Chapter Text
So (name) found a job yet?”
You scowled in response.
"Hey, have you found a girlfriend yet?”
“You answer first,” your fiery red-head friend said.
“I’m going to say no for my answer,” you said, rolling your eyes. “And I’m going to assume it’s a no for you too,” you smirked.
"Oi, I’m just asking because no one’s called me back yet, and I’d rather die than work in the dining hall all semester,” he said, swirling his spoon in his brightly colored sundae.
Ace Trappola was one of your five friends you talked to on a regular basis, mostly because you all attended the same prestigious college on Sage’s island, unintentionally forming the “freshman group” some people nicknamed in lectures.
Being the oldest out of the group and the only "ma'am,” you practically kept the group knitted together.
You and him were the first two of the friends from your group to arrive at your usual hangout spot, a diner tucked away next to the docks and piers, with various boats lining the way.
Epel had said he and Jack were almost there, while Duece wasn’t going to arrive until later, after his interview wrapped up on the other side of the harbor. Sebek wasn’t here yet, but knowing him, he was probably still asleep and would come rushing in 20 minutes later, cursing Silver's name for not waking him up on time.
"Well, it seems like we gotta do another walk around the pier today,” you declared to no one in particular.
Ace looked over at you with the shit-eating grin he always had when he had a remark in mind.
“Maybe they’ll take pity on us if you say you're a single mom,” Ace cheekily said.
“I know you were screwing around, but I think that might be my next sales pitch.”.
Defeated, you looked out the window, absentmindedly eating a crispy fry from the blue basket in front of the both of you.
However, before you could look out and daydream while watching the same ten seagulls glare at you from outside the rope-lined pier, a blur of green and blue passed your line of sight.
Confused about what you had just seen, you looked out the window towards the entrance of the diner to see Jack and Epel casually walking in from the left side of the diner, opposite from where the flash of green was charging at an immense speed.
Then you heard the crash.
Ace finally caught on to what just happened, but you were still trying to figure out how fast Deuce and Sebek were running to knock Jack completely over into a decorated potted plant near the entrance of the diner.
“I WON THAT ONE DEUCE; LOOK, MY FOOT IS OVER THE ENTRANCE THRESHOLD,” your green-haired friend huffed, scrambling to get up.
Deuce, however, was completely flustered, realizing he was sprawled over Epel, who looked at the two of them with a huff.
“Epel, are you okay?” Your beastman friend said it aloud, pushing the loud green-haired boy off of him.
“Yeah, let’s just get inside before we have to pay for the damages,” Epel told the three of them, getting up.
The delightful shipyard bell above the door signaled the rest of your group's arrival.
Of course, looking over to Ace, you could tell he was already cooking up a fierce roast to throw at Deuce and Sebek as they quickly took their seats at the circular booth you and Ace were sitting at.
Feeling the violent shift in the red pleather from the weight of Jack and Sebek taking their seats first before Epel and Duece squeezed into their usual spots at the end of the booth, leaving you and Ace sitting together as usual.
“So what in the otome was up with that?” Ace teased
“I’m pretty sure there was going to be an overlay of pink cherry blossoms over Epel and Jack, with a dialogue box popping up over that scene outside,” he giggled.
“I’d say you should ask those two; we were just walking when we got trampled.” Jack gestured towards Sebek and Deuce.
“He started it! I was just running from the heartslaybul dorm when Sebek started to run after me, charging me,” Duece wined before grabbing a fry from the basket and rubbing his elbows.
“I WAS SIMPLY TRYING TO CATCH UP TO YOU, BUT YOU KEPT RUNNING PAST ME,” Sebek said with his usual booming voice.
For a moment, you all bantered, catching up with each other since you had all been on break after the spring semester ended.
But with the summer semester starting up again, you all reunited last week on the mostly empty campus.
"Oh, right before we get too distracted, did anyone find a job yet?” You said.
Everyone around the table sighed.
“No”
"Okay, I guess we can safely say what we’re going to do after lunch,” you sighed.
“TO BE FAIR, I HEARD FROM SILVER THAT THERE ARE JOBS OFF CAMPUS,” Sebek once again yelled to you all, causing Epel to cover his ear.
"Yeah, but not at the pier; I don’t want to work on a farm anymore,” Epel said, twirling his hair with a perfectly manicured nail. “Vil would never let me live that one down if he found out,” he sighed.
Just as soon as all of your banter began, it silenced once the waitress came around to get everyone’s order before retreating back to the kitchen.
"Well, I mean, there’s still 14 more days until our deadline; who knows, maybe there might be more jobs today,” you enthusiastically announced, trying to motivate your friends.
They all still remained unmotivated, however, until Duece spoke up.
"Yeah, that is true (name). The summer carnival is coming up soon, around the middle of the month. We can get guaranteed jobs then." Duece then proceeded to reach towards the basket of fries in the middle of the table.
Of course, Ace quickly pushed the basket to the side, leaving poor Deuce to just grab the air where the fry would be.
“H-hey!” Duece exclaimed, staring down at Ace, who was now passing the fries to everyone at the table except for Duece.
You knew today was going to be the start of an eventful summer day with your friends compared to last semester.
-
The walk down the longest pier on the island was becoming more and more familiar to the five of you all.
Ace leading the group, followed by Duece and Sebek, who follow close behind the bright, vermillion-haired boy, with Jack and Epel behind those two in front of you, close to the end of the group.
So far, it seemed there were more for hire signs out today, which you all went to eagerly fill out the applications or take a break from the heat to fill out online applications on your phones.
“Hey ace Haven’t we already been down this way today?” Duece spoke up, looking around at the surrounding colorful stalls.
"Yeah, we have, but you never know, maybe the churro stand might be hiring,” Ace said, looking off towards the horizon.
“She’s not interested, Ace,” Epel replied softly.
Ace abruptly stops almost tripping duece, and Sebek following far too close behind the stunned boy.
“How would you know, Epel?”
Epel made a sly expression in response.
“Because I banged her last night,” he casually threw out.
"Yeah, and I banged your mom last night, and she wasn’t interested at first,” Ace wiped at his nose.
The laughter and “oh snaps” that erupted from the boys in front of you was blusterous. You could only stand there thinking about how Epel had walked into that one; everyone knew saying anything to the fast-thinking Ace was literal suicide unless you beat him to the punch.
As you took the opportunity to take the lead of the group, you were faced with a crossroad You called it on the sprawling pier as you kept walking ahead.
You had all been up and down the straight path of the creaky,hole-ridden path leading to the end of the entertainment district of the pier.
However, there was a left path of pier leading to the street that had old buildings lined up that you don’t think you’d ever walked towards, or at least never really paid any attention to.
As you walked down the street, you could see the contrast from the weathered wooden scape that was the pier to the rustic, whimsical coastal buildings lined with various boutiques, restaurants, and residential buildings, all in unique shapes but mostly in the same weathered red and sun-faded blue.
But as you strolled along, a building like none other you’ve seen on the street appeared before you.
A two-story building between an abandoned lot and a tourist gift shop seemed to be one of the original buildings that were built here since Sages Island was founded. It had what you’d call a Victorian Seashell aesthetic going on, being a dusty lavender color either from the sun hitting the paint for so many years or just needing a new paint job on the entire outdoor building.
Your eyes next followed the side of the building, where a big sign was hanging on the side of the window in the shape of a clam shell with a pearl in the middle and neon lights lining the design.
“The Antique Pearl” was what the sign letters said as you got closer to the building on the street.
Remembering your group of friends, you turned to look around for your friends to make sure they were following behind.
They were a considerable distance from you, seemingly going back to their previous roast session they had started while you were busy looking at the building.
Walking up to the building, briskly closing the distance between the buildings, and passing an ally where a lonesome black-railed staircase led up to the business that was above the shop, you finally reached the storefront window.
You expected to see a display in the window, but instead were greeted with a look into the actual interior of the place.
Racks and racks of various sizes and lengths were littered around the cool blue-toned lighting, and the various clothes were packed tightly together like sardines in a can.
You looked towards the wall, which was a circular rack. The clothes seemed to catch your eye, but suddenly the back of a man was seen blocking the particular patch of clothes you were about to examine.
Normally you wouldn’t think much about it, but the way this particular man looked and dressed was definitely different.
He wore a pristine, crisp white dress shirt with black and purple suspenders holding his dark dress pants. His hair was as silver as a full moon, giving him an ethereal look. It was styled in a neatly trimmed undercut, from what you could tell.
To you, he was incredibly handsome; despite just seeing the backside of him, you could tell his face was probably as defined as his back looked.
A chill arose from your back, causing you to shake. It was very out of place since it had to be at least 33 degrees Celsius outside under the June sun.
Looking around to see if you were maybe in the shade to verify why the sudden drop in temperature was only met with no rational answer.
You thought to yourself that it might be anemia, looking back at the man you assumed was an employee.
He was now standing still, stopping his task of presumably hanging clothes. Ever so haltingly, his head turned towards the window you were staring in from.
Crap you must have been checking him out for too long, worriedly thought.
As much as you wanted to back away and run back to the pier where your friends were probably looking for you, a force was the best way you could describe it; it kept you firmly planted in place in front of the window you were peeking through.
Maybe fear? Maybe curiosity kept you there to see the handsome strangers full face.
Distinctly, the first thing you noticed was his very beautiful side profile, a very boxy-like jawline giving him a very masculine, mature look, making you assume he had to be in his twenties if not older than you, a pair of glasses framing his face, and his unmistakable aquamarine eyes highlighting his recessive features.
You weren’t sure how long you sat there staring at this poor random employee, but he didn’t look annoyed at you staring at him. In the moment, you couldn’t place exactly what the expression was, but it felt like he was trying to figure out if you were staring at him or not. Just as gradual of a time he took to turn around, he twinkled a grin across his pretty lips, revealing what you think was a beauty mark placed on the left side of his chin.
Trying to contain the wildfire of blush running wild on your cheeks, you gave him a polite smile back.
Yeah, I'm so getting the cops called on me.
Unfortunately, before you could soak the image of the man into your memory, a sudden hand was placed on your bare shoulders.
Gasping quickly, you were greeted by someone who wasn’t your friend but strangely looked familiar.
He was tall with teal hair, and one strand of black hair lazily sat over his right eye, which was strangely a piercing yellow color while his other eye was a darker color. It also didn’t help that he also had a few lip and face piercings, giving him a distinctive look about the young man. Wearing a suit with a dusky lavender shade as the shop was, you couldn’t help but stare at how tall he was compared to you as he smiled down on you in a cool smile.
“I noticed you were staring very intently at the sign." The mysterious man gestured in front of him.
You didn’t even notice, but in front of you, slightly higher than your forehead, was a sign.
“Now hiring immediate spot open.”
“Oh—I uh was,” you said, clearing your throat.
-
You found out his name is Jade.
He also attends the university you and your friends go to, along with his brother. He tells you this as he takes you into the vast building.
Jade interviews you in front of the cash register over a glass case where the jewelry that was sort of valuable stayed.
“So just curious, but why hasn’t anyone applied for store manager yet, if I may ask Jade?” You casually said,
“Because of where the shop currently resides, not a lot of locals come this way, leaving only tourists and the few that do know about our store,” Jade replied. Initially, when you found out that it was a thrift shop, you were surprised, mainly by the fact that you’d never heard of it before in the year you’ve been studying here for school.
“That does make sense,” being satisfied with the answer you received.
“So (name), what day would you like to start? I’ll unfortunately won’t be able to get your lodging accommodations ready immediately, but—“
“Hang on to lodging accommodations?” Your eyes almost bugged out. You were aware you’d pretty much have owner responsibilities, but having a free place to live was an instant success in your book.
“I thought I told you after the questions." Jade tilted his head in curiosity.
“Here, I can actually show you,” he said, leaning over the glass counter across from you, making a beeline through the cramped space next to the register of vintage clothes.
The floorboards creaked and groaned under the weight of you both walking on them, feeling the vibrations as you eventually reached an employee entrance tucked behind a couple of rooms that you couldn’t quite look into as you passed by.
The dark oak stairs were slightly dusty, seeming like no one had been through here in years as you went up the thick wooden stairs behind Jade.
The stairs weren’t well lit, but the beautiful vintage light fixtures seemed to be in need of new lightbulbs.
Jade stopped at the top of what looked like a sturdy house door with intricate wooden engravings of shells on the outside and a golden mail slot that had a scratched off name plate and electrical box on the right side of the crème walls wrapping around the landing.
After a few moments of him fiddling with the rusted, dark ebony key, the door finally opened, kicking up the stagnant air that had presumably been trapped there for years as he held the door open for you to enter.
Now, you weren’t at all one of those ghost and superstition kinds of people, but immediately upon entering the space, it felt creepy.
It was probably how dark the space was to assume there probably hadn’t been running electricity in this particular area in years hell, even decades from the faint piles of dust you could see between the thick boards above what you assumed was the window.
“One moment (name)” Jade quickly went towards the breaker in the hallway.
A few flickers and the sound of electricity filled the room until they flickered on, revealing what was hidden in the darkness.
The floor beneath you is a deep cherrywood color, with a few coats of dust gracing the antique floorboards leading all the way into what was a very spacious kitchen that seemed mostly untouched, besides a few vintage knick-knacks and cooking books laying on the counters.
A small hallway with three dark oak doors with old shaggy carpet started past the end of the kitchen, leading to where the room you'd be staying in was.
Jade definitely wasn't kidding about how much dissaray the loft was in, but to you, if it was just a perk for working here, why complain anyway?
“So this whole loft is where I'll be staying, or just the room?” You questioned Jade, turning towards him and standing beside the entrance door.
“Everything here will be yours." Jade answered, “My brother and I live on campus at the Octavinelle dorm after all.”
Figures you thought of hearing the mention of the prestigious dorm name.
You took a moment to excitedly think about where you were going to place the few things you owned in the deserted loft.
Since you came later in the semester, you were put in a last-minute dorm that was in an old building called the Ramshackle Building. It certainly wasn’t as spacious as this place was, with only a small twin bed and wardrobe to your name in your room, and a very small mini fridge was all you had in your dorm compared to your friends, who had a literal bathroom and private suite to themselves.
This was a blessing to have a whole place free for exchange to work and take care of a beautiful vintage thrift store.
“So does the job seem enticing enough (name)? We'd hope you can accept our offer; we’ve been in dire need for the position to be filled after all." Jade smiled, putting a hand to his heart.
Without even thinking, you instantly agreed.
“I can start as soon as you need me,” you said with no hesitation.
Jade gave you a reassuring smile before reaching for your hand in a professional handshake.
Following him out of the loft, however, another sudden chill ran up your spine, forcing you to look around once more before you
-
Surprised couldn’t even be the right word to describe how you felt when you went downstairs and saw your group of friends in front of the counter joking with... well
Jade?
He wore the exact same work uniform as Jade, the same colored hair, and the same exact black streak over their different colored eyes.
Ace seemed to be joking around with him while Duece and Epel were looking at the sports equipment leaning on a wall next to a bunch of tall displays with mannequins in colorful outfits. Jack and Sebek were talking next to a couple of book shelves near where Duece and Epel were seemingly discussing something about a book on the shelf Jack was looking at while Sebek seemingly was giving his opinion about, well, something you couldn’t hear from that far.
As soon as you got a few footfalls away from the glass counter where you had conducted your interview, Ace immediately perked up at the sight of you.
“(Name)! Thank God Duece wasn’t lying; we thought you went missing,” Ace said, waving at you.
The Jade look alike looked in your direction.
Looking at him closer, you could tell he was definitely not Jade at all but a lookalike; his eye shape was more droopier than Jade's upturned eye shape, giving him a bit more of an exaggerated appearance; he also did not have the lip piercings or the distinct piercings on his eyebrows like Jade had.
Walking over to Ace, you quickly grabbed his shoulder, pulling his ear close to you.
"Ace, who is that?”
You subtly gestured to Discount Jade in front of the two of you.
Ace was about to speak when Jade came around from the back of the employee area, giving you the paperwork for you as a new hire he promised once you went down the stairs.
"Oh, did I forget to tell you about my brother?” he asked innocently.
You only stared at Jade in bewilderment now, staring at the two of them side by side.
Discount Jade starts to laugh a wheezy, creaky laugh, definitely sounding the complete opposite of the brother you met.
“So this is our new storekeeper? What a cute little thing.”
“Hey! (Name) isn’t cute, they're ugly." Ace spoke up, puffing his cheek.
You only slapped his shoulder with all your might, causing him to wince in return, causing the discount Jade and Jade to laugh in unison.
“I’m going to make a wild guess and assume you two are identical twins,” you remarked.
Discount Jade only smiled at you while Jade laid out the paperwork in front of where you were standing.
"Hey, wait a minute, you got a job (name)?” Ace blurted it out.
"No, fair. I want to work with (name) and Floyd." He pouted
"Unfortunately, we only had one position to fill. If we see (name) bring more business to the shop, however, we will keep you in mind." Jade simply smiled.
Contently, you signed the paperwork Jade gave you, filling out your information as best as you could, while Ace and Floyd continued talking to each other besides you.
You had to check something you had on your phone, prompting you to pull your phone up from your shorts back pocket and fish it out.
Usually, as most of the time you would do this routine, on the ebony screen, you’d catch a glimpse of your face, a random reflection from the ceiling above, or even your unflattering double chin looking down towards you before you’d power it on and see your screensaver and passcode screen.
This time wasn’t like the last few times.
Looking at your phone's dark screen reflection caused you to audibly gasp, turning around quickly. This abrupt reaction made Floyd, Ace, and Jade look at you in curiosity.
Although you completely expected to see the well-dressed man behind you, there was no one there behind you that matched the handsome stranger's appearance.
You knew you saw his face behind your shoulder peeking over at you; those eyes were so unmistakable, you knew it had to be that man.
“Are you okay, (name)?" Jade furrowed his brow.
“Yeah, it happens when you have a face like that and look at your reflection." Ace mimicked your voice before Floyd and Ace erupted into laughter, immediately melting the tension you felt and replacing it with rage as you slapped his thin arm again, leaving a red sting on his flesh.
After finishing the paperwork without further incident, you were officially hired. Your group of friends was overall supportive as you told them all the details about your first day being Monday, giving you all the weekend to hang out before you had to attend your first gig.
The rest of the evening, you all walked the entire boardwalk as the sun set for the evening, prompting you all to go home for the night.
But you, however, are too excited to immediately go home to your dorm.
Remembering the directions you took to get to your new job and future home, you’d approached the dimly lit building. It looked different at night; the streetlights illuminated the inside of the sprawling thrift store.
You stopped walking to admire the building in its entirety, as you did when you first ran into it.
The top floor where the loft was that you’d walk into was completely dark, which made sense since, because of how boarded up the windows were, they were not allowing any moonlight in nor streetlights.
Staring at the window in the middle that you assumed was the living room window you’d observed when you walked in viewing the lonely loft.
However, the longer you looked, the more you swore you heard something.
Bringing your attention to the street to make sure you weren’t in the way you looked around you.
Tap tap tap
The sound was soft but enough to drive you crazy—was someone walking from the opposite direction or was something on the verge of diving out of your purse you had wrapped around your shoulder?
That damned chill ran up your spine for the third time today, causing you to wrap your arms around yourself. You’d have to remember to bring a jacket when you came to work on Monday since it seemed like it was a cold spot in town. Most likely due to being close to the waterfront, you thought.
Abruptly, you paused when you heard humming.
A soft humming of a tune that sounded very melodious, very vintage
The tapping sound was accompanying the cold hum, but you finally realized where the sound was coming from.
Inside the dark store, the stranger from before was walking towards you, emerging from the shadowy ultramarine hues and the lack of lighting cast on the worn wooden boards.
His striking azure eyes were all you saw as he emerged from the back of the store. His polished, well-taken-care-of dress shoes made a tapping sound as he walked towards you at a crawling pace, humming the tune as he took an agonizingly slow step forward.
He still looked very attractive now that you could see his flawless features up close...
The trance you were in was immediately broken as soon as you realized he was walking to the front door.
Where you currently were standing.
In a panic, you wasted no time finally moving your legs out of the way of the door before he’d open it and ask you what you were doing there, most likely.
As you bolted down the road, you didn’t turn around once, afraid of, god knows what, him running behind you. Getting in trouble for trespassing since you were just standing around.
You never got randomly anxious like that before.
collapsing outside your delapidaed dorm, you stumbled inside the dark doorway bolting to your room upstairs.
not glancing once as you slammed the door to your dorm entry.
-
A new customer came by, and being so young and full of life, they stared at me for what felt like forever.
I need to know more about her. It seems Jade recognized my curiosity towards her as well.
Hopefully, I will meet her tomorrow.
-