.of pain and embarrassment
In town, there was this little bookshop. It was nice, quaint. Almost a sanctuary for him. Almost. The library was nice, he loved the halls and smell of books that probably haven’t been open in years, but there was the terrible catch of having to return the books at the end of the run.
At the bookstore, Minseok was free to just take the book. Pay a sum and it was his forever. That was why he loved bookstores and out of the few in town he’s found this one to be the most ideal to match up to his tastes.
He was a true romantic on the page. In everyday life... not so much.
Which became painfully apparent as he innocently went to pay for his books (another annotated copy of The Princess Bride, in the original English of course and a newly restated edition of Les Mis) when the cashier, a boy he’s seen here often and only spoken to occasionally, caught him a little too off guard with a rather cheeky remark. A bit of unabashed flirting if you will.
Minseok proceeded to calmly take his change, open the top book to place his receipt inside and then utterly meltdown as he registered the nature of the words.
It had been a trainwreck, to say the least.
He just doesn’t get flirted with. No one pays enough attention to give him... that kind of attention. And he feels he’s average looking at least, nothing to garner that sort of interaction from the likes of the cashier, who is well above his league.
He’s crouched in an alleyway, having a mild panic attack and only getting himself even more in a tizzy as he realizes he has to go back. His wallet, books, and who knows what else is still in the store after he promptly slammed his hand in the weighty copy of Les Mis (yes, his fingers were throbbing) and stuttered out some sort of vague imitation of words before fleeing.
God, he’s going to get banned from his favorite bookstore.
@vominjae