Chapter Text
Aleksi was quite desperate when he was on his way to the music store. That one music store he hadn’t tried out yet on his hopeless search for that one album he was missing in his collection. He had already visited every single other store in his hometown and in every town around. No one had been able to help him out of his misery, some even laughed at him and told him that he should just give up. That it was impossible to get his hands on that particular album. Maybe if he had tried like twenty years ago, but not today. But Aleksi was not willing to surrender just like that.
And that was why that very last store, right in front of him, was his last hope. He had heard so many bad stories about it, especially about the owner, that it had taken him about a year and roughly twenty other places that couldn’t help him out to finally dare visiting it.
The windows were covered with old concert posters – some of them older than himself! – and it was impossible to cast a glance inside. Although of course he kind of knew what it looked like, since he’d heard the stories about the narrow corridors through head-high shelves full of CDs, records and music magazines. And the non-existent order which made it impossible to find anything at all. All this just added up to why Aleksi had skipped that store on his search until now. Most likely he wouldn’t be successful. He couldn’t spend the next three weeks going through every single shelf, looking at every single CD and record.
And he wasn’t sure if he would dare to ask the owner of the store, because the stories about him were even scarier than those about the store itself. He seemed to be the grumpiest unfriendly and maybe even a man-eating person ever. Although only Robin had mentioned the man-eating-part and Aleksi wasn’t too sure about Robin’s trustworthiness. But his story about nearly being bitten had been very vivid. Maybe too vivid to be actually true. And it seemed also very likely that Robin had pissed the owner off with anything. So maybe that guy wasn’t too bad at all? Well, he would only figure out if he finally entered the store.
By now he was very glad about those covered windows. At least no one saw him standing in front of the store, not daring to go inside. Thanks to the hardly illuminated backstreet the store was located in, there were also no other people around silently judging him for loitering here. Which made it even scarier for him to be here, to tell the truth. No one would notice if he disappeared. He looked around, but except for other dark entrances there was nothing to be seen. Not exactly the kind of neighbourhood he wanted to live in.
But of course he didn’t have to live here, he just had to enter that stupid music store, because seriously, he wasn’t a thirteen-year-old anymore that was too scared to visit a damn shop a bit hidden from the main road. He was a grown-up guy, a passionate music lover on his hunt for the debut album of his favourite band. There was nothing wrong with that.
And with that thought, he finally entered the store. A tiny bell rang and announced his arrival, but most likely no one would notice. Some heavy music was playing – Aleksi wasn’t sure about the artist, but he liked it instantly.
As expected he couldn’t see a single person, it seemed empty at his first sight and at his next sight he was slightly confused. It didn’t really look like expected. Yes, everything was super cramped with shelves and tables full of music, but it was much … cleaner, much brighter than he thought it would be? He had entered stores much worse than this one and he called himself an idiot for not coming here earlier. Not that he had any clue where to start his search, but at least he felt comfortable. This seemed to be the perfect place to be if you were into music.
None of the shelves were labelled and Aleksi had to admit that at least this prejudice was true. There was no logical system. Not alphabetical, not by genre, not by release year or any other criterion Aleksi could come up with. But even if he didn’t find what he had come for, he was quite sure to find something else to take with him. He wandered around and every now and then got his hands on a piece of music he hadn’t known he wanted to own until he saw it.
When he picked CD number four he suddenly felt a stare on his back. He wasn’t sure about it, because obviously he had no eyes at the back of his head, but he somehow had a feeling of not being alone anymore. Still he continued looking at the back of the CD as if nothing had happened. But he couldn’t get rid of that feeling and although he tried hard to focus on the listed tracks he wasn’t aware of what he was reading.
Finally he decided that he didn’t care. He’d just take the album, couldn’t be too wrong and for sure wasn’t too expensive considering that it was a used one. So if he picked trash, he couldn’t care less, the urge to turn around and validate his feeling was too strong by now.
He tried to do it in the most casual way he could come up with: turning around like he was interested in the music magazines on the table behind him. He wasn’t at all, once he realized they were about pop music culture in the late nineties, but their box was the perfect item to hide behind. He browsed through the magazines with one eye and did his best to peek past the box across the room with the other one.
The moment his eye found its target, his stare was immediately returned and Aleksi nearly dropped his stack of CDs. He flushed and only the last-second-thought that it would appear super awkward prevented him from hiding behind the next shelf. Okay, so his senses had not failed him, someone did stare at him.
Aleksi just wasn’t sure who that guy was. The chances were high that it was the owner of the store, but he seemed much younger than Aleksi had expected. No one ever mentioned his age or his appearance, only his bad mood and that led him into thinking that he must be an older guy. Maybe someone in his mid-forties. He pictured a big belly underneath a too tight button-down shirt that hadn’t been washed for the last three weeks, just like the thin blond hair in a long ponytail with a high receding hairline.
Only the last point applied at least in part. He was indeed blond and his hair was quite long, but right there the similarities to the picture in his head stopped. He was hardly thirty, which made Aleksi think that maybe he was just staff. He couldn’t imagine someone that young owning his own record store and at the same time scaring away his customers with his bad mood. But the stare had nevertheless been scary and Aleksi could feel that he was still staring. Maybe being scary was a recruitment criterion for this place.
He reached the last magazine in the box, they were still uninteresting and Aleksi considered his possibilities. Moving on like nothing had happened and looking through the other CDs and records, or maybe walking straight up to the guy asking for the album he had come here for? He felt slightly uncomfortable now that every step of him was under surveillance. Although the place was still nice and the music from the speakers suited his taste, he wanted to leave. Maybe he was that thirteen-year-old that felt uneasy when he was alone in a store after all.
Aleksi clutched his CDs tightly, took a deep breath and all his willpower to walk up to the counter. His intention was to just pay and leave. They wouldn’t have his album anyway; he would simply give up the search now.
On his way he tried his best to look around and not directly at the guy in front of him. Which was quite hard, because he noticed with another glimpse that he indeed looked super grumpy, but at the same time … super hot?! Why had no one ever mentioned that part when they had talked about him? Aleksi noticed the black fingernails and the tattoos on the very appealing arms.
And when he couldn’t resist anymore, his gaze wandered to his flawless face. He skipped the lower part, because his view was instantly captured by the piercing blue eyes. They were framed by dark eyeliner, which made them even brighter, and Aleksi felt the heat in his cheeks coming back.
There was no chance to look away, he had no willpower to do so. Those eyes for sure stared right into his soul and saw his unease, his doubts and everything else that made him put his choice of CDs on the counter without saying a word. He had no control over himself, he couldn’t even smile, he just continued staring.
Only when the other one ended the eye contact to follow Aleksi’s shaky hand movement, Aleksi finally dared to breathe again. He hadn’t even noticed that he had stopped breathing earlier. But those eyes! Aleksi was scared and fascinated at the same time. The situation was so surreal, maybe someone had cast an Imperius-curse on him. That would explain why no one had said a single word by now and why he wasn’t able to do anything about it. And this guy for sure was a dark magician. It would also explain why he was so damn hot …
“That’s all?”
Aleksi blinked. Obviously the curse was broken. And now he was left unsupervised and was supposed to handle the situation on his own? First he stared at the discs lying in front of him, then he stared at the guy standing in front of him. And … maybe he had cast another spell, one that played whatever trick on his mind, because he saw him smiling?! And it was for sure the prettiest smile ever! What was the question again?
“It’s five euros then. You’ll get that one for free, it’s trash, I would feel bad for charging money for it.”
Aleksi nodded without noticing what had actually been said. He handed over a twenty-euros-note and put the CDs and his change into his backpack. He could still see the faint smile and it was still hard to believe that it was really there. His mind played tricks on him, for sure. Because he wanted to see this perfect human being smile. His mind was unable to work with a grumpy look on a perfect face and therefore feigned a smile to him.
When he finally turned around to leave the store and get rid of the spell that this guy had worked on him, he nearly ran into a pile of boxes full of not yet unpacked CDs. A surprised sound escaped his mouth and he came to his senses again. What the fuck had just happened? Why hadn’t he said a single word? Just because the other one was super hot and he hadn’t been prepared for that? That was … pathetic.
And he hadn’t even asked for the album he had come here for in first place! He wheeled around again and opened his mouth. But nothing more than a squeak left his lips. The hot guy still looked at him and those eyes were still the prettiest he had ever seen, and he was indeed smiling! By now Aleksi had all his senses together and he could clearly see that beautiful smile. He was so lost.
“Yes?”
“I’m …” he managed to say but was lost for words again.
“Did you forget anything?” Super-hot-guy raked his fingers through his hair and Aleksi was sure that he would end up as a puddle on the floor.
“Yes, uhm,” he tried to pull himself together, but his voice sounded nothing like himself. If he hadn’t known better he’d say he was in his voice break again. “I was actually looking for, um, a CD?”
Of course he was, what a stupid statement to make. But the fact that super-hot-guy’s smile grew even wider didn’t help with his composure.
“Gimme a hint. Maybe I have what you are looking for?” For sure he had. Aleksi was ready to admit that he had everything he was looking for. Yet this was not about his choice of men, but about music, so he pulled himself together.
“Yes, err, I’m searching for the debut album of, um,” what was the name of his favourite band again? He finally remembered and told Mr-I’m-not-grumpy-at-all-but-the-sexiest-man-you-will-ever-lay-your-eyes-on. “I know, it’s hopeless, I tried it like everywhere and it’s a collector’s piece and no one would ever sell it, but still, I, well …” He babbled around, turned red and felt stupid again.
Obviously he was more than just stupid. Super-sexy-to-die-for-guy didn’t even reply but turned around and left. Okay. Well. Then … he should just leave too, right? He had already paid for his CDs, everything was in order. No need to suffer from that rebuff longer than necessary.
But his feet were glued to the floor, he was unable to move. And only a second later Mr. Perfect showed up again, a CD in his hands. He put it down on the counter and asked with a wide grin: “You mean this one?”
Aleksi blinked. He had been at that point before. But now he was lost for words, because: “Yes. Exactly that one!” His eyes nearly fell out and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t even dare to touch it. Maybe it was just a joke. Maybe it was Mr.-I-have-everything-you-want’s personal piece of music and he wanted to show off.
“Okay then. Good for you that you remembered before you left. Excellent choice though. I love listening to them myself.”
“You … you are really going to sell it to me?”
He received a puzzled look. “Well, of course? That’s what I do. I sell music to people.”
Not all people, Aleksi thought to himself. Not to Robin. But of course he didn’t mention that incident.
“Okay, um, thank you,” he whispered and finally touched the holy CD. “How much do I owe you?” He wasn’t sure if he had enough money with him, most likely he could not pay by card.
“It’s okay, you can have it for free.”
“What? No!” he exclaimed loudly. “It’s super rare, you can’t buy it anywhere. I’ve been on the hunt for over a year now. It’s impossible to get your hands on it! You can’t give it to me for free.”
Super-hot-record-shop-guy – Aleksi really wished he knew his real name, he couldn’t address him like that all the time – laughed, which was too gorgeous. How was he supposed to handle this? He didn’t even care that he laughed at him.
“It’s not impossible, obviously. You have your hands on it.” Mr.-too-handsome-to-be-true winked and nope, there was no way he could handle this at all!
“Yes, but …” He clenched his fingers around the disc. It was his, whatever the price, he would sell his soul. But for free was not an option.
“You know,” he was interrupted – not that he knew what to say anyway – by too-perfect-human-being, “you seem to have a really great taste in music. I have a lot of suggestions for you, maybe I’ll find some records you don’t own by now? I’ll compile them for you and the next time you stop by, I might be able to sell some of them to you. This would make up for that one gifted album.”
The next time he stopped by? Aleksi wasn’t sure if that was going to happen. He behaved like an idiot, the moment he was out of sight he would realize how bad it had really been and wouldn’t dare to ever come around again. Still, the offer was tempting. He was always in for some good music.
“I don’t know,” he stated. “It sounds like a better deal for me than for you, but if you insist … um, okay?”
“Great! I’m looking forward to this” The wide smile he received was definitely too much for Aleksi. He nodded and decided that it was time to leave. Otherwise he would lose his composure and probably throw himself over the counter in Mr.-fall-in-love-with-me-at-first-sight’s arms. And that was not going to happen, no way, no.
“Thank you so much, I still can’t believe it.” Aleksi ruffled his own hair und looked around to not run into anything again on his way out.
“My pleasure. See you soon.”
Aleksi nodded again, turned and left the store. It was all dark now, no one was around and with a look at the CD he let out a loud and enthusiastic scream. He muffled himself with a hand over his mouth and prayed that he wasn’t audible inside of the shop. So embarrassing.