snowflake ☆ k.dy ☆ ayakashi series | ✔

doyoung [one]

A few weeks later found you in your parents' shop. You weren't supposed to be working that day, but it was your parents' anniversary, and you were happy to help out to let them take the day off. Not to mention that you just needed a day of mindless work: shelving, accounting, deliveries, anything to get your mind off your useless visit to the shrine. So your parents left you with Sicheng, helping him out with whatever he needed. He seemed thankful for the help, and the two of you worked in quiet tandem with each other.

The bell at the front door alerted you to someone entering, and you looked up from where you were cataloguing the new arrival of books in the storage room. The door to the room was open, so you had a direct line of sight to the delivery man standing at the front of the shop. Sicheng greeted him, their conversation too far away to be distinguishable, especially as you returned your focus to your task. The bell rang again, signaling his departure.

"More books to catalogue?" You called out across the store.

"No, the first edition Don Quixote that Oni wanted," Sicheng grumbled. "Mr. Y/L/N finally found it. And now I've got to call his assistant and give him a reason to come back here."

At the clear distaste in his tone, you offered, "I can give it to him, if you really don't want to."

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Let me call his assistant first and see when it'll be picked up."

"Alright, just let me know and you can come hide back here and I'll be up there to face the big bad scary Oni."

"I'm not afraid of him!"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up and make the phone call, Sicheng."

Apparently having no comeback to that, he picked up the store's landline and took the sticky note off the corkboard to dial the number for 'Kim Doyoung, Head Assistant for VP Qian of Oni Group Holdings.' Just a few moments later, it was picked up. You could only hear Sicheng's side of the conversation, however.

"Hello, this is Bibliophile Books. We have the first edition Don Quixote that your boss requested... Why do you want to know that?" Sicheng's voice suddenly changed from tense to downright angry as he addressed him. You were glad neither of your parents were here to witness him talking to a customer like that. "Then no, she's not... We're open until five-thirty... Oh, now? Okay, see you soon then... Yeah."

After hanging up, Sicheng clenched and unclenched his fist for a moment.

"What was that about? What did he ask?" You questioned with an eyebrow raised at him.

"If you were working," he spat out as he walked back to the storage room with you and plopped down in his previous spot, picking up his own pencil and paper.

"And you told him I wasn't?"

"Whatever it takes to keep the Oni away from here," he sneered at the idea of it. "And it worked, the snow spirit will be here soon instead of his boss."

"Do you still want me to give him the book?" You asked, opening the back cover of a book from the new shipment and pressing the stamp onto the bottom center of it. 'Bibliophile Books, 700 Bell Street' now displayed there in teal ink to match the door. You blew over the ink to make sure it was dry before you closed the book once more.

"If you don't mind. Even people who willingly associate with Oni leave a bad taste in my mouth."

"Why?" You asked curiously, grabbing your next book to stamp.

Sicheng paused for a moment before answering tartly, "Oni are not good company to keep."

"Any specific reason?"