#also this got SO long askjfd; for no reason !!!

[dvpendable]

among the numerous shops that lined the street heading towards fresh fields, beat street music was not somewhere that danbi had often frequented since she had arrived in ansong. truthfully, she was a far cry from a musical aficionado and other than occasionally taking an interest in listening to whatever pop hit was playing on the radio at work, or enjoying the playlists that her friends would sometimes curate for her, she didn't know much about music. she respected it, and enjoyed it, but certainly was not knowledgeable in the subject and not up to date on any of the latest or most popular releases. not to mention she couldn't hold a tune to save her life, and she happened to be a little too clumsy to take up an interested in an instrument, but that was another story for another day.

despite all of this, the store had slowly, but surely integrated itself into her routine - most notably because she would come to visit doyun either during her lunch break if she needed to step away from the holiday rush pilling into the grocery store, or sometimes after her shift on her walk back to the apartment building. there was something about interacting with him that brightened danbi's day - his lively and animated disposition always managed to relieve some of the fatigue from the day-to-day operations, and he never failed in making her laugh.

"it's nice to see you- oh, careful, please," danbi can't help but giggle when doyun slides over the counter, greeting her feverishly, explaining how he's in desperate need for some assistance. before she has a second to process the situation, she's in front of the register, glancing over it as it remains frozen in time. she's not the most tech savvy individual, but she's dealt with enough issues on her own POS system at fresh fields to at least be able to troubleshoot. "don't worry, we'll get it fixed," she assures him, glancing over at him with a cheery smile, fist curled in the air as a symbol of determination. she wouldn't let him down, and nodded to convey as much. "have no fear, danbi is here . . . truthfully, this happens all the time at fresh fields, so i'm sure we can revive it," she looks over the device, slender index finger pressing down on the screen, trying to have it do something. "what were you doing when it froze? were you ringing up something?"

danbi leans back after a few moments, the screen unresponsive to her touch. she bends down underneath the counter, thinking they may need to play around with the wires a bit. "someone said it was 'fire' today?" she peeks her head out from under the counter, offering him a reassuring smile. "that's actually a really nice compliment. it means that they think this store is really cool - like, they're really impressed with how you have it!" she's glad to hear someone expressed their admiration - she knew doyun gave it his all into his business. "oh, do you have a flashlight anywhere, by chance?"

——— doyun frowns, furrow in his brow and all, at the computer pinging at him from the counter. you'd think as long as he's owned the place, he'd know how to work the POS system, but here he is. with a world-weary sigh, doyun tugs at the ends of his hair as he tries to click around on the screen in a desperate attempt to get it to unfreeze, to no avail. normally he'd pout at nari to fix this sort of thing, that girl was way better than he was at fucking with the computer. but it's her day off and he's reluctant to disturb that peace.

as he's debating giving up and flipping the sign so beat street's closed, the little bell above the door rings and in walks in what doyun considers a literal angel: "danbi!" oh what a sight for sore eyes, he thinks as he hops over the counter (sure, he could walk around but that's not half as cool looking). "boy, am i glad to see you, i need your help," he says conspiratorially as he ushers her towards the demon technology in question. "this thing is frozen and i can't get it unfrozen and, like, how am i supposed to sell anything like this? you know? and also someone told me when they were buying something today that this place is 'fire' what does that even mean?" the last part, a little less important but it just popped in his head and now he just can't stop thinking about it.

while he waits to see if danbi will even help him or not, doyun looks between her and the computer and nervously chews at a hangnail on his thumb. god, he hopes he doesn't have to get a whole new computer or POS system at this rate. like, sure the thing hasn't been upgraded the entire time he's owned the place (oops), but it works, okay? don't fix what's not broken or something. "you don't think we need to hold a funeral for it, do we?"

/ @dvpendable