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“So. How did the story begin?” New-guy asks at the music store, the second stop in Hakyeon’s Grand Tour around the mall. The nametag with the CVG logo reads Han Sanghyuk, placed accurately above the heart of this giant guy with cute eyes. If Hongbin didn’t hear wrong, Sanghyuk just got hired at the cinema and Hakyeon barely wasted two hours before officially adopting him as his child. “Between you two.”
The new album of Sam Smith is booming through the speakers instead of the usual idol song or mainstream hip hop Wonsik has to play by his manager orders, but Lee Jaehwan is there too, so that’s an explanation in itself. And Sam Smith’s melodies are so soft and ballad-y that Hongbin can’t act like he hear it wrong.
“What story? There’s no story,” he says instead. “We’re all just capitalism’s slaves coexisting under the same roof.”
Hakyeon pouts and follows it up with a stank face the next second, before launching himself to a large explanation. “Lee Hongbin here used to come a lot to my store to see clothes, always with this lost face, and he always begged for my help—“
“Nah. Hyung and I work in the same building and somehow we became friends. Like we all did,” Hongbin interrupts. He also does a vague gesture regarding the other people in the store, all of them wearing differents uniforms except for a bunch of teenage girls at the principal aisle fangirling over the human sized gigantography of BTS.
New-guy puckers his lips like a duck. “I can’t believe his side,” he decides as he points at Hakyeon, who yelps in indignation, “but yours is too vague. There must be an actual explanation.”
“Please Hyogi, let me,” Jaehwan chimes in and doesn’t pay attention to the pained please don’t call me Hyogi . ”The beginning is confusing and a mess because these two are a confusing mess, but it boils down to this: 1) Hongbin doesn’t give a shit about clothes, and 2) Hakyeon doesn’t accept a ‘no’ for answer. So Hakyeon has been pestering Hongbin for months to buy and wear things of his store.”
“That’s not how it went,” Hakyeon frowns.
“That’s exactly how it went,” Wonsik butts in.
♦♦♦
The unofficial story (a.k.a. what churns in the mall rumor mill) says that there’s something going on between Cha Hakyeon and Lee Hongbin. They are always bickering and waiting for the other to take their breaks or to walk back together to the train station.
The official story (a.k.a Lee Hongbin’s version) denies it vehemently and says there’s only good ol’ cammadery.
Han Sanghyuk calls bullshit and complains about the Korean tendency to censure all the juicy fun stuff.
♦♦♦
“Isn’t it funny that we waste eight hours working, an hour in our daily commutes, maybe fifteen minutes or half an hour in getting ready and then we just hang out here for like another hour? Or two?” Jaehwan says out of the blue, as he destroys the little pastry Taekwoon gave him after minutes of ruthless aegyo. Everyone just look at him, almost expectant, as they sip their drinks. “I’m not a mathematician, but we spend more than third of our days here. And that piles up to almost three weeks’ worth out of a month?”
“Good thing you sell bowling chips,” Sanghyuk replies and dodges the balled up napkin thrown at him. Hongbin laughs at the scene, but the thought rings loud in the back of his mind. He is only distracted by the way Hakyeon furrows his eyebrows as his lips close further around the stick. He is drinking a Caramel Macchiato that is more vanilla syrup and milk than espresso and his elegant fingers hide the cup’s Starbucks logo. Hongbin feels kind of a contrast next to him--short fingers, iced black coffee and a Overwatch t-shirt as uniform.
In the end, Jaehwan shrugs. “It gives me time to think.”
One or two long beats later, Taekwoon mumbles something from behind the counter. “I see you guys more than I see my own family.” Uh .
That sinks in deeper in his guts than the smell of roasted coffee beans.
♦♦♦
It's not that big of a story. Not a “meet cute” nor “meet ugly” as Jaehwan once regarded it. It's more like a consequence of the usual course of life, dull and exciting, filled with necessities. Rent doesn't pay itself, neither does the last shiny PC he got.
It begun at some point of Hongbin’s first week at work. His best friend --no other than Kim Wonsik-- helped him to get a job at the gaming store across the music store where he worked at on the third floor. Wonsik also used to take him to this Zara store to watch cool clothes but it was to actually watch the cute dude that was working there. So whenever the guy with full lips and round eyes came into the picture, Wonsik’s full attention detoured immediately to him and Hongbin was left to his own devices. Feeling like the awkward third-wheel, Hongbin inevitably started to look around the racks full of heavy coats and the shelves with fluffy sweaters.
Then, he came.
Wearing a high elegant white turtleneck and the most warm and afable smile Hongbin has ever seen in customer service, a shop assistant offered his help. Seriously, his smile was extremely charming and his customer service skill was astonishing--Hongbin wished he could ever work like that. Almost without giving him time to answer, the shop assistant started to offer him clothes that would look good on Hongbin. Striped black and beige sweaters, red bomber jackets, olive green dress shirts, fitting blue jeans. Hongbin listened and tried not to be rude when he gave excuses.
When the shop assistant realized he was a new mall employee, he introduced himself as Cha Hakyeon before he took him to see all the stores of the first three floors and sublevel.
At their stop at FILA, a guy with feral eyes and big earrings gave him a glance over before he turned to Cha Hakyeon and asked in a soft voice if he had adopted a new kid.
“What are you saying, Woon-ah? He is not a kid. Look further the awful t-shirt, tho.”
“But I like my tee?”
“And I’m glad for you, but we can still work on that.”
Since then, Hakyeon has done an uncountable amount of Grand Tours to newbies that come and go, but it isn’t until Sanghyuk that Hongbin realizes that his store is always one of the first stops.
♦♦♦
From time to time, maybe once a week or a month, they go up all the four floors to the cinema. Sanghyuk snickers whenever he is on shift, but gives them a discount on the tickets and a snack for free.
“It’s not a tragic love story if there’s isn’t a rainy angsty scene in it,” Hongbin sneers as it downpours on the screen. Hakyeon laughs lowly, out of innate respect to the other people in the theater, yet as warm and honey as ever.
They never know the weather when they are inside the mall. Rainy, sunny, foggy--it all stays out of the glass automatic doors and bright lights.
There, inside the cinema, it’s like another ecosystem though. Dark, yet extremely warm next to Hakyeon.
He wonders what it could mean.
♦♦♦
“Have you ever noticed how people lose track of time inside the malls?” Hakyeon asks him somewhere in between the aisles of consoles and PC games. He is caressing a game case as he hums the latest Sunmi song release. “Everything is set up for the perfect shopping experience. Bright lights, catching tunes, luring sights, nice spring temperature. Everything is calculated for people to shop, shop, shop mindlessly.”
“I have a clock in my shop, though,” Hongbin says and he gestures over the digital clock in the screen of the main PC.
“Me too. Because I can’t wait to see you,” Hakyeon replies immediately and winks cheesely. Then he laughs loudly when Hongbin cringes. “But take for example when we go to Starbucks or to the bowling court. How many times have we found ourselves at midnight here, walking in between plastic chairs and doing unnecessary window shopping?”
A few potential customers come in. They don't seem like really interested in purchasing something, yet both of them straighten their backs and Hakyeon smiles even if this is not his store and he is just wasting time until the beginning of his shift.
After a few minutes of polite answers, Hongbin turns to Hakyeon again. “So you’re saying that time is a loose concept?”
Hakyeon glances at him before shrugging. “No, I’m trying to say that I love you. But I don’t know since when honestly. If it weren’t for the stock inventories and the seasonal collections I’d probably forget what month is.”
Hongbin’s breath hitches a the L word. He almost misses the flying kiss the other sends him as he goes downstairs to the first floor.
♦♦♦
Wonsik quits his job when he gets more and more producing gigs for underground rappers and a few new idol groups. Instead is now Taekwoon the one who works at the music store because less customers to deal with. Worse paycheck though. He confessed he’ll miss the free coffee and impediment ulcer, but hey, now he is next to the pet shop.
Still, Wonsik comes by a lot to hang out with them and to have annoyingly cute dates with Jaehwan--who started a shift at the fragrance shop and miraculously hasn’t broken any bottle yet.
By now Sanghyuk has been working nine months or maybe a year in CVG and in some point of the last few months Hakyeon has been ascended to shop manager. He loves the job, even if it is stressful and underpaid for all the things he does, and he even loves more going to Hongbin’s shop to des-stress talking.
“I love new collections, but the inventories are always a nightmare. I swear. I may coax Sanghyuk to come to our shop and do all my dirty work now that Shin Bora asked for less hours so she can model.”
Hongbin looks at all the papers in Hakyeon’s long fingers and the cup of Caramel Macchiato he barely sips because Taekwoon’s replacement still doesn't get his weird love - aversion relationship with strong coffee and pours more espresso than vanilla syrup. “Don’t you feel like everything has changed and yet remain the same?”
Hakyeon pursues his lips around the stick for a second. “Your styling has gotten a little better, yeah. Still simple and comfy, but better. At least you threw away the training hoodie with the robot stamp. Did you, right?”
“Thanks?” Hongbin grimaces. He fidgets for a moment, passes a hand through his hair and plays with the neck of his God of War shirt. “Hey hyung, want to come home with me tonight? I have instant ramen and whole closet full of clothes for you to complain at.”
Hakyeon blinks a few times, surprise blooming in his face. Then a smile breaks through--not his perfect customer service smile, but a smile a tad crooked and just as charming. More beautiful, even. “I knew you eventually would say yes.”
♦♦♦
Their story officially starts a Tuesday. The second Tuesday of February, sixteen minutes prior to midnight.
The rain drizzles lazily on them, barely drenching their coats when they exit the parking lot. It stops by the time their lips meet in a sweet kiss. They lose track of time after that.