Every day after school, Lee Jeongmin would run straight to his Aunt’s candy shop. He paid off living with her by running the shop until she got home from work. It was the least he could do. And besides, he didn’t mind his job, in-fact, he really liked it.

                “Thank you hyung!” A little boy had just come from school with his mom, easily persuading her to buy him a bag of gummy bears.

                His elbows leaned on the candy cane red countertop as he gave a little wave good bye. “Come again!”

                He found it really fulfilling watching the mere act of sugar brightening people’s faces. It was such an easy remedy. He loved it when little kids had their mouths full of candy and they were far too excited to stop. It was especially adorable when their eyes lit up at the mere sight of it, it was absolutely adorable.

                Jeongmin tightened his black vest over his plain white button-down, revealing his slim waist. At that moment, two girls entered the store. He easily recognized the uniform and faces—Lee Kyung Mi and Lee Hae Ra. He recognized Hae Ra from his class, and Kyung Mi was her younger sister. His ears perked with interest when he noticed the muffled sobs escaping from Hae Ra.  

                “Yah, shut up already.” Kyung Mi reprimanded, dragging her sister by the arm. Jeongmin stifled a chuckle, it was cute watching the dongseang act so mature to her unnie.  Her eyes finally lifted to face Jeongmin, a sympathetic smile on her face. “Can I please have anything that will make her quiet?”

                He clicked his tongue together, gave one nod, and drifted under the counter, opening up the mini-freezer. Heartbreak? He had just the remedy. He placed a pint of double-fudge ice cream on the counter, a little bit of ice crystals falling off the container. “Is this okay?”

                “Perfect.” Kyung Mi smiled, giving him the money and handing the confection to her sister, who snatched it hungrily from her hands. “Thank you, sunbaenim!” she said, following Hae Ra to a table by the window.

                It was already five o’clock and the Lee siblings were still there, not that he minded. I mean, not many costumers came by after them, considering they might’ve been afraid of Hae Ra, since she pretty much looked like a hot mess. She had stopped crying, but was speaking a mile a minute.

                “Guys are s, Kyung Mi-ah.” She said, full of the third tub of ice cream. “Don’t ever date, promise me that.”

                Her sister avoided her wishes, her eyes glued to her math book. “Hyunseong-oppa isn’t a bad guy.”

                “Don’t you dare call that bastard your oppa!” Hae Ra snapped, pointing her spoon at her face. “Shim Hyunseong deserves to die!”

                “If Hyunseong-oppa wants to change schools to pursue a singing career then so be it.” The calm voice of Kyung Mi did nothing to soothe her sister.

                “Hyunseong’s singing sounds like crap!”

                “Now you’re just making up stuff.” Kyung Mi gave up, shaking her head. She pressed a random button on her phone, checking the time. “We have to be home soon. Why don’t you go to the bathroom and freshen up?”

                Her older sister didn’t answer, but nevertheless got up and walked to the restroom.

                Kyung Mi quickly started packing her bags, and then putting away her sister’s. Jeongmin was pretending not to overhear them, and was currently refilling candy jars.

                “Thanks for putting up with my sister today.” Walking up, she put a wad of bills on the counter. “This is for the extra two cartons my sister got.”

                “No problem, glad to help.” He flashed a smile, putting the money in the register. “So I’ll see you at school?”

                She shrugged. “If we pass each other in the halls, maybe. Otherwise you should make sure my sister doesn’t act up in class.” She half-joked.

                The next day, Jeongmin was busy wiping up the little tables when Kyung Mi walked inside, surprisingly by herself. She had her backpack slung over her shoulder, which was overflowing with books.

                “Where’s your sister?” He asked, throwing the cleaning rag over his shoulder.

                Kyung Mi gave a little grin, almost in satisfaction. “Unnie’s making the house too loud to study. The library’s closed, and if you don’t mind…?”

                Being the gentlemen he was, Jeongmin pulled out a chair and gave an exaggerated hand gesture. “Stay here as long as you’d like.”

                When Jeongmin wasn’t busy ringing up costumers, he stole glances at Kyung Mi. Aside from looking very hardworking when it came to school, she was really pretty. He’ll never understand why everyone thought Hae Ra was the better-looking sibling. He shouldn’t be comparing girls, but Hae Ra just looked like the result of hard work and Kyung Mi was just naturally blessed. Her dark black hair fell for miles in a silky waterfall. Her posture was on-point perfect, and it just accentuated her nice figure.

                He found it extremely adorable when she found her pouting at the worksheet in front of her, and furiously clicking the calculator buttons that just didn’t seem to match up. Well, as the responsible sunbae, he should help his hoobae with her homework, right? But he couldn’t come empty handed. He picked out some chocolate-covered strawberries from the fridge and held a bag behind his back, walking up to her.

                “Is something wrong, sunbaenim?” she asked, looking eager to take a little break.

                He pulled out a chair and sat across from her. “Having math trouble?” he asked, pointing to her blank, un-answered papers.

                “You could say that.” She said, blushing a bit. “I’ve been having a rough time. I failed my last math test.”

                “Well, maybe I could sweeten up your day.” He revealed his little treat, placing the strawberries in the middle of the table.

                Her face immediately brightened up as she reached for one, popping it in . “Thank you, sunbaenim! How much is it?”

                “On the house.” Just the fact that he made her smile was satisfaction enough. “Now, why don’t you let me help you with that? I’m pretty good at this stuff.”

```

                Jeongmin had his tongue stick out from the corner as he painstakingly drew chocolate letters on the plate, the chocolate pen almost running out. But he managed to get the last letter in. He threw his hands up in the air in success, the hard part finally over with.

                His favorite part was the strawberries. He picked them himself, and made sure that they were all equal in size. Then he put them around the chocolate letters, forming a heart.

                “Jeongmin-oppa!” Right on time.

                He placed a silver cover over the dessert plate, covering it nicely. Kyung Mi jogged inside the candy shop, clutching a piece of paper in her hand, and her bag full of textbooks in the other. Even though school was ending she still had a lot of books with her.  She was nearly out of breath, hugging her knees. Even when she was tired and sweaty, she still looked cute.

                She let the air-conditioned room cool her down as she managed to speak. “I came to find you in your classroom! But after I went Minwoo and the twins told me you left extra early!”

                Frowning, Jeongmin went over and fished out his handkerchief, lightly patting her forehead. “I’m sorry Kyungie~” he cooed. “If I had known you were looking for me I would’ve waited.”

                Kyung Mi nodded, waving the little problem off. “Anyways.” She lifted up a slightly wrinkled paper to Jeongmin’s face. “Do you see my final exam results!? Look at my math portion!”

                A grin easily spread to Jeongmin’s face as he took a better look at the exam paper. “You got a perfect on it!” he said, throwing his arms around her. “Congratulations!”

                “It’s because you helped me study for it!” Kyung Mi replied, her cheek pressing into Jeongmin’s working vest. “You’re the best, Jeongmin-oppa!”

                Once they pulled away, Jeongmin walked back behind the counter, cleaning up the little leaf bits from the strawberries he had cut beforehand. “So how’s Hae Ra?” he asked, starting up some casual conversation.

                She hopped on the barstool, spinning around. “She’s found a new boyfriend. He’s a singer too. Kim Donghyun.”

                “Oh really? Hyung’s a good friend of mine; I didn’t know she was into older men.”

                “Neither did I. If this Donghyun guy’s a friend of you, I guess he’s a nice guy.” They sat in silence for a few moments, until Kyung Mi noticed the gleaming silver cover on the counter. “What’s that?” she asked.

                Jeongmin was waiting for this. He took a deep breath, and pulled the cover open.

                Kyung Mi’s hands flew over , trying not to gasp. She slowly read the chocolate lettering, written in perfect script.

                Saranghae Kyung Mi.

                He carefully grabbed her wrists, bringing her hands down to her sides. Then he grabbed a bright red strawberry, and pressed it to her lips, letting himself feed her. This could silence her long enough. “I promise you, Kyung Mi-ah.” He said, his voice like honey. “That I’ll make everyday sweeter than the next.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kay guys. I want you to look at me and tell me you can't picture Jeongmin as a PERFECT candyman/barista/etc.

C'mon. I just had to do this.

-Shameless advertising time!

Please read my current story, Absolute Boyfriend if you like Jeongmin!

Please read another co-authored fanfic with the awesome Rifa, Words that Are Hard to Say, if you like Jeongmin as well!

Absolute Boyfriend

Words That Are Hard To Say

Comment and stuff! Hehe~

~Camille