Long chapter ahead. Sorry for any mistakes! Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Why Am I Like This?

As the two watched their friends leave, they could only look at each other in confusion. Mina tried to say something, but nothing was coming out of . She looks at Chaeyoung and tilts her head. The younger one could only shrug at it.

“I have no idea.” She could only say, picking up her scarf that also fell on the ground and wraps it lazily over her shoulders. The worry on Mina’s face was hard to hide at that point. But her face changed when she felt Chaeyoung grab her hand. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s nothing bad.”

“Are you sure? Nayeon was really worried about you.” Mina’s hand was now intertwining with hers, her eyes not leaving their hands. “I was too.”

Chaeyoung’s breath hitched, the blush on her face was more visible than ever. This day was really a lot for her to take in. “I’m fine.” Knowing that Mina needed a less vague answer, she had to think quickly. “I can’t tell you what it is, since it’s a secret but something’s been bothering Jeongyeon recently, and she just needed my advice.”

“Okay.” She quietly responded. She sees their stuff back on the table and looks at Chaeyoung. “Are you done with your project?”

“Oh right.” Chaeyoung suddenly forgot about it. She tugged Mina’s hand, and they started walking towards the table. Surprised that no one was letting go. If anyone they knew saw them, it might cause a stir especially with Mina’s friends, since one in particular can’t quite keep a hush tone. “Do you have any classes this afternoon?”

Sadly, it was Mina who first let go of their hands. It could be because she wanted Chaeyoung to grab her things first. “I do, but it’s only for an hour and after that I’m free.” She said watching the younger pick up her things. “Do you have plans after?”

Chaeyoung didn’t really want to answer, but she would hate to skip on her shift later, she already told her boss that she was going to report in later and help out. “I actually have to go to my part-time job later.”

Mina’s eyes went wide with curiosity. “Really? Where?”

“It’s nothing big. I just volunteered to help out in this really vintage records shop near Homeplus.” She said nonchalantly.

“Wow, that’s so cool!” Mina couldn’t help but be amazed by it. “I didn’t know they still had records here. But… how long will you be working?”

She was a bit taken aback by the question, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. “Up until it closes, which is probably around nine or ten in the evening.”

Chaeyoung could see a hint of disappointment from Mina’s reactions. Maybe she should skip tonight? But then that would be too obvious, and it might make Mina feel guilty if Chaeyoung decides to skip out on work just to spend time with her.

“If you have free time, maybe you can drop by?” Chaeyoung offered, which garnished a small smile from the woman in front of her. “We barely get any customers, so you being there just to hang out or look around won’t be a problem.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course.” She says confidently. “I’m sure Mr. Won wouldn’t mind having visitors there. He loves seeing people stay at his shop just to listen to the music he still has in store.”

Mina couldn’t stop smiling. Chaeyoung didn’t really know why, it took a lot for her to fight all the assumptions in her head. Does Mina want to hang out with her that badly? Or was she just bored? Either way, Chaeyoung would take any chance she gets if it’s to spend time with Mina.

-----------------------------------------

“Alright.” Mincheol said as he dropped another stack of dusty records. “Pops said we have to dust these out and display them.”

Chaeyoung couldn’t help but let out a sigh. She loves this job, no doubt, but when it comes to cleaning and reorganizing things she is bad at it. “Sure thing.” She simply said, exiting from the counter and looking at the big stack in front of her. “Will this be just me or are you gonna help?”

Mincheol turns around and shrugs. “If you want to.” Then he goes back to the storage room. Chaeyoung could only give a straight face with the response.

“Guess just me then.”

She grabs the small cloth near the counter and starts wiping off the dirt and grime from the vintage records. Though, she was intrigued with what she was cleaning. They were records of really old Japanese artists. She read through the unfamiliar characters and tried to look deeply into the designs they had. Trying her best to figure out what genre they were and couldn’t help the sudden urge to play at least one of them just to listen to it.

Chaeyoung has a vast knowledge of songs from her experience of listening to her dad’s songs, but it was always the Japanese songs that she couldn’t get a good grasp of. She’s watched a good number of anime back when she was small. Her and her little brother would watch the afterschool shows that were on the tv, sometimes getting scolded by their mother for being late for dinner because they were too engrossed with the shows.

“You wanna listen to them?” An old voice comes from behind. She turns to see Mr. Won standing there, smiling at her. He slowly walks over to where she was standing and also browses through the records. “I asked Mincheol to take these out. I miss these records.”

His solemn smile plastered on his face. He grabs one and heads over to the old record player he had on display, carefully taking out the big disc from its sleeve and placing it on the machine, he positions the needle as it spins. After a few scratchy noises, the upbeat music started to play.

“Pizzicato Five’s Sweet Soul Revue.” He said with a little chuckle. “Mincheol’s mother loved Japanese music. This was the song that played in a club many years ago and that’s where I first met her.”

“That’s really sweet Mr. Won.” Chaeyoung couldn’t help but feel her heart tighten. That must’ve been a really beautiful memory he kept, and she was lucky to have him share that with her. “I like this song.”

“You can keep it.” He says, with a smile.

Chaeyoung’s eyes went wide, hanging open. “Are you sure? But this is something you share with your wife.”

He waves his hands at her trying to dismiss her resistance, he hands her the cover of the record. “If I can make good memories with this, then I would want you to have the same.”

She couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed, knowing that she’s not part of the family but he seems to always treat her like she was. A sudden thought came into her head, and she had the urge to voice it out. “Mr. Won?”

"Hm?” He said as he was walking towards the rest of the records.

She places the cover down on the counter and walks over to him again. Feeling nervous. “How did you know she was the one?”

He turns to her and gives a really big smile. “How did I know?” He starts to think and lets out a happy sound, something she’s never heard before. “It was her eyes.”

“Like the moment you first lay eyes on her?”

Mr. Won takes a seat in front of her, his knees feeling weak and starts rubbing on them. “I was never the type to believe in love at first sight. But when I met her eyes for the first time, I just knew.” He smiles and looks down. “I told myself, if she wasn’t going to be the one for me, then I will never find another one like her.”

Suddenly the memories of the night she first met Mina played in her head. The first moment she walked in, her smile when she greeted everyone and the way she looked at Chaeyoung when they started talking the first time. It was clear in her mind; the soft pools of her chocolate eyes were mesmerizing. They were probably the most beautiful pair of eyes that she’s ever had her sights on. Suddenly there was a beat in her chest. Was that it? Was this her falling in love? But she wasn't sure.

“How do you know when you’re in love, Mr. Won?” She couldn’t help but ask, escaping her memories for a moment.

“Love takes many forms, it’s not just a feeling but an experience. A thought.” He simply said. “When I knew that I couldn’t let a day go by without thinking about her, I knew that I was in love.”

That hit her directly in her heart.

“The moment I wake up in the morning, to leaving my house and heading to work, during the middle of the day and once the sun sets, all I could think of was her.” He continues, smiling at the memories playing in his head. He turns to her and studies her expression. “Are you in love, Chaeyoung?” He asks her.

“I-I don’t know.” She simply responds, feeling her cheeks grow warm from the thought. Fiddling with the cloth in her hands. “But there’s someone I met, and I also can’t stop thinking of her.”

He lets out a deep chuckle and tries to stand up from his seat, reaching his hand to rest on her small shoulder. “If you think that her safety and happiness is all you need, then that’s love.” Before she could say anything, he gently releases his hand and walks to the back of the store. “If you need more advice, you can always come to me kid.”

“Thank you, Mr. Won.” She said feeling somewhat smaller than she already was.

Was she really in love with Mina?

The touch of Mina’s hand, her laugh, her smile. Everything about Mina made Chaeyoung’s heart race. Her first thoughts in the morning was to check if Mina messaged. During the day she would always wonder if she’ll be seeing her at school or after. Tempted to always ask Nayeon if Mina was with her and if there was a chance to see them. At times she would even message if Mina had eaten already or if she was doing okay or if she was pushing herself too hard with school and other activities. She couldn't help but think about her. Maybe that was it, this was her falling in love. This was her first time falling in love with someone, ever and it was so new to her.

When she was in high school, she knew that the girl she had a crush on was just a crush, nothing too deep and now she couldn’t imagine thinking of that girl the way she thought of Mina. She felt her head spinning just thinking about all of this.

“.” She needed to tell someone.

Before she could grab her phone from her pocket, she heard the door open and quickly spun around to greet the new customer, but she felt her heart shoot up to when she saw the person she was thinking about this whole time.

“Hi.” Mina said, peeking her head through the door. “Can I come in?”

Chaeyoung shakes her head from the deep thoughts and rushes to hold the door wider for Mina. “Of course. Welcome.” She said trying to compose herself with a smile.

“Wow.” Mina said as she took in the view of the store. “I feel like my dad would love to be here if he ever comes to visit.”

Chaeyoung could only swallow hard at the thought of meeting her dad. “Oh y-yeah, you could totally take him here. Maybe there’s something here that he used to listen to when he was younger.”

She watches Mina skim through the records on display, gently racing her finger over the spines of the records. “I’ve never heard of these artists before.” Then she stops and starts looking at one record intently. “This is a Japanese artist.” She says slowly taking the record out of the shelf.

“Mr. Won has a collection of Japanese records actually. I’m still cleaning some of them out.” Chaeyoung says walking back to the work she didn’t mean to leave behind. “Do you want to listen to it?”

Mina turns around excitedly. “Can I, really?”

“Of course. Here.” Chaeyoung puts out her hand and Mina gives her the record she was holding. Chaeyoung couldn’t help but admire the bright colours of the record cover. She didn’t notice Mina walking behind her, looking at the record as well. Her face was very close to hers.

“That reads YAMAZAKURA.” Mina says slowly, tracing the Japanese characters with her fingers. “I think this was from an anime I watched not so long ago.”

Chaeyoung couldn’t help but feel impressed. “I tend to forget you’re Japanese. You can still read the characters then?”

Mina giggles, which was the sweetest sound ever to grace Chaeyoung’s ears. “Well, my parents still want me to remember as much Japanese as much as possible.” She says, her smile slowly fading. “Despite me telling them I want to stay here in Korea longer than they hoped for.”

Chaeyoung could only sigh at the thought of her parents missing her a lot. Then an idea suddenly pops in her head.

She rushes to the back of the counter and grabs a pair of headphones, dusting off any visible dirt that was on it and takes out a small suitcase that was tucked between the shelves. She then places it gently on the table, dusts it off again and opens it. It was a portable record player but this one had audio outputs at the side of the case and plugs in the headsets.

“Here, you can listen to the record.” She then gently removes the record from its sleeve and positions it properly on the player, then gestures to Mina to come over.

Mina walks closer and removes her knitted cap, she then takes the headsets and places it over her head, covering her ears with it. Chaeyoung flipped the switch of the machine on and gently placed the needle over the spinning record. Mina listens carefully and after observing her, a sudden smile creeps up on the Japanese’s face. Which made Chaeyoung smile as well.

She decides to leave Mina to listen to the song as she finishes her work. There were only a couple left to finish cleaning, so she’ll be done with it in no time.

“Hey, Kid.” Mr. Won comes out with a record in his hands and stops suddenly, seeing the new visitor in his store. He eyes Chaeyoung, who could only look back with big eyes. Then he smiles widely, covering the side of his mouth. “Is that her?”

Chaeyoung almost panicked and gently pushed him out of the doorway and looked back. “Sorry Mr. Won… but yes, that’s her.”

He starts to understand what was happening and nods. He walks over to one of the drawers in his kitchen and then hands a couple of small items to her. “Here, so you can listen together.” It was a cassette player with small headsets. She wasn’t sure how they were going to listen together but then she realized these weren’t the usual headsets, they were earphones. “You have to share.” He said with a knowing smirk.

“Why are you being so kind to me, Mr. Won?” She couldn’t help but ask as she shyly put the small device close to her chest.

“Because music can open several doors to love.” He simply said and walked away; he waves at her. “You can leave whenever you like. Mincheol and I can close up shop.”

Before she could protest, Mincheol was already by the end of the stairs, with a straight face he gave a thumbs up. Assuring her that it was totally okay. The Wons really are the best wingmen compared to Jeongyeon. She mouths a thank you to Mincheol and pockets the cassette player in her pocket and goes out to check on Mina.

Mina was already done listening to the song, the headsets she was wearing were already wrapped up and the record was already back in its sleeve and placed on top of the record player. She was still browsing through the old songs that were in front of her, then she noticed Chaeyoung standing behind her and smiling. “Oh, the song was done so I decided to fix up since you weren’t around.”

“Sorry, my boss told me that I can already leave.” She said with honesty. This was really making her heart race. She was hours early before her shift was originally going to end and that meant she had more time to spend with Mina.

“Oh!” Mina said in surprise. “Is that okay?”

Chaeyoung nods and points at the back. “He said him, and his son can close up. So we can head out and maybe grab something to eat?”

Mina could only smile and nod in reply.

“I’ll fix up then.” Chaeyoung said, taking the apron off of her and folding it properly before storing it under the counter. She grabs her bag and coat but before she could turn to Mina, she stares at the cassette tapes displayed at the side and quickly scans through them, trying to figure out which ones would interest Mina. She grabs a couple and shoves them in her bag and then looks at Mina. “Let’s go?”

---------------------------------------

Mina decided that they would go and try this one crepe stall that she found near her apartment, so they agreed to take a cab to her area and headed straight to where the stall was. Though, she couldn’t help but confess to Mina that she really wasn’t a fan of sweets. Explaining to her that she spent most of her early childhood with her grandmother that lived in a farm far away from the busy streets of Incheon. So most of the time, her grandmother fed her healthy things like spring beans and sweet potatoes.

But after trying out the crepe Mina ordered for her, she couldn’t help but enjoy how the flavours blended well with each other and that the sweetness wasn’t that bad.

The two decided to walk back to Mina’s apartment. Mina said it was so that they could walk off the crepe they just ate. Chaeyoung could only laugh as a response. From the stall, they walked along the sidewalk and then passed through buildings that were unfamiliar to Chaeyoung.

Mina finally figured out that it was her first time in the area. So as they walked, Mina would point out what the buildings were, who were usually hanging around there and occasionally point at random things that