Loves Me Not

For all intents and purposes, Lee Suho knew nothing about having a proper family. His father, a famous actor, was always absent. His mother, a kind, gentle soul, passed away from cancer when he was a teenager. His sister, who had been his only rock, eventually left too to live her own life.

Lee Suho would have been lost as a teenager, had it not been for Mr. Bang, the grumpy old comic bookstore owner. Suho had a great love for comic books. Particularly horror comic books. He would spend hours and hours on end in that store reading, nay, devouring every single comic Mr. Bang's shop had to offer. There weren't many customers around so Suho's time there was always undisturbed. As Lee Suho spent more and more days at the shop, it became a second home to him, and he old man a second father.

"Shouldn't you be getting home now?" Mr. Bang would often inquire with his glasses hanging low in his nose. Suho tended to spend his time at the store till the man pushed him out at closing time.

"Five more minutes please." Lee Suho would request. "I really want to finish this chapter." He held up the Junji Itou comic.

"Tch!" The man would make faces and click his tongue in annoyance, but still kept the store open just a little longer for Suho. "You young'uns need to get out more. Play in the sun. What's this new trend of reading in my dull store? Tch!"

Suho would grin. That old comic bookstore owner always scolded him; for spending too much time reading horror comics, for being too skinny, for choosing to hang out with an old man instead of people his own age. The scoldings would have irked anyone else. But for Suho, who had barely had any parental figure at home, it was something he cherished.

As neglected as he was, Lee Suho was a wise and bright boy. He knew the value of good role models. Especially since he never had one. And the comic bookstore owner was just that. Which is why when the bookstore went out of business, it shattered him. Outside the death of his mother, this was the thing that shook him the most. Not his father's scandals with his co-star, not his sister leaving home, but the loss of the only thing close to a parent he had in those days.

"Harabuji, you can't just close the shop!" Suho had argued.

"I have to, son. I don't have any money to run it. You're the only customer I have these days."

"I'll buy all of the comics then. I'll buy it all." Suho had declared.

"Tch! Don't you dare! Wasting your money like that. What are you young'uns coming up to? Go save your money and spend it on yourself! I'm too old for working in a shop anyways." Even as the old man said this, Suho could see that the loss of his small shop worried the old man. It had been his only source of income. The man's children had married and moved on, but he still had his wife to care for. And both of them were too old to do much else.

"Harabuji. Let me work at your shop. Let me run it. Just for a week. I promise to not bother you again if it doesn't work out." Suho had claimed boldly to the perplexed old man who didn't yet know why the young boy cared so much.

"Alright fine! Gah! But don't make me lose more money or I really will spank you."

Suho had asked the kids at his school for help. Suho knew he couldn't do it alone. None of them had agreed, seeing the task as unnecessary and boring. None except Kang Sujin.

"Don't misunderstand!" She had declared. "This isn't for you. Its for that old man."

"You don't even know him."

"Shut up."

It was here that Lee Suho had discovered his ability to make failing businesses work. In just a month, Lee Suho helped Mr. Bang make not only enough to keep the shop open, but enough profit to help the man invest into another store location. Of course, Kang Sujin played a huge role too. She was the one to push him into working on the counter, using his looks to attract girls to the store. Which attracted the boys who came for the girls but stayed for the comic books. Lee Suho managed the store, helped the old man manage his finances and save wisely and even invest in some stocks for a little extra cash. The old man had cried when he had seen how full of kids his shop now was. He had hugged Lee Suho, declaring him as his own son.