Work Text:
It is still early and Jihoon has time to be lazy and slow.
He closes the cabin door and pushes the button at the side of the coffee machine. The old and cranky machine starts to blurb and slurp noisily. Jihoon takes a deep breath in when the coffee scent fills the small back room. His coworker curses loudly at something on the other side of the door ajar. He enjoys the calmness and closes his eyes for a moment. It’s going to be a busy day because their store is expecting a delivery of new set of vinyl records. Everything should arranged and stocked for tomorrow when the sales officially start.
Jihoon opens his eyes and rubs his face, groaning. When he first started to work at the Midnight & Dawn, he thought he wouldn't stay there long. The store's a very old-school music store hiding at the very remote corner of the biggest malls in the city. It's supposed to be something short-term to give him some extra cash. But Jihoon ended up liking working at the unique store and it’s his third year working there now. CDs and vinyl records are rare pieces these days but that’s partly the key to the store’s success.
The store is specialized to rare CD parcels (like the one arriving today), equipment and music lessons. The guitar lessons are their priority. Jihoon and one of the owners, Jungmo, are very talented with guitars.
The coffee machine makes a sound and Jihoon moves to take out three cups from the cabinet. He has managed to fill the first cup when the door is pulled open. His coworker Wonwoo comes in and takes the cup right from Jihoon’s hands. Jihoon shrugs, hiding his eyes behind his bangs as he fills the other two mugs. It’s almost like a routine by now, Wonwoo always sensing when the first cup is ready.
Wonwoo stays there, middle of the staff room and sips his coffee with a content look on his face. Jihoon rolls his eyes and makes his way to the store where the piles of cardboard boxes wait. Junhyung, the third worker in Midnight & Dawn gets up from the floor where he has been stacking the records. He takes the offered coffee cup with a pleasant but shy smile. Jihoon nods and they stand there, in silent, sipping their drinks.
It’s nice because all three of them love quietness. At first it had been a bit difficult for Jihoon (him being the youngest) when he had started three years ago. But as soon as Junhyung had gotten the nag of him being as shy as the two others, he had taken him under his wings. Jihoon couldn't ask for better co-workers.
It’s still a mystery to Jihoon why the store owners (Heechul and Jungmo) had hired the three of them. Every one of them is somewhat introvert and shy person, not the best choice to have as a customer server. But they all love what they do and they all have their passions. Jihoon loves to play the different instruments and he knows his stuff. Wonwoo is smart and knowledgeable of cultural aspects. Junhyung is a master mind in whatever he does with digital equipment.
They usually manage with two workers but often only one if there aren’t any lessons booked. It’s usually pretty calm, only devoted ones finding their way into their store. Jihoon doesn’t care about the quietness of the store; he prefers to work alone or with only one or two people. He would never work at some sort of clothing store where it's required to go and ask if customers needed any help. Oh, he could never do that, he is way too shy for that.
Empty coffee cups are left to clutter the stand tops when the delivery arrives. Around the lunch time they have unpacked most of the boxes. Jihoon is reorganizing the stack of vinyl records on the shelves to make room for the new ones. Wonwoo is flattening the boxes and to Jihoon it looks like the quiet man is enjoying it. Loud cracks of cardboard fill the air as Wonwoo stamps the boxes.
Junhyung straightens up and cracks his back. He stretches his muscles, gazing somewhere outside from the store’s glass doors. “Ah, seems like they are soon ready to open that juice bar.”
Jihoon turns to look at where his co-worker is nodding towards to. Couple of men are removing plastic wrappers from around the counters and machines. The juice bar's located right across from their music store. This side of the mall is mostly for people passing by so it might be profitable spot for a juice bar to open up.
“Oh, I think I saw a pamphlet saying that they will open up day after tomorrow.”
“If they had opened up tomorrow, they could have had so much more profit because of our queuing clients,” Junhyung muses after a moment. Wonwoo hums in his agreement. “Maybe they are not educated and don’t know about the special parcel of a teenage boyband?” Jihoon tries to reason, his tone dripping sarcasm and Wonwoo gives him a pointed look.
Junhyung sighs. “I hope they have some hot workers, we can ogle them all day.” Wonwoo turns away from Jihoon and gives Junhyung a nasty look. Jihoon ignores his co-workers. He huffs up some records and moves to put them at their rightful place on the shelf. His co-workers are ridiculous.
They finish up the set up for the parcels. Wonwoo prints some tacky labels for customers to spot the new record sets. When Junhyung locks the place up after the day, Jihoon feels content and ready for the sale tomorrow.
As expected the next day goes past fast, teenagers and some older people lining for the vinyl records. When Jihoon had came to the work there had been a line. Junhyung had told him that the first people had arrived way too early for anyone to be up. They open the doors and the giggly teenagers rush in almost trampling Junhyung. Wonwoo laughs at him for fifteen minutes straight.
After the first rush, the flow of the customers is steadily ongoing, keeping them all busy. One of the owners, Heechul, is there to make sure everything is going smoothly and Wonwoo rolls his eyes at him. Their boss is presenting some guitars to a group of giggling girls who are swarming around.
“Do they have a daddy kink or something?” he murmurs, only so loud that Jihoon and Junhyung hear. Jihoon snorts, lowering his head to hide behind his hair while he wraps up the parcel for the customer. During their busy day Jihoon doesn’t have time to think about the new juice bar until the next day.
When Jihoon is arriving at work next day he sneaks past the juice bar. There is total of three young looking men and one man looking older than them, most likely the owner or manager. Jihoon pushes the music store's door open and slides inside. The assumed manager is giving out some orders as the other three men arrange the stand. Jihoon stays behind and watches through the glass door. The three workers are all so good looking, pretty even and Jihoon feels self-conscious. He lifts his hand to flatten his ugly sand brownish hair which is overgrown the style he used to have.
The prettiest boy out of the three workers is the one who has a kind of dark brown medium long hair covering his ears. His smile is all teeth when the boy with red-brown hair says something to him. Their body build is slim but Jihoon is sure they must hit the gym together. They lift heavy looking boxes and fruit baskets so easily. The third worker is the most bulky of them and his hair is blond.
Jihoon licks his lips when the blond turns and grins wide at his co-workers. It's sudden feel of like something is stuck in his throat, his mouth feeling dry. Were those dimples what he saw on the blond worker’s cheeks?
“Are they a fucking neopolitan?” Wonwoo murmurs close by and Jihoon hums, trying to flatten his hair to hide the sudden heat on his face. They look at the trio to put finishing touches to their working outfits. Wonwoo murmurs something tacky about their suspenders but Jihoon digs them. Soon the Strawberry (Jihoon had given Wonwoo A Look when he had presented the names) starts tending the blender. They get some juices ready and then after a moment Jihoon realizes that they are actually giving out free samples. The Strawberry and Vanilla stay behind at the stand but Choco wanders off time to time and offers juice to people passing by a bit further away.
The Dimple (as Jihoon wants to call him but he is not telling Wonwoo) smiles when people start to gather around the stand. He's giving out samples too and selling some beverages along the way. It’s fascinating to follow how well they work together, like a very oiled cog spinning seamlessly. They switch places and take turns tending the blenders and cutting more fruits and doing whatever stuff is needing to be done. Wonwoo moves to tend the old man coming in looking for a present for his teenage grandson. Jihoon stays by the door and keeps watching the juice bar workers to…well, work.
He doesn’t even drink juice but he has a sudden urge to get closer to the workers, the most to the Dimple boy. He seems genuine and Jihoon feels drawn to him. Which is super weird, he doesn’t care about other people, not to mention about strangers. Strangers are the worst but something about the Dimple boy is just so… fascinating.
So when it’s Jihoon’s break time, he does something he never does: leaves the store. He takes off his name tag and pulls his gray, worn out hoodie over his work shirt. Wonwoo’s laugh rings in his ears as the other man realizes where he is going. He stalks fast towards the juice bar and Jihoon's relieved from the fact that there is so many people around. Thus the workers don’t have time to pay attention to his small figure sneaking close.
Jihoon takes a spot at the side, staring down at the stand’s wall where the menu's been painted. There is so many options, some ordinary enough juices (like apple and orange) and then some weird flavors (who the fuck puts beetroot in their juice) and Jihoon has no idea what he wants. He usually drinks cola and nothing else so juices are out of his repertoire.
He bites his lower lip, trying to come up with something to order when, suddenly, there is a shadow falling over him. Jihoon does the mistake of lifting his eyes.
The Dimple stands there, ignoring the people lining to pay for their juices, smiling at him over the stand and oh god Jihoon is going to pass out.
“Hey, can I offer you a free sample to decide what you want? Any preferences?”
Jihoon tries to avoid the Dimple’s eyes ('SEUNGCHEOL', says his name tag, all bold and caps locked) and he feels like he is ten again and someone is trying to make a friend out of him at the sand box. Anxious washes over him and Jihoon wants to run but somehow he stays rooted and mutters out: “I don’t like citrus.”
“Oh, then you could try some berry based juices. We have some raspberry mixed with apple or strawberry, pear juices. Most of them have a base on something else than citrus but some of them has additional flavor of citrus or lime so if you aren’t used to those flavors…” Jihoon feels The Dimple (SEUNGCHEOL, bold and gorgeous) to cast a look at him and Jihoon shakes his head almost imperceptibly. “Of course if you are okay with oranges, you could try mango juice with a hint of orange and pineapple if berries aren’t your thing.”
Jihoon would love to listen to Seungcheol to talk non-stop. His voice is professional and soothing. But it seems like Seungcheol is done with his recommendations, waiting now Jihoon’s input and the pressure is enormous.
“Uh, orange is fine… so the mango thing…” Jihoon doesn’t sputter but his voice cracks a bit but Seungcheol seems pleased nonetheless. He turns to take a small plastic, transparent shot cup with yellow juice.
“One Tango Mango for you.”
Jihoon bites his tongue because who the fuck names their juices like that and takes the shot cup, avoiding touching Seungcheol’s fingers even by accident and takes a sip of the drink.
The juice is actually pretty tasty and not too sweet. Jihoon doesn’t really understand the flavor politics but he assumes that the orange is balancing the mango. He hums contently. Seungcheol is still grinning at him, quirking his eyebrow.
“I assume you like it.”
“Uh, it’s pretty tasty… you know your stuff…” Jihoon mumbles back and if it’s possible, Seungcheol beams even more. Jihoon licks his lips when he finishes his two gulp drink. “Uh, I would like to buy one… same flavor, Tango Mango was it?”
Jihoon turns his head to check how long the line is but Seungcheol gets his attention by nodding vigorously. “Sure thing! I will get it for you!”
Jihoon blinks as Seungcheol turns around to tend the blender. He works fast, and Jihoon watches him to find mango slices and oranges, watches him to blend them. And soon enough Seungcheol is smiling at Jihoon again, offering the drink at him. Jihoon pays the exact change and after a brief moment of awkward fumbling with his remaining coins, he drops them into the tip jar. Seungcheol beams at him.
“Thank you for visiting us! Recommend us to your friends and hope to see you again!”
“Uh, my pleasure…thanks…” Jihoon mumbles and gives Seungcheol a small smile. He doesn’t stay to see how the other man reacts to it. He bolts to the opposite direction than his working place and skillfully blends among the crowd. He sneaks couple of looks over his shoulder and when Seungcheol has his back turned, he veers and sneaks back to his own working place behind a lady whose hands are full of bags and her two teenage kids are arguing over something.
----
Seungcheol clutches his shirt and turns to Joshua who is giving him the most judging look ever.
“Boss told you not to serve off-line.”
“But he was so cute!”
“He looked like some sort of hobo, that hoodie was so ugly!” Jeonghan inputs after he's finished the transaction and switches places with Joshua. Seungcheol rolls his eyes at him.
“Well, he had a very nice wristwatch and his chinos weren’t the cheapest either, and did you see his ass in those?”
“Can you even once not think with your dick, please?” Jeonghan groans and Seungcheol laughs. “I can always appreciate the beauty of a man.”
“Two Twisters to go!”
Jeonghan gets into work. Seungcheol gives his attention again to handing out the free juice samples. Some elderly ladies coo at him and his dimples but Seungcheol is indifferent towards the attention he is getting. He sighs, running his hand through his hair when it’s his turn to tend the register.
Seungcheol is romantic from the heart and he is also the sappiest man alive (if you believed Jeonghan, that is). Joshua had joked, just a day ago, that Seungcheol was most likely dreaming to fall in love with one of their customers. Jeonghan had told him not to give Seungcheol any ideas.
He hopes that the cute but kind of shy young man would come back later so he could try to talk with him more. Or even better he would become their regular.
-----
Jihoon actually goes back to the juice bar next day and it gives so much mirth to Wonwoo who can’t stop teasing him. Junhyung whines how there isn't hot girls working at the juice bar but, like an afterthought, he just shrugs and adds: “Well at least one of us is pleased with the hot workers.” Jihoon makes a dying whale sound and his older co-workers laugh at him, fuckers.
At first he tries to hide behind his hair and hoodie but he doesn’t own many hoodies so at some point the juice bar workers start to recognize him. Of course it’s Seungcheol first, beaming at him and leaning his elbows on the table, welcoming him with “you came back!” and then when Jihoon leaves, Seungcheol says “see you again tomorrow!” with a cutest smile ever.
On Seungcheol’s day off, it’s either Joshua (The Strawberry) or Jeonghan (The Choco) serving him. And even if it’s merely blending fruits and berries together, Jihoon is biased and thinks Seungcheol makes the best juices. Jeonghan hears about it when he is working with Seungcheol and Jihoon lets it slip. Jeonghan downright refuses to serve Jihoon because apparently Jihoon is some uneducated fool who doesn’t appreciate good juice making. Seungcheol just laughs at his co-worker and whispers to Jihoon, like a conspiracy: “if he is not serving you then it means I get to spend more time with you.”
It feels like flirting but Jihoon doesn’t know how to appreciate it so he lowers his head and concentrates on sipping his drink. He feels his ears getting hotter. It could have gotten way too awkward but bless Jeonghan, he distracts Seungcheol. (Jihoon doesn’t get to see his pouty face when Jihoon didn’t answer to him).
Jihoon likes to listen to Seungcheol chat away even if he barely even answers to the other man. But Seungcheol doesn’t seem to mind so Jihoon keeps visiting and buying juice. He is smitten and Wonwoo quotes tacky poetry every time he returns from his juice journey.
He still hides the fact that he works across from the juice bar. It would be super awkward to let them know now, especially after two or three weeks visiting them.
It’s not until one fine Friday when his secret gets out. The doors of the music store are pushed open and Jihoon straightens up from behind the counter to see Joshua looking curiously around. Jihoon feels like ducking down and hiding. But he is the only one there (Wonwoo is on a break) so he has to help Joshua with whatever he needs. Jihoon tugs his sleeves and brushes his hair back, trying to… what, alter his looks? He looks different than his hobo looks when he visits the juice bar so maybe Joshua won’t recognize him.
It’s all fake hope because when Joshua locates him behind the register, he blinks once, twice and says: “oh, you work here!?”
“Uh, yeah?” Jihoon licks his lips and taps the counter with his fingers nervously. Joshua's grin at him is wide and he walks towards.
“That is awesome! We could have given you mall worker discount!”
Jihoon blinks and smiles a little, a bit taken back Joshua’s easygoing attitude. “Maybe next time? Uh, how can I help you?”
Joshua hums, his eyes casting around the shop. “I was planning to buy a guitar. I have been trying to learn to play it with a friend’s but he wants it back so I decided to invest in one.”
Jihoon nods and motions Joshua to follow him. “We have a good selection of those since our other owner, Jungmo, is pretty good with them. You can also sign up for his lessons, if you are interested.”
“Oh, sounds fun. Do you play anything?”
“Guitar, piano, drums and clarinet,” Jihoon lists and stops by the wall presenting their guitar selection. “What kind of guitar you have in mind? Accoustic—“
“Oh wow, you are talented!” Joshua interrupts and Jihoon blinks at him. Joshua is looking at him wide eyes, like he is amazed by Jihoon and Jihoon feels shy.
“Uh, my mom made me go to the lessons? And I kind of liked it?”
“Oh, don’t take it wrong! I mean, don’t downplay yourself!” Joshua waves his hand. “That is awesome. We could jam when I get better!”
Jihoon nods, awkwardly and Joshua turns his attention to the guitars at the wall. “My friend’s guitar is acoustic so that kind?” Jihoon nods and starts to point out their acoustic guitars and how they differ from each others. Joshua tries couple of them to see if they fit for his body frame. Jihoon recommends him to buy a small-body guitar, good for starters. Joshua falls in love with a blue painted guitar. Jihoon watches fondly as the older man caresses the neck of the instrument.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Joshua nods and grins at him. “Can I reserve it? I will come back later next week to buy it.”
Jihoon nods and takes the instrument from him. He licks his lips, remembering that Joshua will return to the juice bar soon. He takes the guitar to the counter.
“I will put your name on this.”
“Thanks!” Joshua smiles at Jihoon. “I will see you tomorrow for your juice, right?”
The pressure feels enormous. Jihoon wants nothing more than say no and avoid the juice bar forever.
“Uuh yeah, I… I will be there,” he says anyway.
Joshua’s face is beaming and leaves, waving. “See you around Jihoon!”
When the door closes after Joshua, Wonwoo’s stupid laugh fills the air, coming from somewhere behind Jihoon. The douchebag has been eavesdropping. Jihoon doesn’t turn to look at his co-worker. He only stares after the juice bar worker, kind of mortified, a hand frozen above his name tag.
-----
“Oh, finally!”
Seungcheol lifts his eyes from cutting the apples when he hears Jeonghan’s huff. His coworker nods towards the music store right across from them when Joshua emerges. Joshua nothing but skips towards them. Seungcheol arches his eyebrows and offers Joshua his apron back when he reaches to them.
“I assume you found a guitar you want?”
The smile on his co-worker’s face is brilliant.
“Better.”
“Well I am happy you find a pleasure from instruments but please, that smile is disgusting.” Jeonghan groans pissed and Joshua barks out a laugh.
“Oh dear, I mean, guess who works there?”
Both Jeonghan and Seungcheol look at each other and then back to Joshua who is still beaming at them.
“Uh, well, I’m lost, who works there?”
Joshua’s smile is wide when he leans closer like a conspirator and points towards the music store with his thumb.
“Your ugly hoodie guy. The one with nice wristwatch and awesome ass. “
Jeonghan gasps and Seungcheol blinks, trying to digest what has just left Joshua’s mouth. Joshua is grinning.
“And thank me, his name is Jihoon.”
-------
Jihoon doesn’t sleep well, not at all and the next morning he almost calls in sick. But he knows that Wonwoo has already spilled the beans of his awkward meeting with Joshua to their bosses. So if Heechul answers, he will laugh at him and make him do labor work at the back if he gets in late because of his stupidity. So he bites his tongue and leaves for work.
He also doesn’t want to renege. He promised to be there for his juice to Joshua and he doesn’t want to disappoint the sweet man. His feet feel heavy and his hands start to get sweaty the more closer he gets to the juice bar. To his disappointment, he doesn’t see Joshua. Jihoon would have loved to Joshua to be there, since the man “knows” him, but it’s only Jeonghan and Seungcheol today.
Jihoon licks his lips nervously. He walks faster before he can chicken out and run back inside the music store without the juice.
Seungcheol lifts his eyes from cutting oranges when he hears his footstep closing in. Jihoon breathes in sharply when the lively man smiles at him, dimples and teeth. Jihoon might be a little bit in love, shit.
“Oh, hi… Jihoon, right?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s me, Jihoon.” Jihoon’s mouth feels dry and breathing is hard but Seungcheol doesn’t seem to notice his nervousness. He simply asks what kind of juice he wants today. Jihoon ends up ordering something with strawberries.
“You should have told us you work across from us!” Seungcheol finally brings up the topic Jihoon has feared, dropping some strawberries in the blender. Jihoon shrugs.
“I never thought it would interest you much…where I work, I mean.”
Seungcheol hums, taking some of the apples he had cut and adds them to the mix.
“Understandable since we never asked, right? We were really surprised!” he turns to beam at Jihoon. “We could have given you the mall worker discount!”
Jihoon watches Seungcheol’s hands as the man gets some oranges for his juice. “Uh, Joshua said the same thing.”
“Of course! Think about all the money you could have saved! But it’s good we know now!”
Jihoon snorts. “I’m glad you care about the well-being of my financials. “
Seungcheol grins lopsidedly, pressing the buttons and the blender rushes to start. Jihoon follows the whirlpool effect the blades create.
“It’s such a coincidence, really! We are getting to know each other little by little and it feels like we are so much closer already!”
Jihoon doesn’t know how to answer to that, more than Seungcheol is right, it feels like they are closer already. He smiles a bit because he feels suddenly so giggly and smitten. He hums and lowers his eyes from watching Seungcheol to pour his juice into a plastic cup. He is trying to hide behind his hair.
“Oh, don’t do that, your eyes are super pretty, right Seungcheol?!”
Seungcheol almost drops Jihoon’s juice at Jeonghan’s holler and Jihoon chokes on air. He had totally forgotten Jeonghan who is standing right next to Seungcheol now. His arms are crossed over his chest with a very sly grin on his face. Jihoon fears for his life and Seungcheol groans something at his co-worker. Jeonghan doesn't care and leans over the counter. Jihoon squeaks out loud when Jeonghan’s fingers touch his face and brush the hair away from his eyes.
“Don’t be shy!”
“Hannie, don’t make him uncomfortable!” Seungcheol wails panicked and Jihoon blinks at them, kind of amused, kind of horrified, as the two co-workers squabble over Jihoon’s eyes and hair. Why would they care about his hair or eyes? How they even have time to look at him when they have tons of other, more attractive people buying their juices and –
“Did you see his smile just now?” Jeonghan whines, pointing at Jihoon and Seungcheol groan, rolling his eyes.
“Shut up Hannie, of course I saw it! How can I miss a pretty smile like that?!”
“…What.”
It’s only fair that when Seungcheol drops Jihoon’s juice he gets new one for free.
----
Wonwoo doubles from the laughter and Jihoon tries his hardest not to cry.
“It was horrible! Don’t laugh at me!”
Wonwoo doesn’t emergence from behind the counter and all Jihoon hears is his friend's ridiculous hiccup giggles. Jihoon huffs annoyed. The Berry Ferry juice sits untouched by the counter and Jihoon glares at it. As soon as he had gotten it, he had tossed some tip coins he had prepared to the counter and ran away from the juice bar. He can now see Seungcheol pacing behind the juice bar counter and Jeonghan is wiping the table tops kind of mechanically.
Jihoon isn’t sure if he is more annoyed or pissed off or embarrassed or all three combined. He might have been a little bit happy about the fact that Seungcheol finds his smile worth of adoration but the old habits die hard.
Wonwoo gets his laughter under the control and surfaces from behind the counter, wiping his fake tears away.
“Ah, that was more fun than I have had in a while.”
Jihoon sneers. “Your game buddy isn’t lacking anymore with techs?”
Wonwoo hums. “He is learning faster than I was anticipating.”
“Maybe he is trying to impress you.”
Wonwoo snorts but the fond look gives his thoughts away. Jihoon rolls his eyes, fingers twitching towards his juice. They stay in silence while Jihoon’s fingers curl around the juice cup and he sips the sordid drink. He isn’t sure if the flavor should be this sweet but it’s almost yucky. But he sips it anyway, watching through the doors as Seungcheol finally stops his pacing and slumps, defeated, on a chair and Jeonghan pats his head.
God, he looks like a puppy with that pout.
Wonwoo hums. “That straw hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Shut up.”
“Speaking about impressing people, you should let him have a change.”
Jihoon blinks at Wonwoo, who shrugs.
Words stay unsaid but Jihoon has known Wonwoo long enough and vice versa to almost call him a sort of best friend. This is the most influenced Jihoon has ever been by any other person.
Seungcheol must be special.
-----
Jeonghan makes a mistake at the register and Seungcheol wails by the mixer after Joshua says that Jihoon hasn't visited them yet today. Joshua knows that his friends did something stupid and Joshua isn't even surprised.
He waits until the customers have left and turns to look at his coworkers, arms crossed over his chest.
“What did you two do while I was having a day off?”
“Jeonghan was being stupid!”
“It was horrible to look at them!”
Joshua sighs, rubbing the brick of his nose.
“You do know that by embarrassing a shy person, you can ruin everything?”
Seungcheol’s pout is ridiculous and Joshua feels a little bad for him. Jeonghan huffs.
“But it was horrible to look at him to mumble things and Jihoon shied away! I just wanted them to… I don’t know, do something about it!”
Joshua understands where Jeonghan is coming from but that is not how it works for all, the bold actions. Jeonghan has always been audible of what he wants and Joshua is as easy to reciprocate but Seungcheol is different. He is like a puppy that needs validation and time for him to act.
“So now he is avoiding us?”
“Apparently so.”
“Why don’t you go to his store—“
“I can’t do that!” Seungcheol wails, his eyes wide and Joshua counts to ten inside his head before he asks why.
“Because I did nothing wrong! I mean, he gave me… us! Tip!”
“Even thou the drink was free,” Jeonghan counters and Seungcheol slumps in his form. Joshua thinks his friends are ridiculous.
“Give him time then. He will come back when he is comfortable.”
Seungcheol blinks up at him. “So you think he will come back?”
If all the small, fond smiles Jihoon gives at Seungcheol when the juice bar worker isn’t looking are any indicator then yes, Jihoon would come back. Joshua would bet his monthly salary on it. But he doesn’t say that aloud, he doesn’t need to give Jeonghan any more stupid ideas. So Joshua nods and smiles encouragingly at his pouting friend.
Jeonghan takes a lidded cup and sticks the straw through the hole with a wink.
“And when he comes back you can be the Killer Bee to his Honey Pot.”
“Jesus Christ, shut up!”
----
Although Jihoon is kind of victorious with his feelings, he still feels so awkward about the whole… whatever Seungcheol feels about his smile. So he doesn’t go back for his daily juice. For three days.
When he thinks about what Seungcheol had said about his smile, his cheeks would heat up and it's so stupid. Jihoon feels like screaming. And because he has never really liked anyone or anyone has never really showed interest in him, he doesn’t know what to do. Junhyung shakes his head and gives Wonwoo A Look when the other man plays stupid love songs in their store.
Avoidance works, like usually. Jihoon kind of wishes it would be solved that easily but then, yet again, Joshua plays his part as a mediator. Jihoon isn’t sure if the other man times his visit to buy the guitar so that Jihoon is yet again working alone.
Jihoon prays Joshua won’t bring up the subject but he is wrong, he always is.
Joshua leans against the counter while Jihoon deals with the transaction, smiling gently.
“Jeonghan rarely means harm.”
Jihoon’s hand stops mid-move and he swallows hard.
“It’s okay. I… it’s okay,” Jihoon assures, licking his lips and Joshua hums, still looking at him, wondering. There is a beat of silence while the receipt is printing and when Joshua leans closer to sign it, he hums.
“You shouldn’t mind their talk. Even if they are little shits, they still care. I mean, why else would they be fretting over you not coming and getting your juice?”
Jihoon opens his mouth to argue, to say that what if he actually minds? What if he wants Seungcheol to think that his eyes are pretty? No one has ever said his eyes are pretty. People have only commented on how thin and annoying his eyes get when he is smiling, how stupid he looks when his lips curve upwards.
“Jihoon? Jihoon, are you alright?”
Jihoon blinks back to the reality and meets with Joshua’s concerned look. “Ah, sorry, I’m fine. And it’s alright. I… I just… Seungcheol confuses me.”
Joshua smiles and offers the receipt back to him. “He tends to do that. He is such a romantic and sappy person, all about wooing and stuff. If you don’t feel like wooed by him, then say it to him.” Jihoon opens his mouth to argue. His throat feels tight and his palms sweaty but Joshua smiles at him gently.
“But if you approve, then you could try and give him a chance, would you?”
Jihoon feels his cheeks to heat up and he gives a little nod to Joshua as he hides behind his hair.
-----
It takes one more day of Jihoon to collect his courage. Joshua was kind enough to mention when Seungcheol would be working alone so on Thursday morning Jihoon approaches the juice bar. He has already gone and tossed his ugly hoodie at the backroom. He is wearing his usual work attire and he is running his hand through his hair in a nervous habit.
Seungcheol looks tired when Jihoon gets close. He arranges the fruits and cups to their rightful places and his smile is perfectly professional when he turns to Jihoon. Jihoon gulps, suddenly super nervous. He watches Seungcheol to realize it's Jihoon who is standing behind the counter. Seungcheol blinks and his smile falters a bit but it doesn’t disappear. It is hesitant, nervous even, if Jihoon had to name what it looked like to him.
“Hi.”
“Uh, hi, Jihoon. I haven’t seen you around.”
Jihoon bites his lower lip and shrugs. How can he explain that he was nervous, almost scared to come back again? What if Seungcheol had changed his mind and didn’t want anything to do with Jihoon now that he knew what kind of awkward person he was? What if—
“Ah, I thought you wouldn’t come back. I’m sorry and Jeonghan is too, we… we didn’t mean it in any bad way.” Seungcheol’s timid voice cuts his thoughts and Jihoon blinks rapidly. Seungcheol smiles sheepishly and shrugs.
“I mean, we meant it in all good way. Your smile is… yeah, nice.”
Jihoon sputters. “Uh, thanks? Yours is… nice too.”
Seungcheol is staring at him with wide, bewildered eyes but his smile, it blooms and Jihoon’s breathe hitches. Seungcheol moves towards the stacked cups and takes one, like to get something to do with his hands.
“So, what kind of juice can I get to you today?”
Jihoon grunts and runs his hand through his hair again as he glances over the menu.
“Is there something I haven’t tried…” he murmurs mainly to himself but Seungcheol’s answers, moving to take out some carrots. “Excluding citrus based drinks, you haven’t tried any of our vegetable based juices. How about you try Feel the Beet? It’s pretty tasty.”
Jihoon finds it from the menu and pouts a little. “Beetroot in a juice?”
Seungcheol hums, already pulling apples forward. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. And did you get it? Feel the beet?”
When Jihoon only blinks at Seungcheol, the other man puts his hand against his chest, clutching the fabric of his shirt slightly. “Feel the beet? Like my beating heart.”
Jihoon stares at Seungcheol who grins at him wide and because of that smile, Jihoon gives up. “Okay, I’ll have that. The name itself is so lame and a reason to have it.”
Seungcheol laughs and Jihoon smiles, pleased, and fishes out some bills while he waits. Seungcheol finishes making his drink in comfortable silence and offers it to him. Jihoon sips his juice and hums approvingly. “This is nice, you cut carrots for this too,” he says, eyeing the drink while running his hand through his hair. “What sorcery is this?”
Seungcheol laughs. If Jihoon hasn’t memorized every type of laughs Seungcheol has, this one makes his eyes snap at the older man. Seungcheol laugh is, well, as always, wonderful but this is so breathy, loud and deep. And Seungcheol’s eyes dart away from Jihoon’s face when their eyes meet.
“Ugh, my juice making magic? I mean, you said my juices are the best so…” Seungcheol trails off, rubbing behind his neck with his hand. Oh, this is awkward and Jihoon busies himself with sipping his damn beetroot juice.
Joshua conveniently comes to work at that moment, clearing his throat when he arrives, making them both jump.
“Uh, I will go…” Jihoon murmurs, waving his hand towards his store. Seungcheol smiles nodding. “See you tomorrow!”
Jihoon flees, his cheeks burning. Wonwoo cracks some stupid joke of his face and juice’s color matching.
-----
Seungcheol gets away the whole day before Joshua slams his hands down on the table, making Seungcheol jump from where he is cleaning the blenders after they have closed the juice stand. His friend gives him a bewildered look.
“So, what the fuck was this morning?”
Seungcheol laughs hallow, his ears heating up. Joshua arches his eyebrow at him and Jeonghan rolls his eyes, leaning his hands against the counter. “What Joshua told me, your lover boy—(“He is not my lover boy!”) --came back and you were an idiot? Why the fuck were you an idiot?”
“I… He.. I mean, no, it was just…” Seungcheol tries but his friends aren’t buying his bullshit and it’s almost comical how simultaneously both Joshua and Jeonghan cross their arms, like they are some parents scolding him, what the fuck.
“He kept running his hand through his hair! And it got me all flustered!” Seungcheol whines finally and Joshua groans. “I could tell you were. It was horrible to watch.”
Jeonghan kicks his shin. “I told you not to think with your dick, don’t you fucking dare to molest him!” Seungcheol sputters and Jeonghan narrows his eyes, pointing at his chest with an apple. “Don’t you dare to break his heart.” Seungcheol makes a face and turns to look at Joshua for help but the other man just shrugs.
“Why would I do that? He is just too cute to handle?!” Seungcheol whines, shaking the surplus water away and putting the blender away to dry. Jeonghan shakes his head. “Just ask the boy out and end our misery.”
When they finally leave the mall for the day Seungcheol casts a look towards the music store closed two hours earlier than their juice bar. Maybe one day he would be brave enough to actually ask Jihoon out but it’s not going to be tomorrow and even in next week but maybe… maybe later.
-----
After that they fall back into the familiar routine of Jihoon buying his drink from Seungcheol (or any other who is working but mostly from Seungcheol). Jihoon doesn’t realize it right away but every time they see him approaching, Joshua or Jeonghan would give free range to Seungcheol to serve Jihoon, no matter what he was doing (the give-away was probably the time when Seungcheol was cutting apples his back turned to Jihoon and Jeonghan almost violently pushed him towards the desk when Jihoon approached, a knife still high in his hand).
They flirt, Jihoon realizes that too, a bit late too and he wails to Wonwoo when he realizes that he is such a fool for not noticing all the small things Seungcheol keeps saying to him. And in a same breathe of air he cries because he don’t know how to flirt properly back and Wonwoo tells him to ask Seungcheol out on a date so they can stop being stupid.
Jihoon gives him a finger.
But the thought stays.
And after a slightly vivid dream of being on a date with Seungcheol, Jihoon can’t really look at Seungcheol in the eye.
It’s evident that they like each others, even Jihoon can see it and maybe he should just ask Seungcheol out on a date.
It’s Wednesday when Jihoon decides that fuck it, he will do it and he is a nervous wreck. Wonwoo actually pats his back when he exits for his lunch break, wishing him luck. But if Jihoon was a nervous wreck, he wasn’t expecting Seungcheol to be the same as him because he finds himself looking at very fidgety Seungcheol behind the counter.
“Hey, are you alright? It looks like you will cut yourself if you keep fidgeting that much…” Jihoon murmurs worried and Seungcheol huffs out a laugh.
“It’s just…” he licks his lips and turns to look at Jihoon properly. “I’m just nervous, I think.”
“Hmm mind me asking why?” Jihoon wonders, leaning at the counter and Seungcheol bites inside his cheek and Jihoon watches him to switch his weight from the left foot to the right.
“I was wondering…I mean, you can always say no but how does it sound to go on a date with me?” Seungcheol says, standing tense behind the counter and Jihoon blinks. He wasn’t expecting anything like this, his own nervousness suddenly all forgotten.
“What?”
“I mean, yeah, I just said you can say no but—“
“No! I mean, yes, yes, I would love to go on a date with you!” Jihoon interrupts fast and Seungcheol grins at him, his cheeks wonderfully pink.
“A date sounds wonderful,” Jihoon assures him a moment later, smiling, and runs his hand through his hair. Seungcheol’s grin widens.
“Cool! This Friday, are you free?”
It’s so soon and Jihoon should say no, he is busy, so that he can fret and be a nervous wreck and prepare himself for the date but his mouth doesn’t listen and he can’t stop himself before he has already agreed.
“I will pick you up after your shift?”
“Oh, I can walk here, if that’s fine? I can leave Junhyung to close the store.”
Seungcheol smiles and offers the juice to Jihoon. “That sounds great. I will be waiting!”
Wonwoo wants to know why he is smiling so stupidly and Jihoon realizes that he didn’t pay his Kiss Kiss juice.
-----
Junhyung is actually much more understanding than Wonwoo when Jihoon arrives at work next day, screaming that he has nothing to wear for the date. Wonwoo just laughs but Junhyung tells him to go and buy some stuff from his favorite clothing store.
So Jihoon sneaks out soon after he has gotten his juice from Joshua (he can’t arose suspicion) and taps his foot nervously as he makes his way to the 3rd floor, escalators are so damn slow, really.
Previous night he had thrown everything out from his wardrobe and had a mild crisis over the state of it. Jihoon loves oversized sweaters and shirts with black pants but that isn’t really a look for the first date, right? Jihoon is panicking. And the state of his hair isn’t helping, he knows it is over-grown the style and god, his roots are horrible.
When Jihoon finally locates the clothing store Junhyung recommended, he stops outside and eyes the name suspiciously. ‘T4LL’ in bright blue colours seems to mock him but after taking couple of deep breathes, he stomps in. And as soon as he lays his eyes on the workers, he knows he will kill Junhyung and regrets everything.
“Hello! How can I help you, sir!?” the tall worker beams at him, approaching while the other worker (tall as hell too) nods at him from behind the counter he is folding shirts. Jihoon tries his hardest not to sneer.
“I need clothes. Do you have anything for… me?” he vaguely waves his hand in front of him and the tall worker (‘MINGYU’ mocks the nametag) laughs. “Well of course sir, we have different sizes. Do you have anything in mind? For what kind of occasion you’re attending?”
Before he can stop himself Jihoon is already saying that he is going on a date and he needs clothes for that. Mingyu beams.
“You came to right place! Follow me!”
Jihoon follows him deeper into the store, little bit wary.
“What kind of date you will be having? A formal or more relaxed?”
Jihoon doesn’t know and says so. Mingyu gives him a look but Jihoon ignores it. “But he didn’t specifically ask me to wear formal wear so I assume it’s going to be… relaxed?”
Mingyu hums and guides him deeper into the store. He pulls out some cardigans and shirts of different colours and Jihoon’s arms are soon full of clothes and the worker also offers some pants to him.
“I think we can find something from these. Let’s go and try them on.” He steers Jihoon towards the fitting rooms and Jihoon all but gracefully dumps the pile in his arms to the bench inside the booth after the curtain is shut behind him.
“Let’s start with those striped pants and jacket!” Mingyu calls from outside and Jihoon grunts. He finds them easily and sneers at them. They do look nice but maybe too formal and stiff but he puts them on anyway and swings the curtain open. Mingyu gives him one-over and urges him back inside the booth.
“Let’s try some other shirts.”
He pulls some shirts out of the pile and gives Jihoon them both after debating between them. “Start with the dark one, keep the pants.”
And it goes on like that forever and Jihoon almost falls over when he is pulling some tight jeans off of his legs. They established that a cardigan will do but Mingyu hasn’t decided which would fit Jihoon the best. Jihoon is so tired. At this point he doesn’t really care what he will be wearing for the date, he just wants to buy something and leave. He should wear a sweater, yeah, he should do that, a sweater. He should drown himself into it and make Seungcheol realize what kind of a slob he is. Jihoon sighs and pulls the curtain to the side swiftly. Mingyu hums somewhat approving but he is pouting. “Almost but not quite.”
“Okay, no I can’t look at this anymore. You’ll make him look like a jail-bait. Mingyu, have you tried the classical black pants, some colorful blouse?”
Jihoon almost screams when the third voice pipes in from somewhere behind Mingyu. Mingyu rolls his eyes.
“It’s too formal. We want casual.”
Jihoon spots a man, probably a worker too, to move forward, his eyes on Jihoon.
“Considering his height we could try some v-neck and tuck the shirt in.” Mingyu rolls his eyes, again, but lets his co-worker go through Jihoon’s pile of clothes. The co-worker offers him a gray soft sweater type of shirt and… dark blue shorts.
“Try them on.”
Jihoon opens his mouth to protest but he is pushed inside the booth and the heavy curtain is pulled to his face. He hears some hissing from Mingyu and a laugh from the other worker. Jihoon sighs and starts to change his clothes. It’s ridiculous, he will look ridiculous, this whole date thing is ridiculous, he… looks nice.
Jihoon stands there in front of the mirror and blinks at his own reflection. The shorts aren’t as horrible as he thought and the shirt has v-neck and okay, maybe he looks a bit taller.
“You finished?”
Jihoon nods and blushes right away because they can’t see him nodding. He turns, pulling the curtain aside. Mingyu grunts while the other worker smirks.
“Nice. Let me…” He moves forward and Jihoon bites his lips as the man tucks the shirt in his shorts.
Mingyu is visibly sulking. Jihoon feels like he is middle of some sort of battle between the two workers because the other worker (“MINGHAO” reads his nametag) looks so pleased.
“You definitely look taller and cute but not too cute. How you like it, sir?”
“Uh, it’s nice.”
“I would recommend the hair salons right across from us. I go there when I need a haircut”, Mingyu says, still pouting. Jihoon hums, turning a little to see himself from the behind in the mirror. The outfit is really nice and he ends up buying it after changing the color of the shirt, it made him look way too pale. Mingyu wished him luck for his date when he leaves and Jihoon feels his ears heat up.
God, he is going on a date with Seungcheol looking like that. It’s not like the shorts are emphasizing his ass but damn, he will look nice tomorrow.
He marches inside the hair salon and makes an appointment for next day (he can’t spoil his hair for Seungcheol if the man is working next morning). He will sneak there couple hours earlier.
The night is horrible, Jihoon barely sleeps and he keeps texting to Wonwoo who around 3am starts answering only with upside down emojis and Jihoon screams into his pillow. He falls asleep eventually and his dreams are fluttery. He dreams of kissing Seungcheol while standing at the escalator.
-----
The young hairdresser makes a very, very horrified sound when he gets his hands on Jihoon’s hair.
“God, you’ve let it grow so much. At least its condition is good, something can be saved. Do you want to keep the light brown color or…”
Jihoon shrugs, leaning a bit forward so that his bangs hide his eyes. The hairdresser hisses and moves the hair away and Jihoon feels suddenly so small and judged. The hairdresser scrunches up his nose, running his fingers deeper into Jihoon’s hair, gripping gently.
“What products do you use? Or do you use any?”
“Uh, I… don’t really?”
The hairdresser presses his mouth into a thin line and Jihoon is sure he is cursing at him inside his head so he decides to help him. “You can do whatever with my hair, surprise me. I…” and after a beat of silence, Jihoon shrugs. If clothing store workers know, then why not the hairdresser so Jihoon opens his mouth and says: “I’m going on a date so…”
The young man snorts at him while combing his fingers through his hair, signaling at his co-worker through the mirror (the red haired worker had signed Jihoon in and was now watching them behind the counter, apparently bored with his life). “Oh believe me, I will surprise you.”
And yeah, surprise he does.
Jihoon leaves the salon with a plastic bag full of bottles and he drops it at music store. Junhyung forgets his coffee as he stares Jihoon to enter from the back door.
“Well hello.”
“Shut up.”
Junhyung snorts but he is smiling and when Jihoon blows a stream of air out of his lungs, he pats his back encouragingly. “It’s going to be alright, have fun.”
“Thanks.” Jihoon lifts his hand to run it through his hair when he moves to open the front door and go to wait Seungcheol but he stops mid-move because he doesn’t have bangs to do so. Instead he lowers his hand and fidgets with his half-length shirt sleeves. It feels weird not to have his bangs to cover his eyes but Chan (his hairdresser, Jihoon had learned his name middle of the make-over) had styled what was left his bangs up, to show “your pretty eyes, come on, your date will love it.”
Jeonghan is the first to spot him and he almost falls from his chair and Jihoon would have laughed if he wasn’t mortified with nervousness of lifetime. Seungcheol is standing his back to him, his black blouse straining nicely against his shoulders and when he turns he blinks, twice, before his face breaks into a grin.
“Wow. Okay, you look good!”
“Uh, thanks, you look good always,” Jihoon blurts before he can think and Seungcheol’s laugh is so wild and Jihoon’s legs almost give out when grinning Seungcheol moves around the juice stand and takes a hold of hand.
“Come on, I have planned out a lot for our date!”
They ignore Jeonghan’s whistles when Seungcheol starts to pull him away from the juice stand.
“You know, you didn’t need to go all… make-over for me?” Seungcheol states after a moment and Jihoon tries to ignore the adoration in other man’s eyes as he looks at him. He shrugs. “I was in a need of a haircut anyway so why not? I don’t… see you complaining. Much.”
Seungcheol grins, bumping their hips together. “Of course not! I told you look good! And if it’s just for me, then I should feel very honored.” He makes a grand hand wave and Jihoon snorts at him, smiling happily, leaning a little bit on Seungcheol’s side as they walk forward.
“Are you hungry? I was thinking we could eat something first.”
“Sound nice, I… to be honest, I haven’t had anything, food or drink since my morning juice,” Jihoon confesses and Seungcheol makes a distressed sound. “That is so unhealthy. Come on, we can have a feast!”
To Jihoon’s surprise they don’t pick only one restaurant. Seungcheol calls over every worker who owns him a flavor to give them the best samples and drinks to go. It is amusing. And Jihoon laughs hysterically when they are tasting some chicken and they get the cola for free. Because, to quote Seungcheol’s waiter friend, “your own face is shit but your date is cute, so have it for free.”
“That was fun, thank you for the treat!” Jihoon muses after they have eaten their food. Seungcheol hums, swinging their linked hands back and forth between them. Jihoon feels content and he's excited to know what Seungcheol has planned next.
They chat about this and that when Seungcheol walks him around the mall. Seungcheol's grin widens when they reach the second floor and he stops them by the game arcade. “I have to confess, I am super competitive. So are you ready to get your ass beaten?” Jihoon snorts, wiggling his eyebrows. “Challenge accepted,” he states and Seungcheol’s laugh is like music to Jihoon’s ears.
They start off with basketball throws. Jihoon laughs so hard when he realizes that Seungcheol has the worst aim ever. And what makes it even more fun is the fact that Jihoon, even if he is laughing so hard and loud still manages to score more.
They stroll into the music games section. And as competitive as Seungcheol claims to be Jihoon downright beats him in rhythm games. He smiles sly at his bewildered date. “What did you expect? I work at the music store, I teach music.” Seungcheol demands rematch and loses as horrible as before. Jihoon giggles and they try some car games next. Seungcheol is so determined to win that he causes more damage than needed and Jihoon has so much fun. From the way Seungcheol keeps smiling at him, the older man is not taking any of the teasing too personally.
He is walking back from his bathroom break when he happens to overhear some arcade workers. They are talking about them in hushed but still somewhat loud and clear voices.
“We can’t count that! Hyung’s date was hollering even before they started!”
“But then it counts to the previous point. So it’s still five full laughs out of him.”
“Why is Seungcheol hyung a ridiculous human being?! He is making me lose!”
“Come on Seungkwan, they are so smitten with each other.”
“They are losers.”
Their voices grow weaker and Jihoon assumed they are moving away. Jihoon should get back to Seungcheol too. He finds Seungcheol to try fish some candies out of the machine but with a bad luck.
“Ugh, I really wanted those candies.” Seungcheol pouts and slams the side of the machine in his frustration. Jihoon hums, moving to stand closer to Seungcheol and takes a note of what kind of candy his date was trying to fish out.
“Hmm. I will buy you some, okay?”
The taller man blinks at him. “Will you?”
“Sure? Also how many mall workers you do know? I mean, I overheard…Seungkwan might have been his name…”
Seungcheol groans. “Oh god, don’t mind him. We used to work at the same café once and I tutored him too. I have some of my university friends working part-time here at the mall too, so yeah, the circles are small?” Jihoon nods, wondering that one day he will meet all Seungcheol’s friends and try to get to know them, too. And as horrified as the thought could be, it doesn’t make him feel anxious at all.
They end up playing some more games, one of the games is a zombie game. Seungcheol wonders out loud middle of a onslaught of zombies: “Oh wow, we make a great team! We’re great!” Jihoon snorts, keeping his eyes on the game. Seungcheol keeps sputtering out nonsense and then not so much: “You should hit the head! The tank! We should get the tank!” Jihoon smashes the buttons. “Fire!” He can hear the grin in Seungcheol’s voice as he repeats after him: “Fire!”
After they exit the game arcade the feeling in Jihoon chest is warm and he feels happy. They had caught Seungkwan and his friend red-handed, Seungkwan wailing loudly at Seungcheol. Seungkwan's friend Vernon had grinned at them wide. He wished them good luck for the rest of their date, a stack of bills in his hand.
Jihoon doesn’t pay attention where Seungcheol is leading him. He is too busy staring at his date and listening to him to talk. Jihoon likes to listen to Seungcheol talk, his voice makes him feel so calm. Seungcheol in general makes him feel at ease, that's for sure. He squishes Seungcheol’s hand to let the man know he is listening and appreciating it now and then.
“I’m going to buy you some flowers!” Seungcheol shouts suddenly and Jihoon sputters. “I… okay?”
Seungcheol pouts a little, scratching his chin. “Or are flowers lame? I mean, I don't want to downgrade you to be a lady but like... flowers are nice?" Seungcheol actually looks bothered and Jihoon shakes his head, holding Seungcheol's hand tighter.
"Flowers are fine," he assures and Seungcheol's lead him towards the one of the entrances. Jihoon spots a flower shop close to it and Seungcheol smiles when he pushes the door of the shop open.
They don't spot anyone at first and the "I will with you in a minute!" tells them that there is someone at the back. As they wait Seungcheol pulls him deeper into the store. Jihoon hums, impressed by the glory of the blooming flowers.
"How can I -- ah, Seungcheol."
They turn to the sound and Seungcheol smiles at the flower shop worker who had emerged from the back room. He lowers the box full of snake plants to the table and wipes his hands to his apron.
The worker is taller than Jihoon, around Seungcheol's high and his hair is mint green. His nose scrunches up as if he is about to sneeze.
"Hyung! I thought Jooheon would be working today!" Seungcheol looks a little abashed and the worker rolls his eyes. "Sorry, he had called sick. How can I help you and-- " his eyes dart at Jihoon and Jihoon feels so small under his scrutinizing eyes. "--your date."
"Uh, we would like to buy some flowers?" Seungcheol starts, a bit awkward and the man hums, moving to closer to where Jihoon is standing.
"I saw you looking at carnations."
"They are nice?" Jihoon tries and turns to look colorful flowers the nearest to him. The worker hums again (Jihoon spots his nametag saying "Suga") and gently touches some red petals. "Even if carnations, in general, symbolize bonds of affection I recommend you to be careful of what color you buy. I mean if you are reciprocating Seungcheol's feelings, don't give striped ones. Go for solid color, red or white."
Jihoon feels his cheeks heat up. Maybe some other time he would be ready to tell the florist what he feels for Seungcheol. But it's not now, not when it's their first date and Seungcheol is standing right there. Luckily Seungcheol diverts Suga's attention to generally to talk about flower symbolism.
"Does every flower symbolize something?"
Suga hums and bites his lower lip. "Sure, nearly every flower has multiple associations, and there is hundreds of floral dictionaries you can study from." Suga moves carefully around the flower stands and Jihoon and Seungcheol follow him. "Often, definitions derive from the appearance or behavior of the plant itself. Like deep red roses. Devotion and intensity of romantic love. Give someone pink roses and you are implying lesser affection. Of course different countries might have different meanings for some flowers. But, like with roses, some meanings are pretty universal."
"Do people ask you for symbolism a lot?" Jihoon wonders and Suga snorts. "Not really. You can play coy with flowers but generally roses are enough for lovers."
"That's kind of romantic, don't you think?" Seungcheol wonders and Jihoon shrugs. Suga snorts. "Well, it can get very annoying if your target of affection doesn't get the hint of gardenias, which is secret love or expression for them being lovely." It sounds like he speaks from experience but neither of them dares to ask because Suga is moving again.
They listen to him to point this or that flower out. Jihoon is impressed how much one could actually tell only with a flower bouquet. When they stop by the register Seungcheol hums, thoughtfully.
"I said I would buy you some flowers. How about some chrysanthemums? Red and white?"
"Ah, sincere love." Suga sighs and ventures towards said flowers to get them some. Jihoon blushes even more when he finally holds them and Seungcheol is smiling at him.
"Uh, thank you."
"You welcome. Come I have... one stop in mind."
Jihoon feels his stomach to sink. He hasn't realized that the date will come to its end at some point and Jihoon doesn't want that. He could wander around with Seungcheol forever and only hold his hand. They are bidding their goodbyes to Suga when the door is pushed open and a man in a gray suit comes in. He looks tired but as soon as he spots Suga, his lips curve into a sloppy smile.
"Ah! Suga! I'm here for my weekly gardenias!"
Seungcheol takes a hold of Jihoon's hand and they exit the flower shop, smiling.
"Ready for some desert?"
"Uh, sure?"
Their final stop for the night ends up being a candy shop. The shop is bustling with energy. Kids are running around and their parents trying to gain some control. There is laughter and happiness and Jihoon wouldn't ask a better ending stop for their date.
"Oh, I promised to buy you the candy you wanted!" Jihoon remembers when he spots the candies Seungcheol had been craving for. He moves towards the stand, ignoring Seungcheol's sputtering.
"You don't need to!"
"But I want to! You bought me flowers!" Jihoon grins, shaking his flowers a bit, to prove a point. "Candies are the least I can do for you."
"It's enough you agreed to join me for this date!" Seungcheol gushes, grinning and blushing. He looks so both sweet and bashful, his hands deep inside his pockets as he moves towards Jihoon. Jihoon is smiling and Seungcheol picks the candies for him to pay.
It's still a wonder to Jihoon how they ended up here, queuing to pay the sweets. He still remembers how he was feeling so weird and shy about Seungcheol. But now he is all somewhat confident with his hair and trimmed. He wonders what would happen if he tried to kiss Seungcheol later.
Seungcheol thanks him for the candy. Jihoon watches him to tear open the carton and pop a red candy inside his mouth, smiling blissfully.
"Ah, these always remind me of my childhood."
"Hm. That's nice." Jihoon mutters, his eyes on Seungcheol's mouth and he is sure his date notices it. Because Seungcheol only grins wider, the candy peeking from between his teeth.
"You should try too."
Seungcheol turns towards him, pushing the door open with his body and Jihoon reaches out to take a candy. Seungcheol hums, and Jihoon blinks.
Seungcheol is close and oh, okay.
There is no candy in Seungcheol's mouth but his lips still taste like apple, sour but kind of sweet. Jihoon is loving it. Jihoon’s hand has a mind of its own and soon his fingers trace the skin of Seungcheol’s face, the jaw and the cheek and Seungcheol smiles into the kiss.
They pull apart only because some rude kid is complaining them being yucky and Seungcheol bursts into laughter. Jihoon’s grinning and Seungcheol walks him to the bus stop right outside the mall.
“I had really fun. Let’s do this again.”
“Definitely," Jihoon agrees. Seungcheol swings their linked hands between them as they wait Jihoon’s buss to arrive.
“I will be coming to get my morning juice tomorrow.”
“Oh, wonderful!”
Jihoon doesn’t understand how anyone can keep smiling so much but apparently Seungcheol can. Jihoon can’t fall asleep when he finally hits the bed. He keeps scrolling back and forth the messages he and Seungcheol shared during his bus travel: so many hearts and smiling emojis.
Jihoon falls asleep late and he dreams of apple trees and kissing Seungcheol underneath them.
(Jihoon later learns that there is a social media site dedicated to their mall love. Wonwoo actually snitched about it because he knew too much about their date without Jihoon telling him. Jihoon is going to kill Jeonghan, he started it all with a somewhat blurry picture of his ass and a caption: “Seungcheol said his ass looks nice in those chinos. Love at first sight.”)