"You remember the first time we met?" the younger mentioned.

"How could I forget? You were so handsome. Too bad you weren't mine then..."

*6 months ago*

Seonghwa had gotten off the bus at the wrong stop. And he was late. Now, desperately juggling an umbrella and his phone, with google maps pulled up, he plodded out from under the covered bus stop and into the cold, wet rain. It wasn't an easy journey, but eventually, he made it to his destination. From his position directly across the road, he could take in the full structure of the building. It was not very tall, maybe two or three stories high; he would have to see once he got in, and it did not look beautiful. The exterior had been roughly plastered and the single coat of white paint was scratched off in patches at some areas. What made up for the atrocious exterior was the interior. Through the big glass window beside the door, he could see much of the store. Rows and rows of boxed shelves, lined up in perfect parallel, lit above by a soothing yellow light. "Your destination is up ahead."

He closed the app and tucked his phone away in an inner, hidden coat pocket. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out onto the road, only to retract his foot immediately as a car's horn sounded. Less than a second later, a sports car zipped across at an unimaginable speed, mere millimeters away from him. Unfortunately, of all the places Seonghwa had to be standing, there was a decently sized puddle on the road at his feet. As the rogue vehicle zoomed past, a hefty amount of rainwater was projected onto his clothing, soaking him in seconds. It was freakishly cold. The car sped away. As quickly as its arrival, it disappeared, leaving the victim standing there shell-shocked. An incredulous expression made its way to his face as he stared in the direction that the car had taken. Lifting his fist and shaking it at the nothingness before him, he cursed. "F-f-fuck you, Mr. reckless driver."

There was nothing to be done, he had only this set of clothes at hand, unless he wanted to do the interview stark naked, which would not earn him any brownie points. His clothes were, albeit wet, but he was already here. Might as well make the most of it. Sighing, he made his way across the street, safely this time, and entered the shop, sending the bell hanging above the door jingling. "Welcome to Tiny Records- oh... You must be the new guy, judging by your attire. Hurry up, the boss is waiting for you upstairs." Letting the door swing shut behind him, Seonghwa daintily stepped off the rough fabric of the "welcome" mat onto the hardwood floor, desperately praying that he wouldn't get droplets everywhere. "Don't worry, I'll mop up after you, no big deal."

"I feel bad for troubling you though... Any chance I could get you a coffee later?"

"As I said, it's not a big deal. I'll let you in on a little secret. The first time I came here, similarly for the interview, I also got caught in the rain. And I didn't have my umbrella, so I was even more soaked than you were. But, hey, see, I'm still hired. So don't worry. Although," he paused. "Wouldn't say no to a coffee, especially on a day like this," he spoke while glancing out the window. "I do like a good americano now and then. Americano, 좋아 좋아 좋아..." He sang in an attempt to lighten the mood. Not wanting to seem rude, Seonghwa cracked a smile, but his inner feelings had not gone unnoticed by the other. "You're still nervous. Relax. Besides, if I may let you in on another secret, the boss will be smitten with you in no time cause you're handsome. Don't take my word for it though. Now, go!" He winked at Seonghwa as he turned away.

Hurriedly, Seonghwa strode up the stairs in a mad rush, calming his rapidly beating heart and relieving the blush on his face.

There wasn't anything really attractive about that guy, but why did he feel so attracted?

Flinging those thoughts aside, he climbed up the second flight of stairs. Turns out, there were three stories in this building, but the head office was located on the second floor, as he had been told in the email. The hallway he was walking down had many doors, but only the one at the end had a wooden plaque hanging upon it, engraved with the word "BOSS". It would have looked intimidating, had someone not drawn with sharpie on it. Instead, it looked like "BOSS 😊". Even so, he still took another deep breath as he gingerly knocked on the door. "Come in."

He twisted the knob and was welcomed into the most spacious, yet messiest office he had ever seen. Papers were strewn all over the desk, boxes of records lined the walls, the lone record laying on the floor here and there. And in the midst of it all, a man walking back and forth, seemingly lost in thought. It was a miracle he hadn't stepped on anything yet. As he entered, the pacing man looked up and faced him. "You must be Seonghwa. Hello. I'm Mr Kang, the boss here, but since we'll be working closely, you can call me Yeosang. And don't worry, it's not usually this messy. I'll clear it up... soon." He explained himself as he noticed Seonghwa's amazement. But the messy office was not the cause, for once. "What do you mean working closely? I'm here for the interview, aren't I?" The smallest of smiles crept onto Yeosang's face, which quickly spread until he was almost laughing. "Oh, you don't even know it, but the instant you make it into this office, you've already passed the interview." "I-I do not understand?" "Come, I'll explain as we walk."

"You see, my co-worker downstairs has a specific taste for people. He has a true like or dislike. Every single person that came before you were intimidated by him. Now, before you question anything about why I don't fire him, I have a reason. And that is because he's also the boss of this shop. The smiley face on the sign? Yeah, that's his doing. Only difference being that he enjoys being in the shop, handling the physical labour, while I'm more of a recluse, I'd say. So, I handle the management and behind the scenes stuff. That's why I said you've already passed the interview. He's the one who's working with you, therefore I let him decide who he'd prefer to work with. It works out well, really."

Seonghwa couldn't believe his ears. That guy downstairs had driven people away?! He had seemed so friendly and full of vigour though. Guess people really do have two faces... But more importantly, that was his other boss? Now he was worried if he had reacted properly. "A-are you sure it's alright for me to work here?"

Yeosang swung around to look at him. "Why not?"

"I'm not sure if I'll be a right fit for this."

"If I sent you an invitation for an interview, you're more than qualified. Did you see how empty the shop was? We don't have enough workers, logically. Having one more pair of hands around will help massively. You're the one in I can't even remember how many people who passed the "interview". Relax. Working here isn't particularly taxing, sincerely."

They had reached the bottom of the stairs, and leaning on the edge of the bannister, left foot on the first step, was the guy who had welcomed him earlier, also known as boss #2. He nodded at Yeosang once, as if to signal, "It's alright, I can take over from here." Yeosang nodded back, and rounded to head upstairs once more. "Hey there soldier! Congrats on passing the "interview". He motioned with his hands, making quotation marks in the air. "What's your name, by the way?"

"I'm Seonghwa, s-sir."

"Don't call me sir, that's way too formal, flower boy."

"Well then, what DO I call you?"

"You can call me Minho."

...

Yeosang was right, he didn't require much brainpower to master working here. Within a few hours, he had picked up the ropes. After all, everything was arranged in alphabetical order. The only issue, however, was the cash register. Or rather, the lack of a cash register. Change had to be calculated manually. He would punch the numbers into his calculator as quickly as possible, but by the time he got his answer, Minho had already given the customer their change and bid them farewell. "How do you do it so fast?" "Practice, I guess."

Contrary to his initial belief, Minho was an utmost pleasure to work with. He had gladly shown and taught Seonghwa everything he needed to know, which hadn't taken long, and was now sharing anecdotes from his past experiences. They had bonded very well over the past few hours. "Anyway, she was being extremely rude about everything, so I switched out the classical music record she had with one of extremely heavy metal. Needless, to say, she hasn't been back."

"Is it right to treat a customer like that though?"

He turned to face Seonghwa, the originally hardened look in his eyes softening slightly.

"True, it might not have been the best way to do things. But remember, you are just as human as they are, I'm just reminding them of what they can be reciprocated with if they think they're superior. Besides, I'm kinda happy about her not returning, and I'm sure Sangie is too. We've put up with her for way too long, to be honest."

"Y'all bitchin' about me?" Yeosang was peering through the holes in the bannister.

Minho made a shooing motion with his hand and yelled "Scat! We're doing fine!"

"Whatever you say." Yeosang rolled his eyes and headed back to his office.

"I tell him all the time that he should have more faith in me, but he's always afraid that I'm off gaming somewhere. Not that I don't do it, I just don't do it often. Woiiiii! Don't look at me like that! I'm still your boss!"

Seonghwa would have launched into his rant about working diligently, but something, or rather someone, caught his eye. The guy peering into the store via the window.

"That guy's really hot, not gonna lie."

Minho looked up from where he had been fixated in spinning coins on the counter.

"You're gay?"

Seonghwa felt his face turn red. "I didn't know I was till this morning."

"You're a late bloomer, huh. Oh, that's why you were blushing..."

"W-what?"

"Don't play innocent, I know I'm ravishingly handsome and you couldn't resist."

"Extremely conceited too."

"Hmmmmph. But anyway, you can't hit on me, or that guy outside for that matter. Because that guy," he tilted his head toward the glass as if gesturing, "Is my boyfriend, Jisung. And it appears he's early today. We go out for dinner every Friday." He waved to capture Jisung's attention, then tapped his wrist and made a calling motion, as if to say "I'll call you when I'm done."

Seonghwa watched as the squirrel-like guy made an okay sign with his fingers followed by a nod, before leaving. Then, he turned toward Minho and scowled. "Must be nice being in a relationship, huh?"

"Well, we squabble sometimes, but mostly it's good." He grabbed a cloth and started wiping the counter to close up for the day. "But love is really complicated, we sacrifice some to get more. Also, it's almost closing time, would you help me draw the blinds for the window?" "Sure."

"Great! Hello sungsung, we're getting ready to close, you can come back soon." He records a voice message, sends it, and slips the phone back in his pocket before continuing to clean the counter. Meanwhile, Seonghwa made his way to the window. He was just about to start winding the blind down when a second human catches his fancy. Well built and tall, but soft looking, kind of puppy-like, he would describe.

"Welp, I think I'm in love again."

"Wha-"

Minho looks up from the mostly clean counter and his jaw drops. "Oh shit no-"

Immediately, he sprints over, grabs Seonghwa's arm, and hightails him to the bathroom, locking the door.

"Okay, there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna be straightforward. That guy is Yeosang's boyfriend. You do not hit on your boss's boyfriend."

"This is such high school girl bitch behaviour, talking about relationships in the bathroom," He mused.

"Shut up. If you know what's good for you, you won't say anything regarding Yunho. Yeosang is very scary when it comes to his personal affairs."

Two-faced people

"Ah, so his name is Yunho."

"You don't get the point, you do not under any circumstances want to mess with an angry Yeo. Especially since he's been working out. It's terrifying just thinking what kind of pulp you could turn into if you got caught by him."

Minho clenches his fists and kneads his knuckles into Seonghwa's temples. "Ow..."

"Good, now you've got some sense in your head. Remember, not a word to Yeosang." "Got it..."

The duo leave the bathroom calmly, as though they had not gone through a warning session and a half. By then, Jisung had made his way back, and was standing with Yunho in front of the window, chatting.

"They look like trophy boyfriends standing with umbrellas like that."

"Shut the fuck up, flower boy."