Crepuscular Clocksmith

2. Sundries and Treasures

Yunho ran late the next morning because his exhaustion from the last evening followed him into his dreams. He took a cab to work and didn't have the time for fresh coffee.

At least the rain had stopped, and he wasn't drenched when he took two steps at a time on his way up to his office.

Now that it was filled with people, the building almost felt off. Yunho spent too many hours catching up on the work others failed during the night.

Seonghwa was in the cubicle next to him, looking impeccable as ever with his gold-rimmed glasses and the braces hugging his shoulders. He grinned his modest smile at Yunho when he plummeted into his chair like a boulder.

"Good morning," Seonghwa whispered while his computer booted up. Yunho scooted forward to tap the button on his own. It whirred as it came to life, as if complaining about as little sleep as Yunho got.

"Morning," Yunho replied, stifling a yawn when their section chief stalked over to his table.

"Jeong," he greeted him with a smile that looked plastered on his stern face with a ton of tape. "Not as merry as usual this morning, I see. I received your e-mail last night at almost midnight."

There was a good stretch of time between nine and midnight, but Yunho accepted it. At least he had sent it to the right person.

"Was everything to your liking?"

His boss' smile thinned.

"I have yet to find out. Hopefully so, as I would hate to know my employees have to work until late at night to fix their mistakes." He strode off and Yunho rolled his eyes.

No, he didn't.

Seonghwa waited until he was gone before he leaned closer conspiratorially. The two succulents on his table sat next to a picture of his favourite Star Wars character.

"You stayed until midnight?" He whisper-yelled in shock, eyes as round as his glasses.

Yunho chuckled and reached into his bag to share the bag of candy he had brought with him. A well-balanced breakfast.

"Not that long, he exaggerates. Here, get up your blood sugar. It will be a long day."

Seonghwa gladly complied and suckled on his candy while he typed away. Yunho forced himself not to look at the clock too often. His thoughts kept straying to the store at the street's corner. He would have mistaken its peculiar appearance as a dream if the watch on his wrist didn't tick so dutifully.

During his coffee break, he texted his best friend, Hongjoong.

Lunch break together?

Hongjoong, ever an independent fashion designer who could take breaks whenever he wished in his own atelier, replied within a second.

Sure, where?

Meet me in the foyer of my workplace. I need to show you something.

With Hongjoong by his side, Yunho would gather up enough courage to thank the man from last night properly. He might even ask for his number, though Yunho couldn't tell if it was the unique atmosphere of the shop or if the mysterious man with the tattoos had enchanted him.

Since he looked forward to his break, it took forever to roll around. At least Hongjoong was already there when Yunho came down the stairs, ready to go with his wallet in his pocket.

Hongjoong looked eccentric as ever with his pastel unicorn hair that resembled the shine on the back of a CD. He wore a fashionably patterned oversized suit and platform boots that made him look gay, but nowhere as tall as Yunho.