✔︎𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 || 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐨

8. vintage music

Minho didn't remember falling asleep. He could only remember him entering the door and being surrounded by darkness. But after that, nothing. And yet, he found himself sleeping, his arms around his head that was apparently resting on a table while his body was sitting on what seemed like a chair.

He slowly raised his head, blinking a few times while his eyes got used to the strong lights in front of him. He looked around, and as he did, he realized he was now in a big room full of people. He didn't know how he got there from that little door in the land, but there he was. He was sitting on a long desk that looked like one of those you see in universities. And he soon realized he was actually in a university room.

Around him, sitting at their desks, many students were taking notes in their laptops or notebooks, while in front of him, a professor was explaining something that Minho found too difficult to understand. According to the powerpoint slides on the big monitor, it was probably anatomy or something like that.

Minho was now fully awake, and soon he started questioning himself why he was there and how he actually got in that room. But as soon as his head turned to his right, all his questions stopped popping in his head and he felt his heart skip a bit.

Right next to him, there was a young girl, she was quickly taking notes in her notebook, eyeing the professor from time to time. He recognized that girl immediately: her hair, her pink lips, her shiny eyes, it was Y/n, he was sure. But she wasn't dressed in the usual white dress from the land, she was actually wearing a pretty black skirt and a brown cardigan, a white shirt could be seen underneath it. She looked very cute in it, actually not just cute, she looked more mature and adult than usual, maybe also because of the serious way she was taking notes. He never saw her like that, and he couldn't help but blush at her beauty.

But he suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as he realized what was going on. It was Y/n, and she was in front of him, he had found her. As those words echoed in his head, he felt his body freeze, not knowing what to do now that she was actually in front of him, but talking to her was a good point to start, right?

He slowly opened his mouth, still looking at her with a shocked expression "Y/n..?" he asked almost whispering.

But she didn't seem to be bothered by her name being called. Actually it didn't seem like she had noticed him at all, she was probably too focused on the lesson to notice.

Minho got closer to her, gulping as his body was now a few inches from her "Y/n? It's me, Minho" he said again, louder this time.

He then brought his hand to her shoulder, but as it tried to land on it, he realized that it got through her body like she was made out of water. He quickly removed his hand, which now felt ice cold as he realized something: he couldn't touch her. It was almost like they were in two different words, she couldn't see or hear him, and he couldn't touch her.

Then, the words of the creature echoed in his head once again: 'she's trapped in her memories'. Is she? So is this Y/n's memory? If Minho was actually inside one of her memories, then that wasn't the real Y/n, it was just a memory. Minho sighed, but he should have known it wouldn't have been that easy. He looked again at the girl, who as expected didn't seem to be bothered by his presence.

Well, what was he supposed to do now?

Suddenly, a bell rang and all the students sighed in relief at that sound. The professor stopped talking, dismissing everyone from the lesson. Everyone then started packing all their stuff and a few of them got up and left in a hurry. Minho saw Y/n taking her white bag and putting her notebook and her pen inside of it, then she got up as well, but before she could do any more steps, a high-pitched voice called her name.

"Y/n!" the voice said.

Both Minho and Y/n looked at the source of the voice as they saw a long-haired girl dressed in a fancy and expensive dress. She had a big smile printed on her face, and she was coming closer to them.

"Hi bestie!" She said in a cheerful voice.

Y/n softly smiled back "Hi, Jieun" she said in her usual sweet voice "Someone got late to the lesson, uh?"

The girl slightly blushed "Yeah, I lost track of time" she said chuckling "Oh but, Y/n, do you want to come with us? We wanted to take a break at the coffee shop and then we wanted to study a little at the library. Or maybe go to the karaoke, we still have to decide". The girl said, Minho immediately got that she probably wasn't the most hard-working student.

Y/n bit her lips, losing her bright smile for a moment, but just for a moment.

"I'm sorry Jieun, but you know I have to go to work now" she said, not even trying to hide the fact that she really didn't want to go to work.

Jieun's smile suddenly dropped "Oh, that's right, you do have a job" she said sadly "But do you really have to? Isn't it already hard enough to be a med student? If you use your free time like this..."

"You know I need money. But don't worry, I will totally come to the karaoke with you next time, okay?" She said with a sweet smile.

The other girl hesitated a bit, but then she nodded, smiling as well "Alright, see you tomorrow, then".

Then Jieun turned her back to her and walked away. Y/n looked at her for a while, then she sighed, taking her bag and leaving as well. Minho froze on the spot for a second, questioning what he was supposed to do right now, but then he simply decided to follow her. He didn't have anywhere else to go, anyway.

He followed the girl for about ten minutes, she sure walked fast, turning the corners of those Seoul streets. But finally, she stopped right in front of a small shop. It looked like a music shop, with CDs, vinyl and vintage musical instruments displayed in the shop windows. Y/n pushed the door, as a bell rang right above her head. Minho followed her inside the shop, It had that punk vibe that those music shops from the early 80s held, the walls and the furniture were black and everywhere vintage music posters were decorating the room. Displayed, there were thousands of vinyl and CDs Minho had never seen, he assumed it was all pretty vintage in there.

"I'm here!" Y/n screamed as she put her bag on the counter.

Right after that, a man around his 30s popped up from the back room of the shop. He was wearing all black with a slight touch of red, he was covered by tattoos and a few piercings as well, and he had long black hair that almost reached his shoulders, but that he kept tied in a ponytail. He was really good looking.

As he saw her, his face suddenly lighted up "Oh Y/n! I was waiting for you, how are you?" He asked, taking a box full of CDs from the back room to the shelves.

"I'm good, still trying to recover from that endless lesson. What about you?" She sweetly answered.

The guy chuckled "I'm fine! I ordered some new things, wanna see?" He said taking out of the box some stuff.

Y/n got closer, looking curious at the box, then her face suddenly lighted up.

"No way, are those limited edition vinyl from The Velvet Underground?!" She said, not even trying to hide the excitement in her voice.

The guy looked at her proudly "They sure are".

"And is this the illustration Andy Warhol made for their album!?" she said even more excited, pointing at one of the vinyl.

"How you like that?"

Y/n kept looking at them amazed "Those are wonderful, how much did you pay for those?"

The guy chuckled "The right question is 'how much are people gonna pay for those?'".

Y/n took one vinyl in her hands "Amazing..." she whispered.

Minho didn't know what was going on, he wasn't a fan of old music, but only the sight of the girl being so hyped was enough for him to let out a small smile. She looked even prettier when she was excited.

"Come on, we shall put those on the shelves" the guy said.

And with that, Y/n's long shift started.