Shinee Reprise (Ch. 1)
Lee Jinki sat at the counter with a magazine, flipping through it absently. As usual the store was dead and there was absolutely nothing left to do. It was just another day in the life of Lee Jinki. Boring and uneventful.
The store was a small, privately owned business that Jinki was lucky enough to have stumbled across. It wasn’t very popular or new, but it was one of the best bookstores Jinki had ever seen. There were books from floor to ceiling, crammed onto shelves and piled into towers beside and around the shelves. In the middle of the store there was a small circular table with two old, leather armchairs that had seen better days. The store smelled strongly of dust and old times. There was definitely something unique about the store, and despite its lack of customers or the mainstream selection of books, Jinki loved it.
Another magazine finished. Sighing, Jinki tossed it to the side and sat back, his fingers drumming slightly on the glass counter. His small, brown eyes scanned the store as if expecting someone to appear in front of him with a book in hand. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen, but it was a nice little wish anyway.
From behind him the curtains leading into the backroom parted and a tall, lanky young man with a clipboard came through, and came up next to Jinki. There was silence while the young man scanned the store and his look was thoughtful. Jinki shifted slightly and looked curiously up at him, brushing the bangs out of his eyes.
“Hey Changmin hyung,” he greeted, smiling slightly.
“Looks like another eventful day after all,” Changmin joked sarcastically. Then he sighed and placed the clipboard on the counter. “If you want you can leave for the day. I guess we’ll just have to close shop early again; no point keeping it open if there’s no one coming.”
It was the summer, and summer seemed to be the worst time of year for the little bookstore. It was tucked away behind other buildings, and people only seemed to become aware of it during the Christmas holidays when people were running around searching for the perfect present. They would stumble across the shop and, they’d go in hoping to find a present their loved ones never had before. But when summer came, there was no need to find such a store so there were rarely any people coming in and out. Most days Changmin closed the store earlier than usual, and Jinki was losing hours and he needed the money to be out on his own. Jinki didn’t mind that it was mostly during the summer, simply because the job was one he really wanted to keep.
“If you want,” Jinki shrugged, hopping off the stool and made his way to the backroom.
“Look I’m sorry Onew,” Changmin said suddenly, making Jinki stop, “for making you come all the way here and then send you home early every day. If only my business wasn’t so small and secluded….”
Jinki paused and smiled slightly. Then he turned back to face his hyung. “It’s not a problem, really. If I really thought it was a problem then I would have quit by now. So you really don’t have to worry about me!”
He hurried into the backroom and grabbed his bag and then came back out into the front. “Well I’ll see you tomorrow then!”
Changmin shook his head, smirking slightly. “Just don’t hurt yourself on the way home okay?”
Jinki waved good-bye and left the store, adjusting his bag so it was slung over his shoulder. As the door was swinging shut it caught him in the heel and he stumbled forward. From within the store he heard Changmin’s snicker and Jinki rolled his eyes. He stepped out into the hot sun, and put his sunglasses on quickly before walking towards the bus stop. With the sun beating down on him like that, Jinki realized he was clearly overdressed for such a day. He fanned himself with his hand but he couldn’t help sweating anyway. Sighing he trudged on until he reached the stop and then ducked under the shelter for a little shade. Then he checked his watch and pursed his lips together. Another twenty minutes until the next bus. He rested his head against the shelter, drawing his hand up and across his glistening forehead. His body felt stifled in his clothes, and he wanted nothing more than to run around with nothing on but his shorts. Lucky him, he was sitting in a public bus shelter, near a residential area.
Jinki leaned forward and put his head in his hands, debating whether he should just walk to the next bus stop or suck it up and endure the heat of just sitting there. Either way he’d get hot, but Jinki decided he might as well make some progress in getting home than just sitting around doing nothing for twenty minutes.
As he left the shelter, his eyes caught four young men walking along the opposite side of where he stood. His next step faltered when he saw how attractive they were. Handsome just didn’t fit but beautiful did. Each of them looked like they’d fit better in a fashion show in Paris than in that tiny little town they were wandering around in. The way their bodies was flawless, each step as graceful as the next. Even the youngest one, who couldn’t be more than sixteen, was stunning. They didn’t look like they were saying anything to each other, but there didn’t seem to be any need for communication between them. They all moved together perfectly, as if they were all made for each other.
When they were directly across from Jinki, one of them happened to glance over and he tilted his head slightly to the side. Almost curiously. Hastily Jinki realized his mouth had been hanging open and he snapped it shut, hiding his burning cheeks by whirling on his foot and scampering away. He could feel those feline-like eyes on him, and suppressed a shudder as he hurried towards the next bus stop. Only when he reached it did he risk turning and glancing back down at the four young men. They must have walked too far away for him to see. Sighing, Jinki slumped against the bus stop pole and closed his eyes. How embarrassing! But in his defence, he hadn’t been the only one staring at the four young men as if they were gods. Even though Jinki’s attention was on them, he did spy two young ladies strolling down the street. When they spotted the four young men, they giggled and buried their mouths in their hands, whispering excitedly to each other. Jinki was sure there were others who were staring; the young men were extremely hard to look over just once.
The bus came sooner than he had thought and Jinki hopped on board, unconsciously glancing back at where he had seen the young men.