Why Am I Like This?

As the two watched their friends leave, they could only look at each other in confusion. Mina tried to say something, but nothing was coming out of her mouth. She looked at Chaeyoung and tilted her head. The younger one could only shrug at it.

“I have no idea,” she could only say, picking up her scarf that also fell on the ground and wrapped it lazily over her shoulders. The worry on Mina’s face was hard to hide at that point. But her face changed when she felt Chaeyoung grab her hand. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s nothing bad.”

“Are you sure? Nayeon was really worried about you.” Mina’s hand was now intertwining with hers, her eyes not leaving their hands. “I was too.”

Chaeyoung’s breath hitched, the blush on her face was more visible than ever. This day was really a lot for her to take in. “I’m fine.” Knowing that Mina needed a less vague answer, she had to think quickly. “I can’t tell you what it is, since it’s a secret but something’s been bothering Jeongyeon recently, and she just needed my advice.”

“Okay,” she quietly responded. She noticed their stuff back on the table and looked at Chaeyoung. “Are you done with your project?”

“Oh right.” Chaeyoung suddenly forgot about it. She tugged Mina’s hand, and they started walking towards the table. Surprised that no one was letting go. If anyone they knew saw them, it might cause a stir especially with Mina’s friends, since one in particular couldn't quite keep her words to herself. “Do you have any classes this afternoon?”

Sadly, it was Mina who first let go of their hands. It could be because she wanted Chaeyoung to grab her things first. “I do, but it’s only for an hour and after that I’m free,” she said watching the younger pick up her things. “Do you have plans after?”

Chaeyoung didn’t really want to answer, but she would hate to skip on her shift later, she already told her boss that she was going to report in later and help out. “I actually have to go to my part-time job later.”

Mina’s eyes went wide with curiosity. “Really? Where?”

“It’s nothing big. I just volunteered to help out in this really vintage records shop near Homeplus,” she said nonchalantly.

“Wow, that’s so cool!” Mina couldn’t help but be amazed by it. “I didn’t know they still had records here. But… how long will you be working?”

She was a bit taken aback by the question, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. “Up until it closes, which is probably around nine or ten in the evening.”

Chaeyoung could see a hint of disappointment from Mina’s reactions. Maybe she should skip tonight? But then that would be too obvious, and it might make Mina feel guilty if Chaeyoung decided to skip out on work just to spend time with her.

“If you have free time, maybe you can drop by?” Chaeyoung offered, which garnished a small smile from the woman in front of her. “We barely get any customers, so you being there just to hang out or look around won’t be a problem.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course,” she said confidently. “I’m sure Mr. Won wouldn’t mind having visitors there. He loves seeing people stay at his shop just to listen to the music he still has in store.”

Mina couldn’t stop smiling. Chaeyoung didn’t really know why, it took a lot for her to fight all the assumptions in her head. Did Mina want to hang out with her that badly? Or was she just bored? Either way, Chaeyoung would take any chance she gets if it gave her a chance to spend time with Mina.

“Alright.” Mincheol huffed as he dropped another stack of dusty records. “Pops said we have to dust these out and display them.”

Chaeyoung couldn’t help but let out a sigh. She loved this job, no doubt, but when it came to cleaning and reorganizing things she was bad at it. “Sure thing,” she simply responded, exiting from the counter and looking at the big stack in front of her. “Will this be just me or are you gonna help?”

Mincheol turned around and shrugged. “If you want to.” Then he walked back to the storage room. Chaeyoung could only give a straight face with the response.

“Guess just me then.”

She grabbed the small cloth near the counter and started wiping off the dirt and grime from the vintage records. Though, she was intrigued with what she was cleaning. They were records of really old Japanese artists. She read through the unfamiliar characters and tried to look deeply into the designs they had. Trying her best to figure out what genre they were and couldn’t help the sudden urge to play at least one of them just to listen to it.

Chaeyoung had a vast knowledge of songs from her experience of listening to her dad’s songs, but it was always the Japanese songs that she couldn’t get a good grasp of. She watched a good number of anime back when she was small. Her and her little brother would watch the afterschool shows that were on the tv, sometimes getting scolded by their mother for being late for dinner because they were too engrossed with them.

“You wanna listen to them?” An old voice came from behind. She turned to see Mr. Won standing there, smiling at her. He slowly walked over to where she was standing and also browsed through the records. “I asked Mincheol to take these out. I miss these records.”

His solemn smile plastered on his face. He grabbed one and heads over to the old record player he had on display, carefully taking out the big disc from its sleeve and placing it on the machine, he positioned the needle as it started spinning. After a few scratchy noises, the upbeat music started to play.

“Pizzicato Five’s Sweet Soul Revue,” he said with a little chuckle. “Mincheol’s mother loved Japanese music. This was the song that played in a club many years ago and that’s where I first met her.”

“That’s really sweet Mr. Won.” Chaeyoung couldn’t help but feel her heart tighten. That must be a really beautiful memory he kept, and she was lucky to have him share that with her. “I like this song.”

“You can keep it,” he said, with a smile.

Chaeyoung’s eyes went wide, her mouth hanging open. “Are you sure? But this is something you share with your wife.”

He waved his hands at her trying to dismiss her resistance, he handed her the cover of the record. “If I can make good memories with this, then I would want you to have the same.”

She couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed, knowing that she was not part of the family but he seemed to always treat her like she was. A sudden thought came into her head, and she had the urge to voice it out. “Mr. Won?”

"Hm?” He responded as he was walking towards the rest of the records.

She placed the cover down on the counter and walked over to him again. Feeling nervous. “How did you know she was the one?”

He turned to her and gave a really big smile. “How did I know?” He started to think and let out a happy sound, something she never heard before. “It was her eyes.”

“Like the moment you first lay eyes on her?”

Mr. Won took a seat in front of her, his knees feeling weak and started rubbing on them. “I was never the type to believe in love at first sight. But when I met her eyes for the first time, I just knew.” He smiled and looked down. “I told myself, if she wasn’t going to be the one for me, then I will never find another one like her.”

Suddenly the memories of the night she first met Mina played in her head. The first moment she walked in, her smile when she greeted everyone and the way she looked at Chaeyoung when they started talking the first time. It was clear in her mind; the soft pools of her chocolate eyes were mesmerizing. They were probably the most beautiful pair of eyes that she’s ever had her sights on. Suddenly there was a beat in her chest. Was that it? Was this her falling in love? But she wasn't sure.

“How do you know when you’re in love, Mr. Won?” She couldn’t help but ask, escaping her memories for a moment.

“Love takes many forms, it’s not just a feeling but an experience. A thought.” He simply said. “When I knew that I couldn’t let a day go by without thinking about her, I knew that I was in love.”

That hit her directly in her heart.

“The moment I wake up in the morning, to leaving my house and heading to work, during the middle of the day and once the sun sets, all I could think of was her.” He continues, smiling at the memories playing in his head. He turns to her and studies her expression. “Are you in love, Chaeyoung?” He asks her.

“I-I don’t know,” she simply responded, feeling her cheeks grow warm from the thought. Fiddling with the cloth in her hands. “But there’s someone I met, and I also can’t stop thinking of her.”

He let out a deep chuckle and tried to stand up from his seat, reaching his hand to rest on her small shoulder. “If you think that her safety and happiness is all you need, then that’s love.” Before she could say anything, he gently released her shoulder and walked to the back of the store. “If you need more advice, you can always come to me kid.”

“Thank you, Mr. Won,” she said feeling somewhat smaller than she already was.

Was she really in love with Mina?

The touch of Mina’s hand, her laugh, her smile. Everything about Mina made Chaeyoung’s heart race. Her first thoughts in the morning was to check if Mina messaged. During the day she would always wonder if she’ll be seeing her at school or after. Tempted to always ask Nayeon if Mina was with her and if there was a chance to see them. At times she would even message if Mina had eaten already or if she was doing okay or if she was pushing herself too hard with school and other activities. She couldn't help but think about her. Maybe that was it, this was her falling in love. This was her first time falling in love with someone, ever and it was so new to her.

When she was in high school, she knew that the girl she had a crush on was just a crush, nothing too deep and now she couldn’t imagine thinking of that girl the way she thought of Mina. She felt her head spinning just thinking about all of this.

“Shit.” She needed to tell someone.

Before she could grab her phone from her pocket, she heard the door open and quickly spun around to greet the new customer, but she felt her heart shoot up to her throat when she saw the person she was thinking about this whole time.

“Hi,” Mina greeted, peeking her head through the door. “Can I come in?”