“Milk, milk, milk. Where the heck have they moved it?” L. Joe muttered to himself, through gritted teeth, shivering slightly as he made his way passed all the cold storage areas. Trust the air conditioning to be broken the one day he needs to pop in to get some milk, while wearing short sleeves.

He sent one of the shelf stackers an envious glare, when he noted their warm jacket, so that they wouldn't freeze in the store. Normally, only the workers in the freezer section would wear them, but today, all the staff were wearing them. Including the cashiers up the front of the store, L. Joe had passed a few moments before.

He just wanted to get in and get out again, so he could go home.

“Well, well what do we have here? You're a friend of Ricky, Changjo and Niel yes?” a voice that rung a vague bell in L. Joe's ear questioned, forcing him to turn back to face whoever was speaking to him. His heart lurched painfully at the call, from what he assumed to be a stranger, but he relaxed slightly when he met the recognisable man before him.

“That I am. My name's L. Joe.” he commented, smiling to be polite, and trying to force his arms to stay by his sides, without shaking. He kind of wanted to cross them in an attempt to warm himself up a bit, in the frigid isle, but he didn't want to risk offending the other man.

He was Ricky's teacher after all.

“Yes that's right, L. Joe. Who would've thought I'd run into you here of all places.” the other man commented, pleasantly.

“Yeah, I know right? You're quite far away from the school.” L. Joe stated, feeling slightly unsettled by the other man's persistent stare, but at the same time it was kind of flattering. It was kind of nice to think that someone might be interested in him. As wonderful as his friends were, they weren't what he'd describe as the sort of people to be interested in anyone other than themselves.

Except Chunji of course, but then, wasn't he always the exception?

But he really shouldn't be thinking about Chunji now, he was having a conversation with a very attractive older man, who was smiling at him and knew all of his friends personally. If he acted weird, there was no doubt in his mind that his friends would hear about it. The last thing he would want would be for them to have more of a reason to than they already did.

“Ah yes. Unfortunate though it may be, us teachers don't get to choose where kids need teaching, and we're too poor to sell our homes everytime we change schools. I live down here.” Mr Kim explained, a strange twinkle to his eyes, that made L. Joe flush though he wasn't a hundred percent certain of the reason why.

“Ah I see. Me too.” L. Joe commented, still feeling a little unsettled by the unexpected run in. Despite his best efforts to appear otherwise, he was still very shy at heart, and the meeting with the other man was making him feel uncomfortable. Even if it did feel nice to have him smiling at him like that: it was like Mr Kim saw him as a fellow adult, and not some scrawny little kid.

No one had ever looked at him like that before.

The conversation drifted off, L. Joe trying to figure out a way to politely say his goodbyes and leave, back in search of the milk he'd come looking for once again, but Mr Kim spoke before he could. “So I know this is kind of random, but would you like to go have a drink sometime?” Mr Kim offered.

L. Joe's first instinct was to refuse. He wasn't sure if it was because of his shy nature, or the way the other boys would tease Chunji for having a crush on Mr Kim, but something made him want to reject his offer. But the words froze on his tongue as he thought about the matter a bit harder.

Chunji had denied liking Mr Kim; there'd been no discernible trace of feelings for the older man in anything Chunji had said or done. So there was no reason why he should believe Niel, Ricky and Changjo. Those boys were always teasing Chunji about something, and most of the time it wasn't true anyway. This was probably one of those times.

Besides, CAP had told him that he should live life to the fullest; that he should just let go. The same advice he'd given to Chunji. Chunji had listened to him on that matter, so clearly he could trust where that advice was coming from. What was the worst that could happen? He was a young male, being asked out by a very handsome guy, whose smile made his stomach flutter, and his cheeks go hot. What reason was there to say no?

“Alright. When would you like to go?” he answered, the thrill of his own daring, making him feel giddy. “How about right now, if you're free?” Mr Kim suggested, his eyes alight and hopeful, as they looked L. Joe up and down. His brain could barely process anything as the word “Sure” slipped from his lips, and L. Joe found himself being dragged out of the store, all thoughts of milk and cold replaced by ideas of having a fun time, and trying something new.