~ Chapter Fourteen ~

Chanyeol entered the warm shop, gleefully hearing the sound of the little bell ring as the door closed shut. The tall boy made his way all the way to the back of the store with a goofy grin on his face.

He was feeling exceptionally happy at the moment. It was as if someone had switched something in his brain allowing an enormous amount of goodness to fill his body. Chanyeol wasn't really sure why his heart was beating at an undying speed, but he knew it had to do with something with Chinsun...maybe.

Chanyeol then suddenly felt his face grow weirdly hot. He shook his head.

It couldn't be. Could it? No, of course not. He didn't have feelings for the girl. He was just happy that their friendship was growing. Yeah...that was it. It wasn't anything romantic or special. It was completely friend-zoned related. But why was he relieved that she never had a boyfriend? And why was he feeling pissed at Kyungsoo? It didn't make sense.

Chanyeol sighed to himself as he walked passed the empty check out and inside the back room.

He would usually be the only one inside the small confines of the room, but this time, he was in for a big surprise.

“Chanyeol!” his manager greeted. The boy froze for a moment before hesitantly bowing as he quickly glanced from his manager, to Dara...then to her. His smile immediately vanished and was replaced with a thin blank line. Tiffany was looking up at him like she usually did. It was as if he was some sort of doll that didn't exist. It never seemed like she ever took into consideration that he had feelings. He was just a robot with no soul or heart. You could tamper with it as much as you like and whatever you did would never damage it. Only the outside. “I was wondering when you were going to arrive,” she continued, “alright, so this is Tiffany,” she gestured to the girl to her left. Chanyeol swiftly turned to his manager awkwardly before glancing back at the girl. Tiffany's hair was long and brown which draped over her shoulders. Her eyes were big and doe like, unlike how it was two years ago. She looked more beautiful than Chanyeol remembered, but she could never compare to Chinsun. Inside that perfect figure of hers was a flaming devil. “I would like you to show her where everything goes and how to use the cash register,” the manager explained. Chanyeol unwillingly nodded his head, snapping his gaze towards his boss. Once everything was needed to be said, Chanyeol inwardly groaned as he watched his manager leave the room along with Dara. As both individuals took there leave, the door lightly closed shut and the room rested in an awkward atmosphere. Chanyeol tried his hardest not to glare at Tiffany, and hopefully succeeding to.

She was just another employee. That was all she was and that was all she was ever going to be. She wasn't going to mess with Chanyeol's feelings anymore! He was a changed man. He wasn't going to get involved with her. He knew better than to fall for Tiffany all over again. She was just going to throw him away like a sac of bread and let him be eaten by hungry birds, tearing at his body and soul.

He created a wall around himself. And he was not letting her in.

“I'm going to change,” Chanyeol then spoke up, more like mumbled. Tiffany made eye contact with him and nodded in reply, a small polite smile stretching across her angelic face. Chanyeol rapidly broke their gaze and coldly walked by the girl without giving her a second glance while grabbing his uniform. Quickly walking into a stall and locking it, he took a deep breath as he began changing.

He was nervous. He hadn't been able to sort out his true feelings for his ex-girlfriend and he was scared that he would fall for her again. He didn't want that to happen. He told himself it never will. To aid his anxiousness, he thought of Chinsun. Her hair, her eyes, ; everything. Chanyeol grinned to himself allowing his heart to race at the memory of her.

Once ready, he stumbled to grab the door knob.

After mentally preparing himself, he finally he came out. As he pushed the wooden door open, he saw Tiffany leaning against the wall in a shy-like manner waiting for him. Her hands were held in front of her, her head held low while she stared at her shoes. Chanyeol hung his regular clothing on his hook and cleared his throat at the uncomfortableness of it all. “Let's go,” he informed, making his way to the door. Tiffany shot her head up at his voice, nodding vigorously in response.

Chanyeol led the way as they began walking through the store to the children's area. Once they arrived there, the tall male pointed to all the shelves and explained to Tiffany where everything went and how to stack the clothing. Chanyeol felt a tad awkward at the beginning, but afterwards he just treated her as another employee. Tiffany was surprisingly listening very well and hadn't interrupted him once. Chanyeol was very thankful for that.

Strangely enough, Tiffany was completely different from the last time they met. This time she was very polite and sweet, she smiled in a nice way unlike those seductive winks she used to send. She was quite friendly and mature as she took in all the information needed to be known for the job. She didn't seem as stupid as she did. She actually kept herself composed and proper, she wasn't wearing her uniform in a reveling fashion like she normally would have done, and the way she acted and reacted seemed kind of...cute. Not that she was or anything, she was just cuter than she had been. Chanyeol didn't find her cute...because he wasn't going to fall for her again. And he made a vow as to do so.

Chanyeol took a deep breath as he finished explaining how to occupy the cash register. Tiffany smiled up at Chanyeol in a thankful way once all the training for the day was complete.

“Yeah, and that's all you need to know...” the tall boy concluded, “I guess you can leave now.” With that, Chanyeol tried his best to make a brake for it to an unfolded shirt but was stopped by a tug on his sleeve. His heart leaped in surprise, but nevertheless, he turned around and awkwardly waited for Tiffany to speak. The beautiful girl gleamed up at him and let go on his pink uniform shirt.

“Thank you,” is all she told him after she gave him a small peck on the cheek and strided to the back room. Chanyeol was left there staring in space. His eyes wide, heart frozen, face pale. He heard the store bell ring but didn't bother to see who it was.

--

Annoying :

Are you almost home? I just got back from the strip club.

Chanyeol puffed out a sigh as the cold evaporation escaped his lips. It was very chilly outside and the slight wind wasn't helping.

Chanyeol :

Yeah, I'm about to pass by the grocery store.

Chanyeol replied to his friend.

A gust of air brushed his face causing him to shiver. Quickly zipping up his jacket the highest it could go, he looked down to the ground to shield his face from the wind. It wasn't that late at night, super had passed only an hour ago. The tall boy was feeling hungry due to lack of food. But he knew Kyungsoo would be at his place cooking some sort of delectable meal, so he was all good knowing his tummy would be happy later.

Tiffany had left three hours before his shift ended, so he had enough time to cool down and forget about the past events hoping that it would never have to occur again.

Annoying :

So...how was Tiffany?

Chanyeol almost smashed into a lamp post when he read Jongin's message. I guess he really hadn't cooled off after all.

Chanyeol :

She said thank you after I explained everything...

The tall male felt sort of restricted when he didn't send the full truth. White lies always made him nervous.

Chanyeol :

And then she kissed my cheek.

Once he pressed send with his ice cold thumb his phone sprung to life. He jumped in surprise as he pressed the green little button on the left and bought his cell to his ear.

“Hello?” Chanyeol asked as he stuffed his other hand into his pocket.

“Holy Chan she kissed you?!” Jongin's muffled voice boomed from the other side, causing Chanyeol to slightly move his phone away from his ear.

“Crap Jongin,” Chanyeol heaved as his friend gave him a scare.

“What the hell?” Jongin continued, “why did she do that?” Chanyeol groaned at the memory.

“I don't know...” was the only answer he could give him.

“Dude, don't let her do that again,” Jongin informed him, “she's just going to brake your heart like the last time.”

“Yeah, I know,” Chanyeol reassured Jongin, “but she just, did it...” There was silence as Chanyeol stopped in front of the red traffic light. The tall male started to become frustrated as he waited patiently for him to say something.

“Did anyone see?” Jongin questioned after a while.

“Uh,” Chanyeol hummed as he thought about it. The walking man popped up signaling his turn to go. While he strutted across the road he began speaking, “well, I know Dara was busy with the manager, but I don't know about the customers. Why would it matter if anyone else saw?” Jongin awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Um, it's nothing.” he simply explained. The tall male narrowed his eyes at that. Chanyeol knew there was something hidden within those words. Who would see? What would it matter to some random stranger? They wouldn't know him. They wouldn't care. Unless it was someone he knew? But he couldn't remember anyone from his school who visited the shop. Not that he could remember at the moment anyway. Obviously there would be girls at his school who would come and look around, maybe purchase something, but the place he worked at wasn't that popular. He wasn't exactly aware of his surroundings during the...kiss. It would be normal for him not to consider the people entering the shop. Unless...Chinsun? But no...she couldn't have seen.

--

The moment Chanyeol arrived home, he could tell that something was bothering his two friends, mostly Kyungsoo actually. No matter how many times though, they wouldn't explain to him what was going on. It would always end up in, “It's nothing,” or “It's not really important right now.” But how could it possibly be nothing when the two of them were behaving gloomily and concerned? It did not make sense to the tall male, but seeing that his friends weren't going to inform him what was occurring within their minds, he dropped it, and the evening went on as any other.

The whole weekend Kyungsoo had been out. He never told him where he had gone or who he had met, but he did say something along the lines that it was just a friend in need of help. Chanyeol wasn't particularly sure what that had meant, but Kyungsoo seemed quite serious about whatever it was. So the boy had no right in questioning him any further. Apparently Jongin knew who the mystery person was, and vowed not so say a word only when Kyungsoo aloud him to. No matter how long or how hard he pleaded, Jongin wouldn't fill his curiosity. It really frustrated the boy. But he knew he would find out sooner or later.

--

“Kyung!” Chanyeol frantically called to his friend from down the hall. Kyungsoo looked away from the person in front of him, turning around to face the tall boy coming his way. The shorter boy's eyes grew slightly larger before swiftly twisting his body towards the other person and bowing in goodbye. As Chanyeol got closer, Chinsun sadly bowed back to Kyungsoo with a visible frown on her face. Kyungsoo patted her reassuringly on the shoulder before facing Chanyeol again.

Chanyeol narrowed his brows in confusion. When had they gotten so close? Why was Kyungsoo at school early? He never came to school early, it was Monday for God's sake! There was no reason for him to be here at such an hour.

Maybe he came to speak to Chinsun privately? That could have been the reason. But what for? Why did he need to see her? Was it something personal? But they had just met last Friday, they couldn't have become so close in such a short amount of time. That was impossible...unthinkable. The more Chanyeol thought about it, he only really started speaking to her two weeks ago...he was literally in the same shoes as Kyungsoo. He had no right to get all mad and defensive. He wasn't special to her. He had just met her not too long ago. A small frown tugged at his lips. That was right, he wasn't special to her. He never was. But it wasn't like he wanted to be. They were just friends. That's it. But is that what he really wanted?

Kyungsoo placed both hands within his pant pockets, sighing while slowly walking up to Chanyeol.

“Hey,” he greeted with a sincere smile. Chanyeol tried to give him one in return, but he couldn't find the motivation to do so when he remembered Kyungsoo touching Chinsun's shoulder moments ago.

“Why did you come to school so early?” he quickly asked as he looked down at the shorter boy. Kyungsoo pursed his lips at that. Looking down at his shoes, slowly considering his words, he looked back up with a distant look in his eyes.

“I just had to help a friend,” was his familiar reply. Chanyeol heaved an irritated sigh once it was heard.

“Oh, okay...” he muttered, scratching the back of his head while watching Chinsun gloomily walk to class as snickers came crossing her way. A lump started to boil within Chanyeol's throat as pity began flowing through his veins. Chinsun didn't deserve to be treated so poorly. It hurt Chanyeol seeing her that way.