Before Luhan knew it, he’d been at the shop for a month. Dealing with customers had become easier, although it was still hard for him to force politeness when it came to the rude old women who changed their minds every three seconds. But that wasn’t really what was on his mind.

               He still hadn’t seen Minseok since accidently witnessing him and who Luhan guessed was his boyfriend on the street, and he hadn’t spoken him since the day in the shop two weeks before that.

               Since that day on the street, he hadn’t made any progress with refining his gift either, and figured that even though he was practicing more than ever, he must be doing something wrong, because it wasn’t working like it should.

               He was frustrated, and when Luhan got frustrated, nothing good could come of it.

               Luhan was minding the shop one day, trying to read a book, but his bad mood was getting in the way. He looked up when he heard the door jingle, thanking whoever it was for coming in and allowing him to distract himself from his unhappiness.

               The boy looked really familiar, and Luhan knew he’d seen him somewhere, but he couldn’t place where that somewhere was.

               “Welcome to Galata Dumpling Shop,” he said, scrutinizing the boy’s face, knowing he’d seen him somewhere before. “How may I help you today?”

               “I need six pot stickers, please,” the boy said, smiling widely at Luhan.

               “Of course,” Luhan said, still feeling that the boy was extremely, extremely familiar. He packaged the six pot stickers, and then he realized who he was. He turned quickly to the boy. “You’re Minseok’s friend, right? J…Joo…”

               “Joonmyeon. I’m surprised you remember!” Joonmyeon replied, nodding with a smile.

               “Yeah,” Luhan replied. “That first meeting was a little hard to forget.”

               “It’s been a while, though,” Joonmyeon said. “What, a month?”

               “About that,” Luhan nodded.

               “I haven’t been here since then,” Joonmyeon said. “I don’t think any of us has.”

               “Minseok has,” Luhan said. Joonmyeon looked interested, and it made Luhan nervous. “Just…he bothered me so much that I noticed when he came in, that’s all.”

               “I guess you bested our Minseokie, though,” Joonmyeon mused, and Luhan’s eyes widened.

               “What?” he asked, still holding the package of pot stickers in his hand. Joonmyeon eyed it awkwardly, but didn’t reach for it.

               “Well, I was surprised to hear he’d given up trying to be friends with you. You must have been really stubborn.”

               “I mean…” Luhan began, but he really didn’t have anything to say. He had been stubborn, perhaps more stubborn than he should have been, but he didn’t want to make it seem like he missed Minseok.

               Because he really didn’t miss him. Really.

               “I’m always like that,” Luhan shrugged. Joonmyeon smiled at him still.

               “He’s doing well,” Joonmyeon told him.

               “I…I didn’t ask,” Luhan stuttered.

               “Your eyes did,” Joonmyeon replied. Luhan frowned. Was everyone in Acelan able to read his emotions so easily? Or was it just the people fate had forced him to meet? He bit his lip as he looked away from Joonmyeon.

               Joonmyeon cleared his throat, and Luhan looked up again, realizing he’d been daydreaming for quite a long time.

               “Anyway, I really need to get going. How much are the pot stickers?” Joonmyeon asked.

               “Oh, right, they’re six ninety nine,” Luhan said, handing him the pot stickers and collecting his payment. “Thanks for coming.”

               “Thank you,” Joonmyeon replied. He left the store with a wave. Luhan watched him leave as he felt the gears in his brain starting to work against him. He hadn’t really thought about Minseok in a while, but now that he’d started…

               “Dammit!” Luhan yelled, kicking the cabinet next to him. He sat down, head in his hands. “Dammit.”

               “Luhan, what was that?” Hangeng cried, running into the room. “I heard a bang, are you okay?”

               “What do you know about Minseok?” Luhan asked.

               “Who?” Hangeng wondered. “Luhan, are you alright?”

               “Minseok! Minseok! The kid who was stalking me!” Luhan cried. Hangeng looked concerned, tilting his head to the side.

               “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Hangeng said, “maybe you could ask Fei? When your shift is over. I think she’s in the butchering district right now anyway.”

               “I don’t want to go there, so I can wait,” Luhan said. He didn’t know what had just come over him, but it probably wasn’t good.

               While he waited for Fei to get back, he paced.

               He didn’t care about who Minseok was hanging out with. He really didn’t. Minseok could go around town kissing whoever he wanted, wherever he wanted. It didn’t matter to Luhan. He had nothing to do with Minseok anyway. He hadn’t seen him in two weeks. He liked it that way. Minseok wasn’t bothering him anymore. It was a good thing. He didn’t even need to know anything about Minseok because he really didn’t care. It didn’t matter. It really didn’t.

               He bumped into the display case, and he cursed. He didn’t even realize what he was doing, he was that deep in thought.

               “Dammit, Minseok,” Luhan muttered. “He’s messing with my brain.” There had to be something wrong with him, because he really did not think Minseok could get that stuck in his head. There was no way.

               The shop door jingled again, and Luhan looked up. It was Fei, carrying a package of meat in her arms. Luhan pounced.

               “Fei!” he cried. “What do you know about Minseok—ah!”

               He pounced rather clumsily, however, tumbling over the counter and falling. He put out his arm to break the fall, and as he hit the ground, he heard a sickening crunch. For a moment, he thought it was his bones breaking, but he realized as he sat up that it was something much worse.

               “Luhan!” Fei cried, “are you alright?” She dashed over to help him up. He sat up, looking at his wrist.

               “Oh no,” he moaned, “Tao gave me this watch.” He looked at the shattered glass and the dented face. “It was really important.”

               “It’s not really that broken,” Fei said gently. “It can be fixed.”

               “You think so?” Luhan asked.

               “Oh!” Fei said, as if she’d just had an epiphany. “I know of a great watchmaker. He can fix it in no time, and I bet you’ll get a big discount if you drop Galata’s name. Tell them you work here and I’m sure they’ll cut the price of the repair significantly.”

               “Really?” Luhan asked skeptically. “It could cost a lot.”

               “And I’m saying you’ll get a big discount,” she snapped back at him. “They fixed my watch once; I think I’d know.”

                “Fine,” he sighed, because he really did love his watch. “What’s it called and where is it and is it okay if I go now because I seriously want to be able to use this thing as soon as possible.”

                Fei explained where the shop was and how to get there, and she told him to bring them a few dumplings as incentive to cut his price.

                He walked down the street comfortably. The watchmaker’s shop was near Galata in the craft district, so Luhan didn’t have to walk very far. He reached the building Fei had described—brick with bright blue window frames—and looked at the sign next to the door.

                It was called Winter Timekeeper Shop, and Luhan smiled at the sign. He’d always liked winter.

                He opened the door of the shop, still carrying the buns, and everything was suddenly colder inside. Luhan didn’t mind, though, because he sort of liked the refreshing feeling. He looked around, surveying the quaint store. He seemed to be alone in the shop, but it was far from empty. Clocks of all shapes and sizes surrounded the walls; display cases full of watches lined the edges of the room. It wasn’t bright, but not dim, either, and he loved the way everything was made of wood. The shop even smelled rich. In the back of the room was a door, and in front of it was a counter with a sign that read “ring bell for help” in neat, almost cute, handwriting.

                Luhan approached it, ringing the bell. It made a clear sound, and Luhan waited.

                And waited.

                He finally grew tired of standing there and called out. “Hello?”

                “Coming!” he heard a muffled reply. Luhan nodded and turned back around, examining a particularly complicated-looking clock. It was large, and it looked like it could possibly some sort of cuckoo clock, but instead of cuckoos, it was ballroom dancers that would dance across a circular floor. He smiled at the intricate details when he heard a voice.

                “Luhan? Is that you?” Luhan whipped around, and there was Minseok behind the counter, wearing a magnifying loupe on his head. Minseok looked confused and a bit anxious to see him. “Luhan, what are you doing here?”

                He wanted to kill Fei; that was certain. She’d sent him there on purpose, and he wanted to kill her because she knew he would do something rash if he went.

                He was going to try to be civil. He was going to try not to do anything he’d regret, because god knows that he had done that far too many times before.

                “Luhan? What are you doing here?” Minseok asked again, looking at Luhan curiously. Luhan looked up, looked at his watch, and looked back up again, Minseok staring at him the entire time.

                “My watch is broken,” Luhan explained. He looked down at his hand, which was still holding the package of dumplings. “And I guess I brought dumplings. Fei sent them; it wasn’t my idea,” he added quickly.

                “Thank you,” Minseok said awkwardly. He looked up at Luhan, studying his face for a moment before reaching out his hand. “May I see your watch?”

                Luhan gave it to him, and he knew he shouldn’t have, but he brushed his fingers ever so slightly against Minseok’s in the exchange. He watched Minseok to see how he would react, but Minseok didn’t even so much as bat an eyelid. Luhan wanted a reaction.

                “How did it break?” Minseok asked, examining it closely.

                “Uh,” Luhan started. “Well, I sort of…fell on it.”

                “It’s dented, that’s for sure. And it looks like some pieces on the interior may have been dislodged in the process. But I’ve never seen a watch like this, not even in Diria. It looks almost Yossan, I’d say. Where did you get it?”

                “One of my friends in Astessa gave it to me. He…he has a way with time, let’s say.”

                “It’s definitely interesting, to say the least. I think I can fix it pretty easily though.”

                “I haven’t seen you in a while,” Luhan said. Minseok nodded, and Luhan still wasn’t getting the kind of reaction he wanted.

                “I thought you didn’t want to see me,” Minseok said calmly, still looking at the watch.

                He wanted a reaction.

                “How’s your boyfriend?” he asked, and Minseok nearly dropped Luhan’s watch.

                “What?” he choked, startled.

                “Your boyfriend. You know, the one who you kiss on the street early in the morning?” Luhan continued. Minseok frowned.

                “Sir Henry isn’t my boyfriend,” Minseok mumbled, turning away from Luhan, looking fixedly at the watch.

                “Sir Henry?” Luhan asked.

                “He’s the Cigonese Junior Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs. And he’s just a close friend.”

                “I didn’t know it was common in Acelan for close friends to kiss in the street,” Luhan said sharply, and Minseok heaved a deep sigh.

                “I really don’t know how you know about that, but it happened only once and it was a complicated matter, so please drop it.”

                “Well, you’re really—”

                “I can fix your watch for fifty-five fifty,” Minseok interrupted, his eyes meeting Luhan’s with pain and pleading written in his eyes.

                “He’s really not your boyfriend?” Luhan asked quietly, with a soft tone of voice that he didn’t know he was capable of producing. Minseok’s eyebrows knitted, seemingly deciding whether to answer Luhan’s question or continue on with business as if he hadn’t heard him.

                “He really isn’t,” he finally answered, avoiding eye contact with Luhan. “Um, anyway, it will only take about a day to fix your watch.”

                “Okay,” Luhan replied. “So, when it’s done…”

                “You come pick it up,” Minseok explained.

                “Can I pick you up too?” Luhan asked, the words spewing out of his mouth before he could keep himself from letting such an embarrassing cliché leave his lips. He was sure at that point that his mouth was trying to sabotage him by saying things without permission from his brain.

                “Wait, what?” Minseok sputtered, once again nearly dropping the watch. He caught it before it could hit the counter, and then he looked back up at Luhan frantically. “What? I think I misheard you.”

                “Nothing,” Luhan muttered. “I’ll be back for the watch tomorrow. Thanks, Minseok.” He turned around quickly, racing for the door. He had his hand on the doorknob when Minseok spoke again.

                “Pick us up at five thirty,” he called. Luhan turned around to look at him, and the smile was back on Minseok’s face.

                Luhan hadn’t really realized how much he’d missed that smile until that moment.

A/N: Whooo about time hahaha. I feel like I'll probably just finish this story before the end of the month. There's honestly not that much left to go...I'm guessing maybe five-ish more chapters, and I can finish a chapter every two to three days so...you do the math. And then if you've read Simple, the sequel will be my work for December (if finals don't get in the way, that is), so look forward to that!