No Way (1/1)

Joon seemed to continuously wave towards the younger student to come closer, and Mir, was apparently stuck in the middle of the sidewalk with an astonished look plastered on his face. ‘Is he calling me?... Or is this just a coincidence?… Yeah probably…’ Taking a glance around him, Mir noticed a pair of squealing girls, both who were looking at the tall broad chested figure in the door way. Slightly turning his head, Mir peeked at the girls, taking the opportunity to look at them closer while they were “distracted” by the smiling man. Each one older than him, possibly college girls, and both had long hair and long legs to match. They were both stunning young ladies: typical thin and heel wearing girls in their early 20’s that would strut down the street catching the eyes of every man they happened to enchant with looks alone. Releasing a sigh, “Yeah… not me.” Mir turned back and continued on his way towards work with his shoulders slumped and his head down. His eyes watched lazily as the sidewalk passed by slowly while biting his lower lip to keep them from quivering. ‘Not going to cry,’ Mir thought confidently. Sniffling slightly to be rid of the knot in his throat, Mir continued on his way. “Stupid Joon,” he cursed under his breath.

“Hey you!” The deep voice of the handsome employee called out again.

As the deep modulated voice found its way into Mir’s ears he found himself stopping in his tracks yet again. “Huh?” The voice trembled through his body making it feel as if the words alone weighed Mir down. “Omo did he hear me?” A sudden wave of worry washed over the young student as he thought it was possible that the other had been offended by Mir’s slight comment. Suddenly Mir heard hurried footsteps and whoever they belonged to, they were coming in fast towards him. With his head still turned down, Mir slowly looked over his shoulder and not surprisingly, saw the face of the beautiful employee come closer. Quickly, Mir began to think of possible ways to apologize, but as Mir watced the other get closer he noticed that The Face Shop employee did not appear upset. Mir was stunned as the smile he admired so much gleamed in his direction. He brought his finger up and questioningly pointed towards himself. Suddenly the smile grew wider as a laugh escaped Joon’s lips, “Yes you!” Laughing again, Joon began to shake his head, amused my Mir's actions,  “Don’t move!” Finally reaching the maknae who was too nervous to even move an inch; Joon placed himself right in front of Mir, so even if he tried to escape it wouldn’t be easy. Joon looked down at the other and some of Mir’s nervousness seemed to dissipate and he was able to lift his gaze up towards the taller man in front of him. “Aigo I thought you weren’t going to stop.” Joon was still smiling, “Didn’t you hear me?”

Mir side smiled as he shrugged, clearly the other was flustered. “Mianhae, I guess I didn’t.” Mir could feel the jealous stares from the other girls burn into the back of his head but soon they continued on their way. He wasn’t sorry in the least, more the opposite. It felt as if the weight in his chest was lifted slightly. Mir kept his gaze down to keep the other from seeing the idiotic smile on his face that he was unable to control. He didn’t want Joon to think he was a little special in the head, but then again he was just standing there not saying anything at all while making faces at the ground. ‘Come on Mir, think of something!’ The two stood there awkwardly for several minutes. Mir was unsure exactly what to say but he desperately wanted to be the one to speak up. ‘Come on Mir… Speak up!’ he yelled at himself again in his head. ‘Who knows when you will get a chance like this again?’ Able to part his lips as if getting ready to say something but nothing came out. Mir returned his gaze up towards Joon, who quickly smiled at the younger's actions.

“I haven’t seen you in the shop for a while. What are you trying to do? Avoid me?” A more playful and a less awkward smile spread across Joon’s face.

The smile and expression the handsome employee had given Mir sent a chill down his spine. If his legs remembered how to work they would have given out by now. “Ahh… well… yeah I’ve been busy with school I guess… oh and work.” Mir shyly rubbed the back of his head as his voice came out shaky. “That’s okay.” Joon let out a small chuckle, “I just wanted to let you know that we got new products in.” Joon gestured towards The Face Shop, "If you'd like, you can come on in and I can show you the newest additions to our lip balm collection!"

It felt like Mir had just been knocked off the cloud he was floating on and he couldn’t stop himself from a crash landing. His facial expression changed dramatically, Mir’s smile was forced into a frown. The pain of loneliness settling back in, ‘So he is just after my business… Way to get your hopes up Mir. Pabo…’ he thought. Shuffling his feet, Mir took a deep breath in and found the little courage he had left and looked at Joon right in the eyes. “That sounds…” pausing as he felt his voice was about to crack, Mir cleared his throat. “That sounds really nice but… I don’t have the money to be able to buy products everyday… Mianhae.” Kicking the floor again, Mir couldn’t help but feel useless and unimportant as the dirt under his shoes. Feeling panicked, Mir began taking deep breaths in, he was almost hyperventilating. ‘Oh great I’m putting myself into a panic attack,’ he thought as the other gave him a strange look. Feeling his cheeks begin to burn he forced his body back a few steps; the young student was about to walk away from the employee to keep from embarrassing himself any further when suddenly Joon grabbed his shoulder. “Hey it’s okay. I guess I was just used to seeing you around the shop.” Joon lightly squeezed the smaller student’s shoulder. “No need to be sorry. Heck, I wouldn’t be able to afford most of these products on my salary.” Chuckling lightly, his face glowed as another smile built up. The contagious smile found its way to Mir and now he was blushing. ‘Aigo I can’t handle these mood swings you’re causing me Joon.’ He thought as his shyness quickly came back over him. Mir nodded in response as his eyes found their way back to his shoes. He hadn’t even talked to the other for more than five minutes and he was horribly ruining any chance of ever talking to Joon again. This was also the most Joon had ever paid attention to him and Mir was having a mental shut down. Could things get any worse? There was a slight pressure on his left shoulder that caused Mir to glance up to see what exactly it was. The sudden realization of the other's hand still on his shoulder, and was squeezing with every other word The Face Shop employee spoke. The young student watched the flex of the older employee’s masculine hand, veins slowly appearing and disappearing. ‘Yeah things are about to get worse,’ he thought as he closed his eyes. Attempting to magically disappear right about now, Mir held his eyes tighter. “Don’t be a loser… don’t be a loser…”

“Um… what was that?” With his mind so focused on not wanting to embarrass himself any further, he didn’t realize he was speaking instead of thinking. What snapped Mir out of his trance was the deep voice of Joon.

As Mir’s eyes met those of a very confused and probably scared looking Joon. ‘Kill me now,’ shaking his head, Mir bit his lip. “N-nothing… Just saying… don’t these feel looser?” Mir tugged at his jeans, “I’ve been working out… and thought don’t these look more relaxed?” He wanted to kick himself, ‘Really Mir? When do you ever work out?’ Fed up, the younger was about ready to run away. That was before he caught a tall, very good looking Face Shop employee scanning his body. Joon had his eyes roaming all over Mir’s frame; up, down and soon those eyes stopped on his lower region. There was a playful smirk that landed on his face before meeting Mir’s eyes once again. “Yeah they look really good.” If Mir had a mirror, he would have been able to see exactly how red his face was. ‘Did he just check me out?’ He has never felt so hot in his entire life; it felt like the other had undressed him with his eyes alone. Shyly, Mir began to fidget and move his hands up to his chest as if trying to cover up his nakedness. It felt like the tense, awkward atmostphere between them had finally eased and Mir was able to look up at The Face Shop employee and return the smile Joon had been giving him the entire time. 'Time?' How much time had really passed since Joon began talking to Mir? The two men had been standing there awkwardly more than they were actually talking so time slipped Mir's mind completely as he just focused on not dying from embarassment. Mir hurridly began to dig through his pocket to pull out his phone, pushed the button and his eyes widen in shock as he saw the time. "Oh gosh! I'm sorry but I'm going to be late for work." Stuffing his phone back into his pocket Mir gripped the bag on his shoulder and gave Joon a small bow, "Mianhae, it was nice talking to you." Giving one last wave and shy smile, Mir ran off down the street. "Ahh I'm five minutes late!" the young student shouted out as he clumsily ran towards Reptile World.  ~Joon POV~Joon couldn't help but laugh at the other's actions as Mir continued to run. He found it kind of cute how shy Mir would get when Joon would just look at him. Then again, he had that effect on everyone. 'Poor kid, must not be used to meeting new people.' Shaking his head, he entered back through the doors of The Face Shop.  "Well, well how nice of the flowerboy to finally return." A sarcastic voice called out towards him.  Joon looked over towards the front counter, his eyes meeting a shorter black haired male. He was short yes, but he had a temper and eyes that could skin a person alive and he was sadly his manager. "Chill, I wasn't out there for that long Seungho. I doubt I missed too many customers in that," he glanced down at the watch on his wrist, "ten minutes. So don't sweat it, I'll get back to work now." A smirk came across the elder managers face as Joon rounded the corner of the nail polish station. "I'm not complaining about you leaving your post and ignoring your employee objectives. It is the reason why you left." Seungho crossed his arms across his chest, "Who was your little friend?" It didnt really occur to Joon what Seungho was talking about. 'Friend?'  He thought as he replayed the last few minutes in his head. Then it hit him, "Oh you mean who I was talking to out there?" Seungho gave a slow and assuring nod to the flower idiot. "Oh yeah him." Joon chuckled slightly as the manager continued to stare him down. He knew the other was probably calling him an idiot about now. "Just a customer I haven't seen in awhile. I thought I should say "hi" to him. You know 'cause who knows when I'll see him again." He shrugged slightly as Seungho continued to watch him.  "Uh-huh," smirking, Joon grabbed a random item off the counter to make himself appear busy. "If you say so Joon. Just wondering why you disappeared on me." Nodding, Joon placed back the nail stickers he was "organizing." "Yeah sorry about that. Just trying to be friendly is all." "Okay Joonie." Seungho took a slight pause before giving Joon a very mischievous grin, "You do know he has a crush on you right?" The words struck Joon so sudden he felt as if someone had just slapped him across the face. He was so caught off guard that he had knocked over the entire eyeliner section when Seungho's question literally knocked him out of normality. "W-why would you.. What?!" Joon was more confused on why Seungho would say something like that than explain how he came to this conclusion. "What? No we are just friends. A-actually I don't think I can count our encounters even that. I-I'm... No he is just a customer that I always help." He said in a rush as he bent over to pick up the spilt products that litered the floor of the shop.  Shaking his head, it almost pleased Seungho to watch the so called flowerboy, who was supposedly full of charisma, getting so worked up over a statement, let alone one about a kid. Seungho always messed around with Joon because he was so gullible and easy to confuse, but now Seungho was the puzzled one. "Yahh stop making a mess in my shop!" He bent over to help the other put the items back into their place, "It's really obvious Joon, its almost painful to watch as he struggles to even look at you. He is like a little school girl who has their first crush." Standing up, he let the other finish picking up the eyeliner, "The again he is still in highschool and is little, but just a boy," Seungho snickered, "so I guess that analogy still works here."  Biting his lower lip before throwing his annoying boss a harsh glare, "I'm telling you he does not like me. He's just a kid that comes in here all the time and I recommend him products," he said firmly. Joon was used to Seungho teasing him on a daily basis but this time it felt different. This time though it actually bothered Joon more than it normally did, and what probably frustrated him the most was the fact that he didnt know why.  "Just follow me for a second, okay?" He wrapped an arm around the taller's shoulder, forcing Joon to hunch slightly forward to be able to meet the other's height. "And I am using your words here okay. He comes into the shop almost everyday, you are the only one who always helps him and he ends up buying everything you show him. No matter the cost; damn I can't even afford some of the things he gets in this shop," he began waving his hand in front of him as he went off topic. "Anyways why would he also always come to the same skin care shop? This is Korea, the country is made out of them! There are five alone on this street!" Seungho took the moment to pause and look at his taller employee and was able to recognize the same confused facial expression he would always have when he is lost and or doesn't get something. Scoffing, Seungho flicked Joon's forehead in annoyance.  "Ouch! Hey what was that for?" his hand instantly coming to his forehead to rub the growing red mark.  The raven haired man was just shaking his head, "It's not rocket science dude! The kid has a crush on you." He wiggled his eyebrows, "and maybe he wants to get a little one on one time with you, eh?"  Joon then pushed himself out of the elders grip, "He doesn't have a crush on me! He probably gets all these products for friends or family or something. And maybe he prefers The Face Shop brand that's why he chooses to come in here! Lastly, did you ever think that maybe I'm just that good at making sales that he always ends up buying from me." Seungho simply rolled his eyes as he released a very deep long sigh, "Yeah Joon. It's your selling technique that gives you a 98% sales rate. Hell it woud be 100% if the other 2% didn't come in with their boyfriends." The manager's smirk began to change to a slight chuckle. Starting to laugh, "I dont know how many times I've seen guys practically dragging their girlfriends out of here to keep them from looking at you too much! It's your face bro!" It was all too much for the manager, and Seungho lost himself in a fit of laughter at just the memories of these incidents.  Joon daringly threw a death glare towards the annoying manager, "Yahh... it's not that funny," the flower boy began pouting his lower lip out, "and like you said, I'm good looking. Why would I care if a kid does have a crush on me?" Placing a hand on his chest as he was able to calm down, Seungho flipped his hair out of his eyes, "Then why did you run out of here so fast to meet him?" It was a simple question but for some reason it held so much more meaning for Joon. He was still unsure why but it felt like a topic he didnt want to get himself too involved with. Yeah he has had many crushes come in and hit on him, he should be used to all the stares, but the young student wasn't like that so maybe thats why he has sparked some interest in Joon's mind. Seungho continued to keep his eyes on the agitated employee, "Tell me Joon, why did you run just to say hello to just some customer?" His head tilted slightly, "Is there possibly something between you two?" Feeling the frustration building up, Joon began shaking his head furiously, "I don't know okay! I guess I was so used to seeing him everyday that I found it weird that he suddenly disappeared." Joon tried to shrug off the others glare, wanting to appear like he was no longer interested in this topic but he then noticed that his disinterest in the conversation had no effect to lower Seungho's curiosity. Joon gave him a firm look, "I mean it. Nothing more and a whole lot less. He is money that I help bring in, and in no way there is anything between us." Nodding, Seungho seemed satisfied by this answer as he made his way back to the front counter. All seemed settled until he spoke up again, "So you don't think he has a crush on you?" Joon was already exhausted over this topic, "No I do not and if he does then I don't care." Rolling his eyes, Joon let his annoyance be strongly noticed by his demon of a manager.  "Let's make a bet then." Seungho said with a pleased tone as he watched Joon move around the shop. "What kind of bet?" Joon asked as he discontined his stroll around the counter to hear what Seungho had in mind. The manager looked at Joon simply, "Ask him out, and if he says yes then I win, but if he refuses, you win." Seungho spoke as easily as it sounded to him, "This way we can really see if he is attracted to you or not." Raising an eyebrow, "What's the point of this anyways?" Joon asked, unsure why Seungho would ask such a thing. Seungho began to cross his arms over his chest, "To show you I'm always right and how observant I am. You couldnt even notice how red he was when from this window I was able to see that kid looked like a stop sign." "I'm observant too," Joon let out a small gasp. "Oh please!" Seungho shouted as he strided towards the village idiot, "You couldn't even tell how red he was if you were hit with an actual stop sign." Annoyed, Joon walked forward to meet Seungho half way, "Fine. If it will shut you up then you're on!" A smirk played across the flowerboy's lips as he took on the challenge. Seungho's facial features appeared more than delighted, "We have a bet then." "Wait, what do I get if I'm correct?" Joon pondered at the things he could possibly get out of his smug boss. Seriously, when he wasnt yelling at Joon, he was annoying him the entire time.  Blinking as he came up with a quick idea, "Hmm, how about a day off and $10 bucks?" Seemed like a small deal but to Joon a day off is as good as seeing Seungho shutting up for a day. "Sounds good." Putting his hand out Joon was ready to seal the deal and start this bet. Seungho was about to place his hand in the other before he stopped, "But if I win, you have to do all the inventory by yourself all day, plus your job." Taking a moment to think through his odds, Joon was happy enough to accept, "Tough bargin, but deal." Seungho finally placed his hand into Joon's and shook it firmly, "Deal. Nice working with you Mr. Idiot but I shall be getting the paper work ready for you to get started on that inventory. We are expecting an entire crate of BB cream in possibly tomorrow. I'll leave that for you to sort out." Joon let out a slight chuckle, "Yeah you do that. And while you're at it, get my money ready too. Oh and get ready to call in someone else to help you with all that inventory." "Ha! Get ready to lose." Seungho said cheerfully.   Joon returned to his post at reorganizing the the products on the shelves and making sure there was enough out on the displays. A smile was unable to keep off of his face because he knew he wouldn't lose this bet.       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WOW I UPDATED ! haha yeah i couldn't help it a lot of you (my readers and subscribers) just pushed me to take that lazy time and turn it into fanfic time, so thank you for that