her lap. In a flash, she finished everything, even licking the last grains clean.
"Crying while eating… just how long have you been starving?"
I took the box and threw it into the trash.
"Four or five days… I couldn't find food… If I hadn't met you, I would've died…"
A car sped past, its headlights sweeping across her smiling face.
"Not everyone would do that. My name is Hung, Hung Nguyen. What's your name?"
It would be easier to talk if I knew her name, especially since we would likely sit here together until the bus arrived.
"My name… I'm not sure…" She hesitated, rubbing her chin. "Papa used to call me JJ, I think. Let's go with that."
JJ… It sounded more like a nickname, but it was unique.
"Then JJ it is." I smiled. "You tried to kill me once, and I saved you once, so you owe me two lives."
"No, no. I didn't intend to kill you. You just appeared while I was tense. It was like… a reflex to eliminate a threat. The one I want to kill is someone else."
A gust of wind blew through the bus stop, making JJ's hair flutter, revealing a long scar on her face. An empty bottle rolled across the wet ground.
Crunch.
Someone stepped on it. The sound echoed in the silent night, making me flinch. JJ's smile vanished, and she stood up with difficulty, her eyes fixed cautiously toward the source.
Another person had appeared. And his attitude… didn't seem friendly.
Under the flickering streetlight, a tall figure approached wearing a transparent raincoat. Beneath it was a black suit and dark leather shoes. His presence felt like someone straight out of an action film. And the suppressed pistol in his hand made that even clearer.
Wait… that gun was pointed straight at me.
And he fired.
Crash.
The glass behind the bus stop shattered from the shot. Everything happened so fast I didn't even have time to feel fear.
"That's one life paid back." JJ smiled, her hand gripping my collar tightly.
"Th… thanks…"
JJ had saved me. If she hadn't pulled me down in time, that bullet would have gone straight through my head.
That man had intended to kill me. There was no doubt.
His hand moved slowly, aiming at me again—then shifted, pointing at JJ.
"JJ, why did you involve an outsider in this? Didn't we make a promise?"
His voice carried a heavy Scottish accent.
Rain slid down his coat, mixed with streaks of blood, dripping onto the ground. It seemed he had been through something violent before arriving here.
JJ remained calm. She gently stroked my hair and smiled at him, unafraid of the gun pointed at her face.
"Yes. We just met here by coincidence."
I nodded, satisfied. That was right—I had nothing to do with any of this.
Then she continued:
"His name is Hung, Hung Nguyen. He's very brave and kind. Not only was he not afraid of me, he even helped bandage my wounds. That doesn't sound like an outsider, does it?"
"What? Wait—"
I immediately jumped back, retreating behind the bench. The man stared at me suspiciously.
"No, no, no! I don't know this girl! Never met her before! I was just waiting for the bus when she came near me!"
"Hm. He even fed me." She smiled, pointing at the empty box.
"No!" I threw it to the ground and stomped on it. "I don't know this crazy girl who likes stabbing people!"
"Ha… ha… ha…"
The man suddenly threw his head back and laughed under the rain. His thick beard shook with each burst of laughter, soaked with rain and bits of leaves.
"Just kidding!" he clutched his stomach. "Just kidding! No need to be so tense!"
"Oh… I see." I scratched my head awkwardly.
Just as I was about to step forward to shake his hand, another arm suddenly pulled me back. JJ. The smile was gone from her face, replaced by a serious, tense expression.
And in that moment, I understood why.
"Yeah. From the start, whether you're involved or not, I was going to kill both of you anyway."
The gun cut through the rain, aiming at me. The world froze. My heart seemed to stop.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't speak.
The raindrops hung in the air, reflecting the streetlight.
I felt suffocated, dizzy, as if gravity itself had disappeared.
JJ moved.
Her short hair whipped in the rain as she lunged forward like a starving beast, her red eyes blazing.
The man barely moved, but from the gun barrel, faint sparks glowed. The bullet had already been fired, yet I heard nothing—not even the rain.
Everything felt muted. My senses were gone.
The bullet flew straight toward JJ's head as she charged forward.
I wanted to shout—but I couldn't.
She kept going.
A slow-motion scene.
Her foot splashed into a puddle. Water burst upward. Nearby crows took flight, carrying bits of popcorn they had picked from the ground.
In the night, her red eyes burned as her arms pumped like an athlete's.
The bullet was right there
About to end it.
But
Bang.
A piece of red brick wall shattered behind her. The bullet had missed. With just a slight tilt of her head, she avoided it and kept her momentum.
"If you want some! Come get some!"
JJ roared, slamming into him with a brutal Tetsuzanko strike.