Hi everyone, technically Monday in no man's land China.

I only have like 7 weeks or something until I can actually leave.
Then it's off to Korea for job hunting.
If that doesn't work, Germany for my masters'.
 

Anyhoo...

Feel free to ask me questions if this gets confusing,

because it might get confusing

I've got another story idea kicking around already when I really should finish any one of the 10+ unfinished ones I already have

so yeah

Taekwoon is working at an antique shop

for Hakyeon...

and stuff

things are gonna get weird.

I crave salty tings and all I have is sweet things. the store is closed and its raining anyway T_T

*sits in sad corner, eating non dairy creamer powder*.

    Jung Taekwoon straightened his tie, combed his hair and smoothed out his eyebrows. He looked in the mirror on his car's visor one last time before grabbing his resume and stepping out of his car.

    Cha Hakyeon looked up as the bell to his shop tinkled. He put on his most charming smile and sauntered up to the handsome stranger.

    “And how may I help you this morning?” He grinned and rested his elbow on a high shelf, not being subtle about eyeing the man up and down.

    “I - uh…” Taekwoon waved his resume nervously, hoping to distract the other man. “Are- are you hiring?” he asked with a nervous blush. He wasn't expecting to be confronted by someone so handsome… or even young, for that matter. This shop had supposedly been here for decades and had never, to his knowledge, changed owners, and the small name tag this man was wearing clearly said “owner” right under his name.

    Hakyeon took Taekwoon's hand and plucked the resume out of it before straightening the pale fingers and tracing the lines on his palm.

    “What's your name?”

    “Uh- L-Leo… Sir” he said, trying not to giggle. It tickled, and his hand flinched a little. Hakyeon froze and looked skeptically at the other man.

    “Right… Leo. If that's what you want us to call you. Are you free now?”

    “Uh… yes?”

    “Good. Wonsik can show you the ropes.”

Hakyeon shouted toward the back of the store for Wonsik. “While we're waiting for him, I have a question for you.” Taekwoon looked down and suddenly noticed that the other man had tangled their fingers together. It felt so natural despite the fact that he knew it was wrong, but he didn’t try to move his hand.

    “Yes, sir?”

    “Don't call me “sir”. I was wondering if you'd like to go for dinner with me.”

    “What?” Taekwoon looked confused.

    “You? Me? Restaurant? Food?” Hakyeon cocked an eyebrow.

    “I don't feel right fraternizing with my boss…” Taekwoon’s blush grew, and he rubbed his free hand across the back of his neck as he looked at the floor.

    “You're fired.” Hakyeon grinned as Taekwoon’s head snapped up, a shocked look on his face. “There, that solves that-”

    “Hyung, you can land us in a load of legal trouble talking like that.” Wonsik walked up and pretended to slice Hakyeon's neck with his hand.

    “Leo knows I was joking, right?”

Taekwoon nodded slowly.

    A young man walked in with an overloaded backpack and what appeared to be some browning, limp lettuce stuck in his hair.

    “Here you ing go,” he shouted angrily. “I'm taking a shower. I'm ing minging.”

    “Take your time, Hyogi. You've done a good job, and Sikkie is training our new employee.” Hakyeon replied pleasantly.

    “New employee?” Sanghyuk echoed excitedly.

    “Say hi, Leo.”

    “Uh… hi.”

    “So does that mean you're gonna train me, finally?”

     “I'll leave that to Jaehwan. Go shower. You stink.” Hakyeon waved a hand in front of his nose and crinkled his eyebrows before returning his attention to the tall man in front of him.

“The sandwich list is by the door, Leo.” Sanghyuk said. Taekwoon felt the owners hand slide away from his as he watched the younger man open the register, pulling out 50,000 won. “Get yourself one too,”  he said, handing the money to the newest employee and running through a beaded curtain that lead to the back.

    “You're the new guy. It's part of your job,” Wonsik said, pointing at the sandwich shop through the window.  Taekwoon was completely confused by the whole situation, but at least he came out of it with the job he came for.

A few days ago

    “Taekwoon. Get in here. We got another weird one, but this time we got a survivor and camera footage.”

    “Let me see the footage.” Taekwoon ran into his office and straight toward the laptop that was open in front of his boss.

    “Tell me what you can make of this.” He played the surveillance footage and it showed a party. A man walks in waving something.

    “Is he the guy who did it?”

    “Just watch.” The party goers surrounded him as he unrolled a paper scroll with a painting on it. Everyone's impressed expressions turned to horror as they scattered. “Keep watching. Look closely.” He pointed at the screen.  There was a faint outline of a tiger in the room. As if it were two dimensional.

    “What the-” The tiger started attacking people, rending flesh from bone and gnawing on them for good measure.  The scroll on the ground finally rolled itself back up. There was a moment of silence before the door opened and a man walked in through the carnage. He picked up the scroll, peeked inside and walked out.

    “Any thoughts?”

    “The victim who brought the scroll into the party. Check his pockets. He should have a receipt or a business card or something for that weird antique shop.” Taekwoon stated.

    “I have a better idea.  Why don't you apply for a job there and see what you can find out from the inside.”

    “What? Like undercover?”

    “Exactly.”
 

Present

    Taekwoon grumbled as he brought the bags of sandwiches back to the shop.

    “Leo's back!” Hakyeon shouted happily before flipping the sign on the door to 'closed'. “Come on, they're all waiting.” He pushed the taller man through the beaded curtain.

    “Who is? Why did I order so much?”

They went upstairs and walked into a dingy, but clean common room with a table in the middle. Taekwoon looked around the room and noted a lot of mirrors. He thought it was odd that a house full of guys would have so many, but he supposed it caught the light well, and there didn't seem to be too many lights around. It didn’t seem too strange for an antique store to hold some of its merchandise in the back if there wasn’t enough room out on the main floor either.

    “Ok kids. Lunch time!” Hakyeon shouted, and three men came out of their rooms grinning about food.  Taekwoon read off the orders, twitching slightly when he recognised Jaehwan from the video. They’d all just sat down to eat when Jaehwan’s door opened abruptly and a baby tiger popped out, promptly hopping onto Taekwoon's lap.  He froze.

    “Are you ok?” Jaehwan asked.

    “Can I take the rest of the day off? It's so fluffy…”  Taekwoon couldn’t help but coo at the strange little thing in his lap, utterly confused but enamoured at the same time.

    “You don't have to move until Tigger has decided to let you move. I think he wants some of your sandwich.” Hakyeon said sweetly.

    Taekwoon fed the tiny tiger a bit of pastrami, being careful not to give him too much bread.

    “Isn't this bad for him?” Taekwoon asked, running his fingers through the soft fur.

    “He's special. He can eat whatever he wants,” Jaehwan replied. The creature made a bizarre croaking noise before rolling to its back and looking expectantly at Taekwoon. He gently rubbed it's tummy.

    “He likes Leo,” Jaehwan said happily, clapping like a little kid.

    “Does that mean we should clear out the spare room and make it presentable for him?” Sanghyuk asked, his mouth full of food.

    “That's brilliant, Hyogi. You guys get on that after lunch. Sikkie will continue training him.” Hakyeon beamed.

    “That's… really not… necessary. I already have a place to live.” Taekwoon paused his petting, and the small tiger pawed eagerly at him to make him start again.

Before Hakyeon could continue trying to get Taekwoon to move in, there was a set of footsteps coming up the stairs.

    “Binnie!” Hakyeon intercepted the man on the steps and Taekwoon couldn't hear what he was saying.

    A tall, handsome man with dimples came up the stairs, followed by Hakyeon who looked like he was trying to form a two man conga line behind him.

    “I’d say Hyung wants you to move in and that's not something he usually wants people to do, but I think Tigger has pretty much decided that you already live here,” the good looking man with “Hongbin” stenciled on his name badge said amicably.

    “But… I have a place. With a lease that's not up for some time.”

    “Move here. It's free. We even have a moving van and strong people to help you move your stuff into your new room.” Jaehwan said, flexing his noodly arms as if Taekwoon never spoke.  These guys clearly weren’t taking no for an answer, but moving in was not an option.  

    “I can't.” Taekwoon said sternly, folding his sandwich wrapper neatly and handing the tiger to Sanghyuk. “What time does my shift end?” he asked.

    “It's one PM now… I guess three AM?” Hakyeon shrugged his shoulders.

    “What time does my shift end?” he asked again, glaring at his new boss.

    “Nine PM?” Now it sounded like Hakyeon was asking.

    “What time does my shift end?” Taekwoon frowned this time.

    “Three PM.” Hongbin finally spoke up. “Go on, Hyung. Show him what he needs to do.”  Hongbin said to Wonsik.
 

    Downstairs, Taekwoon took the dusting rag that Wonsik gave him and started polishing the wooden frames on a few silver backed mirrors. He started on the detailed woodwork of a desk when Hakyeon started whining at him.

    “What are you doing? It doesn't look antique if it's all clean and new looking!” Taekwoon ignored him and kept polishing like Wonsik told him to do.

    “May I remind you, Hyung, that nobody wants to buy dirty furniture,” Wonsik stated. “He's doing a good job. He's a hard worker.”

    “Then why do I keep you guys if I have him working so hard?”

    “Because I make sure you don't pay too much when you buy this off of people. Hongbin keeps the house nice and clean and is a pro at merchandising and management, and Jaehwan is training Hyogi to be an acquisitions specialist.” Wonshik drummed his fingers on the counter.  

    “No,” Taekwoon said softly, “Jaehwan is taking a nap on the Victorian canopy bed.”

    “Actually, that sounds like a wonderful idea. Care to join us?” Hakyeon limped toward the bed.

    “I'm on the clock,” Taekwoon said. “What's wrong with your leg?”

    “Who says there's anything wrong with my legs?” Hakyeon asked defensively, sitting quickly on the bed. “There's nothing wrong. What makes you think I have problems? I'm perfectly fine.”

    “Getting a little defensive there, Hyung.” Wonsik said.

    “Goodnight.” Hakyeon said as he laid back and put his head down.

    Taekwoon wasn't terribly quiet about dusting the furniture, but out of the corner of his eye, and in the reflections of a few mirrors, he could see Hakyeon watching what he did through heavy eyelids.

    He finished cleaning a hutch and said he'd be back the next day before tossing the dust cloth into the hamper.
 

    In his car, Taekwoon checked his mirrors, almost disappointed in the fact that Hakyeon didn't follow him.

    Almost as if he knew Taekwoon was thinking about the unusual man, his phone rang.

    “Hello?”

    “Leo Leo Jung Leo. I was wondering can you work Saturdays or Sundays? It has to be at least one of those. They are our busiest days. Suburbanite housewives are always looking for a new piece of furniture, you know.” Hakyeon didn't even bother announcing who he was, but the voice was unmistakable.

    “Can I think about it and tell you tomorrow?”

    “Of course. I was actually asking for Hongbin. He makes the schedules.”

    “Figured. He seems more on top of things than you do.” Taekwoon’s smirk was evident in his voice.  Hakyeon chuckled as if Taekwoon meant the double entendre.

    “So, what are we doing for dinner?” Hakyeon asked.

    “You are doing whatever you’d like. I have a box of leftover Chinese calling my name.”

    “That's no way to live,” Hakyeon said.  Taekwoon could hear the pouty frown on his boss’ face.

    “I'll see you tomorrow.” Taekwoon hung up before Hakyeon could try to beg for a date again.
 

    He drove home and locked the door behind himself, checking all of the rooms. Satisfied that he was alone, he called his commander at the police station.

    “He hired me right on the spot. Offered me a place to live. They all live there. This is going to be pretty easy to look around, I think.”

    “Oh? Why's that?” His commander asked.

    “They pretty much trust me right off the bat. I haven't seen anything too out of the ordinary yet, but I'll keep you posted.”

    “I'll be hearing from you. Leave a message or email if it's more convenient for you.”

They hung up and Taekwoon heated up his box of Chinese food, relaxing in front of his TV.
 

    He fell asleep on his couch and dreamt that there was a tiny kitten clawing its way up his leg. He scooped it up and nearly dropped it when he saw that it had Hakyeon's face.

    “Hi,” the kitten said.

    “I'm dreaming, right?” Taekwoon replied to the kitten as he maneuvered to sit on the couch.

    “The proper response would be ‘hello,’" the kitten said.

    “Uhh…”

    “Yeah, I know. Cat got your tongue,” the kitten quipped. “Or I hope to… sometime soon.”