— pocha furniture.

@✽ inah s. His eyes watched his client in silence, trying to guess her reaction as she was inspecting the furniture set he designed and built himself. He was a foot or so away from her and the stackable cabinet, arms crossed as he looked at her eyeing and touching the side bolts. Chan’s expression changed, softened actually, to a gentle and relieved smile when Inah seemed satisfied with his suggestion. “Yeah! Like I said, very flexible and sturdy. There are bolts on the bottom corners of each cabinet cube.” he spoke, lightly gesturing to the corners of the black wooden shelving. “Well, from my experience, toddlers can be just as strong, if not stronger, than a full-sized adult golden retriever.” He took a pause before speaking again and waving his hand in front of his face, laughing in amusement at himself. “I’m saying that because I’ve had toddlers and kids play with my retriever, Haenguni!”

@✽ chan l. Making an unreadable facial expression when she spotted a small marble coffee table in her colour of choice yet she knew she did not needed it at all, she continued to let her gaze roam over the other possible options if ever she might end up purchasing more than a case cabinet. As she came to a halt and facing the dreamy cabinet, her visage brightened up and speedily made her way over to measure the width with the arm span of hers. It came short of about three inches but this size was just perfect the way it was.

She stepped back and nodded a few times at the same time, turning to face the co-owner with a bright grin. "This is the one! Are these just the white and pale wood you have? How about a litttttttle darker than this pale wood colour?", she squeezed the gap between her thumb and index finger to show her point. "I wonder if you could show me the other two? so i can decide which would be better? Maybe i would choose out of these three since they're ready-made. Am i right or did i not pay attention again?"

@✽ chan l. "yes please, i'd love to have flexible furniture, as in it could be ever-changing since i'm the type to like changing the layouts every now and then. It's sort of a way for me to destress too!", she explained, her hand reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ears while trailing behind him to head to another section of his store and of course, being infamously distracted by everything she had seen and nearly bumped into his back when she side-stepped to see another recommendation of his and her eyes widened even more upon hearing that it could be stackable. an idea popped into her head and she had really never thought of doing that way. "I can create like a playroom with these stackable cabinets or even as beds for the cats... Damn. Can i tug on these if you don't mind," she enquired with her itchy hand already outstretching to touch the heavy bolts. "i'm not sure whom are stronger; babies and toddlers or animals."

@✽ jiwoo k. Chan tried to hold back his chuckle when Jiwoo laughed loudly at his little comment about himself. He continued walking into the main store, not realizing she had been looking at all the other furniture surrounding them. There was a wide variety of furniture, ranging from stools, dining sets, coffee tables with glass or marble, even the occasional spinning chair. They finally reached the section with white and pale wood furniture sets that he was talking about. He took a step back, eyeing Jiwoo as well as the cabinet, his index fingerpad resting on his lower lip as he analyzed the estimated size.

“I think that’s about the size you wanted right? I have two other designs like this with different cabinet placing if you want— oh?” He was just a little bit shocked at her inquiry, almost laughing (without malice or insult of course). “Hm, depends on the design? More complicated designs take at most 3 weeks if I’m at peak efficiency. Simpler designs, especially if I have the design ready in my head and the materials present, take like… 4-5 days? We, especially my dad, have been doing this for a while so we can easily do rush orders, haha.”

@✽ inah s. Chan listened to Inah intently, his arms crossed and his brows slightly furrowed as he digested her words. His mind was already thinking of existing designs in their store that he could easily manipulate and alter to fit her needs. He suddenly had a few designs in mind to show her and he unknowingly smiled. “I see! I think I have a few pieces you can look at, they’re pretty flexible in terms of design, in my opinion.” he replied, gesturing to another part of the store so she could follow him as he walked. He reached a section with jet black painted cabinets and a few stools. “Hm, you mentioned cabinets and stuff. I don’t know how the inside of your clinic looks but these are some customizable cabinets you can bolt together!” he explained, showing the short square wooden compartments that have heavy duty bolts on the side. “I designed these with babies and toddlers in mind, so they’re hella sturdy… and very stackable, to any height you need? I think that can help with the critters who like climbing for things, too.”

@✽ chan l. she gasped in an apologetic tone and bowed her head slightly while puckering her lips in. "I'm so sorry. I'm just very used to calling every man I see as Mister. So sorry again," she cannot help but to laugh at herself for doing such a thing out of habit and nodding a few times. "Yes, animal-safe furniture. you mention current designs, may i have a look at that first before deciding on anything? since most of my animals especially the ones in the sanctuary is quite hyper so they tend to knock down anything in their ways, even huge cabinets that store their feeds and litter. Because of a few incidents that already happened, i'm looking for more studier but shorter pieces. i didn't know it would be this tough to run a sanctuary on top of a clinic." Despite the very short time she spent here, she could feel comfortable around the co-owner and trusting in his expertise in the absence of his father.

@✽ chan l. "the fruit of his loins-", she can't help but to guffaw loudly at that and slapping her right thigh to which she only took a few minutes to realise that was rather unfeminine of her to laugh the way she just did. clearing , she tucked her hair behind her ears and still beamed at the /fruit of the owner's loins/. with the man stepping a few steps away, she let her gaze fall on a nearby furniture to which she puckered her lips at since she was supposed to be here to buy ONE piece of furniture, no more than that.

"Ah yes, i do know that the lock and key gonna be an additional service too! I hope you do have that size otherwise i'm fine with any other sizings too. Oh yes, please. Just this week? I mean, don't you usually spend a week on one piece of furniture? How long do you guys spend on each, I'm actually curious..." pointing to the main store area in a gesture for him to take up the lead, she bent her back and spreading her arms towards it. "please, take me there. I'm curious to see what you have in store."

@✽ inah s. Chan heard the door creak open, that was probably Inah coming in. He turned his body to face the door, seeing her in the distance and he gently set down the glass table he was carrying by himself. He gave her a wide and exaggerated wave, jogging over and bowing, a few moments after she called out his name. “Yep, that’s me! Mr. Chan. Though I’d prefer to just be called Chan, the Mr. makes me feel as old as my dad, haha!” He joked, grinning and nodding as he bowed again, just a little habit of his. “So, let’s discuss the animal-safe furniture you mentioned on the phone? I think it will be a bit easy to do, I can just modify some current designs or you can pick a color scheme and wood type too. Extra charge if it’s that customized.” he spoke, the sentence meaning to sound monotone and business-like but with Chan’s bright energy it sounded like he was talking to his cousin.

@✽ chaewon k. Chan was never really the type of guy to giggle, well he was but only in private when he’s looking at cat pictures on his phone. Hearing Chaewon say his name after years of not seeing her made his head immediately duck down; he was a little nervous showing off the blush on his face but his stupid smile could still be seen even if his face was bent lower. Now that he knew she recognized him it was hard to form proper words and he had to cover his mouth to stay composed. He stood up straight, grin still present, and trying to speak. “Heya, Miss Chae Kimwon— Wonchae. Kim.” Okay, this was not a good look so he just decided to bow ninety degrees so he’d shut the up. After a moment of Chaewon probably laughing at him in her head he faced her, stammering out a sentence, his hand rubbing the nape of his neck gently. “Uh, do you need anything? I mean, that’s why you’re here right? The shop— furniture. I make furniture. G-good furniture.” He wanted to die hearing himself. It’s like he was back in high school all over again. He hopped away from the front desk, a bit closer to her and gestured to the display area of the store, scared to speak because he might completely butcher her name again.

@✽ jiwoo k. Chan couldn’t help but laugh at the girl’s bright energy after he introduced himself, crossing his arms with a big grin as she spoke. “Yep, that’s me! The fruit of his loins. The name’s Lee Chan! You can just call me Chan, nice to meet you Kim Jiwoo!” he replied, easily matching her energy and bowing, almost mirroring her. He stepped back just a few steps as if it was a small signal for her to look at the rest of the store, though it seemed she’d know a bit about it if she and her father would visit here in the past. This place was just run by his father alone before he moved her permanently after all.

His lips were poked just a little as Jiwoo started listing down her furniture requests and needs, Chan looking like he was calculating things in his head already. “Okay, uh. Big cabinet for case files, Scandinavian vibes, for case files with a lock and key? I feel like we have some about…” He silently glanced at her arms, trying to guess her wingspan as she didn’t have exact measurements. “We have some about that size, though I’m going to have to install a lock and key myself since we don’t normally include those unless it’s at the buyer’s request!” He spoke, smiling and nodding before stepping sideways and gesturing to the main store area. “I’ll show you the piece now, if you want? We have fresh stock of some sets since I was building them this week.”

@✽ chan l. "Main store area...?", her eyes widened in confusion as she looked around for the main door. She thought she could possibly see two entrances into the space. either she was running on low sleep or she wasn't familiar with the downtown well enough for she spent her time all in her vet clinic and sanctuary. As she made a game to decide which one she should enter through, she chose the one nearest to her which was more of the main store area instead of the place where it was similar like a factory and opened the door, cautiously yet nervously looking around while craning her neck to see where the guy was. "Hello? Mr. Chan?", she called out, her attention swiftly caught by beautiful looking furniture that she might not need at all.

@✽ chan l. "Can I help you?"

These four words was enough to startle her out of her skin when she was expecting to see an old man instead of a young looking one. laughing away her embarrassment, she quickly bowed in a ninety degree angle multiple times with her cheeks flushed red and her hair flying wild around her. "Hello! I didn't expect you to pop out of nowhere as i was actually expecting Sajangnim to be around since he was always here when either my dad or both of my dad and I visited. So you must be the son, it's really nice to meet you! I'm Jiwoo! Kim Jiwoo!", she brightly introduced herself with her dominant hand resting on her chest and then bowing one more time after.

"Actually I'm here to buy a small cabinet, ah no. I think a big one will suffice to house all my case files in my home office. A wooden one to fit my Scandivian theme, sort of and will it be possible to have it securely fitted, as in having a lock and key for that?", she explained, expressing her interest in getting one for her house. "As for the size... I don't know. Maybe as wide as my arms' span?"

@✽ chan l. chaewon could feel her heart skipping a beat when she locked eyes with the man jogging to the front desk from a room hidden to her view, and she couldn't help herself as she reached up to tuck a piece of flyaway hair behind her ear. she hadn't seen lee chan in years, but he still looked just the same—the same smile on his features, the same earnest gleam in his gaze to show that he really enjoyed what he was talking about. except he had gotten taller, no longer a few centimetres taller than her, and his hair was marginally better than before. he had even filled out a little, and chaewon couldn't help but her lips at the sight of his arms in the sleeveless shirt before she looked back up to see him smiling. "hi, i—chan, it's been—so long." she couldn't help but stammer out nervously, her cheeks starting to burn with a blush she knew was clearly obvious on her bare features, and chaewon stuffed her hands in her sweatpants pockets so she wouldn't do something embarrassing like reach out to touch his arms. "it's me, kim chaewon."

@✽ chaewon k. Chan’s head lifted as he heard the bell, he knew that it was from the front desk. He got up, setting his saw down as well as putting some wooden pegs and boards away. He lightly jogged to the front desk, quietly peeling off his work gloves midway. There was a girl at the counter and he didn’t see her face until he got closer and he felt his breath get caught in his throat and his heart jumped. ‘It’s Kim Chaewon, that pretty cheerleader I met at the party years ago.’ He remembered her name, of course her face which had barely changed and stayed youthful. His first thought wasn’t even that he had slept with her, he had her name, face, and smile memorized so that’s what entered his mind first. This all happened within a second and he broke out into his stupid smile as he hopped to the front desk, bowing. She probably didn’t remember him, it was years ago for one night, but that was okay with Chan. As long as she was here. “Hey there, customer! Welcome to Pocha Furniture, how may I help you? I’m Lee Chan, the son of the father-son duo owning and running this whole shindig!” he spoke happily, accidentally introducing himself as if he needed Chaewon to remember him.

@✽ chan l. chaewon normally wouldn't go into a furniture store to buy anything, having allowed her grandparents to help furnish her tiny residence with yonghwa so nobody asked questions, but she was tired of not having a nightstand for her bedroom. she had dropped yonghwa off with her grandmother at her house before making her way into town, sure that she looked like a mess with her hair up in a messy bun and white sweatpants that had more paint and glitter on them than anything (yonghwa's fault, of course). thankfully her tank top was plain but it still looked like a laundry day outfit, and chaewon hated going out in public like that.

she walked into the furniture store and looked around with big eyes, curiously looking at all of the pieces offered. it must have been a newer business because she didn't remember seeing it in high school, and all of the furniture looked really well made. chaewon made it to the front desk and cleared before pressing the bell on the countertop, humming to herself.

@✽ inah s. With Chan’s father dealing with paperwork in the office, Chan was outside in the main shop area and display section, very carefully moving some mixed media glass-wood tables and chairs. With a chair in both hands, he heard his phone ring and he placed one down, answering the call. “Oh sure! See you soon, Inah. I’m in the main store area!” he replied gleefully, hanging up and continuing to move some furniture around as he waited for his next client to arrive. He was rather curious about what she wanted him to make, he had never made animal-safe furniture before.

@✽ jiwoo k. Chan was rather busy in his own separate office, located at the far back hallway of the Pocha Furniture building. After he moved back to Dandelion, he and his dad stayed in separate offices so they’d have their own personal space. The work studio and shop itself was their shared space. He groaned, leaning back in his armchair as his feet rested on the table, with the intent of resting but that was cut off when he heard some chick’s loud voice coming from the front of the shop. She was basically shouting and Chan sat up quickly, brows furrowed. “Who the hell—” he peered at the small security camera in his office, barely seeing the girl’s face and he got up, leaving his office to go to the main store area. This girl kept shouting ‘Sajangnim’ and she was definitely looking for his dad.

“Jiwoo is back again to terrorize!” he heard her say from a fair distance, quickly jogging out and meeting her at the shop, weaving through the different furniture displays. “Can I help you? The Sajangnim you’re looking for is on a business trip in Busan, so his son’s in charge.” He spoke, laughing at himself calling his own father sajangnim, and gesturing to himself when he said the word “son.”

@✽ chaewon k. It was a rather quiet day at Pocha Furnitures. Chan’s father had traveled to Seoul for the week, getting supplies and contacts for their customer furniture to be sold in the store. So for the whole week, the son of Pocha would be the one handling everything. It wasn’t anything too much for him, he was used to this since his father did business trips a lot. The last few days had been slow, and it would definitely be the same today as Chan checked the schedule, no client meetings, nothing.

Since he basically had 8 hours of pure free time today, he decided to spend it in one of the corners of the main room. There was a small construction section there, where his woodworking equipment like saws and machines would be on display for customers to look at as he and his dad worked. Many people liked to see the process, but it was also a good well-ventilated area that’s nice for building basic smaller furniture. He was working on a special cedarwood stool set so he picked it up from the workshop behind the main room, bringing the unfinished piece to the small working area and pulled out his saw and gloves. He was at this for most of the morning, up until early lunch. He kept on his sleeveless muscle tee, miniscule droplets of sweat appearing on his forehead, neck, and upper arms. His water bottle was at the front desk, filled and ready for him to drink if he needed a break or someone entered for questions.

@✽ chan l. "Sajangnim! I'm back again this time", she yelled out his name at the entrance of the shop, not caring whether she was required to make an appointment to have custom furniture or not. Poking her head in as she waited at the opened entrance, she wondered where he might be. he could be busy doing up a custom furniture or being in his office which was always closed off as according to her memory. the familiar smell of wood and the lacquer lingering in the air brought her back to when she was just a kid and her father having brought her along to seek out new furniture for their newly brought house. it was always from this shop that now sat in their home. of course even if she was planning on moving out, she would seek out this place for sure. "Where are you, Sajangnim? Jiwoo is back again to terrorize!", she joked playfully while putting a foot forward as she closed the door behind her and wandered in a little deeper, pausing in her steps every now and then with various pieces of furniture having caught her attention.

@✽ chan l. After having made the appointment via a phone call, inah got ready once she had her affairs in stone and had to make a pitstop at the sanctuary to greet the animals and the staff there for a bit. with all of that done and out of the way, she took her new TUCSON car to the downtown and towards a parking lot nearby to have it rest there. "wait a minute, let me call again to let him know I have arrived," she mumbled to herself, killing off the engine with one press of a button and then picking her phone out of her bag to call the furniture maker. "Hello? Hi, It's Inah from the vet clinic. I just want to let you know that I have arrived and will be there in five." just as she spoke, she alighted her vehicle and locked it, taking just a mere three-minutes walk towards the entrance of his shop.

@✽ chanyoung y. Chan’s bright laughter boomed through the now empty furniture shop, the only living bodies being his and Chanyoung’s present, and he flopped on the couch right beside his friend, his hands folded behind his head.

“I neverrrrrr called you a hobo, Chanyoung. When did I ever do that? But I am willing to lend you money, with 50% interest every 2 weeks, just for safety.” he teased, giving his friend a ridiculous interest offer that no normal person would take, Chanyoung knew Chan was messing with him anyway. “We can totally hang out! My schedule’s pretty free after this anyways…” Suddenly, a fun little idea popped into Chan’s mind. Chanyoung was eager to learn about things he did that day, so of course he’d give him the most mind numbingly boring material related to furniture he could think of so he sat up, starting to share a fake story (that was nearly true, but just made worse). “Well, if you must ask. I was going through the workshop in the back today and… I saw the most amazing piece of wood.” He started gesturing with his hands, showing the shape of the irregular wood. “The grain? It was perfect. The weight was just right? and The wood stain? It was immaculate, it even smelled good. I wanted to use it on a new modern coffee table I was designing but it felt so… perfect? Like Jesus when he was born, I couldn’t taint this piece of wood. So he’s hanging in the back display and I named him Alexander the Great.”

@✽ chan l. enveloping his best friend in a tight hug, chanyoung let go soon after— offering the other one of his signature smug smiles. inviting himself to crash on the sofa, chanyoung landed on the plush surface before getting distracted by the decor of the place. it was neat and pretty cosy for a furniture shop. sore from the blow his buddy gave him, chanyoung pouted at his older friend— playfully rolling his eyes at the other's remarks.

hey! i have enough self respect to not ask for money. and for your kind information, i am NOT a hobo. i swear, every time i visit, you think i'm gonna become homeless. but anyways, that's not why i'm here. i just wanted to hang out with you if that's cool. we could just, i don't know, destress— maybe? or you could tell me about all of the boring things you did today at the shop, haha

@✽ chanyoung y. The store was rather busy that day so Chan asked his dad to go back to his place early to rest, the man wasn’t getting any younger and Chan needed more personal meetings with clients. Their day was booked to the brim, actually, with multiple people coming in asking for advice or looking for custom furniture. It drained the hell out of Chan but the day was finally done and he was clearing away some furniture that was already ready to be sold and flopped over to the sofa after he put away the last box. With his slight manspreading, his arms laid like wings on the backrest at either side of him, the boy rested his head, tilting it back and sighing. That was until he heard the little ding of the bell whenever someone entered. He’d have to tell them Pocha was closed already, not realizing who it was as his sight was still at the ceiling.

“Sorry, we’re about to close— yo?!” Chan snorted, showing his best friend a visibly disgusted face, pretending he didn’t want him here before breaking into a genuine smile and standing up from the sofa to give Chanyoung a bro hug. “Ya, just. I put away the last box and last stupid table. I’m the one closing up the store tonight, unfortunately… why you in here, Chandelier?” he replied, smacking his friend on the back, proud of his little rhyme. “You need money, don’t you.” he deadpanned, wrinkling his nose.

@✽ chan l. another day, another slay. or so, he liked to imagine that term as a form of coping. regardless, dismissing the evident numbness on his face, chanyoung figured meeting up with his long-time friend would put him at ease. each step he took left him bouncing up and down with sheer excitement from being able to hang out with his friend. sure it was super late at night, but— the other either way was only free after work hours, so what better way to meet up than, well, at the dead of night!

noticing the store's lights were still on, chanyoung figured chan was still inside— perhaps packing everything up before he left for his home abode. twisting the knob of the store's door, chanyoung let himself in. waving a whole arm at the familiar figure in the distance.

yo chansaur! long time no see. i figured you were still here, so i'm glad i trusted my intuition for a sec there, haha. anyways, what's popping? am i intruding or anything?