He shakes his head. “You don’t have to.”
“It’s only right. Someone took the time to make that mug and I carelessly dropped it. I broke it.”
“I’m the one who made it,” someone says to my right. I look over, finding a handsome man sitting behind the table. He’swatching our interaction with more intensity than I’d normally like. “Just buy a different one and we’re all square.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive! I’d much rather you pay for something you’ll actually take home and use.”
I turn in his direction, accidentally jostling the man that’s still holding my arm and oh my gods, he’s still holding my arm! Now that I’ve moved, he takes a step back, his face bright with the prettiest blush. I do a slight bow to the man behind the table.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll go grab a broom to clean this up,” the man beside me says, quickly running off. The guy behind the table snorts, shaking his head to himself.
“I really am sorry,” I say again, nodding at the mess. “I have no idea how I dropped it.”
“I’m Bren,” he says, “and I have an idea or two about what happened but only time will tell.”
“I’m Jin, and I have no idea what you’re implying.”
His eyes sparkle as he grins. “That’s okay. Are you looking for anything in particular?”
I shake my head, turning my eyes down and taking in all the ceramics. “I really liked that little mug. I was thinking it would be cute as a sugar cup or maybe for morning tea? But now I think one of these bowls would be lovely. I eat a lot of ramen.”
“Look at this one,” he says, gesturing at one bowl in particular. “It has little holes on the side so you can rest your chopsticks, if you use them. I don’t judge a man on how he eats his ramen.”
All of those awful emotions from a moment ago fall away, leaving me grinning once more. That excitement is back in full force, maybe even more so because through such an awful moment, I was able to meet a new friend.
“I liked the red color of that mug. Do you have anything like that?”
Bren turns around, rummaging through a few boxes behind the table. He hums to himself before making a happy noise and pulling a bowl out of the box.
“How about this? It’s not exactly red but close enough, right?”
I take the bowl from him, cupping it in my hands. It’s beautiful. It has the little indent and holes on the side for my chopsticks and big enough to serve myself a hearty portion of ramen. The outside is painted with hues of red and orange and yellow. It reminds me of a sunset.
“I love it,” I tell him with a grin. “I’ll take it. How much do I owe you?”
Bren tells me a price and I hand the money over quickly. That’s when the man from earlier comes back, a broom and dustpan in hand.
“Thanks for cleaning that up, Leo.”
Leo.
The man’s name is Leo. It suits him. My chest brightens at knowing his name and I can’t stop wonderingwhy? Why am I feeling like this? Why is my chest flipping with excitement?
“Yes. Thank you so much,” I say, nodding my head to him in respect.
“It’s no big deal. Please, don’t worry about it. It was an honest mistake and I’m just really glad you didn’t step on anything or get hurt. Whoever bumped into you is the one who should be sorry, not you.”
Bren snickers at that and Leo shoots him a look that I don’t really understand. I probably shouldn’t just stand here and stare at Leo as he sweeps the floor. That would be weird. I don’t wanna come across as weird even if there truly is nowhere I’d rather be right now.
“I’m going to keep looking around,” I announce. “It was really nice meeting you both.”
Bren sits up a bit straighter. “Are you heading to the candy shop?”
I nod my head. “That’s my last stop of the day,” I explain, carefully putting my new bowl into one of my bags.
