ivy's shift was almost over at 4 am when against all expectations someone entered the store. she just shrugged it off and searched for a song to play on the speakers. eventually she sneaked a glanze at the ctv and smiled, since she recognized the person.

before she had been told, that she didn't deserve friends, but a conversation with a nice young guy wouldn't hurt once in a while, right?

besides that those harmful people were far away. luckily, although they still scared her.

when she looked up again, she saw minho with a 5 liter bottle of water at the counter and smiled. "hi there."

minho was yet too shy to return her smile, so he rubbed the back of his neck. "hi, how are you?"

"fine, just tired. how about you?"

"fine, just hungry." and as if on purpose, his stomach growled right in that moment.

"we have lots of food here, you know."

"i do. but i have the water now, because i'm also thirsty."

"i'll leave this without a comment." laughed ivy and scanned the qr code. "it's 1500₩ then."

minho awkwardly fumbled around his purse and handed her a worn out 1500₩ bill. "here you go!"

a knot started to tie in ivy's stomach, since the image of the scrumbled bill recalled a lot of unhappy memories, but she tried to shove them away. "thanks a lot, mino!"

"mino? you made a nickname for me that quick?" he gave her a questioning, yet not unfriendly look. just why did it sound so... english when she pronounced it.

ivy remained silent for a moment trying to figure out one of her usual sassy comebacks, but there just was none. "if i made you feel uncomfortable, i take it back."

"no, of course not!" actually minho was just confused because her reply wasn't what he had expected, still he felt somehow appreciated. "i guess, it's just been a long time since anyone has given me a nickname."

"same here." mumbled ivy almost inaudible.

minho realized how his statement had made her mood drop, so he decided to stop bothering her now; she was probably annoyed by his presence alerady. "so good night, i guess?"

"or good morning."

when ivy laughed again, it was incomprehensible to minho how her mood and attitude could change so quickly.

but

she had become even more beautiful in his eyes, so he once again looked up her instagram on his way home. ivy choi, you're a miracle that i can't seem to figure out yet.