"Here you go," I smiled at the lovey-dovey couple in front of me. "Have a nice day."

The couple paid no attention to me and took the books they bought. They kept looking at each other even as they left the bookstore. I smiled until they were out of sight. Which was then I stopped smiling and sighed.

"Love is in the air.. It's so thick that I can't breathe! Lee with her new boyfriend, that couple just now... Hiaz," I sighed.

They say that everyone has a soulmate.. Problem is..

The bookstore manager walks past and looks at me. He smiled that smile of his.

The manager thinks I'm his! And my co-worker, Taemin, is way too young.

Like, I 'could-get-arrested' young.

The bookstore manager noticed that I'm down and came over. "Something wrong, Jun? You seem pretty down."

He paused.

"You know, if you have any problems, I'm always available.."

"Gee, thanks, but no thanks." I snapped, thinking that it was ertness talking again.

I walked away and started to shove books into the shelves.

"Excuse me, miss?" A voice came from the counter.

"Just give me a second, sir!" I called back, trying to shove the books in as fast as possible.

I turned around and woah. I'm staring at a total hottie. "Sorry to keep you waiting.." OMIGOSH. XDXDXD

"Ha ha. That's no problem!" He gave me a smile and it was as if the whole bookstore shone.

I smiled and took the books he was buying. I turned around and started to scan the barcodes.

"Okay, heart, stay still." I mumbled.

He's perfect! So perfect! The perfectest man to ever perfect!

I scanned the last of the barcode and turned to him. "That'll be a total of $27, sir."

He took out his wallet.

Oh everything he does is so PERFECT. The store started to sparkle even more.

God, is this it? Are you finally giving me a chance? I will make the most of your gift, be sure!

His left hand took out his debit card and placed it gently on the counter.

Omo.. So elegant~  I swooned. Which was then I noticed a ring on his 4th finger.Wait, is that a wedding ring?

"No, no way! It can't be! It's impossible! Unpossible, even! Uh-Uh." I mumbled. It's just fashion, yeah. He's just wearing it to look good. This is the 21st century, after all.

His phone rang.

"Yeobosayo? Jinki here." The man, Jinki, after hearing whatever was on the other side, and he softened up immediately.

"Yumi, sweetie~ Say Dada! Say Dada! Good! Now say Mama!"

NOOOOOOOOOOO... Married! WITH CHILDREN.

Jinki left moments later after he hung up.

2 minutes, 40 seconds from 'Love is Born to Love is Over.'

Why are all the good guys taken? Or gay? Or only in fantasy?

LATER AT HOME

Bad times call for good countermeasures; I think a few cans of beer and an entire pot of orange would suffice.

And I was soon on the couch enjoying these luxuries while watching some kinda comedy.

THE NEXT DAY

Ding~

I entered the bookshop.

I saw Taemin and smiled at him. "Good morning."

"Good morning~"  He replied cutely.

Ah, seeing his fresh face so early in the morning--Is this a good omen?

Apparently not.

Someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

"What do you want?!" I cried out, as I turned my head sharply.

"Why are you so jumpy? You look like you've seen a horror movie!"

"It's a sudden fright, since you tapped my shoulder. For what, anyway?"

"Oh, I was just testing my wrist."

The watch on his hand caught the sunlight and glinted. The glint blinded me a bit.

"Why? Did you hurt it? What were you doing?"

"No, no. It's just a bit heavy right now," he boasted and put his wrist close to his chest.

That was when my eyes could see clearly.

"Is that a ROLEX WATCH?! Wait--you just wanted show that off, didn't you?"

"Ehehe~ They don't call me Bling Bling Jonghyun for nothing."

The conversation ended with that. I didn't know his name was Jonghyun. Oh wells.

I hadn't noticed it before, but he's always wearing branded things. Branded shirts, pants.. Honestly! What a waste of money.

Suddenly, he popped up in front of me when I was sweeping the floor. "Say, Jun, have you read this book?" He held out a book with the title 'Socrates'.

"Can't say I have."

"Oh, my poor, unfortunate dear! How can one go through life without knowing socrates? Why, his democratic method is one of the world's most lexicono-logical theorems.. Anyway, you should read this!" He said at last and shoved the book at me.

"Nah, no thanks. I prefer comics."

"Ah! Comics~! I was reading--"

"I should really get back to work, sir." I tried to smile at him, but only managed a grimace. But I quickly ran away after that.

During my break, I noticed the book 'Socrates' on the shelf. I had nothing better to do, so I took it out and started to skim through it.

Sheesh. He should at least get it right! It's 'Socratic Method', and 'Lexicological' and, and-- ARGH.If he wants to show off, he should at least get his facts right. What's his problem? Is he trying to impress m--Oh no.

"HAHA!! OF COURSE NOT!! THAT CAN'T BE IT! THAT CAN'T BE IT!" I laughed nervously.

Throughout the whole day, I FEEL LIKE SOMEBODY'S ALWAYS WATCHING ME.

When work almost ended, Jonghyun came up to me and asked, "So.. want to go somewhere later? Maybe a little coffee..OH, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE."

Then his expression changed to something that I hoped wasn't gonna be a confession.

"Eh?" I stuttered.

He pointed at me and straightforwardly said,"I like you. Be my girlfriend?"

Whoosh~

It's so quiet you can hear the wind.

LATER AT NIGHT

I was walking home and talking to myself. "Why can't I attract better guys? You know, someone nice!" I sighed.

Oh, Su-Jin, you have no idea how jealous I am of you right now. Looks like another night of oranges and beer for me.

Later at home, when I was making the orange rinds, the door dinged. It kept dinging consistently. Who could it be?

I went to open the door and --Su-Jin..? I saw her tear-stricken face and the next second, she threw herself at me. We collapsed onto the floor and started crying all out.

Yup. Definitely a break-up.

"I guess things didn't turn out so well, huh?" I tried to console her.

"HE'S CHEATING ON ME! HE'S SEEING ANOTHER GIRL!"

"HE'S WHAT?!"

"I KNOW. I didn't want to believe it.. but.. Oh Jun, I don't know what to do now!"

"For heaven's sake! What kind of jerkwad would treat you like this? Why would he treat you like this?!"

Her next sentence was somehow.. unsettling.

"It's this girl part-timing at his bookshop! He's crushing on her!"

"Bookshop..?"

Seeing my baffled face, she stopped crying for a while and looked at me with red-rimmed eyes.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you? Jonghyun owns a bookshop."

Bookshop. JONGHYUN.

THAT'S MY BOSS. OH. MY .GOD. JONGHYUN??!!

I thought.. her beau's good-looking?! That thing, Jonghyun? YEEEEEARGH!! SAY WHAT? EXOTIC LOOKS?! YEAH, OF YOU CONSIDER DINOSAURS EXOTIC. HE'S JUST A HOMOCIDE WAITING TO HAPPEN.

"For crying out loud, Su-Jin! Did you suffer brain damage when I wasn't looking?!" I screamed.

She just lay there on the ground, crying.

I softened up and patted her back. I pulled her into a hug. "There, there. It's gonna be alright. You're better off without him, trust me."

I thought of the orange rinds. Omo. It's still boiling.

"Oh wait, I almost forgot something. You stay right here!" I got up and gave her a smile.

As I stirred the rinds, I thought of Jonghyun and mumbled to myself. "Man, of all the people..."

But Su-Jin's a nice girl. She dosen't deserve all this.

"Even so, she should've known better! Going out with that sleazebag! Then again..."

I don't feel jealous anymore. It's strange.. I feel much better about myself.  It's a funny world.

I scooped the orange rinds onto a plate and placed it on the table.

I looked at it for a while. I remembered the times when it had cheered me up.

And I called out.

"Hey, Su-Jin? Want some orange?" I went to where she was and said, "It's always helped me; Why don't you give it a try?"

THE NEXT DAY

When I was at work the next day, whenever he looked at me, I glared at Jonghyun. Poor guy, he probably dosen't know why I hate him.

When I was sweeping the floor, Taemin then came up to me and asked, "Why are you glaring at hyung like that?"

"He broke up with my best friend just because he was crushing on me."

Taemin was silent for a while.

"Jonghyun.. Had a really good friend. But she died before he could confess to her. Since then, whoever that looks or acts the slightest like her, he thinks that he can find that good friend of his again. And probably thinks that he likes that girl, but I don't think so. She just died a few months ago," Taemin gave a sad smile. "She was a great person."

"How... Do you know so much..?" I asked, baffled.

"We're childhood friends." With that, he left. Leaving me to think about alot of things.

I looked at Jonghyun again. He was struggling to put a book into a top shelf. I took a closer look.

Oh. He is actually quite decent-looking. I guess I've been mistaking his ertness for loneliness and have not been noticing his good features. The first time when he was 'checking me out' was probably looking for traits in his good friend. And his 'watching me' was probably out of fear that something will happen to me.

Quite sweet actually.

He looked at me and this time, I smiled back.

I'm not getting any younger. Maybe I can try a shot at him? Love is not going to come if I don't go looking for it.

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

That's the end for her story. The next story is still somehow related to this set of story. It's about Jonghyun's past with this good friend of his. XD It's the weekdays, so I'll have very little time to update.  D:

 ~Aimeki o^o