{ 𝙈𝘼𝙕𝙀 𝙊𝙁 𝙅𝙅𝘼𝙈 🍓 𝙎𝙆𝙕 }

1.

Minho rarely walked through the darker and more secluded parts of the city. For today, and most likely the next few days, his usual route between home and work was blocked off by some construction work, so he had to take a different path.

The detour had lead Minho near an isolated little shop with a sign that told him the place sold jam. The sign itself looked almost out of place since it was so nice, while the building itself was a bit less than pretty. The location of the small store was a bit odd, but the place actually seemed quite normal as the autumn sun's rays graced the less-than-perfect building.

Out of curiosity, Minho entered the shop, and was immediately greeted by a brightly smiling boy behind a counter, who introduced himself as Jeongin. Nothing more was said by either of them as Minho paced further into the little store. He would have described the boy as fox-like with his features, and his eyes looked like they were made only for him to smile just as vibrantly as he did. If given a color for his personality upon first impression, Minho would most likely assign to him some sort of a bright yellow. Almost too bright, but Minho decided, out of politeness, to ignore that.

There were so many shelves in such a small building that it seemed impossible. Minho scanned the large arrays of jars, which held jams of many different flavors. Each jar seemed to have a hand-written label, and the letters were neat and easy to read.

The options ranged from basic, simple flavors such as strawberry or blackberry, to ones Minho had never even seen or heard of. He wasn't even going to try pronouncing the words on some of the lables, no matter how beautifully the letters had been inked onto the blank stickers.

A sudden crash of shattering glass startled Minho and made him jump, followed by the oozing of the broken jar's contents spilling onto the surprisingly smooth tile floor.

"Don't worry about that, San's just a ghost who likes to startle new customers for fun. He's actually quite friendly!" Jeongin called from the counter where he sat, still smiling just as brightly as before.

After a few minutes of browsing the shop's nearly overwhelming selection of flavors, Minho settled on a simple jar of raspberry jam and, ignoring the fact that the texture looked like none he had seen before, he went to the counter to pay.

When Minho left the small store, the sun was lower in the sky than before he had entered the jam shop. He continued on his way home, a strange feeling soon washing over him. It was something he couldn't exactly place, but he felt like something or someone was calling him, pulling him back to that store. However, he resisted the temptation to turn back, quickening his pace as the sky began to grow darker at the November hours of sunset.

By the time Minho came across the jam shop the next day after work, the sun was much lower in the sky due to the near winter, though its beams still managed to pour down onto the isolated streets Minho walked through. At this time of year, the sun dragged its feet even slower every morning on its way into the sky, and the moon grew more impatient for its turn to illuminate each night.

Just the same as yesterday, Jeongin greeted Minho with an almost-too-bright smile as the customer ambled over towards the plethora of jam jars, all lined up carefully in the same places as the day before.

This time, when a jar seemed to fly on its own from the shelf, Minho easily caught it and put it carefully back into its place. He was ready to catch another when he saw a flash of movement in the corner of his eye, but no jar fell. He just assumed it was nothing as he allowed his gaze to sweep along the many different choices once more, eventually landing on a jar of strawberry jam.

That same feeling from the day before returned while Minho was making his way home, but this time it was stronger, a longing for something he couldn't quite comprehend. Something about that shop was odd. In the back of his mind, there was a constant thought of returning after each visit. And it only grew stronger every time.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to satisfy this feeling of addictive curiosity. Maybe he would answer the call this time.

But surely he wouldn't be allowed in if the store was closed? It was dark outside now after all, and he doubted the place would still be open.

Once again, he decided against the idea and hurried home, as if running from the place would make the strange attraction go away.