There is a small convenience store on the first floor of the studio apartment where I live.

And there is a part-timer there whom I run into quite often.

A woman who always stands at the counter with a quiet face, wearing thick, round glasses.

At first, I just thought she was an ordinary person.

But strangely, my eyes kept drifting toward her.

Though she seemed blunt, her hands would reach out carefully whenever I handed her an item, and she would give a tiny smile after a short greeting.

---

Then one day.

I walked into the store as usual, but she didn't realize I had arrived.

She was behind the counter, glasses off, wiping the lenses.

I looked at her without thinking.

And I froze right there.

She was beautiful.

Breathtakingly beautiful.

No other words came to mind.

The face hidden behind the glasses was far more beautiful than I had ever imagined.

It was so pretty that it felt unrealistic.

But at that moment.

She looked up.

Our eyes met.

A moment of silence.

Her eyes shook violently.

And she covered her face with both hands as if to hide her bare face.

"……Did you see?"

A slightly trembling voice, one I hadn't heard before.

At that moment, strangely, my heart started racing.

Whether it was because she looked cute being so embarrassed.

Or because the face I just saw kept flickering in my mind.

I don't really know yet.

But one thing was for sure.

From that day on.

The person I looked for first every time I entered the store wasn't the items on the counter, nor the drinks on the shelves.

It was her, looking at me from behind her glasses.