Mastore 53 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 53

Convenience Store Clerk, Occasionally Lee Chan (1)

It's been a while. The last time I saw her was on Monday, and today is Saturday, so exactly 5 days have passed.

I was about to return her greeting, but her face, peeking over the counter, was full of worry and concern. I asked immediately.

“Why the face? Did something bad happen?"

"Well, it's not me, it's Mister..."

"What about me?"

“You weren’t around for a few days, you know. I was worried."

It seems she came to find me every single day even when I didn't come to work for two days because of my license. That made sense, but I didn’t quite get why she was worried about me. What could she be worried about...?

No, I think I know what it is.

“There’s nothing to worry about, kid. It's not like I didn’t come because of that wildcat kobold or the wallet."

The last thing she saw before we parted ways was me grabbing a thief by the collar, and then I disappeared for two days, so it was only natural that she would have such thoughts.

“Really?”

"Yeah. I took a short break because of some personal reasons. And..."

I told her everything. The police took care of the case, the kobold turned himself in, so no one else would come looking for me, and no retaliation would happen. Since I caught the guy thanks to this kid, I figured she should know, too.

Of course, there was no way she would understand words like “case,” “turning himself in,” or “retaliation,” so I made sure to keep it simple.

"The police made him behave. That thief."

"Behave? How?"

"Well, they didn't tell me that. Anyway... there won't be any trouble. Not for you, not for me."

“Thank goodness.”

Only after hearing that did her expression brighten up. Looking up at me with twinkling eyes, after a moment, she tilted his head as if puzzled and asked me,

“Mister, you look super sleepy.”

"Do I?"

“Yes.”

Hearing that, I glanced at the mirror, and my dark circles were indeed much darker for this time of day. I guess it was because I had been struggling with my worries for hours.

And it still wasn’t solved. They say a problem shared is a problem halved, but I didn't want to give half of my problem to this kid. Besides, I had something more urgent to deal with.

“Shouldn't you be the one worrying about something else, kid?”

“Eh, why?”

“Tomorrow is Parents’ Day.”

As I said that and took out a drawing paper from under the counter, the kid perked up her tail and inhaled sharply.

“Oh, right! I need to make a present for Mom....”

"Did you bring your crayons?"

“Yes.”

Nodding her head at the question, she took off her backpack, rummaged through it, and placed a 24-color crayon set in a yellow case on the counter. But her face was still full of concern.

“Still, mister, you really look sleepy...."

“I’ll sleep when I get home later, so don’t worry.”

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I wasn’t sure if helping this kid make a present while I had my own problems to deal with was the right thing to do, but it doesn't seem like I'll come up with anything more even if I keep racking my brain right now. Rather, if I help this kid make a present, maybe my brain will cool off and I'll come up with some creative ideas, wouldn't I?

Plus, I kind of want to see this thing finished. She’s been working on it for two weeks and still hasn’t finished it.....

So, the drawing paper was spread out on the counter.

Colored papers cut into flower shapes were attached here and there, and even with just this, it looked close to being completed. All that was left was to add the child’s touch of innocence, and it would be done.

“What should I draw first?”

“Things to draw. First... since the flowers have bloomed, it would be a field, right?"

“Yea.”

"Then you need to draw a field, and you need to draw the sky too."

At first, I imagined a basic computer wallpaper look, but the flowers were pasted a bit too high for that. Instead, it seemed more fitting to divide the paper in half between the sky and the field. I used my finger to draw a line directly on the paper.

"Divide it like this, sky on top, field on the bottom."

“Okay. What color would be good for the field?"

“Usually light green. If the grass grew well, then a darker green.”

“How about yellow?”

"If you do that, your Mom might see it as an autumn field. Or do you like autumn more than spring too?"

“Uh... No, I like spring better.”

“Then choose either light green or regular green.”

The kid thought for a bit, holding a dark green crayon in one hand and a light green one in the other, before setting down the dark green crayon. She said she liked the lighter green because it looked brighter and nicer.

With that, she vigorously colored the part that would become the field, and I helped by coloring around the edges of the cut-out flowers. It required delicate hand movements. If this kid colored it, she would surely crumple up the flowers.

Next is the sky. We had a brief debate about what color the sky should be, but it didn’t take long to reach an agreement. What else could the sky be but sky blue?

After the child finished coloring the sky, she let out a small, satisfied huff and looked up at me with a proud expression.

"Did I do well?"

"Yeah. You did well."

“What should I draw now?”

"Draw what you want to draw."

I doubt she would draw a Deep One or Nyarlathotep. The kid thought for a moment, then picked up a black crayon and started drawing the shape of a suit with swift strokes.

After finishing the suit, she used a white crayon to draw a circle for the head, filling it in with a smiling face, then used black to draw long hair and added two white horns.

"This is Mom."

I almost said that his mother looked quite metaphysical. Interestingly, the kid has white hair and black horns, while her mom has black hair and white horns. Maybe it’s some kind of genetic quirk, or maybe one of them dyed their hair.

Next, he started drawing something like a white triangle, and I could tell right away what she was trying to draw because she kept glancing at the mirror attached to the convenience store pillar.

"And this is me..."

She even managed to draw her red backpack cutely. Finally, she picked up the black crayon again and stared at me intensely. I gently grabbed her hand and lowered it as I said,

“Don’t draw me.”

“Eh.”

The convenience store uniform is black.

From a third party's perspective, when they see a picture of a child and an adult woman, they would naturally think it's the child and their mother. But if there’s also an adult man drawn in, who would you assume that man is?

At least his mom, the second party, wouldn't be able to stand the curiosity. 'Sweetie, who’s this man? Is he your kindergarten teacher? No? Then who is he??'"

“But still, I want to draw you....”

“Kid, not everything in life goes the way you want. Also, there’s something called portrait rights, ....”

"Portrait rights?"

“It’s just that I’m embarrassed. Embarrassed.”

She nodded as if she understood, but her expression showed a firm determination not to give in on this one thing. After pondering for a while with his arms crossed, she drew a black butterfly with a pair of wings in the upper left corner of the drawing paper.

I asked, just in case.

“Did you draw this as me?”

“Yea. The butterfly’s name is... Mister Butterfly.”

"Then draw some whiskers on the front too. Butterflies have antennae, you know."

“Of course.”

I accidentally turned into a butterfly. I've crawled on the ground my whole life, but I'm flying, at least in this drawing.

Still, there won't be any other species who can deduce a 29-year-old loner from this butterfly. When I said it was fine, she beamed and carefully packed away the scattered crayons into their case.

“Are you done drawing?”

“Yep.”

I took a quick look at the drawing paper. The cut-out flowers were attached flawlessly, and the drawings were so well-drawn that I couldn't even dare to do a secondary work.

When I first started helping, I was even considering laminating it myself... but on second thought, this seems like something the kid's mom should do. Still, I wondered if there was one last thing I could do.

After a brief thought, I pulled out the box of eco-friendly bags from under the counter, emptied them out, and gently folded the drawing. I slightly folded the drawing paper into the box, placed it there so that it wouldn’t get wrinkled, then closed the opening of the box and handed it over.

“If you carry it like this, the drawing won’t smudge or get wrinkled. And also...”

“Also?”

“Since tomorrow is the Parent Day, you have to hide it well until then. It’s a secret gift, right?”

“Yea, it’s a secret gift.”

Hugging the box, which was about the size of her torso, she smiled brightly and asked me.

“Do you think Mom will like it?”

"If she doesn't like this, she's not human."

“Huh? But Mom’s a dragon?”

“Right, she’s not a dragon then. Anyway...”

What had been dragging on for 2 weeks was finally completed. With a feeling of relief, I let out a sigh.

“We finally made it, didn’t we?”

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“...Ah.”

I said it to make the kid feel accomplished, but right after hearing it, she looked more confused than anything. Staring at me with wide-open eyes, she lowered her head and muttered,

"That's right... we're all done making it..."

I know that this kid is excessively thoughtful for a 7-year-old. Right now, she's probably thinking, 'I made all Parents Day presents, so what’s the point of coming here anymore….’

I quickly added.

“This one’s done, now what should we do next?”

“Huh?”

“There’s gotta be something. Like your kindergarten homework or whatever.”

“I do have homework. But…”

After putting down the box, she takes out an A4 paper folded twice from her bag and holds it tightly in both hands. Her expression as she looked up at me was one of deep apology.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re about to say you have no money again.”

“Euuuu....”

Bullseye. She couldn’t say anything. What’s something I could say to reassure this kid…?

“…You remember how we caught the thief a few days ago, right?”

“Yea.”

“Well, that thief was trying to steal about 50,000 won. Do you know how much 50,000 won is?”

“Um… my daily allowance is 500 won, so…”

“You would have to save for over 100 days to make 50,000 won. If it weren't for you, it really would've been stolen..."

“Gasp, that would’ve been really bad.”

“You helped me save 100 days’ worth, so I’m helping you for 100 days. Isn’t that fair?”

“Is it…?”

I wouldn’t mind at all if she just said, ‘Thanks for all the help up until now,’ and left. It's just that she doesn't show any signs of that at all.

I don’t know why a 7-year-old wants to stick around with a 29-year-old high school grad working at a convenience store, but if she wants to stay, I guess I’ll let her… but if he wants to be with me, then I should let him be. I think it's right for a 7-year-old to live doing what he wants.

“Can you really help me?”

"Let's see it first and then think. What kind of homework is it?"

“That’s... this one is difficult for me...”

He stares intently at the top part of the unfolded A4 paper and reads each character with a clear pronunciation.

"What... is my... dream? Question mark."

“They’re asking what your dream is?”

"Yea. Dream."

I couldn't understand what was so difficult about this, but after she explained with a puzzled look, I understood right away.

“But, you only have dreams when you sleep, right?”

“Usually, yeah.”

“Then, don’t I need to be sleeping to do my homework?”

"...Give me the paper for a second, kid."







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