I sighed wearily.  Business was slow today.  I’d been here for two hours already, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.  I had organized and reorganized the racks. I had cleaned all the fitting rooms.  I had wasted time playing games on my iPod.  What else was there to do?

                Ding!

                The bell over the shop door rang, signaling that someone was entering.  I looked up, and my jaw dropped to the floor. 

                Oh. My. Goodness.  I couldn’t believe who just walked in the door.  Key.  Yes, Kim Kibum of SHINee.   And was he…walking my way?  Well this was about to get interesting.

                “Hi there,” he said as he approached, “Do you work here?”

                “I’m wearing the uniform, aren’t I?” I quipped lightly.  M sarcasm was rewarded by a smirk. 

                “Well I was wondering if you could help me out.  I’m going to be picking out quite a few things, so do you think you could stick by me?  To help me carry them?”

                I gaped a little.  Or a lot.  Inside I was bursting with joy!  A freaking idol had just asked me to follow him around the store!  How could I refuse?  Especially when that someone was as attractive as Key.  His hair was still shaved from Lucifer’s music video, and I’ll admit, it looked even hotter in person. His clothes were fashion forward.  As always!

                I think he knew that I was staring at him as I trailed him over to the far left racks.  I just couldn’t help it.  His just looked so dang good in those jeans…

                I was snapped out of my reverie by his question.  “What is your name?” he asked, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.  His dark incredibly intriguing eye…

                “Umm…Mina.  My name is Mina,” I stuttered.

                “Well it’s nice to meet you Mina.  I’m Kim Kibum, but you can call me Key.”

                “Oh, I know who you are,” I mumbled quickly.  I looked away, a little embarrassed.

                “Really?”  He turned from the clothes to look at me.  “Are you a fan of SHINee?” he questioned.

                “Well yes,” I admitted, “You guys are my favorite K-Pop band!  You’re so talented!”  Ooh…had I really said that out loud? I felt my cheeks grow warm.

                “Cool!” he replied, easing my awkwardness a bit. 

                He continued rifling through the selection of shirts, pulling out some and handing them off to me.  The silence between us stretched on, until I finally broke it with, “So are you looking for anything in particular today?”

                He glanced over his shoulder. “Not really,” he replied honestly, “Actually I just needed to let off some steam, so I came here.  Clothes always make me feel better.” 

                I grinned to myself.  “I know what you mean,” I commented vaguely.  I wasn’t going to tell him that I knew exactly what he meant.  I did the same thing.  Clothes were easy to understand.   You could pick and choose what you wanted, and if you didn’t like something, you simply put it back.  You didn’t have to stick to the same thing; you could be adventurous.  You could create a whole new personality with just one little outfit change.  But I didn’t say any of that, no. I just settled for a private smile as I took more hangers out of his hands.

               About twenty minutes later, we had accumulated a very nicely sized pile of garments in a fitting room.  “Well there you go,” I told him as I hung up the last shirt.  He didn’t speak for a second and avoided my gaze.  I was suddenly aware of how small the room was and how close we were standing.  I took a step back. 

                 “Umm…Mina,” he began, “Do you want to help me pick some out?  I mean, would you like to wait outside so I can show them to you?”

                My face lit up.  “Of course!  I would love that!” I exclaimed happily.  I clapped my hands together in excitement and settled down on the bench outside to wait.  A few minutes later, he came out in the first outfit.  He twirled dramatically in front of me. 

                “Well, what do you think?”

                I’m pretty sure my face showed my adoration. Key looked…stunning.  It was something I never would have picked out myself, and he made it look like it was meant to be.  He was wearing a pair of brown, shiny skinny jeans.  They fit like jeans, but the fabric was something else entirely.  On top he wore a tight, light pink tank top under a bright orange jacket.  

                “Is it that bad? I thought it looked kind of good…” he trailed off, looking down.  Dang, he looked so cute when he pouted! 

                “No!” I assured him, “It looks wonderful!  That’s why I’m speechless!”

                 His whole attitude shifted, and he did a little jump.  “Great!” he cried, “I’m going to go try on the next one!” 

                 I approved that one.  And the next.  But the fourth outfit, I swear he must have been looking at something else when he picked it out.  Maybe he had his eyes closed.  He opened the door, and I just started laughing.  I couldn’t help it!  When he saw my expression, he started to chuckle too. “Key…That’s…That’s awful!” I gasped. 

                 “I was just keeping you on your toes! I was trying to see if you were just flattering me with all these compliments!” he smirked.  That one facial expression warmed my entire body.

                “Of course it’s not empty flattery!  You make everything look good!” I confessed.

                “Now it’s your turn!” he announced, gesturing to the fitting room.  

                “Wha…What?” I stammered in surprise, “I’m at work!  I can’t just stop doing my job to try on clothes!”

                He tiptoed nimbly over and peered around the entrance to rest of the store.  “No one’s here! Come on!  Please?  For me?” he pleaded.  He stuck his bottom lip out and widened his eyes.  Who am I to resist a face like that?

                “Noo…” I protested weakly –very weakly.  It was already too late to do anything; I was being poked and prodded into the room.  I found that he had already planned for this.  Somehow he had selected a few dresses to add to the pile.  Must have been while I was distracted by yet another one of his adorable features. 

                When I finally gave in and closed the door, I could hardly contain my excitement.  Here I was, normal girl Mina, trying on clothes for an idol!  And he was treating me like a friend!  I squealed, in my head of course, and picked up the first dress.  It was light blue with ruffles around the collar.  It was pretty close to my size, so it fit well.   I poked my head out.  “Are you ready?” I inquired.  

               He just nodded in anticipation and smiled from where I had previously sat.  I came out and performed a twirl.  “I like!” he approved, “Although I’m not sure it’s your color.”  I smirked at his critique and returned to try on the next one.

              The last dress in the stack was a deep violet one that fell to just above my knees.  It was tight around the top and draped loosely around my waist.  It was simple, but quite pretty.  The color would go well with my dark brown hair and milky skin.  I didn’t bother looking in the mirror before I left though.  Typically these elegant outfits looked better on the hanger than on me. 

              It was Key’s turn to gape as I stepped shyly into the open.  “What do you think?” I asked, a little self-conscious from his silence. 

             “Mina.  You’re beautiful,” he finally said with an awestruck tone.  He gazed into my eyes and my heart did a little jump.  Suddenly, he was standing, and I was leaning closer. 

             And then, “Mina!  Manager wants you to hang up the new line that just came in!” my coworker, Yumi, called from somewhere outside. 

             I blushed furiously and looked away.  “I should go change,” I muttered.  Once I was safely back inside the fitting room, I put a hand over my mouth and sunk down the wall to a sitting position.  What had just happened?  Was he about to…?  I shook my head to try and clear my thoughts.  That was a famous singer out there.  He was way out of my league. 

             I changed back into my uniform and hung up the dress wistfully.  I had caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and it did look good.   Oh well.  I couldn’t even afford a bracelet from this store, and that was with my discount.  I sighed and reached for the doorknob.  To my surprise, Key was still standing there.  “Umm Mina,” he began, “If you don’t mind me asking, when is your next shift?”

            “Tomorrow at three,” I replied.  I think I liked where this was going.

            “Then you can expect me tomorrow at three,” he concluded with a nod, “That is…if that’s okay with you?”

            “I can’t wait!” I responded with a giddy smile.  We parted ways, and the final hour of my shift passed in the blink of an eye.  I kept reliving the past sixty minutes over and over again.  Every time I even heard the word “key”, I got butterflies in my stomach.  I couldn’t wait for tomorrow!  I could get used to working every day, as long as he’d come around.

           At the end of my shift, I stopped by the checkout counter to say goodbye to Yumi, and she told me to hold on a second.  “There’s a package for you,” she told me. 

           “A package?” I repeated.  She handed me a white box with our store’s logo on the top.  I opened it up curiously and gasped at the contents.  It was the purple dress!  On the top was a handwritten note that read, “It just looked so gorgeous on you, I had to make sure you got it.  Consider it my way of thanking you for today. I can’t wait for tomorrow! Yours, Kim Kibum.” 

           I think I might have had a love-struck smile on my face the whole way home. 

          Yeah, a girl could get used to this.