In A Name

Waking up Friday morning Nayeon was depressed to see that the red mark on her was still there and that is wasn't a horrible dream she had. As she got ready for the day she choose a shirt that covered the mark, a blue three-quarter sleeved v-neck tee that was light enough for the warming spring weather that would soon be summer. With a pair of lace trimmed denim shorts and brown ankle boots Nayeon made her way to the boutique to open the store for the day.

It was the same old same old as the usual customers stormed in when the boutique's front doors were opened. Nayeon was swamped with questions and ringing people up for nearly four hours straight until the pre-lunch break brought the lull in customers around eleven o'clock. She was catching up on online orders when the front door opened with a swoosh, and Nayeon greeted the new arrival without looking up from the work she was immersed in.

“Nayeon!” Jongdae's voice filled the quiet shop. Snapping her head up startled, the girl saw her neighbor rushing towards her with his phone in hand and his shoulder bag slung across his chest. She didn't have to glance around to know that the two old women in the store found his arrival rude and the trio of girls checking out the hair clips were leaning around the aisle to get a better look at her rather handsome friend. “Have you heard?” he eagerly inquired as he reached the front counter.

“Heard what?” she asked bemused. Jongdae was far too wound up after attending his morning classes, he normally was sluggish and grumpy when he dropped by the visit Nayeon before heading off to musical practice.

“Oh my god,” he exclaimed dramatically. He tapped at his phone for a moment before showing her the screen. “There was a freak meteor shower last night. Apparently we missed it by half an hour,” he whined like a spoiled child. Nayeon poked the screen to scroll through the article he had pulled up as he went on with a childish pout on his face. “Scientists can't really explain it, but the romantic airheads of the world are saying it's the first sign in a trilogy that will dictate the destined couple.” He air quoted with his free hand and made a face as he said the last two words.

Scanning the words of the article she saw that what Jongdae was mocking was true. Glancing over at her friend he retrieved his phone and began fiddling with it as he grumbled under his breath to himself.

“Destined couple?” Nayeon asked with an arched brow.

“Sounds stupid right?” he chuckled dryly. “Yeah, apparently there's an internet legend or something about the three signs of love which I guess starts with raining stars,” he explained already bored of the fantasy talk.

“So why did you come running in like you saw Lee Jungsuk on the street?” Nayeon questioned as she returned to organizing the online orders.

“Because we missed out on the meteor shower!” he whined lowering his phone. “Do you know how cool those are?”

“Jongdae,” she said calmly. She turned her head slightly away from the computer to look at him and he was staring back clearly listening to her. “We live in a city. We wouldn't have been able to see it anyway,” she stated.

“Yeah b–,” he cut himself off as he the understanding dawned on him. His entire stance deflated as he huffed out in frustration. “Stupid city,” he murmured.

Nayeon smiled at her friend's cute reaction as he slumped against the counter like a lost puppy muttering away about light pollution and how dumb cities are. She lightly patted his head in an act of sympathy as she returned to work with her free hand. After twenty minutes of wallowing and complaining Jongdae gathered himself, put a smile on his face and took off to the local theater for his musical practice while Nayeon continued on with the shop. Her brother's fiancee and soulmate dropped by to bring Nayeon lunch, which was just one of the reasons why Nayeon liked Saerom more than her own brother, Baekhyun, who said running a store was easy compared to being a lawyer.

On most days Saerom would drop by to help out Nayeon at the boutique since the girl loved fashion and during one of her first visits was how she managed to find her soulmate which was helped from the Byun mother who noticed Saerom's mark and insisted the young girl meet her son. The rest was history and Nayeon was grateful that at least someone in her family (soon-to-be family) was considerate of her and would help out with the store. Nayeon's father was doing fine after recovering from his heart attack, though it forced him into retirement, her mother was still babying him like he was forever broken and refused to help out at the boutique, which probably had more to do with the fact that the middle aged woman hated the store and always wanted to be a stay-at-home wife instead of a clerk at a store. Well she was now living her dream taking care of her husband while her eldest was making his name known as a lawyer.

Saerom stuck around until around closing which she helped close the blinds and flip the sign before taking off herself because she had a date with Baekhyun. Nayeon waved her off with a smile before she took care of closing and locking down the place. It wasn't until Nayeon was home doing her usual skincare routine that she remembered the mark on her that peeked out from under her sleeve. She tried to scrub it away with her cleanser, but all it did was leave her skin clean and clear to show off the mark even more. Nayeon groaned and gave up.

It'll go away, she lied to herself. It's nothing important.

Saturday was once again the same. The same storm of customers when the doors opened, the same weekend regulars chit-chatting about the store, the same lull just before lunch. It was so utterly routine that when the front door opened Nayeon merely muttered a faint greeting as she wiped down the glass and brass showcase while reading through purchase logs to make sure numbers balanced and inventory lined up with receipts.

From nearby she heard a throat be cleared and a pair of feet shuffle. Glancing up from the binder clipped stack of papers Nayeon saw a man staring at her with a strangely blank expression that only lasted a moment before he scanned her from head to toe then a smile curved his mouth. Nayeon's right hand slowly stopped the circles it was wiping on the case as she sat the purchase log next to a small display mirror.

“Is this a bad time?” the man inquired. He sounded nice enough, but the way he stood, like he was ready to book it at any moment yet stiff, made Nayeon cautious.

“No, how can I help you?” she replied.

“I'm here drop off the pendant,” he began and Nayeon immediately caught up.

“Ah, for Mr. Shen. Yes! This way, so I can put it in my lock box,” she smiled widely. She gestured for the man to follow her to a back corner of the boutique where the door to the office was, her