Chapter Text
"Sope! E'rbody needs sope! Come experience our wonderful lovely sope!"
"For the umpteenth time Hoseok! It's SOAP! Not sope!" Hoseok turned around at the sound of the angry voice to find his manager standing behind him, face tomato red with anger.
"They're literally the same!" Hoseok snarled.
"When you say them maybe but not when you write them!" his manager screamed, face going impossibly red, almost purple, while pointing at the signs Hoseok spent all morning carefully hand texting and decorating with happy suns, flowers, rainbows and hamburgers.
"Buy two happylicious sopes, pay for one" the manager read out loud, his face almost blueberry colored now.
"Aish, I'll just use some white-out, no worries!" Hoseok replied, giving his manager one of his trademark blazing smiles.
The manager huffed, going soft in the blinding light emitting from Hoseok. "Well...have it fixed by tomorrow, blame it on a dyslexic intern or something. And please, PLEASE learn to spell soap! You're a goddamn soap-salesman for gods sake!"
"Yeah yeah yeah" Hoseok mumbled turning his attention to two elderly ladies, purses held tight, carefully watching the different soaps laid out across the counter.
"Hello beautiful ladies, are you looking for a gift or some well deserved luxury for yourselfes?" Hoseok said, winking. Five minutes later he closed the cash register, the ladies, heavily hung with bags, giggling their way out of the quaint little store.
Hoseok might have a hard time remembering how to spell soap, but he could sell ice skates to a crocodile. All he had to do was to turn on his mind blowing heart-shaped smile and people would buy whatever he recommended. That's why Hoseok had been employee of the month every month since he started this job, four years ago. He might also be the only employee, but that doesn't count. He's still number one.
His ears perked up at the familiar ringing of the bell on the door. In walked a grumpy guy, around Hoseoks age, all dressed in oversized black sweats.
"Can I help you?" Hoseok asked with his best costumer service-smile plastered on.
"Uhh" the boy mumbled. "My...grandma, she uhm...sent me to buy a soap from here"
"How lucky your grandma must be to have a nice grandchild like you! Which scent would you like to get?"
"The umh... 'lovely vanilla-rose kiss' maybe?" the boy forced out with a sound of internal cringe.
"Sure thing! Just wait here while I pack it up" Hoseok said before skipping around the counter.
As he was delicately wrapping the pink soap in silk paper, the door flew open and a kid with crazy bangs and a squarish smile jumped inside.
"Yo, Suga! There you are! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Tae... I just went in to buy my grandmother a soap."
The boy's face twisted in confusion. "But Yoongi hyung, isn't your grandmother dead?"
"Yeah, so uhm... I wanted to put it on her grave" the, now red-faced, boy spluttered.
"But hyung, wasn't your grandmother cremated and her ashes spread in the Alps?"
Hoseok stared at the two feeling at loss before clearing his throat. "Uhm, Sir I have to chime in that you really shouldn't leave soap out exposed to the elements, uhm...rain makes the soap...well...lather and melt and that would, uhm, make any hypothetical gravesite...or ash...scattering...sight...in the Alps...well...gooey...in a bad way...Sir!", he said, plastering his mind-numbingly bright smile on again.
"Ah...of course, I didn't think of that. Heh, how silly of me" the grumpy one answered while glaring at boxsmile-boy as if he silently urged him to drop dead.
"No harm done! Maybe you could buy a soap for yourself instead? They are truly amazing, and wonderful for making a bubble bath! Your whole apartment will smell amazing for weeks. But im not sure you're the 'lovely vanilla-rose kiss' type" he said looking thoughtful, "I would think you're more of a 'fresh minty mojito-madness' type or maybe 'cinnamon me hard, sugar'?"
The grumpy guy sputtered at the latter, looking like he was about to melt into the floor. "The WHAT!?..uhm, I mean yeah...I'll take them both, please, thank you" he mumbled while his cheeks started to glow pink.
"Ey Yoongs, what the hell? Since when are you into soaps? And I still don't understand why you would buy your dead grandmother a soap and..." boxy-smile rambled looking puzzled.
"It's for you!" formerly-grumpy-now-alarmingly-blushy guy interrupted.
Boxy-smile guy was silent, looking impossibly puzzled, before he broke into a smile that threatened to break his face in two. "Woooow boongie! For ME!? You're the best!" he sing-songed while bouncing on his heels clapping his hands like a overjoyed seal.
"Well, three soaps then? Awesome, we have a special campaign today so you get all three soaps for the price of one AND a complimentary box of edible rosepetals to decorate your bath with" Hoseok mused.
"Wow, what a...what a deal! Thanks uhm..." the blushing boy looked down at his colourful name-tag "Hoe...suck..?"
"Oh yeah, I'm Hoseok!" he smiled brightly and handed over the pretty, scented bag "Thank you for your purchase, I hope you'll enjoy the products!"
"Thank you, I'm sure I'll...make sure my grandma likes it- or I mean, not, cause she's like dead but yeah... she'll smell great in heaven. Y'know instead of like, death smell, uhm...goodbye" he waved quickly before grabbing his strange friend and running out of the store.
"Did you see those signs? Do you think he's stupid or something? Who the hell is named Hoe-suck?" he heard boxboy chatter outside.
He waited a few seconds before letting his smile drop. What the actual fuck was that? Who buys soap for his dead grandmother to leave on the grave? So she'll stop smelling of death? And who buys his friend a 'lovely rose-vanilla kiss' soap? Well, they might have been more than friends, even though they did not seem close in that way. They'd make a cute couple though.
Shrugging the weird meeting off he resumed to artisticly arranging soaps into letters on a empty counter. First a lavender smelling S, then a rose scented O followed by a minty P and lastly a caramel E. Pleased with himself he decided to call it a day, even though it had just passed noon. He'd make it up tomorrow. Maybe. He snapped off his Hoesuck-nametag and hung his apron lazily on the register before putting his bright green, puffy jacket on and skipping happily out the door, once again forgetting to lock it.