My Candy Addicted Dentist || MEANIE ● WONMIN

|mingyu_03|

It's been almost 1 year since I started managing this branch myself. I wanted to lessen my desk work and had asked to switch with one of the branch managers in a different city. Meeting different people was more of my alley than having to sit at an office all day.

Being at the shop was very fulfilling as I got to be productive and at the same time meet new people each day. This business that I own has been passed down from my parents. Their love for candy was so immense that they actually studied how to make some just to breed that love into a booming business in the future. I don't hate sweets, but I don't particularly eat them as much as people think I do. I actually am not much of a fan of it now that I think hard. But seeing the joy that these sweets could bring to people was enough for me to love them as well.

Although it's been almost a year since I worked here, it's actually only been 3 months since I worked the night shift. The customers that came at night were different from the ones that came in the morning. They tend to be more tired and slow. They usually come by to purchase a "pick-me-up" after an exhausting day at work or an intense study session at the nearby private institute. So typically, customers at this hour are more likely drained students and burned-out employees.

The day of my first night shift I immediately took a liking to one of the customers here. Apparently he was a regular and has been coming almost every night to buy bundles of sweets. Unlike the other customers that seemed a bit jaded when looking around, he on the other hand, looked very happy while he scanned through the items in the shop. The mask he was wearing wasn't enough to hide the rising cheeks and crescent moons he was making.

He came to me to ring his items up. Seeing him up close, I could tell that he was good looking despite the fact that his mask was covering half of his face. His eyelashes were long, and his hair was pitch black. He looked fit and his pale skin really made his hair look even darker. I packed his items and took a mental note as to what he just bought just in case I have to restock them again.

"Do you smoke?"

I looked up to him who was fiddling with his wallet, rather confused as to how he knew.

"Your lips are chapped and your gums look too red to be considered healthy. I just asked so don't think too much about it. Here's the payment."

"ahh---no it's fine here's your bag, enjoy your night."

He gave me a slight nod and left.

That night I smoked my last cigarette and ate my first lollipop in a long while.

The next nights he came, I continued to study him even more carefully. I haven't seen him without his mask yet and we've never really talked after that one time during the first night shift I worked. I saw him one time crossing the street from the other side of the road to get here, which means he likely works or lives in that direction or something. He always buys bundles of sweets and never in minimal amounts. He never chooses the same things and buys different candies every night. When he paces around the store, he hums happily as he stack more candy in his basket. He also never forgets to place a tip in the tip jar at the register. My interest for this man grew more and more with each passing night that he came. I finally gathered enough courage to talk to him again.

"Have you tried our new arrivals?"

He furrowed his brows in confusion as he tilted his head to the side.

"I didn't see anything new though. Where are they displayed?"

"They're still at the back, if you want I could get them for you."

He paused for a few moments contemplating whether to check it out or not.

"Sure, why not."

I quickly ran to the back and gathered all the new arrivals that I could find and went back to the register.

"We haven't had the time to clear some space for these so we had them stored at the back for now."

He scanned the candies with such seriousness enough to make me chuckle.

"Anything funny?" he glared at me with his piercing eyes.

"No, I didn't mean to laugh at you I ju---"

"Is this too much of an unusual sight? A full grown man enjoying sweets?" he looked back at the sweets indifferently.

At this point I was breaking a sweat trying to ease the tension that I stupidly made by accident.

"Not at all. I like sweets myself. So I completely understand." I lied.

He never looked back at me and went to grab his wallet.

"I'll take them all, how much is it?"

I scanned the items and bagged them. I just blew my chance to talk to him. All that work just went down the drain, I thought to myself.

"Thank you by the way for the recommendation. Have a good night."

He left before I could even say good night back. I was happy that he didn't seem to be mad at me, but I was still disappointed that I couldn't have a proper conversation with him.

Months passed by and not only did I have my first "maybe" gay crush but also my first tooth ache in a long while....