Chapter 34. The Popular Girl who just wants to be friends. (3/5)

After school, I headed over to work as usual. Based on the last few visits, I had a feeling that girl would show up every day from here on out to buy her favorite drink. Three times, it had been around the same time, so I did the same thing I’d done on her last visit preemptively moving the last one at the back to the front just before she arrived.

Right on time, she came in and completed her purchase as usual while we had the same exchange.

This sort of routine became the norm for me over the next five days. She became a regular at our fine establishment.

Of these five days, I’d called out sick for four consecutive days of school. The entire time I slacked off on the couch at the small museum in the university while taking some time to catch up on my writing. Unlike the last time, I’d informed Rosa beforehand that I’d be doing so to avoid any unnecessary interactions with the popular friend she’d made.

This girl was a problem for me. A big one that I couldn’t ignore. She was persistent.

It turned out I’d made the correct decision to skip out on school. I found out from Rosa over the phone that her popular friend had frequently met up with her and they’d gone on a manhunt through all the first-year classes to find the first year she was looking for.

Over these five days, the boys across the three grade levels had naturally caught onto the fact that little Miss Popular was searching for a single first-year boy every day for an entire week straight.

And that brings us to today. Saturday, a day with no school, but I still had to work and I’d be forced to come into contact with the very same girl in question, giving me so many headaches.

Only, today was a bit different than usual. When she came into the store a guy followed closely behind her. He was talking to her, but she appeared to be troubled by it rather than enjoying their chat.

Instead of going directly to the fridge she always stopped by, she wandered about the store looking through other items available. She was obviously stalling, hoping the guy would get tired and leave on his own.

But that naturally wasn’t going to happen. He’d locked onto her, she was his target. He was incessantly badgering her, barraging her with compliments trying to win her over. Nothing he said had any apparent effect though. She just put up a forced stiff smile and nodded along to anything he said.

He didn’t seem to catch the hint that he was a nuisance to her, like a pesky fly buzzing around her that she wanted to swat away. It was exactly as I thought, she couldn’t even hurt a fly. What a troublesome thing it was to be too kind. Despite wanting to be left to enjoy her day off school she didn’t want to hurt the guy in any way. She also didn’t want to request anyone’s help so as to not trouble them.

Seeing her kindness, rather than thinking, ‘how nice of her,’ I felt sick. Suffocating. That’s how I’d feel if I adopted her approach to life. You’re free to choose how you live and all, but don’t you think it’d be more fun to live more freely than confined to this ridiculous overly restrictive kind nature of yours?

But that was the Popular Girl’s nature, I suppose. To make one feel sick to one’s stomach with their kindness.

I feel like I had a good idea what a girl like her needed. She needed a wake-up call. She wouldn’t be able to remain friends with everyone. There would come a time when that was utterly impossible given certain circumstances. By that point, she’d be put into a position where her heart would be split in two opposite directions not knowing what to do. That fragile tightrope of kindness she was balancing upon, she would inevitably suffer a hard fall.

But… that was not part of my job. I naturally wouldn’t expend valuable energy on doing something troublesome like that.

That being the case, this situation was part of my job. Harassment of a customer while shopping was something I did have to take care of, as unfortunate as it may be.

While letting out a small sigh, I picked up a small thin packet from the counter and prepared myself for a bad time. I tore the corner of the packet open a bit and sucked a little of its contents into my mouth.

After watching things unfold for a few more minutes, I was finally forced along my way by Yuna’s glare beside me.

‘Well? This is what you’re here for, right?’ That’s what her gaze told me.

Such misfortune.

I prepared myself for the worst and approached the two troublesome customers.

The guy had her cornered up against the fridge with his arm leaning over her head.

“Hey, wanna go do some karaoke after this?” He asked, ignorant of the girl’s overly kind nature, finding it difficult to refuse in fear of hurting his feelings.

I lowered the pitch and volume of my voice so I wouldn’t be recognized before I said with a courteous uncharacteristic fake business smile with a slight bow forward, “Excuse me, sir. I personally don’t care if you want to hit on girls and make them uncomfortable outside of this establishment, but you are currently inside a business where there are other customers. To be quite frank, you’re a nuisance and making them rather uncomfortable. If you’d like to continue your bullshit and not make a purchase then… please get the fuck out.” My uncouth words didn’t match my demeanor that oozed professionalism at all.

“Hah! Ya talkin’ ta me! What’d ya just say, you punk-ass little bitch! I’m a valuable paying customer and ya talkin’ ta me like that?”

Small traces of spit flew out of his mouth and landed on my face as he raised his voice and yelled at the top of his lungs in front of me.

“I sincerely apologize if you didn’t hear me, sir. Let me repeat myself, please get the fuck out of this store and stop being a pain in the ass.” I asked him again with a respectful demeanor that went contrary to the actual words coming out of my mouth.

The girl cornered between him and the fridge looked at me in shock not knowing what to do.

I didn’t bother to return her gaze. I was just doing my job.

“Who the hell do ya think ya are?” He raised his hand at me and grabbed me by the shirt.

“I apologize, but I am just a pitiful worker that has to deal with your bullshit because you don’t know the time and the place and only think with your dick.”

Enraged by my words, he threw out a punch. I didn’t back away or dodge, I simply clenched my teeth firmly as I’d prepared for it to happen in advance.

When his fist landed on my cheek, my head spun away to the side.

“Ah!” The cornered girl cried out in shock.

Annoyed, my gaze returned to the front as I raised my hand and wiped the corner with the back of my hand. A trail of red was on the back of my hand which he could visibly see.

“How’d ya like that? Ya want another one? There’s more where that came from.”

My gaze turned to ice. I didn’t raise a fist back at him, but rather opened my mouth and spoke coldly, “Sir, it seems we have a case of assault here now. Before it was simply a bit of harassment which you could have talked your way out of. But… this is now considered assault, a criminal charge which is no laughing matter.” I took the time to point at the security cameras in the store before I continued.

“With security footage here, several witnesses around, and blood being drawn, what do you think would happen if I decide to press charges against you?”

The overly confident look on his face suddenly transformed when he realized the weight behind my words.

In the world of adults, it wasn’t about who could punch the hardest, but rather who could put up with the most bullshit. Seeing as he wasn’t the brightest tool in the shed I’d went about things in this manner to trap him.

“Sir, would you like to get the fuck out now, or would you like to go to court and explain yourself there? You’re free to choose whichever one you please.”

“Tch. What a buzzkill. Hey, c’mon let’s get out of here.” He turned to the troubled girl and was about to pull her along out of the store.

Not knowing what to do or think, flustered in a panic, she grabbed onto the nearest thing. My arm.

“Huh? What are you doing?” He asked.

“Ah. Uh. That is. I’m sorry. He’s actually my boyfriend, I can’t go with you.” She came up with whatever excuse she possibly could, completely forgetting about trying to be nice as her impression of him had sunk to rock bottom the moment the boy had thrown his fist out.

“Huh? Ya had a boyfriend? Tch. What the hell, wasting my time. Stupid bitch. Just cause you're a bit pretty ya think ya can lead guys on.”

The guy turned around and vacated the premises while grumbling to himself in displeasure on the way out.