"They shoved me to the ground and they put the knife to my neck. They were telling me 'don't shout, don't say anything'," Madaan said.
His colleague was working in the chiller, and out of sight, leaving the offenders to think Madaan was on his own.
"My main motivation was to protect both my friend and the store. I didn't call my friend to come out because I knew he couldn't do anything," the softly-spoken employee said.
"They told me to open the safe, but I said 'no, sorry, I don't know the password'. They asked me two-three times, but I kept saying no."
They then took him to the till, and forced him to open it.
"They knew I could," Madaan said.
He said they were trying to "worry him" with their knife - a long butcher's knife - moving the knife around his kneck, and telling him where they were going to cut him.
"It happened very fast."
Once they took the money, about $400, Madaan chased them down Russell St.
"They took all the money and ran away. I chased them 400m but they were too far away from me," he said. His friend came out of the chiller and called the police.
He said the way they were talking to him, makes him think they were under 18.