(Beta by -dolce-)

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"Oh, both of you are here." A man in his 60s greeted them. He’s Mr. Shin, Shindong’s father and owner of the bookstore and cafe.

"Hello, Ahjusshi!" They bowed.

"I thought both of you will stop working before your final exam?" He asked in the middle of cleaning his precious piano.

"Yes, I’ll stop working tomorrow, Ahjusshi. I’ll concentrate on my exam." Answered Mireu before she disappeared to the kitchen. The old man just nodded and averted his gaze to Heechul who's cleaning the book shelves.

"How about you, Heechul?"

Heechul stopped for a moment to answered his question "I think I’ll still work until I graduate from high school, Ahjusshi, I need a lot of money to enter university." She went back to cleaning the shelves and her stare lingered to one particular book in the display window.

The old man realized that Heechul’s attention was distracted again by one book when she didn't seem to hear him. "Why do you insist on putting the book on display if you want to buy it? I can keep the that book for you until you can buy it." He said him as he dusted the cover.

Heechul shook her head. "No, Ahjusshi. That book is too precious if you only keep it on the shelves. Besides, Shindong-oppa said we still have five books like this so maybe someday I can buy that book."

"If you say so. Just tell me when you have enough to buy this book, okay?"

"Okay."

Shindong emerged from the kitchen and approached Heechul. He handed her a piece of paper.

"We ran our of flour, sugar, strawberry, and..uhh.. I forgot the rest. Can you go to grocery store and buy it? I’m still busy preparing cheese cake with Mireu."

"Sure."

"Thanks."

Heechul was actually not working at the bookstore, she's working for the café but the café had a little bookstore inside. The owner sold old and rare books and Heechul fell in love with one of the books on the display window. The price maybe too high for her to afford and her salary was not that much but if Kim Heechul wants something, she'll get it. And nothing can stop her except of course if she realize that it's impossible for her to have it.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Siwon sitting at one of the tables, sipping his coffee quietly while reading a book that they have on the cafe entrance. She rushed to the cafe kitchen and shoved the grocery bag to Shindong's arm before dragging Mireu to a corner.

"What the hell is he doing here?" She asked in annoyance.

"Who?"

Heechul rolled her eyes and folded her arms in front of her chest. "School president."

Mireu’s eyes lit up, "He’s here?"

"You didn’t know he’s out there? What were you doing that you didn't even realize that he's here?"

Mireu pursed her lips. "Well, since the café's almost empty, Shindong-oppa had me clean the kitchen and pack the breads. He's the one serving the customers."

Suddenly, Shindong appeared behind them and butted in their conversation. "Heechul, can you watch the register? I will go out for a while. Mireu, don’t forget the cake." When of the girls nodded, he headed out of the cafe.

Heechul peeked from the kitchen entrance and sighed in relief when she saw no one inside the café. She walked to the register and she sat down, she caught sight of Siwon talking to Shindong's father.

He was talking and laughing. His laughter was deep and low and he looked like he was enjoying the conversation. His strict and cold appearance was nowhere to be found and Heechul thought of how many personalities this person actually has. She saw Siwon pointing to a book on the display window and Mr. Shin unlocked it and took the book out.

"Oh, no. Oh, no!" Heechul gasped. She stood up and crept to the left side of the cafe where the entrance to the bookstore was. She prayed to the Almighty that Siwon only wanted to see the book and didn't have any plans to buy it.

"It’s a nice book Mr. Shin but why is it still on display? No one's interested to buy it?"

"Well, actually, one of my employee plans to buy this book as soon as she has saved enough. I offered to keep this book but she wants it to stay on display and said maybe no one will be interested to buy it and apparently, she’s right. You’re first person beside her to ask about this book."

"Hmm, yes. This book is quite expensive and people now prefer reading e-books but I think it’s worth to spend money for a book like this. I want to buy it Mr. Shin, if you still have other copies."

Heechul suddenly blurted out, "No, don’t buy it!" Mr. Shin and Siwon were both startled of her sudden appearance.

"Why, this book is for sale, no?" Said Siwon coldly and inside her heart she wondered again on Siwon’s real personality.

"Uh, yes, but I plan to buy that book next week."

"But I want to buy this book now." Siwon stared right into Heechul’s eyes as if he's challenging her.

Heechul gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, she definitely won’t let her oh-so-called school president defeat her.

"I’m the first person who wanted to buy this book and I will buy it."

"Okay, kid. Enough," Mr. Shin butted in when he saw that black clouds with thunder and lightning started forming above Siwon and Heechul’s head and they looked like they're ready to strangle each other's neck until one of them dies.

"Heechul, you told me earlier that we still have five book like this so I thought it’s okay if this young man wants to buy this book."

"Y-yes, but.." Heechul glanced at Siwon and she swore she saw a faint smug smile forming on his lips. "Aish.."

"So, Heechul?" Mr. Shin asked her opinion and she reluctantly nodded her head, "Okay. I’m sorry, Ahjusshi." She stared at the book on Siwon hands for the last time before heading back to the cash register. "I bet you didn’t really like that book, Choi. You only want to show off your wealth in front of me."

"Here's your book." Mr. Shin smiled and handed him the book after he paid for it. He said goodbye and when he passed the cashier counter where Heechul was, he remembered that he hasn’t paid for his coffee.

"I want to pay for my coffee."

Heechul look up from the black book that she was reading and stood up. "It’s 3000 won. Anything else?" Heechul asked, looking at Siwon’s face.

"Nope." He answered shortly and handed her the money. But before Heechul can take the money, Siwon’s infamous tight grip was again on Heechul’s wrist. "I’ll call you tomorrow. You better don’t come late to school."

"You don’t have my phone number." Heechul smirked and she mentally shouted in victory when Siwon’s cold face turned into a slight frown.

"Right, but now I will get your number." Siwon’s free hand snatched Heechul’s mobile phone from her apron pocket and typed his own number before dialing it.

"Yah! Give my phone back!" She shrieked but Siwon just ignored her and after his phone vibrated as a sign of an incoming call, he turned her phone off and placed it beside the cash register.

"Now, I got your number. See you tomorrow Kim Heechul." He released his grip and walked away.

"Bastard!" Heechul cursed and heard him say, "Language, Kim Heechul!" without looking at her and headed out of the cafe.

Heechul pouted and sat with bad mood all day long.

---

Siwon took out his phone and saw a new missed call from Heechul's number. He saved the number in his contact list labeled it ‘Rude Girl’ as Heechul's contact name. He looked up to the plank where the name of the bookstore and the cafe was written and saved its phone number too. He thought for awhile and decided to call the bookstore.

"Hello, this is Paper and Pie bookstore and café? Ah, yes, I want to ask about a particular book..."

-TBC-