Luhan steps into the bubble milk tea shop. He loves bubble milk tea and already sees himself working here alongside Minseok. They would be smiling adorablely at their customers and hauling in many more with their angelic looks. Then at the end of the day, they would wipe their brows and sigh contently as they close up the store and walk home hand in hand with bobba tea in their hands. Okay not the hand in hand part. But he does want his free bobba.

The store has a bit of a crowd and to be polite Luhan decides to wait in line before getting to the counter to ask for the manager or Minseok. And once he gets the job he would walk away with a tea as a job-find-well-done reward and he’d chill for the rest of the weekend. Luhan is still fantasizing about his wonderful future when the door swings open behind him and he hears a vaguely familiar voice mutter,

  “Oh, it’s you.”

Luhan spins around to find a tall, thin boy with silvery blond hair and a bored expression.

  “Oh… fancy seeing you here, what was it.. Sehun?”

  “And I can’t say the same to you, what-was-it-Luhan,” Sehun sort of mimics Luhan’s tone with the last part of his sentence.

  “Prick.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Ahem. What are you doing here?”

  “Getting bubble milk tea. Obviously, unless you’re up to something weird like last time.”

Luhan cringes at the memory.  They were at a different tea shop earlier during school year and they were actually hitting it off pretty well with each other. They exchanged numbers and Luhan was pretty sure that by the end of their meeting they would have made plans to meet up again. But before that could happen, to Luhan’s embarrassment, a shopkeeper of a small boutique he was in earlier came barreling into the shop screaming “THIEF” and pointing at none other than Luhan. Luhan had no choice but to empty out his pockets, hand back the goods he had taken (he still doesn’t remember what) and apologize profusely to the upset shopkeeper. Needless to say, things between Sehun and Luhan became pretty awkward. But Luhan thinks they were never meant to be and isn’t really sure how he managed to fall so easily for such a jerk of a freshman like Sehun in the first place

  “In my defense, I was actually getting a bubble milk tea then.” Luhan sniffs.

Sehun rolls his eyes,

  “Uh huh. Sure. You have issues man.”

Luhan turns to face the front of the line,

  “You know what? Why don’t you go on over to that nice coffee shop on the other end of the mall and leave me in peace. I was here first.”

  “Really? How old are you. I’m sorry but I like my bobba tea and I shall not be breaking my tradition of getting my daily afternoon dosage because of someone the likes of you.”

To this Luhan turns back around sharply,

  “Excuse me? The likes of me? You had a crush on me!”

  “Did not.”

  “Did too!!”

  “Did not.”

  “You kept my number and texted me one night saying that you’d my brains out and the put them back in to see if that would fix me!!!”

Sehun shrugs,

  “I was drunk.”

  “Drunk talk reflects your true feelings!!”

  “Well in that case, that was a fancy way of expressing: ‘You have issues man’. And seriously stop yelling.”

  “Baozi!!! Save meee!” Luhan finally reaches the front of the line and tugs on Minseok’s hand in a pleading manner.

  “Eh, what are you doing here Luhan?”

  “I’m getting a job.”

  “Really? That’s good.”

  “Yup I’m working here!”

  “Oh no. With me as a regular costumer?”, Sehun sarcastically feigns shock.

  “Yes! It’s my part of grand scheme of poisoning you with your own order of bobba.”

  “Vic! Can this crack head working here?” Minseok had stuck his head into the back kitchen of the bobba shop.

  “No. I don’t think we’re hiring,” comes a faint voice.

  “Wow. That was the most suspenseful moment of my life. I am glad I know I can continue to safely drink my tea.” Sehun deadpans.

  “You’re not going to be working here.” Minseok turns back to Luhan.

  “WELL! I meant my last sentence as in I just want to work here.” Luhan tries to save the last of his deteriorating pride.

  “Oh okay. You can want all you want. Haha, want, want.” It's Minseok's turn to shrug.

  “Ha, bloody, ha.” Luhan snorts.

  “What’s with the sudden British accent?” Sehun notes.

  “It is sophisticated and will land me a job. TODAY! Wait and see!”

  “He had issues doesn’t he?” Minseok sighs to Sehun.

----

The bubble milk tea shop was actually situated in a large indoor mall that Luhan usually avoided for obvious reasons. However today, he decides to brave walking into various stores just to get a job and rub into Minseok’s and Sehun’s faces.

He stops at one of the closest stores near the bubble milk tea shop and sees a now hiring sign. *Well this is fast, now to charming the owner to hire me.* Completely disregarding the store name or what it sells, he walks in.

  “Hello! Welcome to Kim’s Krafts! Were you looking for an application or to speak to the manager? I saw you looking at the hiring sign just outside.” A warm looking girl in a brown crafts apron approaches him.

  “Uh…” *oh*

A crafts supply store. Full of little trinkets, beads, lace, glue, glitter and everything random and insignificant that he may just accidentally take home.

  “Sir?” The sunny girl – whose name tag reads ‘Luna’ tilts her head in confusion at Luhan’s sudden silence and probably his panicked expression.

  “Nooope.” Luhan quickly turns his heels to rush out the door but slams into.. well, a person with a well-muscled physique. Luhan falls on his and even skids a bit because of the force of the impact. He picks himself up and looks up at the other boy who seems like he is also trying to regain balance from the hit. And well… all Luhan has running though his head is *Nooope*.

Luhan is legitly wondering if the boy is one of those Abrocombie mannequins just come to life and decided to walk into a random crafts store. The blond hair partly covered with a beanie and the stylish clothing is not helping. Luhan shuts his gaping mouth.

  “Jongin! Watch where you’re going you sleepy head! And you’re late!”

  “Sorry,” and the boy looks over to Luhan with dark piercing eyes, “Uh.. are you okay?”

Okay, maybe they were not piercing, just a bit drowsy. Either way Luhan finds them very attractive and the boy Jongin’s low and captivating voice is really, really not helping the situation and he knows he has to get himself out of the store before his face gets any redder.

Quite sadly the only think he apparently is capable of saying in this moment is,

  “Nooope.”

And with that Luhan bolts out the door feeling extremely dumb and inarticulate.

----

 Luhan weaves in and out of restaurants, a soap and scent store, numerous clothing stores, a kitchenware store and a hipster accessory store for the next hour or so. He rakes up and down and around the whole mall and he is still left with the crafts supply store as the only place hiring and Luhan is really wondering why he’s even in a mall looking for a job in retail when obviously it’s a death trap for himself.

He sits down on a bench completely pooped and stuffs his hands in he’s pockets. So much for chilling this weekend. Luhan frowns at what he finds in his pockets and fishes out a smooth bar of soap from one of them and a fork from the other. He promptly tosses them into a nearby potted plant in disgust and looks up to realize he is also sitting on a bench in front of Kim’s Krafts.

From the window he can see the girl Luna still there as well as Jongin who now also wearing a brown apron. *So he works there too* Luhan isn’t sure if it’s the apron or the way Jongin is laughing at some unheard joke, but he seems different. A bit less godly than the creature he bumped into a couple hours ago and Luhan hates to admit it, a bit dorky looking. While Luna throws her head back to laugh, Jongin has his arms curled up on his chest just below his chin like.. chipmunk paws.. and is shaking and giggling – like a maniac yes – but giggling a bit like a school girl. Luna also seems to be doing most of the talking and Jongin most of the laughing and Luhan finds it amusing because it a little like gender reversal. No, no, nope.. Jongin is still oozes with maturity and manliness the second he turns to help customers, which there are many.  And Luhan is still struck dumb by how attractive Jongin is.

The mood in the shop is bright and the customers cheerfully wander the shop and occasionally ask questions. This would actually be Luhan’s ideal retail shop to work at – except it was a retail shop full of junk that Luhan’s better judgment warns him not to go near besides Yixing’s talk about the “flooding” technique. And if the frowning potted plant that he had just thrown his last unintentional klepto haul into is not enough convince him that working in these kind of shops is a bad idea, then he really doesn’t know what else. Wait. Frowning plant?

Luhan squints at the greenery in the large terra cotta pot beside his bench and sure enough, sees a frowning face amongst the leaves.

  “I saw what you just did,” It hisses.

  “Wah! Jongdae! What the heck?”

Jongdae sheepishly steps out from his squatting position from behind the plant.

  “Uh hi Luhan, what business did you have with that bar of soap and fork?”

  “Uh nothing. That was an accident. What business did you have behind that potted plant?”

  “Uh.. I was sent by two angry glamazons to apologize to you.”

He knocks his head the direction of the milk tea shop and Luhan sees Tao and Baekhyun in their eyeliner glory glaring at Jongdae.

  “So uh, sorry. I know you liked working in the company, but your klepto problem- ,”

  “It’s okay I guess.. It was kind of the slap of reality I needed.”

  “Oh okay.. It’s just I really do feel guilty. My roommate said you showed up at his last week’s Klepto Anon meeting.”

  “What? Yixing’s you’re roommate?”

  “No Chanyeol,” Chen then visibly winces as if a wave of unpleasant memories were linked to his relation with Chanyeol.

  “Then heck man, you having a roommate like him should have made you a bit more understanding of my problem maybe?”

  “Well put it in my perspective. If I have to live with a klepto already, why would I want to work with another one too?”

  “As far as I’m concerned, most kleptos don’t steal stuff around their home or from people they’re in close contact with. He shouldn't bother you because Kleptos usually just pick up rubbish.”

  “Well then Chanyeol is an extreme case.”

  “Ugh. I guess you’re right. He does seem like a nervous wreck.”

  “He is. Haha…”

  “…”

  “Sooo, what are you doing here?” Chen asks while awkwardly looking at his shoes.

  “Looking for a job.”

  “K-pffftt haaha, no, sorry, haha- ,” Jongdae looks up tries to hold back his laughter before giving up completely and pointing at Luhan and sputtering between laughs, “You? HAHAha! Working, he- here??!”

  “Yeah,” Luhan feels annoyed and his poker face doesn’t seem to help Jongdae stop his laughing spasms.

  “Ha! Good luck with that! By all means go for it!”

  “Thank you. I think I will!” Luhan jumps up from the bench and stalks towards Kim’s Krafts.

  “What.. wait! No I was just- ,”

*Kidding? Joking?* This was no more a joking matter. It has never been a joke. It was his life. His encounter with Sehun and Jongdae today made him want to prove to the world that he was capable of holding a normal job like a normal person. And heck, maybe the stoner Yixing’s flooding method might just get him fixed faster.
Yes. He could already see himself walking back to Kibum and getting not just his intern back, but a promotion to an actual job while all his colleagues would wonder if he even had a problem in the first place.

---

Luhan walks into Kim Krafts. And his fighting spirit from his moment outside the store is immediately killed by the very sudden and heavy atmosphere. He looks around. All the customers are gone and despite the bright florescent lights, it feels like someone has just died or something. *Oh okay. Wow. Where is that Luna girl.*

  “Um. Hello?” Luhan meekly calls out as he looks down a few empty aisles before spotting a pleasant looking boy in a worker’s brown apron.

  “Hello there! Are you looking for some help?”

The name tag reads: Joonmyun.

  “Um, I’d like to speak to the manager about maybe getting a job here.”

  “Oh okay.”

Luhan expects Joonmyun to walk the back of the store and find the manager but instead his sort of spins around in a little circle in front of Luhan before turning to look back at Luhan with a pleasant smile.

  “Tada! You wanted to speak to me?”

  “Wait. What..?”

Joonmyun points to his name tag that now reads: Joonmyun, Manager.

  “Um ookay. Say if I wanted to speak to the owner would you spin around in a circle and get another name tag?” Luhan is just kidding and doesn’t expect Joonmyun to actually respond with,

  “Oh no. As the owner I would just take these off,” Joonmyun pulls off his nametag and his apron, “Hello.”

  “Um. Are you serious?”

  “Yes. I own this place and actually plan on expanding it into a chain soon.”

  “But you look so..”

  “Young? Why thank you! And yes I guess I am for a store owner. I finished college earlier a bit and I borrowed some money from my parents and opened a store. Now I guess I’m just living it.”

Luhan would be by now in a ‘OTL’ position with all the people he knows that put him to shame. Holding on to any last shred of dignity, he looks at the apron and name tag now lying on the cashier counter.

  “But why the weird um…” he gestures to the pile on the counter.

  “Because he’s allergic to responsibly. And hey again.”

A very tired looking Jongin saunters over and yawns. *Oh right, I forget he works here too… damn it.*

  “Jongin what are you doing here? Make yourself useful and help a customer.”

Jongin takes his time to answer has he leans his tall frame against a shelf while talking inventory of Luhan with sleepy eyes.

  “What customers.”

  “Um.. yea. On second thought, this place uh kinda creeps me out. And retail and I have never been quite a match made in heaven.. so I..”

  “Oh! No, no, no, no! Don’t go! It’s just a sort of slow period right now.  I swear! We usually- ,” Joonmyun, still with a plastered smile, is frantically wringing is fingers and reaching out at the slowly retreating Luhan.

  “No… It’s because he… senses it too…” comes a breathy voice.

Luhan jumps about three feet in the air at the sound of a whispery voice from behind him. Jongin looked amused.

  “Oh. Uh. Krystal. Have you finished sorting the new paints?” Joonmyun shifts nervously.

The girl ignores Joonmyun and steps toward Luhan. She could probably rival how tired Jongin looks right now and as freaked out as Luhan is, he can’t look away from her intense and creepy stare.

  “There is a darkness that falls over this shop…”

  “It’s mostly your doing,” Jongin sighs.

  “…have you come to liberate me from it?” Krystal asks softly.

  “I.. uh...”

She looks over Luhan briefly before taking of her apron and handing it to him and almost gliding past him in an eerie way.

  “I believe you have. May you save this store of its curse.”

And with that Krystal slowly makes her way around the many shelves and towards the entrance to the store. Joonmyun and Jongin give a sigh of relief the moment she steps over the threshold into the bustling mall and Luhan could feel the heavy atmosphere lift. Already customers starting hesitantly sticking their heads into the store.

  “Man… I still have no idea why you hired her.”

  “Neither do I, but you can take that ‘Now Hiring’ sign down now Jongin.”

  “Um.. am I..”

  “Hired? Looks like it. We've been looking for a replacement for Krystal for a while. You kind of have no choice now. Well.. I guess you do.. but,” Joonmyun gives Luhan a pleading look, “We’d kind of be short one worker.”

  “I uh..” *Say no Luhan. Say no.*

Jongin casually rips up the ‘Now Hiring’ sign and tosses it remains in a trashcan somewhere behind the cashier register and looks over at Luhan. *Sayy nooo Luhan*

  “Uh.. this exact shift?”

  “We can totally change around the time to fit your student schedule!” Joonmyun offers hopefully.

  “No. You can’t.”

Jongin makes his way back over to the shelf he was leaning on earlier. He looks less tired now but still looks over Luhan with what he supposes normally heavy lidded eyes.

  “Luna, Sulli, Amber and I all are students and had our shifts perfectly lined up to fit our schedules. He has to work Krystal’s shift or one of us will complain.”

Joonmyun’s hopeful smile drops a teeny bit. And all the pressure he is getting from Jongin’s sleepy gaze and Joonmyun’s begging one brings along a familiar antsy feeling. The palms of his hands heat up and he tries his best not to let his eyes dart around the shop nervously. He shoves his hands in his pockets.

  “Excuse me sir. Do you sell double sided tape?” Jongin tears himself away from Luhan and Joonmyun to help a customer.

  “Um..” Luhan deliberates. He only has one class and this shift wouldn’t impede on it.. but, “I’m sorry. I really think I should..”

Joonmyun’s face now looks absolutely devastated.

  “..should..” damn it, “should work here. Yeah I’ll work here.”  Luhan feels like punching himself.

  “Great! You can start today! Let me give you a tour around the-“

  “Hang on! That’s it? No paper work or interview?”

  “Uh.. I’ll eventually get around to the serious stuff, but I like to keep it causal because I hire mostly students. But I trust you. You look like a warm and helpful kind of person.” He pats Luhan on the shoulder.

Everything is moving so fast. Luhan feels his head spinning and the antsy feeling heightening a bit.

  “Uh, Can I request to start tomorrow?”

Joonmyun looks at him with wide eyes.

  “I promise I’ll be back to work tomorrow. I’m not trying to run away or anything.. I um..”

  “No worries!” Joonmyun knocks his head enthusiastically, “I’ll just finish up Krystal’s shift today. Just be here a bit early tomorrow so you can get situated on the job.”

And he waves at Luhan who quickly nods his head in agreement and hurries out the door.

Outside Luhan heaves a breath and his jittery feeling he felt from inside the store starts to ebb away. He claps his hands on the sides of his face.

  “Oh god I got a job in retail. I got a job… I got a job!! But in retail.. oh god.”

----