Son Charin, a cashier at a 24-hour convenience store, had long grown used to the quiet hum of the night — the faint buzz of refrigerators, the click-click-click of the register keys. Her life moved in steady rhythm: stocking shelves, counting change, watching the unblinking neon lights. She was tired, yet steady. Calm, yet hollow.

Behind her professional smile, Charin carried a thirst — not for success or excitement, but for something far rarer: human connection. She never knew how to ask for attention without appearing desperate for it. So, in a way, this job wasn’t so bad. Every customer was a brief glimpse into someone else’s world, a fragment of another life.

Among the countless faces drifting through her nightly routine, there was one she couldn’t forget — a young woman who always appeared between midnight and two a.m. Her face was pale, the shadows beneath her eyes deep as bruises. She always wore light clothes, as if the cold air of dawn could never reach her.

Her purchases were peculiar, oddly consistent yet mismatched: cheese bread, instant noodles, batteries, a pen, and band-aids. Small things — but together, they felt like pieces of someone trying to hold their life together.

At first, Charin treated her like any other customer. "Do you need a bag?" "Got exact change?" "Interested in this week’s discount?"

But slowly, curiosity began to bloom. When the girl bought bread again, Charin smiled softly. "Still going with the cheese one? There’s a new flavor — strawberry."

The girl shook her head gently and reached for her wallet. Then she froze. Her eyes widened. "I’m sorry… I didn’t realize I ran out of cash." she murmured, flustered and embarrassed.

Charin blinked, then let out a small laugh. "No one’s perfect, right?" she said lightly, pushing the items toward her. "Take them for now. You can come back tomorrow to pay."

Her smile lingered in the air, mixing with the scent of instant coffee and the soft flicker of the neon light — as if, for a moment, the world between two strangers had stopped spinning and turned just a little warmer.