"Jae," he said, finishing for me.
I smiled. "Jae, you're most very welcome. I was happy to help you out."
Dom exchanged a look between us and that damn fool had the nerve to grin the entire time. He crossed his beefy arms. "So I take it you'll be back, Jae? Since you were serviced well?"
I shot a hip into him, which made me knock the entire stack of CDs over when my elbow hit them, and Dom did nothing but drape an arm over my shoulder, waiting for a response.
Jae grinned a little. "I think that's a given, eh … ?"
"Dom," he said, smiling all too wide.
Jae chuckled. "Dom. I will. I have a feeling I'll burn through these pretty quickly."
I gave this guy enough music to take him into next year, but I wouldn't argue. If he wanted to come in again, he sure was welcome.
While I finished bagging up his stuff, Dom handled the payment exchange, Jae's thick, black credit card passing over the register. The shop was pretty much quiet as Jae was the last customer in the store, so a changeover in the store's music was easy to make out. Especially, since the track had barely any English in it.
From the distant speakers, the tunes of a sugary sweet beat replaced that of the shop's previous Hot 100 track and Jae's lashes flickered up, definitely taking notice of the change.
Dom simply chuckled at the switch, finishing Jae's transaction. "Not even here and Tess McGuffy strikes."
He definitely had that right. Every once in a while I let Tess slip her tracks into our house music rotation. Again, we played everything here. I normally didn't mind it too much, but I found myself wanting to snap it off at Jae's reaction. It seriously seemed to bother him. Like royally, his gaze averting from the speakers. His entire demeanor changed from before. He went stiff, his shoulders tight, and I cringed.
"Sorry," I told him, tipping my chin above. "I know this is different. The music? One of our employees is really into it."
I really downplayed that. When it came to the happy beats and electrified tempo of that of Kpop, a.k.a Korean Pop music, Tess McGuffy was pretty much obsessed. In fact, if she hadn't bailed on her shift tonight, she'd be dancing and flubbing along with the English and Korean lyrics that blended throughout the tracks. But damn, did she try her hardest to keep up. She simply loved the stuff, but maybe Jae didn't. He said home was South Korea, but that didn't mean he enjoyed all the music. Especially, if he was really into hip hop like he seemed to be.
Upon being called out, his brow flickered up. "Oh, uh," he said, pushing a hand over his head. When he dropped it, he smiled a little. "It's no big."
He said that, but it seemed to be, a big deal that is.
He slid his bag off the counter. "And, eh, I don't mind it. But do you? You apologized for it like you're not into it."
Had I had my choice, I wouldn't have played it, and normally, I didn't. I only heard the occasional tracks when they played in the store. Even still, I didn't mind the music one-way or the other. I was open to everything. I shrugged. "I don't know if it's that I'm not into it. It's just, I think for me, this particular track is a little too sweet."
His hand slid from his hair when I said that and he relaxed a little, smiling again.
"I think we agree on that," he said, bowing a little. It was a single one that moved his hair over his eyes again.
He raised his head. "Gamsahabnida, thank you," he said, then finished by saying, "pretty girl."
I was left with that as he lowered his purchases to the side, turning to leave my shop.
Something made me act impulsively.
Moving around the counter, I stopped him, plucking one of the vinyl records we had on display. He watched as I handed it out to him.
I smiled a little. "We had a free first listen for our customers earlier tonight." I paused, shrugging. "Every first timer to the store gets a free vinyl during the promo. Didn't want you to miss out."
He accepted it, raising it to me. "I appreciate that, and thank you. See you later, Harley."
Later, I wouldn't mind. He left after that and an arm that weighed probably the equivalent of a couple of barbells fell over my shoulders.
"Since when do we give out brand new records for first listen?" Dom asked me.
I crossed my arms over my chest, staring at the door. "You're fired," I told him, shaking my head. "Fired on so many different levels."
He merely grinned, gazing at the door, too. He only responded with an, "And you're welcome."