.11.

At the inner part of the district, a warehouse-sized music store is placed in between small shops that you wouldn’t miss to look at it every time you pass by Itaewon. It wouldn’t be due to the reason that it’s a two-story building taking up most of the attention but because of the wide glass window on both floors which you could get a view of the store’s interior.

Haru was in complete awe as soon as they walked inside. There were numerous LPs arranged by different kinds of genre and also turntables that were designed depending on the customer’s taste. She felt bad for not knowing this place such as this.

Hiding her obvious excitement, she turned to Jaehyun, “You mentioned you were looking for a turntable?”

“Yeah.” Jaehyun only nodded, his attention fixated somewhere else as he made his way at the farther section of the store, Haru following behind as her eyes were scattered around the whole room, shifting her gaze from left to right, clearly amused at everything she sees.

Upon reaching the back of the room, a number of turntables were displayed on the whole length of the table, each having different brands and color. Some looked bigger than the others. She was about to ask him but her words somehow got lost when she noticed how his eyes were gleaming in delight as he started looking at the array of turntables one by one.

As she didn’t want to disturb him, she decided to check on LP albums at the other side of the store to keep her entertained while she waited for him to finish. The number of albums came to a shock for her as she had guessed that there would be at least a thousand of it, covering a wide range of genre, from classic songs like Stevie Wonder to pop music like Taylor Swift. She started scanning through them, starting at the R&B section.

“So this is your taste in music?”

A voice startled her from behind, almost losing her grip on the album she was scanning. Steadying herself from the sudden shock, she turned to him, “Well, yeah, I enjoy listening to it since I was a kid.”

Jaehyun pursed his lips, nodding at her, somehow pleased to know a small detail about her when she was young. He walked around the table, standing at the opposite side as he started looking through the row of jazz albums. He stopped just as he saw the familiar cover, quickly pulling it out as he declared with eagerness, “I can’t believe it’s here! I’ve been waiting for them to restock since last year.”

Haru looked to where he was standing only to catch sight of Jaehyun who was beaming happily like a little kid who just got his favorite toy on Christmas, grinning from ear to ear. She can’t help but let a small smile crept on her face, seeing her charismatic senior – as how the female nurses describes him – at a different light.

Jaehyun somehow calmed himself down after noticing her staring far too long, clearly looking thrilled at what she was seeing. Fixing the collar of his brown shirt, he cleared his throat as he gained back his cool composure within a second, “Sorry about that, Miss Haru. It wasn’t my intention to let you witness that.”  

She softly chuckled at his sudden shift of personality, addressing her with much formality in his words and actions. She shrugged as she stated, “Don’t worry about it, Dr. Jeong. Even my grandpa can’t help but be whipped over Chet Baker.” His gaze narrowed, as if he’s trying to discern her but instead he said, satisfaction in his voice, “Hmm, he’s got taste.”

“I agree. And it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if you’re quite older than what you have said to be.” She said in a playful banter as Jaehyun burst into a loud laughter, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

Crossing his arms in front of his stomach in an attempt to catch his breath, Jaehyun quickly found his bearing. “So you take me as an old man, Miss Haru?” He asked, sounding least offended but rather amused at the way she answers him with a right ample amount of humor, not as much to step over the line between them.

With lips pressed together, shrugging her shoulders as she tilted her head to one side, she answered him without a doubt, “Maybe.”

“I’ll just pretend that you didn’t say that.” He stated as they made their way to another section of the store.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking this,” Haru started as he nodded, patiently waiting for her to continue, “Why the urge in buying a turntable?”

Jaehyun softly hummed, as if he was thinking it through before he answers her, “I’ve been planning to buy one ever since and I just moved in to a new place so I thought it’s a good excuse to finally get one.”

“So you love Chet Baker and you listen to a lot of R&B music. What else do you listen to?” She enquiringly asked with cautiousness as to not misunderstand unexpected curiosity. Jaehyun seemed to have not put that much thought into her sudden interest as he led her to a different table. It was another array of turntables but this time there was a headphone connected with it as well as a disc placed on the platter.

“Cigarettes After ?” She read the album cover that was placed near the turntable. Jaehyun stood next to her, carefully lifting the tone arm on top of the record. Haru kept his gaze steady towards him, waiting for his next move. He picked up the headphone near it, expecting him to wear it over his head but what he did surprised her even more.

Her body went completely still, somehow unable to move any part of her body as well as forgetting how to brea