Chapter Text
Taeil let out the breath he had been holding for what seemed like hours when he finally shut his car door and sat down, resting his head on his folded arms against the steering wheel. He closed his eyes, long lashes pointing towards the foorboard. The crickets and cicadas outside seemed to be too loud against the silent night air. Taeil had been working for nearly twelve hours; he thought for a moment that he didn’t even have the energy to drive home, maybe he would just sleep in his car with a window cracked like a puppy. However, he did have an actual puppy to take care of, and decided letting her poop all over his apartment and chew up his mattress for the hundredth time was only going to be a hassle to deal with. He lifted his heavy head up, opening his eyes again, broad shoulders still hunched over the wheel. He looked from his car in the parking lot at the silent intersection in front of him, traffic light blinking yellow and casting an almost eerie glow on the fresh paved street, as he tried to gather the strength to start his car and drive.
Taeil fished his keys from the back pocket of his shorts, ultimately dropping them on the floorboard. With an exaggerated sigh, he reached down with this right hand to find them, left hand still on the wheel. There was a worryingly loud thump, as he smacked his forehead hard on the wheel and let out a short honk, causing him to jump a little.
“Jesus Christ,” he winced, holding his tender forehead with his hand. Keeping his head guarded, he reached down again to successfully grab his keys and turn them in the ignition. He was just about to pull out of the parking lot when his car made a beeping noise to alert him that his fuel tank was dangerously close to being empty. Taeil had to rub his face with his hands and take a deep breath to keep from swearing. He made decent tips tonight, but he hated constantly using that for his gas tank - he was the delivery boy for a cafe chain and a Chinese restaurant, and only the cafe would pay him enough to keep his tank full. He decided going to the gas station was a good idea anyway, because he needed a beer or eight after the day he had.
By some miracle, he survived the drive to the station. The fluorescent lighting was too harsh on his tired eyes as he walked up to the building to pay for his gas and grab alcohol. Taeil filled his backpack with as many beer bottles his wallet would dare, and dragged his feet up to the short line at the register.
He noticed that the boy in front of him had rather large headphones on, and was bobbing his head to the beat of a seemingly upbeat and fast-tempo song. Taeil made note of how he thought that kid needed a haircut, and that his clothes were pretty baggy for his slender build. His thoughts were rudely interrupted when the kid moved up to the register, speaking way too loudly.
“HOW MUCH DID YOU SAY IT WAS?” The boy juggled the iced coffees in his hands while struggling to move his headphones away from his ears. The elderly woman at the register shot him a disapproving glance, reaching over the counter and pulling the left side of his headphones away from his head with her small hands.
“Ten thousand won, boy. You’re going to need a hearing aid when you’re thirty if you keep wearing this headgear. Seriously.”
The boy apologized and chuckled sheepishly in response. He finally managed to get the iced coffees on the counter and drape the obnoxious headphones around his neck, hands running rampant in his shoulder bag for the bills. He dropped a few coins and cursed lightly under his breath, to which the grandma at the counter smacked her lips at.
“Sorry, I’m sorry!” He bowed twice, handing the woman the bills with both hands.
Taeil smirked and shook his head slightly as he watched the exchange. The boy then stepped to the side of the counter to organize his money and coffee, and it was Taeil’s turn.
“Just these, and fifty-five thousand won on number two.” Taeil set the beer on the counter for her to scan, then handed the woman his credit card. He thanked her as she handed his things back to him, folding the receipt in his oversized hoodie’s pocket and walked out, hoisting his backpack over his shoulder. As he did this, he conveniently bumped into the headphone boy’s arm, causing the iced coffee to fall from his slim hands and collide with the concrete. Coffee exploded into every direction and splashed against the both of their ankles. It was so sudden and fast that they had no time to even think about catching it. They both stood there silent for a second, watching the light brown liquid pool and dribble off the sidewalk.
“I…” Taeil started to apologize, when the younger boy sunk to his knees, palms to the cool ground.
“NOOOOOO!” The boy struck the hard ground with his fist, skinny shoulders hunched over. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing; perfectly brewed and sweetened coffee, just wasted. Gone.
Taeil stooped down to shush him, rapidly looking around and seeing they’d drawn in a small audience. He had never seen someone so upset over coffee - gas station coffee to be precise. “I can buy you another one man, don’t worry about-”
The boy whipped his head around to meet eyes with Taeil for the first time. His shaggy, ash-blonde hair swished as he did so. He blinked at him as the boy looked at Taeil with big doe eyes, expecting him to accept the offer he had just laid on the table, and then they would go their separate ways. But when did anything that easy happen to him?
“You are a horrible, terrible person.”
“Excuse me?” Taeil backed up to rest on his knees, eyebrows lifted in both shock and confusion. His brain seemed to have a hard time processing what he had just said, like he was lucid dreaming.
“You heard me, man-demon.” The younger boy stood up, brushing himself off and looking down at Taeil, not offering to help him stand back up. Then he glanced at the coffee on the ground, mumbling something about it being a disaster, when Taeil stood up himself. His height didn’t quite matching the other’s, but he was used to being the shortest one in the room. That didn’t mean he was going to let people walk all over him, though.
“Whatever, kid. I offered to get you another one, but if you want to act like... that, then fine. You should really be nicer to people older than you, too.” Taeil was annoyed. This kid was really a mess. He only looked a couple of years younger than him, but he acted as if he was a teenager.
When the boy failed to give a response and just stared blankly at him, Taeil rolled his eyes and turned away, marching back towards his car without looking back, coffee-scented Vans tapping along the pavement. He thought about chugging a beer now, but that would be illegal and irresponsible and he would rather keep his license, job, and a clean record. It would just have to wait.
He tried not to slam his door shut and yank his seatbelt as he prepared to leave. Today just never seemed to end, he thought. Taeil pressed the gas pedal and lurched his car forward, destined to go home and forget about all of today’s events, when he heard the sickening sound of metal scraping against metal, and a loud CLANG from something behind him.
Taeil spun his head to look out of his diagonal back window, seeing the gas pump laying bent at a ninety-degree angle on the concrete, and his gas cap wide open. He forgot to take the pump out of his car, thanks to the twerp with the iced coffee.
Taeil shut his eyes and tried to calm the vein that threatened to pop from his forehead while gritting his teeth, strong jawline flexing from the pressure. “God, if you’re listening, please give me the strength and will to not go totally fucking insane. Amen.”
-
Warm, morning sunlight peeked from behind the thin, white linen curtains of Taeil’s bedroom, illuminating the beige walls. Empty beer bottles littered his bedside table and his hardwood floor, a couple bags of honey chips on his desk, and his cell phone charger only poked through his phone case, not actually in the charging port. He lied with his feet at the head of the bed, his head at the foot of the bed, and a (really gross) puddle of drool had accumulated around his cheek. He snored lightly, his gentle face relaxed and lips parted in deep slumber. He passed out without even properly tucking himself into bed, his sheets still remaining neat underneath his body. Bong-cha, his golden labrador puppy, made her way towards Taeil’s bed, ignoring the lump of a man that was snoozing soundly on top of it. She jumped right on top of his back, walking over him as she tried to get comfortable towards his pillows. Taeil stirred from this, lazily opening his eyes to greet Bong-cha good morning. She attacked him with kisses, even lapping his messy hair.
“Okay, that’s too much.” Taeil smiled and wiped his face with the back of his arm, deciding it was probably time to get up now. He noticed his charger mistake when he went to check the time, and shook his head at himself. Plugging the cord in correctly, the time read twelve forty-two, AM. He didn’t have to work at the Chinese place today until five, when the orders would just be starting at its busiest time of the night. Scratching the back of his head and yawning, he made his way to the bathroom.
Taeil liked to listen to music while he showered, and preferred his showers to be long and relaxing. Bong-cha liked to take this opportunity to dig through the trash can and chew on anything that seemed good to her at the moment. This time, she picked the empty pizza box that still had cheese stuck to the inside of it. Bong-cha was mischievous, and liked to cause trouble, but never enough for her patient owner to hate her. She was far too cute and lovable for that, and she knew this. She greeted Taeil with a wagging tail as he stepped out from the bathroom, hair still dripping onto his bare, well-built shoulders and chest, towel wrapped around his waist.
“Bong-cha, drop it! Seriously.” Taeil played tug-of-war with her for the slobbery pizza box until he had won, shoving it back into the trash can and lightly tapping Bong-cha’s nose with his fingers as a punishment.
This was their daily routine, the two of them. Sometimes Taeil’s mother would come by with food and tell Taeil he was getting too thin or that he needed to drink more milk and that is why he’s no taller than five foot nine. Sometimes she would bring her friend’s daughters to meet him, because he was too handsome to be unmarried and that he apparently was running out of time. Taeil loved her, though, more than anyone in the world.
Today was one of those days when his mom knocked on the door to his apartment, her long hair kept in her usual neat ponytail. Taeil called out to her to wait just a minute as he scrambled to put on socks, a pair of sweatpants, and a hoodie that may or may not have been clean, but it would work for now.
He opened the door to greet her, a big smile on his face as he held his arms outstretched to hug her. She squeezed him tight right back. Taeil’s mom was a small and very pretty woman, but she was fierce and strong and sometimes scary. That was her charm, though.
“Taeil, gosh, did you have a party last night?” She looked from his shoulder to his small kitchen and common area, into his bedroom with the door wide open. Bottles and snacks lay strewn everywhere, along with random crumpled receipts and a pair of underwear on the couch.
“Sorry mom, I would have tidied up if I knew you were coming-” He tried to explain while scratching the back of his head, but was met with a light smack on his arm.
“You should always keep your home clean! Jeeze, you brat. Don’t make excuses!” The tiny, brown-haired woman made her way over to the common room that was in front of the doorway, picking up a bag of chips and throwing Taeil’s underwear at his head.
“You’re right, I know. I was hardly here, and as soon as I got home I just wanted to sleep. I don’t know how I was able to get back without dying yesterday. I even bumped into this rude person and spilled their coffee by accident, and even after I apologized and offered to pay for another one, guess what? They called me a demon.” Taeil explained as he walked over and picked up the bottles on the table.
“Were they cute?” His mom asked to help lighten his mood.
Taeil chuckled. “He was definitely not cute.” He thought for a moment though, that he /was/ kind of cute, but his snooty attitude ruined it. He may have even been friends with the boy, had he not been so... weird.
They talked for a bit more as they cleaned, discussing his family and all the things he had been up to in the past few weeks. His mother didn’t necessarily favor that he was just a delivery boy in Seoul, but Taeil enjoyed it. He had already graduated university, and wanted to just take a break from all of the stress there was surrounding careers and moving on with life. He wasn’t lazy in the slightest; he just wanted things to slow down sometimes. Life seemed to always be in constant motion, never letting him get a chance to breathe. He hated the pressure put on him of the traditional ways of living, and thought it was so mundane and tired. Life shouldn’t be about working until you die. You should enjoy it, and that’s exactly what he was trying to do. Attempts were made every day, but somehow things would usually backfire. Taeil was tired.
His mother offered to pay to get that window in the kitchen that wouldn’t open fixed, and a new mattress, but Taeil hated accepting money in any form from her. They were never broke, and he always had a meal and a roof over his head, but their family knows all too well the struggle of living paycheck to paycheck. It’s stressful, and that is part of the reason Taeil would rather not buy a house until he was old and grey.
“You should at least buy sheets that match your pillows. Those are the same sheets you’ve had for years, goodness…” Taeil laughed at the remark. This might have sounded nagging from anyone else’s point of view, but not his. He just knows she cares and wants the best of the best for him, even if it meant buying new sheets.
“How about I just come move back in with you and dad, and then you can decorate and pay for whatever you want!” Taeil said with a teasing smile, draping his arm around her shoulders.
His mom chuckled and shook her head, placing a hand to her cheek. “As much as I love you, there is no way in hell you are moving back in unless you’re either dying or bankrupt. Even then I’d have to consider.”
They laughed, talked and joked back and forth for a while until it was time for Taeil to go to work again. His mother pinched his cheeks as a heartfelt goodbye, Taeil walking her out to her car.
“I’ll order you some sheets soon.” His mother gave him a pearly smile, that kind of smile that makes you feel at ease and warm. Taeil’s father always mentioned how he got most of his mother’s good looks, and that thought always crossed his mind when he saw his mom smile. They had always been close and they hardly ever bickered over petty things. He was beyond grateful for this.
“I love you. See you soon.”
Taeil walked back into his apartment, carefully shutting the door behind him as he tore his maybe-dirty sweatshirt over his head, body exposed to the air again. He was walking to his room to grab properly clean clothes when he glanced at his clock -- he had to be at work in 10 minutes.
“Shit. Fuck.” Taeil zoomed towards his dresser and grabbed the first things he could find: jeans and a purple hoodie. That seemed to be fine, he didn’t have time to care about his fashion choices anyways. He snatched a baseball cap from the hanger on the back of his door and shoved his feet into his Nike’s without putting his heels into the shoe or tying them, shoelaces threatening to trip him with every flailing step he made. He shoved his cell phone, keys, and bag of honey chips into his drawstring bag, rushing towards his front door. He threw a dog treat at Bong-cha, blowing her a kiss goodbye as he awkwardly exited his flat and flopped down the apartment building’s stairs to his car. He yanked at the driver’s side door, throwing his backpack in the passenger side. He checked the time again as he turned on his car. He had 8 minutes.
He was sure he got flashed for a speeding ticket, but he didn’t wanna think about the fine for it right now. His top concern was not getting chewed out by his boss, Miss Choi. She was nobody to fuck around with, that’s for sure. She liked him a lot, because he did his job well and without complaints and was popular among female customers, but being late was her worst pet-peeve. Taeil respected the woman, and didn’t want to be on her bad side. He’s seen what had happened to the people who ticked her off, and decided then that he would never, ever do that.
Pulling in to his work’s parking lot and nearly forgetting to take off his seatbelt as he left the car, he wobbled and tripped over himself because he still hadn’t put on his shoes properly, basically hopping to the employee punch-in sheet. Nearly gasping for breath, he punched in only a single minute late. He let out a sigh and hunched over, putting his hands on his knees and letting the cool AC hit the back of his head and neck.
Ms. Choi placed a hand on his back, handing him a bottled water. Taeil took it without saying anything, and chugged it until it was half empty. He exhaled hard, wiping the stray water droplets from his chin. Ms. Choi laughed, her eyes crinkling and her smile lines deepening, and walked back to her office, not worried about him. Taeil mouthed a thank you from the glass window of her office, which she met with a thumbs up. Ms. Choi must be in a good mood today, and for that he was grateful. He walked from the back to the kitchen, where his favourite coworker, Sicheng, was in the midst of making his four-hundredth order of chicken fried rice. Sicheng spotted Taeil heading to check the takeout orders on a bar right outside of the kitchen. His light brown hair stuck out from underneath his chef’s hat, white apron spotted with stains from the day. He followed Taeil’s movements with his puppy-like eyes. There was a window with no glass separating them, so they were free to talk.
“Hey hyung, we don’t have that many orders tonight, so relax. Ms. Choi is happy about it.” Sicheng held a friendly grin. He scooped some of the rice onto a diner plate and passed it over the window counter to Taeil.
“Ah, thank you. I’m glad, I was a minute late today and I was praying we wouldn’t be slammed.” Taeil plucked a set of wooden chopsticks from next to the register, then made his way back to the kitchen window to eat, breaking the chopsticks apart and digging in. He made a few satisfied noises before commenting on his cooking.
“It’s spicy this time, I like it!” Taeil said between mouthfuls. He realised then that he hadn’t eaten breakfast and this was his first meal today. Sicheng simply smiled at the compliment, proud glow illuminating from his cheeks. He knew he wasn’t the best cook, but Taeil always liked whatever he made, so as long as Taeil was eating his food then it was good.
Taeil was about to take another large bite before the bright red phone on the wall by the kitchen rang, to which he sighed at. He set the chopsticks down with sadness and walked over to the wall, taking the phone off the hook and raising the receiver to his mouth (that had grains of rice stuck to it). He answered and had a short conversation with a customer as e wrote down the delivery order for Sicheng, and address for himself. After hanging up, Taeil studied the address.
“Pyeongchang-dong? Don’t rich people just have people who get their food for them?” Taeil asked this rhetorical question directed at Sicheng, who gave a genuine laugh at his comment.
“Rich people can afford everything, so they’ll probably tip you more.” Sicheng pointed at his brain with the spoon he was cooking with while raising his eyebrows. This perked Taeil up a bit.
“You should throw in extra fortune cookies and those mints with chocolate on them like they do in hotels.” Taeil offered this idea, to which Sicheng responded by throwing his head back in laughter. They often joked like this, they were really great friends. Taeil used to have a bit of a crush on him too, but he never really said anything and Sicheng ended up with this insanely smart and handsome guy whom Taeil had only met a couple times. Yuta was a foreign exchange student here in Seoul that always paid for their dinners and peppered Taeil in gifts whenever they met. He was a bit jealous, mostly because if Yuta was generous enough to give Taeil gifts often, then Sicheng must have an entire house by now. But Sicheng was a great person and he deserved to be with someone like Yuta; they took care of each other. Taeil was still awkward when it came to flirting with anyone in general, often just letting his ears turn red and changing the subject when anything of the sort came up. But, he was okay with this and didn't think about it much.
“Here hyung, the order is ready. I put extra fortune cookies like you said! Go get a big tip!” Sicheng held out the bag with both hands over the counter for Taeil, to which he graciously accepted.
“See you in a bit.” Taeil walked back out of the store as he carried the paper bag with one hand and he felt around his pockets for his keys with the other. He carefully set the food in the passenger seat, positioning his backpack in front of it just in case it slid. He checked his phone as he pulled up the GPS to the address, and after no notifications other than Animal Crossing having an event going on, he headed off.
Taeil liked to drive, that’s part of the reason he was good at his job. He wasn’t a big car enthusiast, but he loved seeing the city he’d lived in for all these years. He was lucky enough to live somewhere he didn’t hate. Sometimes he would still discover new places he hadn’t been to before. Taeil used to think Seoul was the biggest city in the world when he was a kid, and he always thought he wanted to be a police officer or a detective. He wondered what his eight year old self would think about being a delivery boy for an off-brand Panera and for a typical Chinese restaurant, but then remembered that he was easily impressed as a child and still would have found it cool. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange-golden tone on the streets and the sky. The light bounced from Taeil’s eyes, making them seem bright yellow instead of brown. His natural skin tone was enhanced from the glow. He knew he looked good in that moment.
Finally, he found the neighbourhood he was tracking, but was met with a miniature castle for a guard gate. He scoffed in awe, admiring the intricate design on the building that reminded him of France. There was even a slightly weathered, but well-maintained, water fountain with cherubs pouring water over a woman with long hair. Taeil had a fleeting moment of thought that rich people were too extravagant for no reason, but then thought that if he had the same amount of money that he wouldn’t mind having an ancient Greek sculpture for a causal bird bath.
He lurched his now seemingly shitty car to the gate and rolled down his window. The guard, a hefty man with thinning hair and a serious face, asked for his name.
“I’m, uh, delivering food to...127 Ip Street.” Taeil held up the receipt for the guard to examine. He asked Taeil to roll down his back window so he could look inside, then after meeting whatever requirement that there was, he let Taeil through. He passed through many grand houses with spiral staircases on the /outside/ of the home, expensive cars that were squeaky clean, bushes and hedges neatly tucked and trimmed into geometrical shapes... even the grass in between the houses was lush and freshly cut. Flower beds aligned the road with an array of colours; reds, whites, purples and yellows. Taeil felt like he shouldn’t make eye contact with anyone here, and tried to remember all of his manners that he had been taught in his life.
Eventually, he found the house in the address. It was a white, four-story home with wooden doors, window panes and steps, a neatly paved driveway decorated with pots and exotic plants. There set a miniature pond to the left of the driveway, with a stone birdbath and groomed trees. Each floor had a balcony with white chairs and tables decorating that kept the aesthetic matching. Even the steps leading to the front door had decorative, solar-powered lamps.
“Jesus.” Taeil huffed under his breath, not believing somebody who lived here actually ordered from their quaint Chinese shop. He pulled himself together and grabbed the food with both hands, walking carefully up the stars as if he thought he would ruin them. To be fair, they probably did cost more to build than his monthly rent.
The front door was entirely glass, which he found to be a lack of privacy. But then he met eyes with the security camera that was staring down at him, and thought that these people had it covered. Wiping nothing off of his hand onto his jeans, he pressed the doorbell and heard the chime from inside. Even the doorbell sounded expensive, he thought.
He waited for only a second until he saw a form of someone walk up to the door. Taeil kept his eyes down as he listened to the person unlock the thick bolts on the door and swiftly open it.
“Hello- oh, what are you doing here?” A familiar voice asked.
Taeil shot his head up and looked at… the boy who nearly lost his shit over iced coffee and immediately got annoyed at the sight of him. He was wearing fitted dress pants now, and a freshly ironed button up that could’ve fooled Taeil into thinking he wasn’t annoying. His hair was freshly cut and dyed a deep, sultry shade of red now. He smelled his expensive cologne from where he stood, and he mentally kicked himself for thinking it was a nice smell.
His mind couldn’t process that the kid was THIS rich, he had to live with his parents. He could probably afford his own personal Starbucks, why was he such a brat about three thousand won coffee?
“Oh. I’m, uh, the delivery boy for Miss Choi’s. You ordered just three servings of fried rice, right?” Taeil looked at the receipt, then at the boy, hoping this interaction wouldn’t last longer than it needed to.
“Yeah, that’s me. Hey, you owe me for that coffee. Don’t think I haven’t forgotten, mister sir.” The boy took the bag of food in his hands and the receipt, snatching Taeil’s pen out of his chest pocket and signing it quickly, then holding it back out to him.
Taeil narrowed his eyes at the kid, taking the receipt back and shoving his pen in his back jeans pocket. “There’s extra fortune cookies. Pig out.”
Taeil turned around to leave, when the boy called out to him.
“Aren’t you gonna take your tip?”
Taeil looked back around and saw him holding up two fifty-thousand won bills. Taeil was tempted to take it, because good god he could use it, but instead told him no thanks.
“Then at least come in and eat with me.”
Taeil’s eyebrows shot up involuntarily. What did he just say? Was he hearing things right? He was only twenty three, but did he need his ears examined?
“W...what? No. I’m literally working right now. Not that you would understand. Plus, I wouldn’t eat with you in your house anyways.” Taeil sounded brave, but he felt his ears burning and prayed he wouldn’t point it out.
“Shame. I guess I’ll just have to order three servings of fried rice every day until you do.” The boy smirked.
He fucking smirked. That little shit. Taeil pursed his lips in annoyance, unsure of what to do. This kid had called him a demon less than twenty four hours ago, why was he acting like this all of a sudden? He was sure he was messing with him, and Taeil was no fool - he hated being looked down on, especially by snot-nosed kids who probably haven’t had to work a day in their lives.
“I’m leaving.” Is the short and simple response Taeil ended with, and he really was. He didn’t bother to turn around and deal with him, he had pissed him off enough. He slammed his car door shut and tried to pull out at a normal speed from the kid’s stupid driveway and away from his stupid home in his stupid neighbourhood, but as soon as he was let out the front gate’s castle again, he drove in the fast lane all the way back to the restaurant.
Pulling back in his usual parking spot, he held his hands on the wheel and stared into space for a minute. Taeil usually is calm and collected, keeping his cool in even the most strenuous situations. He couldn’t believe he let some silver spoon kid bother him. He picked his hat off his head and ran his hand through his dark hair, forcing himself back to reality. He grabbed his things and started to unbuckle his seatbelt, destined to go back to work and forget about what just happened. He noticed the receipt from earlier sticking from his hoodie pocket, and plucked it out. Smoothing out the crumpled corners, Taeil glanced at the signature that wasn’t really a signature at all, just regular print. The ‘kid’ now had a name to match the face: Lee Taeyong.