#mark lee au

[1:21 pm]

mark has a habit of hugging you at random times. you don’t mind though, seeing how happy he is each time he wraps his arms around you.

☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au mark
happy birthday mr. lee | find others here: johnny|haechan|taeil |taeyong 

• it’s your first day at work and so everything has to go wrong 
• your manager is half ready to fire you by lunchtime, only because you’ve managed to knock over half a display of books, incorrectly wring up a customer, AND for some reason can’t shelve as fast as expected 
• all things you are embarrassed of, but are promising - nearly begging - that you’ll get better at
• this is your first summer job, you need the experience 
• your manager grits their teeth, mumbles something about how they’ve never seen someone cause so much havoc in a bookstore - thank god this isn’t a restaurant or you would have accidentally spilled hot coffee on someone too
• they wave you off, tell you to go fix that display you clobbered and you brighten up, turning on your heel
• just to come face to face with a boy, unfamiliar, and wide-eyed
• he’s wearing the bookstores uniform and blinks twice before springing into a smile
• “hey, im mark!” 
  
• you mumble out a greeting as he takes your hand to shake. his smile is so bright, it nearly causes you to bump into another shelf
• which mark realizes quickly enough as to outstretch his hand and support your elbow before you go tumbling
• “sorry!” you squeak “im a bit of a klutz,,,,”
  
• he grins, his teeth show and you’re reminded of the way newborn kittens look when they’re yawning
• “no sweat, i am too!”
  
• the bookstore you work in is small, and you’re not exaggerating when you compare it to the size of a tightly compact closet - tucked neatly between a larger cafe with a backyard garden and a tailors shop thats been closed all summer long
• at first you don’t really understand why it needs two employees, but then you look at the schedule and see that mark’s position isn’t the same as yours
• in fact, he’s the delivery boy for people who place orders to the store
• it’s confirmed once again when you see him riding down the street on a beat up, but loved yellow bike that he chains to a stop sign outside the nearby cafe
• he waves at you when he comes inside, you shyly avert your eyes back to sweeping the front steps of the store
• but when he walks past, you smell the same scent on him that hasn’t changed in the two weeks you’ve been here
• a mix of raindrops on forest leaves, blueberries, and general airiness you’ve never really encountered before
• his rucksack is filled to the brim with books wrapped in brown paper, and rolls of magazines and newspapers
• his white converse slowly get scuffed as the days of summer roll on by
• and your heart also grows softer for him too
• you think it mainly starts when mark comes in early about halfway through summer and starts helping you sort the shelves
• you didn’t ask him to do so, he just decided he would 
• and you two silently work side by side, until mark gets the courage to start humming to himself too
• at some point, he starts singing under his breath too, it’s a song you know so you join him at some point mid chorus
• and he turns to you with sparkling eyes
• “you like this song?”
  
• “it’s one of my favorites!”
  
• he reaches out to high-five you, and you feel your cheeks get hot when he takes a hold of your hand in his palm when you touch
• the next day, he comes in early again and this time hands you one of his earphones 
• you both look over your shoulders to make sure the manager is slacking off in the back, before mark turns on his playlist
• and you two just enjoy the music - shelving books - and exchanging glances when you hear any shuffling noises from the stock room
• see that’s how it start - and then comes along the lunch breaks 
• you eat earlier than mark, simply since you work the morning and he only comes around in the afternoons
• but you move from eating in the back to eating on the corner of the cafe, as mark leans up against his bike and reads through the orders he has to deliver
• “ah - another order for jung jaehyun”
  
• “oh! i know him!”
  
• you perk up and mark tries hard to hide the slight disappointment in his voice because you just sound so,,,,,,,,,excited
• “o-oh is he - is he your -”
  
• he almost wobbles right over his bike chain
• “your boyfriend?”
  
• you laugh, shaking your head - “no! no, i know him from class. he’s not my type at all.”
• mark looks like he wants to ask what you type is but you check your watch and jump up, your thirty minutes are up!
• “do you want my dessert?”
  
• you drop some taffy in his palm and rush back to the store without waiting for an answer
• mark stares down at the candies and grins to himself. 
• ah, well if jaehyun’s not their type than maybe someone more like me…….
• one of the servers from the cafe, a boy around you and mark’s age, jungwoo befriends you 
• coming out during lunch to share whatever the cafe might have as specials, usually savory rolls and iced drinks
• you three group around mark’s bike until you’re called back to work 
• and one afternoon, jungwoo asks mark just as you once again rush back to the store
• “are you two dating?”
  
• “what!”
  
• mark’s ears go cherry red
• “huh, well it’s just you look at them like they’re -”
  
• jungwoo puts his hand under his chin and then snaps his fingers
• “ah! like they’re your whole world!”
  
• mark tells him that’s NOT true, and he makes jungwoo swear not to mention it when you come around
• but it doesn’t stop him from thinking about you for days after without stop
• you’re thinking about him too
• with every bookmark you place in a customers bag, with every display you set up, with every new shipment you carry into the back
• you just ,,,,,,,,,,,, want to see mark - and when he comes through the door - it’s like the bleak, sticky summer day turns refreshing and colorful
• finally, just as the summer season creeps closer and closer to fall
• you find yourself alone outside the store and mark is coming back from his last delivery
• “is the manager gone?”
  
• “yep, he asked me to lock up!”
  
• you dangle the keys and mark leans his bike against the little bench outside the shop window
• “hey, before you do - i need to get something inside.”
  
• “ok!”
  
• you open the door, the bell at the top softly jingles through the darkness
• you and mark go inside and he weaves his way through the books and behind the counter
• he rummages around and you lean over to see what he’s looking for
• just as he pops back up, his hoodie in one hand - he realizes you two are inches apart now
• your upper body leaned over the counter and his slim figure on the otherside of it
• even in the darkness, he can make the outline of your features
• and he wonders if you can see how red he’s gotten
• your mind is empty of thoughts because you two can make out his features
• his handsome jawline, his doe-eyes, his almost jealousy inducing long and pretty eyelashes
• you close your eyes first and mark swallows down the rock in his throat as he leans over
• his hoodie drops back to the floor and his hands shake so he holds the corner of the counter as his lips press gently against yours
• it’s sweet, it’s perfect, but - it’s short
• because the door opens again and you both break away in terror - only to see jungwoo in the frame
• “huh, i thought the shop was close- oh am i interrupting something?”
  
• you and mark both shout a definite, “no”, that actually sounds more suspicious than either of you mean it to
• jungwoo’s laugh echoes as he closes the door behind him and adds a, “ok suuuuuuuure”
• when you step back out into the summer night with mark at your side - you’re both too shy to look at the other
• but your hands brush and mark’s pinkie locks on yours
• it’s quiet, the busy street silent as every business is closed and the bustling crowds are at home to escape the humidity 
• “do you want a ride home?”
  
• you turn and find mark’s already looking at you, his eyes warm under the street lamps that flicker on the ends of the curbsides
• “sure, but - how will we both fit on your bike?”
  
• you feel wobbly, but mark assures you you’ll be fine, his bike might look old but she runs like a charm
• and with that he kicks off the stand and starts peddling, you on the back where his rucksack usually sits full of books
• you’re still unsure so you wrap your hands around his waist and mark makes a small noise he’s happy you don’t seem to hear
• he bikes you home in the comforting silence of a dawning night
• when he drops you off outside your house, you don’t get off for a second - head buried in his back
• “mark?”
  
• you whisper
• “hmm?”
  
• “will you kiss me goodnight too?”
  
• now, all these years later, that old bike is broken and somewhere in the attic 
• as are those uniforms from the bookshop, mark’s hoodie that he left with you that night, and the photo you took on your last day of work
• you and mark are holding each others hands and grinning, the manager is barely managing a grimace, somehow jungwoo is even in the photo
• you think one afternoon that you should go get that photo and frame it, it’ll look so nice next to you and mark’s wedding photo
• mark turns to you and agrees, maybe he’ll get that bike down too so he can fix it up 
• and you two can take another ride, just like you used to, all those years ago