Coffee Shop Soundtrack. [ Xiumin/Kim Minseok x OC]

Chapter Five: Namsan Tower [Part 2]

"Locks? Why is there a whole store for locks?" I asked, peering into the mentioned shop with wide, curious eyes. The walls, and even little tables, were filled to the brim with tons and tons of locks. Not those prissy diary locks, either, I meant those heavy duty, can't-be-broken, locks.

"It's kind of a tradition," Minseok explained, laughing at my reaction, "I'm suprised you haven't heard of it." He ushered me towards the back, claiming that the best ones were always in the back. I giggled, shaking my head in mock exasperation. The back wall was covered with little packages holding locks of different colors and shapes, as well as mini permanent markers.

Minseok gestured for me to pick one, while grabbing one of his own: a medium-sized, green lock. I nodded, quickly choosing a small, light blue lock. We bought them (Minseok pestered me for days later, as I hadn't let him pay for mine) and left the store, heading up the hill and to the tower.

"Oh, so that's what you do with all the locks," I murmured to myself, eyes widening at the sight before me.

Thousands and thousands of lockets, all different sizes, colors, and shapes lined the steel walls on the edge of the bridge; I subconsciously clutched my own lock tightly in my hand. Minseok laughed, taking my wrist gently and guiding me to the wall of color.

I looked up at him curiously; how did he expect to be able to fit the lock on the fence? It was practically hidden by all the little trinkets. When I asked him this, he shrugged, taking my lock and hooking it to his, wasting no time in clasping it to another lock that was already attached to the fence. 

Pulling out his marker, he scribbled his name onto his lock before standing and passing it to me and moving out of the way. I copied his actions, writing my own name onto my locket, not bothering to write it in hangul because I was so used to writing it in English. I got up and handing the marker back to Minseok, our fingertips brushing each other. 

We took a step back, admiring all the locks that surrounded them, most of them having loving words written on them. They were beautiful, really, and butterflies erupted in my stomach at the realization that Minseok wanted to share this beauty with me.

I glanced up at the sky, the moon and all the little stars staring back. It must've been at least midnight; the crowds of both tourists and locals had begun to slowly disperse some time ago. Now, all that remained were a few couples (some of them making out as if their lives depended on it) and some specks of people here and there. But no Mia. 

I looked over at Minseok, only to find him staring back at me with those adorable doe eyes, his lips pursed as if he were concentrating. I jumped out of my reverie and blushed, looking down.

"It's getting late. Wanna head back down?" He asked. I blinked up at him for a moment, processing what he had said.

"Oh, yeah, sure! Mia and her friends should be waiting down there."

He nodded, "Hopefully Tao and Jongdae and there, too."

And so we began to descend from the tower, taking the dreaded escalator/evelator thing that led us up a few hours before. It was completely empty, save for, of course, Minseok and I. 

"Um.. Hey, Minseok?"

He hummed in reply, smiling down at me.

"Why'd we have to write our names on our lockets?" I asked. In truth, I was completely confused about the whole concept of putting locks all over a bridge; there had to be some sort of story behind it.

Minseok gaped at me for a moment, clearing his throat as he averted his gaze. His cheeks were tinged pink, and my confusion only grew.

"U-Uh, I dunno, everyone just does it. It's, um, a big tourist attraction," he stuttered and scratched his cheek, not making eye contact. I smiled and rolled my eyes, not believing him, but not pressing the matter further.

 "Well, I'm glad we got to hang out tonight. N-Not that I'm happy to have separated from Mia and all her friends, but, I'm glad you were there," I spoke, a smile playing on my lips. His blush only darked and he pressed his forehead against the cool glass, only causing me to laugh at his antics.

"You really are something, Kim Minseok." He looked at me from over his shoulder, smiling with an emotion in his eyes that I couldn't describe.

"So are you, Audrey."

"Oh my god, what happened between you and--wait, the barista from earlier?" Mia whispered, acting as if Minseok was right behind her.

In actuality, we were back at her house; Mia and her friends had been waiting for me as I got off the elevator, and they immediately barraged me with questions like "where were you?", "did you talk to any strangers?". But as Minseok caught their attention by walking over and wishing me a goodnight, (only to catch up with Zitao and Jongdae--they had been waiting up for him as well) their queries shifted to the romantic side.

We eventually split up, Mia and I going one way and her friends going another. And now here we were, in Mia's bedroom. 

"Nothing's going on, Mia. He just found me after we got separated and we hung out for a little while, that's all," I tried to persuade her, but she wasn't having it.

"Yeah," she said, disbelieveingly, "and what did you do?" I smiled and rolled my eyes at her.

"Well, we just walked around and talked for a little bit," my mind went back to his story about his friend, Luhan, and I frowned for a moment, "and then we put locks on this bridge for some reason. It was really fun, but I don't know why people--"

"--wait. You what?" Mia asked increduously.

"Huh? We just.. put locks up on a bridge?"

She squealed, grabbing my hands and squeezing them a little too tight, "do you know what that means?" 

"Um, no?" I said, confused but still laughing a bit at my friend, who was acting more than a little crazy.

"Only couples put locks up there! And they say that if you do, then you'll be together forever!" 

Oh.

Oh. 

I screeched, the back of my neck heating up. I was sure I looked like a tomato. 

Mia sang, "you're gonna be together forever~" 

"B-But we're not dating!"

"It doesn't matter~"

"Mia!"

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I am so sorry for not updating in so long! I had a bit of writers block otl 

but I'm all good and back to writing, so prepare urself for some angst in later chapters >:^))