VR - Virtual Reality [STRAY KIDS FF] ✔️

13. CD

A bell over my head jingles as I open the door of a new music store. I've waited for the hype about its opening to die out so I could browse the shop in peace and not get pushed around by overly-hyped teenage girls.

When the door closed, a young male came from the back of the store, carrying a couple of big boxes in his arms.

"Welcome," he mutters behind the boxes, his face still not visible to me.

"Do you need help?" I ask and he almost stumbles and drops the restock at the sound of my voice.

"Ah, no..." The man finally stops and lowers the cargo at his feet, a smile appearing on his soft-looking boyish face. "Hello." He finally says, catching his breath. "Can I help you with anything in particular?"

I smile. "First, congrats on opening a store," he nods as my eyes skim over the empty shelves. "I see the business started well." The man shrugs in modesty.

"Second..." I turn after reading all the labels above the shelves, finding the one I need. "What K-pop albums do you currently have?"

I step to the half-empty shelf, different albums of girl groups on display.

"Ah..." He steps behind me warily. "Almost all boy groups are sold out. We're expecting a restock to arrive in two weeks but... Please wait!"

He runs off to the back again and returns with a bigger box than the two he previously carried. He opens it, taking different albums to show me.

"I'm sorry that all BTS albums were sold out but... We have some albums from Seventeen, Enhypen, Ateez, ..." He crouches down to take some more, "Then, if you like the older, we have Exo, GOT7, Day6, Monsta X, ..."

I put my hand up and he stops.

"I was looking for 3RACHA. They just released a special album with their old and new songs after years of silence."

"Ah..." The boy's face shows concern and he avoids my eyes, going to place the albums he had in his hands on the shelf. "We... Never had them in stock, sorry."

His previous excitement is replaced with sadness.

"Oh, okay..." I step away to observe the shelves with international artists.

The silence between us is filled with the distant melody of a random song playing from the laptop on the counter.

"Hey," I turn back at the boy, giving him my name. "I live in the neighborhood so if you ever restock the new 3RACHA album, please reserve one on my name."

My smile makes him push a small smile too and he nods, stepping closer to me and offering me his hand.

"I'm Jisung, the owner of this small shop."

I take his hand and feel his soft handshake. "Nice to meet you."

We pull away and the silence emerges again.

"Well... I'll get going but," I pull my business card from my purse and hand it to him. "You have my number there so call me after the restock. I'll come again, check out the stuff, and possibly buy something."

"A veterinarian listening to K-pop?" Jisung looks up at me again after taking in my info from the card.

I chuckle and shrug. "There are fans of so many different profiles, you'd be surprised. My mentor is actually a big Twice fan." I glance at the shelf where the group's album is placed. "Maybe I'll buy her one for her birthday... Though I think she already has all."

"I'll definitely restock the older ones too so do your research about what she's missing and it's a winning birthday gift."

"Yeah. Goodbye, for now, Jisung."