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“Hyung, I don’t want to go into the candy store.”
Changkyun trudged behind his hyung and best friend Hoseok, heaving an exaggerated sigh while they walked into a tiny hole-in-the-wall candy store that just recently opened shop.
“Oh, stop whining! I just want to find something cute for Hyungwon,” Hoseok dismissed, his eyes dancing around the brightly colored store. Changkyun shoved his hands into his pockets and let Hoseok look around at the cutely wrapped packages of hard candies, the buckets of saltwater taffies, and other such related items. Changkyun wanted to go to McDonalds, but Hoseok insisted on stopping here to get something sweet for his boyfriend because “he’s as sweet as candy.” The younger boy wanted to gag just thinking about it.
Just as he was about to sneak out of the store and abandon Hoseok there, he caught sight of the young boy working behind the counter, pulling and looping melted sugar on a hook on the wall. His hair was partially covered by a hat that had the store’s logo on it, a honey bee with “허니의 허니 사탕” (Heonnie’s Honey Candy) written in bubbly characters, but Changkyun could see his hair was bleached so light, it was practically white.
The boy pulled the batch of molten candy off the hook and brought it over to a table where he kneaded it around before he returned to the hook with a different color candy and repeated the looping and stretching process. Changkyun was captivated not only by the satisfying process, but by the way the boy looked as he executed it.
Suddenly, the boy turned his eyes and met Changkyun’s gaze, and the brunette’s breath was taken away for a moment. He was so beautiful, from the way his eyes were shaped, to the sharpness of his jawline, and the height of his cheek bones. Changkyun’s eyes drifted down to the boy’s lips; they were so thick and glossy. At the risk of sounding like Hoseok, those lips looked like they tasted better than any of the candy in the store.
“You can come sit at the counter and watch,” the candy boy called, and Changkyun’s face went red as he was brought back to reality. Bashfully, Changkyun shuffled over to the counter and took a seat in one of the bright red chairs, keeping his head down slightly but his eyes still followed the boy’s every movement.
After the candy boy finished stretching the batch he had, he returned to the table with the rest of the different colors of melted sugar. Changkyun had seen a handful of videos on YouTube of people making candy and it always satisfied him to see them manipulate the melted sugar, but watching the boy behind the counter made him feel a certain way.
“I’m making image candy,” the candy boy said, turning to Changkyun to flash him a smile. “I’m gonna put a little bee in this batch.”
“Like the store’s logo?” Changkyun asked quietly, finally finding his voice. Candy boy nodded, snipping the melted candy with scissors and rolling it out on the table. Changkyun watched him carefully as he worked, and before long, candy boy had a big roll of squishy candy with a design of a bee in the middle of it.
“Now, I’m gonna stretch it and break it until I have a bunch of skinny rods of candy,” he explained, rolling out thin rods of the candy. Changkyun was completely focused on the way the candy boy worked. His slim body moved with every movement of his arms. Changkyun could tell he was passionate about his candy making.
Once the candy boy had made the big log into many smaller rods and they hardened completely, he broken them down into bite size pieces. After he was done, he turned to Changkyun with a bright smile, and Changkyun almost started crying at the way his eyes almost disappeared and the two dimples that dug deep into his cheeks. He didn’t know he could get any more beautiful, but he did.
“Would you like to try one?” candy boy asked, coming over to the counter and holding a piece out of Changkyun. Blushing, Changkyun took the piece of candy from his fingers and took a closer look at the little design on the inside of the candy. Sure enough, there a cute little bee in the middle of the candy.
“This is so cute,” Changkyun chuckled, looking back up at the candy boy. “What flavor is it?”
“Honey flavored!” candy boy stated with a grin. “It’s my signature candy design and flavor, hence the store’s name.”
“Oh, you own this store?” Changkyun asked in shock. The boy looked so young, he didn’t think he would be a store owner. “So, I take it your name is Heonnie?”
Candy boy giggled, his ears tinting red. “Heonnie’s a nickname. It plays off the “honey” part of the store name... My name’s actually Jooheon.”
“I see. That’s cute.” Changkyun twirled the piece of candy in his fingers before he popped it into his mouth. His mouth was filled with the sweet taste of sugar and honey. He smiled at the flavor, nodding happily to Jooheon.
“Do you like it?” Jooheon asked curiously, leaning against the counter coolly. Changkyun tried to match his casual composure and he propped his elbow on the counter and rested his chin on his palm.
“I do,” he said smoothly. “Though I feel sad for the little bee in the candy. I just ate him.”
Jooheon laughed and the sound sent Changkyun’s heart rate through the ceiling. “How about this...” He turned to his pile of little honey bee candies and grabbed a baggie. He filled it with the candies and tied it closed with a pretty yellow ribbon.
“On the house!” he said brightly as he handed the baggie to Changkyun, who took it with wide eyes.
“Really?” he asked shyly, cradling the little bag in his hands.
“Yep! Now you have a swarm of bees.” Jooheon smiled sweetly. “I hope you’ll like them enough to come back for more.”
“I will,” Changkyun replied, a little more flirtatious then he originally planned, but Jooheon’s cheeks dusted pink, so Changkyun guessed it was okay.
“Kyun-ah!” Hoseok called from the front door, pulling Changkyun’s attention from the cute candy boy. “Come on, I’ll get you your McDonald’s now.”
“A-ah, just a second, hyung!” He turned to Jooheon and bit his lip, rubbing the back of his neck. “I, uh... My name’s Changkyun. Are you open every day?”
“Monday to Friday, 9AM to 5PM.” Jooheon sent Changkyun a suave wink, causing his cheeks to heat up significantly. “See you around, Changkyun.”
“See you, Jooheon.”
Changkyun floated out of the store behind Hoseok like he was on a cloud, a warm smile on his face. Before the door closed, he turned back to look at Jooheon only to see he was watching him leave, his plump lower lip between his teeth.
He turned back to Hoseok, who was looking at him with an amused expression. “Hyung, I just met the cutest boy in the entire world.”
For the next few weeks, Changkyun returned to Heonnie’s Honey Candy and sat in the middle red chair at the counter. He watched Jooheon’s demonstrations like it was a new experience every time, fascinated by it like a child. Jooheon always gave him a free baggie of whatever candies he made that day, and no matter how much Changkyun tried to pay for them, Jooheon always insisted that they were on the house.
And while he visited, day after day, week after week, he got to see how much the little store grew. Every time he walked into the store, there were more customers than the previous time. Jooheon even had to hire a new cashier and candy maker; a big buff guy called Hyunwoo that Jooheon said was a good friend of his. He was quiet, but kind and a bit dorky. The cashier that Jooheon was already working with, Kihyun, couldn’t take his eyes off of the broad man. Changkyun and Jooheon often teased him about it whenever the older man wasn’t in the room.
“Kyun-ah!” Jooheon called brightly when Changkyun walked into the store one day. He was in the middle of making a batch of candies, but his attention went straight to Changkyun the second the door opened, as did everyone else’s in the store. “My favorite customer!”
“Heonnie hyung, do you have to do this every time I walk in?” Changkyun whined, his cheeks burning red. The other customers chuckled at their antics, a few regulars knowing that Jooheon did indeed often put Changkyun on the spot when he walked in.
“Hyung has to have fun somehow, doesn’t he?” Jooheon teased with a grin, returning to making candy. Changkyun waved to Hyunwoo who was working at the check out with Kihyun before making his way to his regular seat, nodding politely to other people sitting in the other seats.
“What are you making today?” he asked, leaning his elbows on the counter.
“Cherry flavored image candies with hearts in the middle,” Jooheon said with a hum. Today, he had a visor on instead of his baseball cap style hat, but the store logo was still stitched into the visor.
“Mm, I love cherries.” Changkyun wiggled with excitement, watching Jooheon work as he always did. And his heart raced as it always did as well. “I’m paying this time.”
“No you’re not,” Jooheon replied instantly, flashing Changkyun a bright grin. “You’re my official taste tester.”
“Hyung, I want to pay for the candy, please let me pay,” the younger boy sighed, but he couldn’t deny that whenever Jooheon refused to let him pay, it made his stomach twist in the best way. “Can’t I support my favorite candy maker hyung?”
“You do by coming in here every chance you get just to watch me work,” Jooheon said, his voice dropping to a warmer tone than Changkyun was used to. He shivered. “You don’t understand what that means to me. Thank you.”
Changkyun chuckled bashfully, playing mindlessly with the earring that dangled from his right ear. “I come here to watch you ‘cause I think you look pretty when you work,” he said confidently, but his ears were on fire. But judging from Jooheon shrill laugh, he liked what he said. “But, you don’t need to thank me. I love coming here, it’s so relaxing. And you’re a talented candy maker, I would be silly not to support you.”
“You’re just too kind to me,” Jooheon said dismissively, but he had a pleased smile on his face. Changkyun’s chest swelled.
“Yah! Will you two just go on a date already?” Kihyun shouted from the cash register, drawing laughs from many of the customers.
“Only if you finally gut up and ask Hyunwoo hyung on a date!” Changkyun retorted, grinning when more people laughed. Kihyun’s face went pinker than the pink color in his hair and his jaw dropped open, but no words came out. Hyunwoo looked pleased, but his cheeks, too, had tinted a pink color.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to that, you know.” Jooheon’s voice drew Changkyun’s attention back to the pretty boy that was working hard rolling out skinny rods of candy.
“To what?” Changkyun asked curiously.
“A date.”
Changkyun’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, rendered speechless for a moment. They had been steadily getting more and more flirtatious over the past few weeks, sure, but Changkyun was not expecting to get asked on a date that day.
“Me neither,” he said shyly, but firmly. “But I don’t even have your number yet.”
“You never asked for it,” Jooheon shot back, quirking an eyebrow at the younger boy. Changkyun pouted, crossing his arms across his chest.
“I’m the dongsaeng, you’re supposed to ask for my number,” he sassed, but he could feel a smile tugging at his lips. Jooheon laughed, shaking his head fondly.
“You’re a brat, is what you are.”
“I know.”
They banted back and forth like that for a while, until they fell into comfortable silence and had occasional conversations with other customers as they always did. Changkyun got ready to leave around 2 PM, having to meet Hoseok at his apartment for something that Changkyun couldn’t remember for the life of him. Probably to help him plan something grossly cheesy for Hyungwon.
“Wait, Kyun-ah!” Jooheon, finally not in the middle of making candies, exclaimed before Changkyun could get up to leave. He went off into the Employee’s Only room in the back of the store for a few moments before hurrying back out. He went back behind the counter and gathered a baggie of the cherry flavored candies he made for Changkyun, but before he tied it closed with the yellow ribbon, he slipped a little roll of paper into it.
“Here you go!” Jooheon handed the baggie to Changkyun and grinned so bright, the sun outside should have felt jealous. Changkyun returned the smile, bidding Jooheon a sweet goodbye and promising to return the next day. Jooheon, Hyunwoo, and Kihyun all waved to him as he left.
He started to make his way to Hoseok’s apartment that wasn’t too far from the shop. While he walked, he curiously opened the baggie of candy and took out a piece, and the roll of paper that Jooheon stuck in there. While he sucked happily on the candy, he unrolled the paper and his eyes went wide as he read what was written on it.
‘Brats like you don’t deserve to be treated like good dongsaengs. But hyung will give you his number anyways.’
Changkyun’s heart pounded against his chest and his face hurt from how wide he was smiling. He wasted no time in pulling out his phone and saving the number that was scrawled on the paper in Jooheon’s cute messy handwriting under the name Candy Boy ♡. After thinking for a few moments, Changkyun typed out a message to Jooheon and sent it before he could talk himself out of it.
‘Looks like you’ll have to teach me how to be a good dongsaeng, hyung.’
He was glad Hoseok dragged him into that candy store. He had a lot to thank him for. Especially when Jooheon responded to his text.
‘Ah... I’ll treat you like the brat you are until you learn your lesson, little dongsaeng.’
Yeah, he had to make sure to treat Hoseok to ice cream or something.