It was a cool Sunday morning. Sherilyn’s family had just finished having breakfast. After Sherilyn had finished doing her chores in the kitchen, she heard her mother calling for her from the living room. She hurried out of the kitchen.

“Yes, omma?” 

“Come, let’s go to the market.” Her mother said while fixing her hair in front of the huge mirror that was on the wall. 

“Ma…ma…market?” Sherilyn stuttered. 

She disliked going to the market because the market was a noisy, smelly and an uncomfortable place to be.

“Quick, get ready!” her mother said after seeing Sherilyn hadn't moved an inch.

“But where is Key oppa?” Sherilyn asked. Key is Sherilyn’s older brother. Usually he was the one who accompanied their mother to the market.

“Key is going to accompany appa to the workshop.”

“What?” Sherilyn said. “Let me accompany appa! Oppa likes going to the market right?”

“I do like going to the market.” A light-brown haired boy said. He was coming down from upstairs and he had a pink colored sweater on his right hand. He handed it over to his sister, who refused to take her sweater. She didn't want to go to the market.

“What?” Key asked after looking at his sister’s sulking face. “The market is not a bad place to go! That’s where we get to buy food to be cooked! If we don’t go to the market, what can we cook and eat? Do you want to eat ramen every day?”

Key oppa has started nagging. Sherilyn disliked being nagged at, especially by her brother. 

“Fine. I’ll go.” Sherilyn said, snatching her sweater from Key’s hand. “But only for this week. Next week you go.”

“This girl…” Key looked at his sister with a disbelief look.

“Sheryl, what are you doing?” her mother called from outside the house. “Hurry!”

“Yes omma, I’m coming!”


As expected, the market was a smelly place. Sherilyn was not sure if she had a sensitive sense of smell or something but she could smell the fishes from afar. The floor was wet with water as well. Sherilyn was relieved she was wearing a pair of rubber slippers. 

Their first stop was the fish section. The fishy smell became more stronger. She thought it would be rude if she covered her nose with her hand, so she held her breath occasionally. Sherilyn let her mother picked the fishes she needed while she stayed away from the fishes as far as possible. She saw a bucket of catfishes jumping and moving roughly inside a bucket. Water splashed lightly out from the bucket. Sherilyn stepped back more. This was so not her favorite type of place, she thought.

“Here. Hold this.” Her mother said after 15 minutes, handing her a bag of fishes to Sherilyn. Sherilyn took the bag with her left hand. It felt slimy.

“Omma! This bag is slimy!” Sherilyn complained. 

“What do you expect?” Her mother said without looking at her. “Fishes are slimy creatures. Let’s go to the next stop.”

Sherilyn mumbled to herself unhappily and tailed her mother to their next destination. The chicken section.

“Chikin chikin chikin!” said the young chicken seller as he saw Sherilyn and her mother approaching. 

Sherilyn’s cloudy mood enlightened as the chicken boy flashed his smile at her. He was so cute. His face was like a tofu. He should sell tofu, why is he selling chicken?

“One chicken please.” Sherilyn’s mother said. “And please cut it into 16 parts.”

“Okay ahjumma. Please wait for a while. I’ll get it ready for you in a jiffy!” the tofu boy said happily. His smile never left his face and he looked like he enjoys doing his work. 

“Taeminnie, can you please cut this chicken into 16 parts?” the tofu boy said to his partner who was working behind him. 

“Okay Onew hyung.” Taeminnie, a tall red haired boy said, glancing at his hyung behind him. Sherilyn noticed he also has a really nice smile. His face was also cute. Sherilyn made a note to herself that the next time she’s buying a chicken; she’s going to buy here. Wait, this is the first and last time she'll be going to the market! Erase that thought out of your mind, Sherilyn! Aish.. but these boys sure are cute.

“Aish that's not the way to cut the chikins!” Onew’s voice interupted Sherilyn’s thoughts. “You are ruining it!”

“Sorry hyung.” Taeminnie said with an apologetic face. “I’m still not good at doing this.”

“How long are you going to be like this..aishh this boy.” Onew complained. “Never mind. I’ll cut the chikins.” Onew said, taking the knife from Taeminnie’s hand. “You go entertain the customers.”

“Okay hyung. I’m sorry.” Taeminnie said with a shy face. Then, he turned to Sherilyn and her mother.

“Sorry for that ahjumma.” Taeminnie said shyly. 'Aww he's so cute.' Sherilyn thought.

“It’s OK.” Sherilyn's mother said.

“Where is your son? He didn't come today, ahjumma?” friendly Taeminnie started a conversation. He looked at Sherilyn’s mother then at her. 

“Yes, he’s not here today.” Sherilyn’s mother said. “I brought my daughter today.”

“Oh, hello!” Taeminie said to Sherilyn, smiling brightly.

“Hello!” Sherilyn said, smiling back.

“Okay, your chikin is ready, ahjumma.” Onew said and handed a bag of chicken to Taeminnie to be passed to Sherilyn’s mother.

“I’ll take it.” Sherilyn said, taking the bag from Taeminnie’s hand before her mother could. Her mother looked at her curiously. Sherilyn smiled innocently, avoiding her mother’s gaze.

“Thank you! Come again!” Sherilyn heard Onew and Taeminnie said as they were leaving for their last destination. 'Those boys were nice boys. I’m sure going to miss their smile.' Sherilyn thought.

Next stop: The vegetable section.

The vegetables section was not as wet and slimy as the other previous sections that they went to. Sherilyn was happy about this. The vegetable section is now decided as her favorite section in the market. 

Sherilyn’s mother chose to buy vegetables from a stall situated at the most left side of the section. As soon as they arrived at the stall, a very handsome boy around Sherilyn’s age with brown hair and cheeky looking face stood up to greet them. Sherilyn almost dropped both the bags she was holding because she was stunned by the boy’s angelic features. His fine features should qualify him to be a model for men’s clothing or product endorsement or something. Why was he here selling vegetables?

“Hello. Welcome!” the boy said, bowing. Sherilyn and her mother bowed back.

“You are not the usual boy.” Sherilyn’s mother said. The boy smiled and nodded. Oh my goodness, his smile! It was so pretty! 

“Ah, yes. I’m taking over Minho's place for a while.” The boy answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand. Sherilyn wondered why he was acting shy all of a sudden. She was not complaining though. He looked cute being embarrassed.

“I see.” Sherilyn’s mother said. “Well, I’m going to go collect my vegetables now.”

“Ah yes, please carry on.” The boy said.

Sherilyn watched her mother as she went to do her business. Sherilyn just stood where she was in front of the handsome boy with a boundary in the shape of a cashier table between them. She had nothing to do so she just looked around the area. No matter where she looked, she always ended up staring at the boy. He was too gorgeous to not be looked at. The boy was scribbling something that looked like a poem or something in his notebook. While doing that, he was humming to himself. Though his voice was barely audible in the middle of the noisy market, Sherilyn could still hear it. He has a really nice voice! Oh my, why is this boy so perfect?


The boy must have sensed Sherilyn was looking at him so he turned his attention from his book to her. It was too sudden that Sherilyn did not see this coming. Her heart almost dropped when their eyes met. His stare can kill a person! Sherilyn could hear her heart thumping like a drum inside her chest. And then, the boy’s lips formed a smile. A really sweet smile. Okay. Sherilyn’s heart has officially left her body. It melted off. Heart! Come back! Sherilyn was so surprised that she could not return the boy’s smile. Instead, she turned away immediately. She hoped the boy did not see her blushing. It was so embarrassing. 'Omma, where are you? What took you so long? I’m melting here! Help!' Sherilyn thought.

“Omo, why is your face so red?” the boy asked, giggling. Sherilyn heart skipped a beat when she heard the boy talked. He was talking! To her! 

“Ahh.. it’s nothing.” Sherilyn said, touching her cheeks with both her hands. “What are you doing? Is that a poem?”

The boy was surprised that Sherilyn saw what he was doing. He closed his book immediately.

“It’s nothing.” He said, looking embarrassed. 

“I heard you singing just now. Your voice is so good! You should become a singer!” Sherilyn said.

The boy became more shy when Sherilyn mentioned this.

“Ahh you heard? I was singing softly though.” He said, rubbing his head again. “I’m not that good to be a singer.”

“You are good! Really!”

“Omo, why are you saying these things?” the boy said and turned away from Sherilyn. Sherilyn saw his face become redder. “Please stop it. Ah… you should help your omma, she looks like she needs some help.”



****************************************



Ever since that Sunday, Sherilyn has been accompanying her mother to the market every week without hesitation. Everyone in her family was surprised at her sudden change of attitude. Even Sherilyn was surprised at her own action. She used to despise going to the market now she was actually excited to go.

“Hello ahjumma!” the handsome vege-boy greeted as they arrived.

“Hello.” Sherilyn’s mother said.

When Sherilyn’s mother has gone off to her business, the vege-boy turned his attention towards Sherilyn excitedly.

“Hello Sherilyn.” He said, smiling his sweet smile.

“Hello Jonghyun.” Sherilyn said, smiling back. Both of them now know each other’s names.

“You know…I’ve almost finished writing a song. It’s not that good though.” Jonghyun said, smiling awkwardly. His hand was holding his notebook which Sherilyn saw when she first came here.

“Really? Let me hear it!” Sherilyn said, leaning closer to the cashier table where Jonghyun was sitting at.

“Can you hear me in this noisy place?” Jonghyun asked, laughing.

“Of course I can! I heard you singing the first time I came here, remember?”

“Ah… yes…you still remember that?” Jonghyun said shyly. Sherilyn wondered how a guy can be this shy.

“Of course! I said your voice was so good!”

“Aigoo Sherilyn-ah you are praising me too much!”

“I’m not lying!”

“Ahjumma!!” Jonghyun said loudly to Sherilyn ‘s mother. “Please choose your vegetables quickly! Please!”



After meeting for a month at the stall, Sherilyn was able to know a little bit about Jonghyun. He was in his semester break and he had nothing to do at home. So his cousin, Minho, offered him a part time job as a vegetable seller here. He loves singing, but he has never sung in front of anyone before. He was too shy to sing in public. The market became his place to practice his singing. He sang to himself at the market in a low voice, hoping that no one could hear him sing. But Sherilyn’s sharp ears caught him. She was actually the first person that heard him singing. 

“When are you going to sing that song you wrote?” Sherilyn asked one day.”I want to hear it!”

“I’ll sing it soon. To a special someone.” Jonghyun said, smiling.

“Sing it to me first, and then you can sing to that person!”

“Are you that special someone?” Jonghyun asked. Sherilyn froze. Oh. There is no way she's Jonghyun’s special someone. She was only a customer of Jonghyun’s vegetable stall.

“No.” Sherilyn said sadly. Just then something occurred to her. Jonghyun must have a special girlfriend. She knew it wasn’t her business but she just hates thinking about it. Jonghyun is going to serenade his first song to his girlfriend. Lucky girl.

Jonghyun smiled watching Sherilyn’s cloudy face while his hand scribbled something into his note book.


That evening, Sherilyn and her brother was walking at the park after buying some groceries from the nearest convenience store. Sherilyn did not like to walk alone with her oppa because people will always misunderstood them to be lovers.

“Why do you dislike it?’ Key asked while walking. “You should be proud! Isn’t your oppa handsome?”

“You are handsome.” Sherilyn said although she did not want to admit it at first. “But you are my oppa, not my boyfriend!”

“Then what is the problem?”

“Look at those girls staring at me.” Sherilyn said, motioning to a group of girls on their right with her eyes. “They look like they want to eat me!”

“That boy looks like he wants to eat me too.” Key said.

“Huh? Where?”

Key motioned to the boy with his eyes too. Sherilyn turned to where her brother was motioning at. To her surprise, she saw Jonghyun. He was holding a guitar in his right hand and a note book in his left hand. His expression really looked like he wants to eat people. Why was he like that? Sherilyn also realized he was not looking at her but at Key. 

“Who is he? Do you know him?” Key asked. “Omo. Does he like me too? What should I do?”

“Oppa. He is my friend.” Sherilyn said, and she couldn’t help but laughed a bit at her what her brother said. He was so full of himself.

“Oh. He's your friend.” Key said, his voice sounded a little disappointed. 

“Yes. What is he doing here though?” Sherilyn asked. “Oppa, I want to talk him for a second, can you wait for me?”

“Sure.”

Sherilyn gave her groceries to her brother then she turned back to go to Jonghyun. Weird. Jonghyun was not where he was anymore. Sherilyn scanned the area. A boy with a guitar was nowhere in sight. Did he walk off? That was fast!

“Oppa, did you see where that boy go?”

“He was standing right there a while ago.”

“He’s not there anymore!”

“Aish… how should I know? I was busy taking your groceries and didn't notice where he went!”

“Omo, where did he go?”



*******



The next time Sherilyn went to the market, she was surprised to see another boy standing at Jonghyun’s place at the cashier. The boy had a slightly curly dark brown hair and a big pair of eyes like a deer’s eyes. His face was boyish and handsome. Of course Sherilyn thought Jonghyun was more handsome. Sherilyn also thought that this market was a very lucky market. It has cute chicken sellers and handsome vegetable sellers.

“You're back!” Sherilyn’s mother said when she saw the boy who was actually a very tall boy when he stood. He was way taller than Jonghyun.

“Ah..yes. Long time no see, ahjumma.” The tall boy said.

“Where's Jonghyun?” Sherilyn asked without hesitation. The boy looked at Sherilyn for a second then smiled apologetically.

“He no longer works here.” He said.

“What?”


*************************************


Ever since that day when Sherilyn saw Jonghyun at the park, she never saw him again after that. That was their last meeting. A year has passed. Sherilyn still accompanies her mother to the market, but she was not as excited as before when Jonghyun was still around. Minho was not the same as Jonghyun. He was handsome but he was not as chatty as Jonghyun. He was a quiet person. He treated Sherilyn like he treats any other customers. Although they barely knew each other, Sherilyn felt something was missing in her heart when Jonghyun left. She missed him. 

“Jonghyun, where are you? What are you doing now?” she asked as she left the vegetable stall.


*************************************


“Look! Someone is singing to his girlfriend!” Key said excitedly one day, when he was walking with his sister at the park after buying groceries. “Is he confessing to his girlfriend? He's so cool!”

“Where?” Sherilyn asked. 

Then she saw it. A group of people were surrounding a chair. She couldn't see the guy clearly because he was kneeling but she saw the girl sitting on the chair. She was covering with her hands. Sherilyn and her brother walked closer to the spot. 

“He has such a nice voice.” Sherilyn heard a girl said. “That girl is so lucky. He's very handsome too.”

Sherilyn listened to the guy’s voice carefully. He sounded familiar. She recognized the song too! God! Don’t tell me, he was…

Sherilyn felt her heart beat faster again like the first time she met Jonghyun.

It turns out the guy had finished his performance. Everyone praised him for his good voice. Then everyone started leaving with a satisfied smile on their face. Sherilyn was still there, unmoving. 

“Good performance, bro.” Sherilyn heard Key oppa said. “I’m sure your girlfriend will say yes.”

“Ah… thank you.” The guy responded. “She's not my girlfriend, she's my sister. Haha.”

“You don’t look like siblings at all! Haha!” Key said. “I got to go now. Bye.”

“OK. Bye.” The guy said. “Good luck with your girlfriend.”

Key laughed loudly. “Girlfriend? She's not my girlfriend! She's my sister!”

“Really? She…”

The guy stopped talking when his eyes met Sherilyn’s. He unconsciously dropped his guitar and his mouth fell open.

“Jjong-ah! That's an expensive guitar you know!” Jonghyun’s sister shouted from the bench. Jonghyun ignored her. Key shook his head and nagged while helping Jonghyun’s sister pick up the guitar from the floor.

“Sherilyn!”

“Hello Jonghyun. Long time no see. I see you have improved your singing. You have started to perform in front of people.”

“Yes!”

“Good for you.”

“Sherilyn do you have any other brother besides him?

“Why are you asking this?” Sherilyn asked, frowning. “He is my only oppa.”

“Is he the one I saw you walking with at the park the other day?”

“Omo! Are you the fierce looking dude?” Key interrupted suddenly. “Your stare could kill people you know! Why did you stare at me like that? It was scary! I couldn't sleep for two days!”

“I’m sorry, hyung.” Jonghyun said apologetically. “I was surprised to see Sherilyn with a boy.”

“What?” Key asked.

“Is she your girlfriend?” Sherilyn asked, pointing at Jonghyun’s sister. Obviously, she did not listened to Jonghyun and Key’s conversation before. “Go to her. She’s waiting.”

“She’s not my…”

“Let’s go oppa.” Sherilyn said, pulling Key with her. “Omma is going to get worried.”

“I couldn't sleep for weeks after I saw you with your brother last year!” Jonghyun said loudly, when Sherilyn and her brother was 10 steps away. Sherilyn wanted to continue walking but her feet were glued to the ground suddenly. “I thought… I thought he was your boyfriend. I was practicing the song there so I can sing it to you. Then I saw you with another guy.”

“I’ll see you at home.” Key said to Sherilyn with a wink. Before Sherilyn was able to stop him, Key had ran off to the direction of their house.

“After that incident, I quit the job at the market and returned home, continuing my studies.” Jonghyun continued. “I never practiced my singing skills anymore. I really wanted to sing my first ever composed song but whenever I tried to sing it, I thought of you. I couldn't sing it.”

Sherilyn did not answer. Her heart was aching.

“Do you remember when I said that I wanted to sing that song to a special someone?”

Of course Sherilyn remembered. But she did not respond to him.

“That special someone is you.”

And with that, Jonghyun started singing the song he sang to his sister a while ago to Sherilyn. His voice sounded sweeter than ever. Much sweeter than when he was singing to his sister just now. Anyone who listened to his voice can melt, the way Sherilyn was melting at that moment. Sherilyn’s eyes began to water. She was glad that she was not facing Jonghyun. She did not want Jonghyun to see her cry.

“The truth is I really miss you.”

Sherilyn could not stand listening to Jonghyun’s voice anymore although she was really longing for it. She didn’t know what she was thinking but after Jonghyun said those words, Sherilyn found herself running away.

“Don’t go!” Jonghyun said and seconds later, Sherilyn found herself in Jonghyun’s arms.

“I love you.” Jonghyun said, hugging Sherilyn tightly from behind.

Sherilyn didn’t know how to respond to Jonghyun. was clamped shut. Only happy tears came out from her eyes. Slowly, she felt Jonghyun turned her body around to face him. Sherilyn lifted her face to look at the face she has missed so much. Jonghyun was smiling at her. The beautiful smile she loved so much.

And their lips touched.

"I love you too." Sherilyn finally said.

THE END.

From the author:

I know. I have changed SHINee member's occupation LOL! This fic is inspired by my own experience, well i did not see SHINee being market boys in the market XD Let's just say, i found a reason  to go to market after meeting a reason to go there. omg what am i rambling. yes, i used to dislike going to the market. there's this one boy in the market, who took care of his family's stall and i saw him everytime i go to the market. he looks so hardworking and it touched my heart. he even was studying while taking care of the shop. so hardworking T^T. I wonder how that boy is living right now. omg random rambling again. XD

I hope you enjoyed it! Comments are very very much welcomed! =D