Chapter 33: 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!
NEW BOOK IS OUT!
Check 'I Accidentally Became A Superstar' on my profile!
Chapter 34: Kindhearted Gangster
[Take it. Take it.]
Fu said over and over again in June's mind.
'Were you a thief in your past life?'
[Imagine what you could do with it, host!]
There were definitely a lot of things he could do with 10,000 dollars. For starters, he doesn't even need to think about his rent for the next few months! He can also buy another phone and replace the cracked and old phone he currently has. He can repay Grandma for all the meals she had cooked for him!
June can even accomplish the first mission on his list: Donate to charity.
He inspected the wallet once again and went through the IDs inside. He saw it belonged to the rich-looking lady a while back. Now that he thinks about it, the lady probably won't even feel a loss of 10,000 dollars.
But then again, he shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Besides, it wouldn't be good for his reputation if people found out he had stolen a wallet.
June brought out his taped-up phone from his pocket and typed in the number written on one of the ID cards.
[You're going to give it back?]
June ignored Fu and waited until the person on the other side picked up.
"Hello?" the familiar voice of the woman said.
"Hello, Miss Hana?" June asked.
"Umm, yes. Who is this?"
"I'm calling from Seven Star Convenience Store. It seems you have left your wallet here," he said. He couldn't help but sigh since he still felt that it was a shame.
10,000 dollars!
June never even had that amount of money when he was still with White Tiger. Sure, he had dealt with money as big as millions during negotiations, but he was paid with petty pennies compared to those.
"Oh, thank goodness," Hana said. "I thought I had lost everything. Thank you for calling me."
"Can you get it here? I'm still on my shift," he said.
"Of course," Hana exclaimed. "I was just in a restroom nearby. I'll go there right now."
"Alright," June said.
"Thank—"
June turned off the call before Hana could even finish her sentence. The girl, who was on her way back to the convenience store, looked at her phone with confusion. Did that guy really just abruptly end their call?
Does he not recognize who she is?
Hana smiled and shook her head in amusement. And to think he's returning her wallet. Other people would not have hesitated to keep the 10,000 dollars for themselves.
He must be a very kind man.
On the other hand, June can't stop sighing at the convenience store. Maybe he should have kept the wallet for himself. It didn't seem like Hana was frantically looking for it, either.
However, it does go against his principles. Even as a thug, he never stole any money from innocent people. He only ever stole money from those who deserved it. June believed that normal people who had no business with gangs and their world shouldn't be involved.
It didn't take long before the sound of the door chimes was heard, signaling the entrance of Hana. Hana had a wide smile on her face as she entered, already thanking June with her gaze.
"Here," June nonchalantly said. "I didn't take anything."
Hana chuckled at the young guy's cold demeanor. It felt refreshing not to be treated like a celebrity all the time.
"I'm sure you didn't," Hana said. "Thanks for being honest."
"I would have kept it if ya didn't tip me," he seriously said, but it elicited a chuckle from Hana.
"I like you," Hana suddenly said, causing June to raise both his eyebrows.
"Do you go around falling in love with people you don't even know?" he asked.
She shook her head. "It's not that kind of "like," young man. I just like that you brought this back to me. You seem very kind."
Kind?
June scoffed.
If only she knew.
"You're honest, too," she added. "Here," she said, suddenly bringing out a 500-dollar bill from her pocket. "A token for being a kind and honest man."
June wasted no time in taking the money and placing it in his pocket. Stealing from a normal citizen was something he didn't want to do, but when the blessing is right in front of your face, you shouldn't even hesitate to grab it!
"Thanks," he muttered. "Have a good day."
Hana looked at him, amused. "That's it?"
"What else do ya want?" June asked.
Hana chuckled. "Nothing, nothing. I'm just curious—do you not know who I am?"
June frowned in confusion. He looked at her face, but she didn't seem familiar.
"No," he honestly said.
Hana nodded and smiled. "That's nice. I'll get going then."
June merely nodded, causing Hana to chuckle once again. "I hope to see you around sometime!"
With that, she waved her hand and left the convenience store.
June sighed in relief since his shift was almost over. There weren't any new people coming in, too, so he decided to clean up while waiting for the owner to give him his salary for the week.
June first arranged the chips rack, then moved over to the alcoholic drinks. How he wishes he could drink tonight, but they were going to shoot for Rising Stars tomorrow. He looked at the soju bottle with longing, imagining its taste on his tongue.
He frowned, however, when he saw a familiar face on the soju bottle.
"Miss Hana?"
***
June's shift was now over, and he was already on his way home. He had a huge bag of gummies in his hand and quickly popped one in his mouth.
His eyes widened in glee when he tasted the cola-flavored gummy.
"These BenBen gummies are quite good," he muttered.
In the end, the owner could only pay him 500 dollars compared to the 588 dollars they agreed on. It was alright with June since he had gotten a pretty large tip from Miss Hana. However, he couldn't go home empty-handed, so he asked the owner to compensate him with BenBen gummies instead.
So, now, he had 10 bags of gummies in his possession.
They better help him grow at least 1 cm!
On his way home, he came across an orphanage, causing him to stop and stare at the old and knackered building. Somehow, it reminded him of the orphanage him and Mei Ling used to live in.
It had awful living conditions, and they fought for food every single day. However, the nuns who took care of them were kind enough to raise them well with love and care. Of course, that was difficult with the lack of funds they had, but they still tried their best.
When June entered the gang, he felt quite guilty, knowing the nuns raised them to be kind people. However, June believed he didn't have a choice. In the end, he wanted to give Mei Ling a good life.
To ease his guilt, June donated to the orphanage every month when he was still Jun Hao. That's probably one of the reasons he couldn't save a lot of money back then. But it was nice seeing the nuns that raised him smile in gratefulness whenever he donated.
June was reminded of his mission once again. Whilst chewing on his gummies, he brought out his wallet and saw the 1,000 dollars he had earned in a span of one week.
He had to spare 600 dollars for his rent from last month until the next month, so he was left with only 400 dollars left.
June wanted to buy some decent clothes for the filming of the show or maybe treat Grandma and Minjun before he went.
However, he heard the sound of children cheering from inside. June peered through the musty window and saw about 15 kids and 2 old caretakers sharing a vegetable dish on the table.
June sighed and brought out the 500 dollars that Hana gave him this morning.
"This wasn't supposed to be mine anyway," he muttered.
[Mission Success: Donate to Charity]
[Please pick one aspect to improve.]
"Dance."
[Wise choice! Dance + 1. Current grade: D+]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
SandKastle
SandKastle
June's just a little guy. Hope you're liking the chapters! June's going back to continue filming Rising Stars tomorrow!
NEW BOOK IS OUT!
Check 'I Accidentally Became A Superstar' on my profile!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
32 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment