“Hey, can I talk to you real quick?” You looked up from closing your register to green eyes checking to make sure Minseok was far enough not to hear.

 

“Uh, yeah,” you said not really sure where this was going. Charlotte walked to the back and you followed quickly after putting the money back into the register. As soon as the door closed behind you she you. A week had passed since the “oppa” incident. You hadn’t been able to call him oppa since but there was definitely strain between you and Charlotte now.

 

“What’s going on between you and Minnie?” If anything, you appreciated her bluntness. You prefered this to beating around the bush.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, why are you calling him ‘oppa?’ He doesn’t even like me calling him oppa!” She was obviously hurt, you could see that much in her face.

 

“I’m not sure actually,” you admitted. “I asked him if I could call him by a nickname and he gave me oppa.” It was the truth. You just decided to leave out the part of having a crush on him.

 

“What the hell?” she said mostly to herself. She crossed her arms and chewed on her lip for a moment before looking up at you.

 

“I’m be straight with you,” she said staring into your soul. “I’ve liked Minseok for a really long time, since I was in high school. And I’ve been slowly working on him. And it seems like you’re getting in the way.”

 

Damn. That was as straight as a person could get. In all honesty, seeing this from her side, the whole situation . You’ve been crushing on this guy for years, trying to get him to see you as more than a little sister and then some random chick just swoops in and calls him oppa. But you don’t control the guy!

 

“Um…” you started, debating whether you should tell her about your crush or not.

 

“Could you just back off? Ah- that sounded too mean. Sorry, I just really like him, you know? I know you’re not doing this on purpose but sometimes it seems like you’re flirting with him too,” she said, her eyes pleading.

 

Well .

 

That’s exactly what you were doing. Just before you could answer, Minseok opened the door, almost hitting you in the back.

 

“Ah, omg sorry! But I need some one on the register. What are you guys even doing in here?” The poor boy had no idea. Between you and Charlotte, you recovered first.

 

“Sorry, I was asking Charlotte for a pad.” Well. You had your own version of bluntness. Minseok dropped his head in embarrassment.

 

“Ah…is it settled now?”

 

“Yeah, we were just about to go back out,” Charlotte answered. Minseok nodded and walked back out. Charlotte followed behind him all the while pleading- or was it warning- you with her eyes.

 

Things just got a lot more complicated than you had ever expected. You went out and finished closing your register. Charlotte was serving drinks when you were heading to the back door to leave. That was when Minseok caught your arm and made you pause. You turned to face him.

 

“I...um,” he started. His hand was still on your arm and you looked at him expectantly.

 

“What’s up?” From behind his shoulder you could see Charlotte staring at the two of you from the table she had just finished serving. The look on her face was something between a “girl-to-girl-don’t-be-shady” and a “-better-stay-in-her-lane.”

 

“Well, a few of my friends are going out this weekend and I kinda want you to come too so I was thinking if it was okay if I texted you since I kinda already have your number for work purposes?” He managed to get it all out in one breath.

Was this his way of asking you out? But on a group date? So he is interested in you??? If you hadn’t already started liking him, girl code would’ve applied to Charlotte. But, you just couldn’t let him go like that. Not without putting up a decent fight. He ever so slightly squeezed your arm.

 

“Um, yeah, that’s fine with me,” you said with a smile, “just text me with the details.” His returning smile was blinding and suddenly you couldn’t feel bad for Charlotte.

 

“Really? Cool! Okay, cool,” he said excitedly, releasing your arm. He smiled a big smile at you. “I’ll text you later!”

 

“Ha, I’ll see you tomorrow, Oppa.”

 

You didn’t look at Charlotte but you knew what her face must’ve shown.