The store was busier than any other day, people swarming in to buy the new best sellers that came out, a popular manga, two poetry books about love and betrayal and one thriller novel. Taemin was half hiding, half resting in a particularly dark aisle; book shelves surrounding him from three sides, only the front opened, but still half hidden from the front of the store by another shelf of books just in front. It was the best place for hiding. No one in the bookstore could see him well, but it was close enough to the counter for him to observe others.
As always, he was hiding behind a particularly large book that covered most of his body, his half crossed legs in front of him covering the rest. He didn't even know what the book was about to be honest. For all he knew, it might be a dictionary...a Hungarian dictionary or something. No, he wasn't here to read. He hated reading anyway. Well, he didn't mind mangas as much because they were mainly pictures and only dialogues, but actual books, with paragraphs after paragraphs after paragraphs of writing? No, that he could not do. He was not someone who would've read anything in his life unless they were forced to do so like books in school; even then, he barely ever concentrated in his studying so he couldn't really say that he read all his school books. So why was a guy like him doing in a store like this? Why was he sitting there in the dark corner surrounded by books, hiding behind one if he detested the person who invented paper for writers to write in?

'Yah! Minho..go restock flower girl Minlee. Apparently all the copies we displayed are sold out..' A shrill shout rang out through the crowded store. The voice was so high that even the ruckus made by all the occupant of the store could not quieten it out. Just as soon as the shout rang out, a small head full of honey brown hair, spiked at the front popped out of the door behind the counter and the reason for Taemin being their smiled out at the owner of the shrill voice.

'They are sold out? Already? I thought we stocked enough for the day?' The slight arch of his eyebrow almost made the boy behind the large book squeal but he stopped before the offending sound could come out and out his hiding place. He peeked over the rim of the book to take in those abnormally big brown eyes that were set beneath those thick brown eyebrows, those eyes that made him fall a little too hard for this guy. His long straight nose was so perfect that he was sure that no one could sculpt a better nose, no one, the milky smooth skin of his cheeks went well with that nose, all soft and smooth to balance out it's sharpness. Did he even need to mention those rose petal lips? They were slightly in the wide side but definitely not as wide as Taemin's own but beautiful regardless. He could swear in his life that kissing them would send him to heaven. The perfect jawline was there too, all sharp and angular. Taemin was captivated, has always been, hence why he was there in a book store on a Saturday afternoon, hiding behind a book. Choi Minho, one of the three workers of the store was Taemin's reason for pretending to like books.

'Do we need more copies of murder at three too? Might as well bring back copied as I'm going to the storage basement anyway, right?'
The wide, pearly white teeth showing smile made the boy behind the book swoon, if he wasn't sitting down, he surely would've fallen to the ground by now. No way would his legs have kept him standing straight after he witnessed that smile, the smile that always made his brain go all haywire.

'Yeah might as well.' The guy with the shrill voice, the one Taemin remembered as Key, he heard Minho call him that over and over again, making him a little jealous to be honest because he wanted to hear his own name muttered by that voice.  He scowled at the blonde haired man for not making Minho stay out for longer. What sort of friend/co-worker only talked that much? He should've kept the conversation going so Minho could stay out longer and Taemin could have his Minho fill for the day sooner. True it wasn't Minho's shift out in the store yet, Taemin was just getting greedy! But still more time watching Minho is better any day and it wasn't like he wasn't going to come out soon, he only went to grab some books to restock the shelves with. Taemin sighed in defeat as the small face of his angel disappeared right before the soft head full of hair did too. His eyes still lingered at the gaping hole that was the door to the store room of the store, no traces of any big eyed angels anywhere. After a while he wistfully dragged his eyes away, realising that there was no point in staring for that long since it would at least take the other 20 minutes to gather the books and carry them back to the shelves. So he lazily leaned against the book shelf behind him and started people watching.

He gasped as his eyes landed on the counter, more importantly at the person standing in front of Key with a book in his grasp. What the hell was his brother doing here? Taemin groaned. He almost forgot, unlike him, Jinki did have a passion for reading books, for gaining knowledge as the man himself puts it. So it wasn't that uncommon for him to be found at the book store, day or night.  It was more normal than the younger being here to be honest. He shrunk back until the book shelf was digging into his back. It was a tad bit   uncomfortable but it was less painful than if he was found out by his own brother and made fun of in front of his 'crush'. He would not be able to bear with it if that happened.

Making sure that he was hidden well, he peeked over the book again, making sure only his hair and eyes were peeking out. He observed his brother's body language to judge when he'll be gone, better if it was sooner than later. There was something wrong though. Why was Jinki smiling like that? He usually smiles like that when he gets hundred percent in his exams or when mum and dad buys him new rubic's cube. His eyes widened at the scene before him. Was that a blush on his brother's cheeks when Key's fingers brushed against his as the blonde took the book from him to scan it? He was stuttering too! It was like watching himself when he was in front of Minho...then it suddenly clicked on his mind. His brother was crushing on Key. Taemin was almost about to giggle at his new finding but stopped himself short by biting onto his lower lip. He can't give away his hiding place no matter how amusing it was seeing his brother act like a teenage girl in love. He kept his eyes trained on Jinki until the older had already paid for his book, stuttered around for at least fifteen minutes, dropped the bag with his book on the counter about five times and struggled to walk straight when trying to leave the store. He smiled softly as the older of the Lee brother looked back and wistfully smiled at the sales boy who was busy with his next customer. His brother had it bad...just like him.

His thoughts were cut short once again as the man of his dreams walked through the door with arms full of books up to his chin and for some reason he looked even more attractive to the younger. Yes, Taemin knew that Minho was a year older than him; he also knew where the other lived and what the other’s favourite food was. He wasn't a stalker though; just very lucky that his and Minho's way home from the bookstore was the same and the older only lived a couple of blocks away from him. It also wasn't his fault that they both seemed to get hungry at the same time while walking home and ended up going to the same ramen shop where Minho was a regular. It wasn't like Taemin intentionally followed him there!
His eyes trails up and down the older man as he took in how swiftly he bent down to place the books on the floor, how his biceps flexed through the tight t-shirt and how he bit his lower lip in concentration as he straightened up with a couple of books and started restocking the shelve. The slight perspiration from the work added with the heated weather glistened on his forehead and Taemin wanted nothing more than to just reach out and wipe them off with his fingers. His fingertips were itching to sweep across the milky expanse and sweep away those stray hairs that were assaulting his forehead.  Yes, he had it bad, very bad indeed.

As Minho was putting the books on the shelves, a couple of High school girls circled around him, whispering to each other and grinning for ear to ear.  That was fairly common. Taemin noticed it a long time ago that he wasn't the only one who got star-struck by the taller guys charm and handsome face; many others - mostly girls - found him attractive too and would swarm around him like bees to honey. Though Taemin hated having other people fawn over the older guy, he couldn't really bring himself to blame them. No one could resist Minho with his perfectness. It was impossible.  
But this time it seemed it was different because not only were they giggling and whispering, the others pushed one of them forward, making her invade the taller guy's personal space. Now that was uncalled for! What the hell were they plaguing at? Taemin fumed from behind his book and if looks could kill, there would be about five dead bodies lying around Minho right now.

'O..Oppa!'
Taemin cringed and face palmed with one hand, propping the book in place with the other. She sounded absolutely love-struck, like a small quivering puppy. There was no way in hell that she was not going to confess and Taemin didn't want that. He wanted to jump up and out of his hiding, pushing the girl away from his Minho and confess instead then thoroughly kiss the taller guy before he could say no and kidnap him. Small problem with his plan though, he wasn't nearly strong enough to push away someone like the girl who was confessing, let alone be able to pick Minho up and carry him away! Not like he had anywhere to keep the guy even if he did manage to kidnap him somehow. So he just stayed in the dark corner, crushing the hardcover book in his hand and sending death glares at the girl, hoping it would work like a laser beam.

'Oppa..I..I like you..' The girl stretched her arms out, a pink letter held in her hands and blushed like crazy as Minho looked straight into her eyes. Taemin wanted to cry. That should be him in front if the older guy, that should be him Minho was staring at with those deep brown eyes. He sighed exasperatedly as the girl lowered her eyes and started nibbling on her lips coyly. Like really? She couldn't do better than that? If it was Taemin he would've looked straight into Minho's eyes and show him exactly how much he loved the taller guy with his eyes. Minho would've fallen for him right there and then.
Then why don't you do it? A small voice in side of him chided. Yeah, probably not. He was too shy to even confess.

'Ah..that's very kind of you.'
What? Taemin's head snapped towards the taller guy as he watched him with his mouth hanging open. Why the hell was he reaching out for the letter? Why did he say 'it was kind of' the girl? No no no! He was supposed to refuse straight away. He was supposed to...

'Thank you so much for this.' Minho took the letter in his hand smiled down at the girl. The cracking of Taemin's heart was so loud that he was sure that half of Seoul heard it but not Minho it seemed. He rested the hand that was holding onto the letter by his side and kept on smiling.

'You seem like an amazing girl, very pretty too.'
God that hurt more than Taemin ever imagined it would. He just found out that his crush definitely wasn't gay and was definitely into girls. He should've  seen that coming. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up before even knowing if Minho batted for the same team or not! He was about to get up and leave when Minho's other words force him in place.

'But I'm so sorry. I don't like girls.'

'Yay!' Without him even knowing Taemin screamed in utter happiness, totally forgetting the fact that he was supposed to be hiding and stay quiet, go unnoticed by the people in the shop.