Chapter Text
The customer is always right. Dokja learned that philosophy back during his tech support days and although he’s carried and abided by those words for so long—not because they were true, but because they were what kept food on the table— every once in a while there was someone who managed to get on his very last nerve. Unfortunately, today was one of those days.
Dokja was already irked when he came into work that day because he had to stay up late and drive through horrendous traffic in Sooyoung’s crappy old convertible—which was basically just a roofless car because of its finicky hardtop. Normally he would’ve given up the second he was asked to drive (a task he swore was invented to raise blood pressure), but unfortunately he had to pick up Yoosung and Bihyung. Why? Well because someone thought it would be a good idea to save money by not hiring a plumber for a clearly broken pipe. Long story short, that same someone had their entire condo flood… (it was Bihyung)
By the time Dokja got home that night it was 3 a.m, meaning he would get at most 4 hours of sleep because he had to take Yoosung to school the next morning. Now normally this wouldn’t have been a problem but since he had barely gotten any sleep the past few days it began to take a toll that coffee and energy drinks couldn’t quite fix. The semi-permanent shadows under Dokja’s eyes were further amplified because of this and since Dokja slept through his first alarm he had very little time to get ready. He knew he looked like he’d been hit by a truck but that didn’t warrant all concerned looks! It was, unfortunately, something he was used to though. As someone with about 20 more tattoos than the average person, and a 12 year old daughter that looked nothing like him, he knew he should understand where the onlookers were coming from but it still hurt to be stared at like some kind of alien. Not to mention, it wasn’t long ago when those eyes were directed at him for another reason…
Anywho, all of these factors led him to where he was now, at the bookstore, very close to committing a very bad crime.
It all started when this totally gorgeous—I mean rivaling statues sculpted of the gods gorgeous— guy walks in. Dokja was slightly distracted because his thoughts sounded a bit like ‘would it be rude to ask for a picture? Or better yet a number?’ and ‘this is what Sooyoung’s crappy protagonists wish they were; tall, devastatingly handsome, well toned physique, dark curly hair that falls in the perfect way, eyes that-’
“Um, hello?” The man who walked in spoke with a voice that went astoundingly well with his looks, startling Dokja out of his rapidly progressing thoughts.
“Ahem hi! Can I uh uh um so-I mean-” Dokja internally cringed at his slip up but progressed anyway. “ h-how can I help you?”
“Do you have this book?” the larger man held up his phone on which was an image of a novel Dokja immediately recognized, not because he had read it at least twenty times— that was only part of it— but mainly because it was all the rage with the teen girls that would come to the bookstore recently, and he couldn’t blame them. Even before it gained popularity Dokja couldn’t put it down. Despite being a tropey romance novel it was surprisingly well written with an intricate plot-line and fleshed out characters. In the end though, this led to his twentieth mistake that day: a chuckle…Now, it wasn’t his fault the laugh came out, plus he stifled it immediately but the thought of this guy, probably a stereotypical “gym bro”, dressed in all black, and the picture of “tall, dark, and handsome”, reading a villainess transmigration Romantasy novel was the kind of thing you find in comedies! Unfortunately for Dokja though, he wasn’t the only one that had started that morning with spit in their coffee.
“Are you laughing at me?” The vein on the man’s forehead bulged and his eyes glinted as if he was about to lose his composure.
“Cough!” Dokja cleared his throat, “ahem, sorry! No I uh came down with a cold…”
The other man glared at Dokja as if he were scum. “Why are you here?”
“Excuse me?” Curling a brow, Dokja squinted at him “Oh! Why am I here if I have a cold? It's uh…allergies! Not contagious…”
“...Do you have the book or not?”
“Right that! Uh we’re actually out… I could ask my boss when we resto-”
“Yea do that.” The man interrupted. Dokja sighed but simply went to the back to find his boss.
The door behind the counter led to a small hallway with two doors on each side and one at the end. It was the last door in which his employer resided while the other two occasionally housed her…eccentric family members and unfortunately they seemed to be there that day. Dokja tried his best to tiptoe past the rooms, but it seemed once again that fate wasn’t on his side today. As soon as he thought he was in the clear the left door swung open and a blonde woman only a few centimeters shorter than Dokja came running out towards him.
“I knew it was you! I could recognize that malnourished silhouette anywhere!” Hayoung immediately pounced on him and Dokja internally cursed the traditional wood and paper shoji doors that hid nothing at all. “Are you on your lunch break? Wanna eat with me? You totally should! I have a bunch of snacks! Hey quit mov-” As she continued, Dokja tried to wriggle his way out of her surprisingly strong grasp, unfortunately he didn’t realize that aside from him, Hayoung was also holding a paper coffee cup.
Splash! The coffee, which was mostly just sugar and milk, spilled all over them. “Silly you, I told you not to move!” she chuckled. Dokja had a lot of things he wanted to say but he opted for the most polite option.
“Hayoung…could you please just let me go? There's a customer waiting on a book at the counter and no I’m not on my lunch break yet…It’s 9 am.” He replied with the practiced calm of a long-time customer service worker and a full-time parent.
“Oh! You should’ve just said so! Which book is it? Actually, let me guess, it’s that “Fate in the hands of the Villainess” book? I’ve totally been looking for that too, we restock on uhh Wednesday I bothered auntie Aileen about that so I’m super sure!” Hayoung was surprisingly helpful and with that Dokja decided to run back to the front before she could start convincing him about one thing or another again. “Hey, make sure to respond to my texts later! And-” She called out as he made his way back to the front.
“Thanks Hayoung and uhh I’ll respond later!” And with that he closed the door to the back and returned to the customer.
“Hi! Sir uh we restock Wednesday!” Dokja explained, a bit too loud as he was still catching his breath after running approximately six steps. The man sighed, rolling his eyes for the third time that day.
“Will the store be open?”
“Yup!” Dokja exclaimed, somewhat relieved that he didn’t work that day and wouldn’t have to encounter the man again. ‘Honestly it might’ve been worse if he wasn’t totally rude’ Dokja thought as the taller man made his way to the door.
The bell above the door jingled signifying the customer exiting the store and Dokja felt an arm wrap around his shoulder.
“You're done now! Let’s talk!” Hayoung had materialized once more much to Dokja’s chagrin. “Oh, by the way Aileen said she needs you to take the shift on Wednesday, she’s busy with watch orders, so we can eat lunch together that day! Oh em gee! I almost forgot I have to go back to the music shop, my boss called earlier! TTYL!” She skipped out of the store with a wave and Dokja stared speechlessly into space. Once the bell on the door jingled again Dokja screamed into his palm. It seemed like this week was going to be a long one.
~~~
How annoying! Mia’s birthday was in exactly two days and Joonghyuk had looked high and low for the book she had been begging for for weeks. He had no idea why considering Mia had never shown any interest in reading but since she rarely asked for anything he felt it was the least he could do as her older brother and parental figure. In the end, here he was at this random bookstore he didn’t even know existed just a few blocks from his home and apparently they had just run out! At least he should be able to get it in time for Mia’s birthday but he was irked nonetheless and the call from his manager informing him about a surprise meeting he had to be at within the next hour didn’t help his mood in the slightest. ‘I mean seriously can’t people plan in advance?’ He thought to himself as he walked.
Joonghyuk still had to pick up groceries, start dinner, and pick up Mia from school! Once all that was done he was planning on streaming but looking at the schedule he had written down, he knew there wouldn’t be much time, so he simply started with the priorities. After glancing at his watch he considered how much time he had before Mia’s school day was over and left for the grocery store. Once he got everything he needed, Joonghuk went home to start thawing the meat, cooking the rice, and steaming the vegetables. Once everything was prepped he left for the school slightly later than intended but he would still arrive on time.
~
…Correction! Joonghyuk thought he would arrive on time, instead he got to the school 30 minutes late only to find Mia crying on the staircase with a dark haired teenager patting Mia’s back and comforting her.
“HEY YOU!” The older girl yelled out the second Joonghyuk was within her sights.
“I’m so-”
“Why are you so late? I-I thought you abandoned me too…” Mia looked up, her puffy eyes and red face making Joonghyuk feel all the worse about the situation. It had only been a year since their parents walked out on them, and Joonghyuk knew it’d be a shock to Mia since he had done his best to hide their fighting from her. At the time he thought it was the best thing to do since Mia was only 9 when things started falling apart, but their abrupt departure made the whole situation even harder for her in the end.
“Mia…I would never abandon you. I'm so sorry I’m late,” Joonghyuk ran to hug his sister who still had tears streaming down her face, and she looked up at him.
“I…I know and you said that before too…back when mom and dad left, b-but what if you change your mind…”
Joonghyuk felt his heart twinge as he looked down at Mia’s watery eyes. “I would never do that Mia, you’re all I have left…”
“Promise?” she asked earnestly after a short pause.
Joonghyuk held out his pinky finger “Promise.”
“Okay…” Mia clasped her finger around his with a smile and with that they went back home. Joonghyuk knew deep down that it wouldn’t be the end to the hurt Mia still felt from the departure of their parents, heck he was still struggling with it all himself and he was meant to be the “adult”, but it was a start.
“Thank you for staying with her, miss…”
“Jihye, Lee Jihye, and of course! She reminds me a bit of an old friend of mine…” Jihye smiled and waved and the two siblings waved back before walking off into the busy streets of Seoul.
Once they were out of sight, as if on cue, a white haired teenager approached Jihye with two plastic bags in hand.
“Yo they have new flavors of that juice you like!...Hey where’d the kid go?” He scratched his head and looked around cartoonishly.
“You’re late dimwit, her brother came to pick her up.” Jihye replied as she snatched the bag filled with juice cartons from Namwoon.
“Hey, a ‘thank you’ would be nice! But anywho, more ice cream for me!” He grinned and Jihye couldn’t help but smile too.
~~~