scented

two

words of comfort skilfully administered
are the oldest therapy
known to men ; louis nizer

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

"thank you and have a nice day!" the last customer, or so he thought, stepped out of the store and mark sank into the cushioned swivel chair behind the counter, revelling in the softness of the seat. listening to the soft pitter-patter of the rain against the glass windows, he had just closed his eyes to take a power nap when the bell rang, signalling that another customer had stepped in. his eyes fluttered open and they almost pop out of his head when he realises who it was.

the pretty boy from a few days ago came back. dressed in his school uniform and thick army green jacket, which mark recognised the school logo as his alma mater, he now had a pair of round, black-rimmed spectacles perched on his high nose bridge and was slightly damp from the light drizzle outside.

"hello, welcome back to the chandlery. how may i help you today," mark glanced at the boy's name-tag, which was sewn neatly onto the left pocket on his school shirt, "mr park?"

"just leave me alone."

slightly taken aback by the harshness of his words, mark stood behind the counter, his eyes widening ever so slightly. he watches as the boy he now knew as park jinyoung, manoeuvre his way towards the shelves labelled 'weather', his quick and light footsteps the only sound heard in the warm and fragrant store.

suddenly, a bright flash of lightning brightened the slightly dim store and before mark could process what was happening, loud, harsh thunder rumbled its way through the glass doors of the store, interrupting the peace. out of fright, mark pressed both his hands to his ears and slid down the wall behind the counter, pulling his knees up. mark wondered if jinyoung was as scared as he was. the latter clearly wasn't afraid, for a pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around mark's shoulders, pulling mark into his surprisingly soothing embrace, considering his greeting earlier when he first stepped into the store minutes ago.

"there, there. it's okay," jinyoung rubbed mark's back gently and comforted him with calm words, "you won't get hurt okay?"

"o-okay-" mark hiccuped once, twice before lifting his off jinyoung's shoulder. "i'm sorry you had to see that," mark felt the heat rise to his cheeks and he lowered his head back to the heated wooden floor as he continued speaking, "it's usually worse, but thank you for comforting me."

"hey, it's nothing to be embarrassed for. i'm sorry for my behaviour earlier. you can just call me jinyoung." soft fingers lifted mark's chin, and he came face to face with the stunning raven-haired boy. feeling slightly shy under jinyoung's gaze, mark stood up and offered a hand to jinyoung, who took it without hesitation.

"i'm mark and your apology will not be accepted till you buy one of the candles from the weather shelves. i saw you looking at calm thunderstorms for quite a while, do you want it? and your membership? i'll let you have it at thirty dollars because you helped me."

"okay," a small smile painted his face, "mark."

a full-fledged smile, teeth and dimples, graced his features as he replayed the cute employee's name over and over in his head.

mark. damn, even his name is cute.