➻ convenience store!

The touch of steaming hot ramen leeched through the thin disposable bowl it came in, searing into the delicate skin of Sooah's hands. She let out a series of hushed curses as she walked the small distance from the cook station to the row of chairs overlooking the street the convenience store sat on. In a residential area at this hour—nearly midnight—there was no one sitting in the rickety plastic chairs just outside the window to obstruct her view, giving her an unrestricted view of the occasional passersby and she could people watch in peace.

No family, no work, no studies—just the bright fluorescent store lights; the scent of stale coffee and ramen; the occasional sound from customers and the bored-looking part-timer; and the constant hum of the fridges lining the far wall, harmonizing with whatever music was playing low over the speakers. It all put her at rare ease, and she made sure to visit to the corner store at the end of every day before completing the trek home.

"I'll eat well~" she says just above a whisper, hands pressed firmly together. Splitting her chopsticks and rubbing them together to get rid of stray splints of wood, fleeting concerns of how she'd wake up bloated in the morning crossed Sooah's mind. Deciding it to be worth it, she scooped up a sizable amount of the noodles, blew on in, and guided it into . A happy hum soon followed.