Growing Gummies

It's already been a week since June started working in the family-owned convenience store. And now, it was his last day already. It's been uneventful so far, and he's quite thankful the old owner let him wear a mask while he's working.

Not his bright pink cat mask, of course.

Just a regular black facemask.

However, now that it was his last day, it seemed like the world was testing him.

In the middle of the day, a drunkard came and pestered to give him a pack of cigarettes for free.

"There's nothing free in this world, bud," June said, looking him in the eyes.

The drunkard laughed. "Bud? Who are you talking to, kid? How old are ya, huh?" he said, slurred.

June sighed, feeling tired already. "Then, get going, gramps. We don't give out freebies here."

The drunkard suddenly brought something out from his pocket—a knife of some sort. June's eyebrows raised in surprise when the drunkard held it in front of his face threateningly. June's heart started beating harder in his chest. He never knew encountering danger would make him so excited!

"Just give me one pack, kid. Or you're dead meat."

"I'd like to see you try, gramps," June smirked. The drunkard launched forward, trying to dive the knife near June's neck. However, with his fast reflexes, June quickly caught the knife from his hands and pressed a pressure point on his wrist, causing the drunkard to let go of the knife.

Afterward, June wrapped his elbow around the drunkard's neck, locking him in place. June grimaced as the scent of cheap alcohol and accumulated hair grease and dandruff wafted through his senses.

"Why are you looking for cigarettes when you should be stealing shampoo instead, gramps?"

June quickly ripped a sachet of shampoo from the counter and placed it in the drunkard's pocket. Then, he tightened his hold around his neck, causing the drunkard to choke.

"Now, get going, take a bath, and don't come back, you got it?"

The drunkard quickly nodded, becoming sober. He thought the part-time worker was just a little kid, but something about him was terrifying.

June smirked as he watched the old drunkard in fear. He patted himself on the back.

He still got it.

After the encounter with the drunkard, three high school girls entered the store. They were watching something on their phone, causing one of them to bump into a rack of chips. The chips toppled over, but they continued walking like nothing had just happened.

June clicked his tongue and went to the rack to place them back in order. As he got near the high school girls, he saw a glimpse of what they were watching. June raised his eyebrows in surprise.

They were watching his star level performance video.

"Ah, what to do? They're quite cute. My favorite is the lion."

June grimaced. C-Jay? Really?

"I watch this every day when I want a good laugh. It's like a comedy show."

"The masked guy sings quite well, but I don't know why Azure let him join. Isn't he super ugly if he hides through the mask?"

"That's true. I don't like him already."

June scoffed.

"Ah, whatever. I can't wait for the first episode. I'm curious about these guys."

They paid for their drinks and left the store, not even bothering to give him one compliment.

June was in a sour mood already when four elementary school kids entered. They were loud, had greasy iPads in their hands, and appeared to be spoiled little kids.

"Let's get candies! Or chips? Or drinks? But I also want some rice balls," one kid said.

"Let's get them all," another said. "Mommy gave me her card, so it's alright."

They wandered around the store while June wiped the counter. However, he couldn't help but listen in to their conversation when one kid started speaking.

"Oh my! Let's get this too."

"What's that?"

"You don't know about this? It's BenBen gummies! It's going to make you grow in one day!"

"That's impossible."

"It's true! My friend grew 2 cm in one day after eating the gummies."

"Let's buy it then."

The little kids brought a handful of snacks and drinks to the counter. However, June couldn't stop looking at the BenBen gummies. He summoned his present missions before him.

[Mission Status:

1. Donate money to charity: INCOMPLETE

2. Increase height by at least one centimeter: INCOMPLETE

3. Get an autograph from a famous person: INCOMPLETE]

"Can you make it faster, oldie?" one of the kids said, annoyed.

June focused his attention on the little kids.

"Oldie?" he asked.

"Just give us our snacks, oldie," they continued to tease.

June let out a long sigh before placing their snacks in a bag. "Here, little twerps."

They stuck their tongues out before leaving, causing June to become more annoyed. He would have scolded them if they didn't give out vital information.

But since they taught June about BenBen gummies, he's letting them off easy.

June momentarily left the counter to get to the rack of gummies. He rummaged through the rack and saw there was only one pack left.

He frowned. He saw many people buying this for the past week!

He should have hoarded it if he knew it could increase his height.

June was still grumbling to himself when someone suddenly tapped his shoulder. He turned around and saw a prestigious-looking woman who looked about his age when he was still Jun Hao.

"I'm sorry. Are you the one working here?"

June nodded.

"I'm in a rush, and I couldn't find you. I'm just going to buy this," she said, holding some sanitary pads. "Can I just pay for it here? I really need to go."

"Okay," June said once more.

The woman gave him a 20-dollar bill.

"Your change," he said.

She shook her head. "Keep the change. I really need to go."

With that, she left the store in a rush. June smiled to himself. It seemed like he didn't need to pay for the BenBen gummies with his own money after all.

He went back to the counter but stopped when he saw a pink item on top of it. He frowned and picked it up.

It was a wallet!

June opened the wallet to see who it may belong to, but the first thing he noticed was the money inside.

[Oh, wow. That's a lot of money.]

Indeed. The wallet has more than 10,000 dollars!