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one.
Minhyuk first spots him sitting at a bench, across the gate entrance. The hood of his grey sweater is pulled up around his face, but the early afternoon light streaming through the large airport windows allow Minhyuk to see lips still somehow pursed in sleep. Arms are crossed while a neck pillow dangles off his shoulder threateningly and his suitcase rests beside him. If this were any larger of an airport, his stuff would be long gone by now.
Minhyuk’s broken out of his (weird? mildly stalker-ish?) train of thought by the intercom above the gate crackling to life. The robotic voice informs him that his flight has been delayed, and he will be stuck in Jeju for an unknown amount of time because of some dumb snowstorm in Seoul. And on February 13th, no less.
He curses his luck. Of course this happens when he actually has plans. Not a date, but Jaehyun decided to throw a birthday party this year and finally, he won’t be the only lonely single on Valentine’s Day. (After all, who would pass up a date for Jaehyun’s stupid birthday? Certainly not him, but unfortunately he does not have any other choices. It’s either celebrating Jaehyun surviving—somehow—another year, or wallowing at home alone. Beggars can’t be choosers.)
His eyes subconsciously flick back to the sleeping guy, who isn’t sleeping anymore. He has clearly been unhappily roused from his sleep, and even Minhyuk feels for him. Though he doesn’t love sleep as much of the other people he knows—ahemChaeHyungwonahem—a good sleep, especially paired with an interesting dream, is something you never want to leave.
Minhyuk supposes he can’t really “people watch” anymore, so he pulls out his phone. Already plenty of couples being ooey gooey and gushing on Instagram. Even the multitude of meme accounts he follows fail him when he sees the same Valentine’s card post three times in a row from three different accounts.
He admits defeat. Minhyuk throws his phone down dramatically on the next seat and wonders what to do now. He’s never been one to cope well with boredom, and a delayed flight with an unknown departure time in a small airport seems like his worst enemy.
He scans around the gate to see if anyone is doing anything interesting. His eyes catch again on the grey hoodie guy from earlier, who is now scrolling on his phone as well while… scratching at his chin? But now that Minhyuk’s seeing his face with his eyes open, he’s not sure where he’s seen him before. He looks familiar, but he can’t quite place it… Maybe that celeb trainer he’s seen before on TV?
He shrugs it off. Boredom is a more pressing issue.
Minhyuk decides to shoot off a couple of Instagram posts. His followers already know he’s doing a piece on Jeju in the wintertime, so might as well get some interaction while he’s trying to find something to do. His first post asks how everyone is doing, whether or not people have plans for Valentine’s Day. The second asks about what people want him to cover in his “Jeju in the Winter” piece, and the last asks about what content they want to see next from him.
Since he only posts in multiples of threes—he needs to keep his feed fresh—and he’s out of nice Jeju pictures, he resorts to his story. In a burst of inspiration (and peak creepy stalker energy) he takes a selca of himself and adds text accompanied by a poll asking his followers if he “should talk to this cute guy he’s stuck in the airport with?”. He visually confirms that the grey hoodie-d sleeping beauty (ew cringe. he cannot believe he just thought that) guy is still where he was sitting before, and sends the story off.
Minhyuk gets up to stretch some before his bones start rotting (like Kihyun, that old man). Definitely not because he’s scared of facing the results of the poll and that he might actually have to go through with it.
(Something scaring the infallible Minhyuk? This is news to himself as well as everyone else. But unfortunately, he can’t tell any of his friends—they don’t follow his “official” account because they think he’s “cringe” but Minhyuk knows they’re just jealous of his popularity—because that means he would have to explain the dumb predicament he got himself into. And this one is too embarrassing, even for his thick skin.)
Besides, he’s really not sure why he asked when he can predict the results of the poll already.
two.
Of course the results of the poll are a unanimous “Yes”. He would expect nothing less from his followers. In fact, after further thought, he’d even be kind of disappointed in his fans if “No” won over “Yes”.
In the time in-between he went to get a drink of water, used the bathroom, and realized two things:
- If he talks to this guy and he gets rejected, no one would ever know anyway. If his fans asked, he could brush it off and say it’s personal, or just make up some funny rejection story.
- He could just not approach him at all? And that way, he can just directly jump to a funny rejection story, a new addition to the Minhyuk-Storytime-verse lore, and continue on with his life.
But at the same time, will his pride really let him?
Minhyuk decides this is too much thinking. He remembers that there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts on the second floor he’d passed when looking for the airline counters earlier, and feels it worthy to grant himself a treat. Just a small snack, nothing big. An appetizer to his (potential) dinner in an hour or so, if you will.
He spots the large menu from far away and distantly plans out his meal. As his stomach makes itself heard, he knows: this will certainly not be a small snack. Moderate snack, at best. But whatever, he deserves it for standing up to his boredom and for gathering some courage for later.
He’s so immersed in the tantalizing pictures on the Dunkin’ Donuts visual menu display that he nearly walks into the last person lined up. He stops himself just in time, avoiding a fistful of grey fabric instead for the embarrassing noise that is him hitting a line divider, it unattaching from its partner that it’s connected to, and yelping when he scares himself from the noise.
Thankfully, the person in front doesn’t seem to hear him at all due to the earbuds Minhyuk can now spot. It really is the small mercies in life, huh?
(Too close for comfort, Minhyuk scurries to the Jamba Juice on the opposite side. He’ll pester Kihyun or Jooheon to get him Dunkin’ Donuts when he gets back.)
three.
He wipes his hands on the paper towel, discarding it in the trash. Minhyuk glances in the mirror, fixing his hair as he goes, and marvels at the bathroom lights. How does bathroom lighting always make him look so good?
Struck by inspiration, he pulls out his camera from his bag. He’s stuck anyway, might as well add a segment to his Jeju vlog. A quick glance to the stalls says he’s alone in the bathroom, and he begins filming.
He’s done narrating the (dramatized) story of his cab ride to the airport, done describing how he ended up stuck in the airport for an unknown amount of time, and nearly halfway through thinking out loud about what he should do next when a flush distracts him from the task at hand.
Minhyuk flushes red. Being overheard in the bathroom is embarrassing enough, much less being caught talking to a camera. He packs up his camera quickly and goes to rewash his hands and tries to ignore the person that comes out of the stall.
Minhyuk looks up in curiosity, wondering who heard him being an absolute dumbass. It’s just his luck that it's the sleeping guy from earlier at his gate. He nicknames him “Mr. Muscular Grey Hoodie” in his head. They’ve had enough run-ins that Minhyuk needs to call him something, but doesn’t know his name (and it's too late for Minhyuk to cooly ask what the other’s name is).
He’s never been a darker red, he thinks. He attempts a breath deep enough to get a hold of himself but not enough for someone else to discern, but it gets caught in his throat. Thankfully he’s able to turn it into just clearing his throat, but it’s at this moment the other guy also looks up and their eyes meet.
Minhyuk somehow flushes even darker, but feigns ignorance by fixing his hair (again, but Mr. Grey Hoodie doesn’t need to know that), clearing his throat, and walking out with his bags like that’s what he meant to do all along. And absolutely no mishaps just occurred. None.
He hopes he’s convinced Mr. Grey Hoodie he was Mr. Suave ‘n Smooth because he certainly didn’t convince himself by the way he collapses in a ball of embarrassment at the nearest bench (but far enough to be out of eye’s view of the bathroom).
Hey, at least it’ll make for a good storytime for his Jeju vlog.
four.
Minhyuk is browsing through the duty-free gift store on the first floor when he spots something out of the corner of his eye. Of course, it’s Mr. Grey Hoodie back at it again. At this point, either Mr. Grey Hoodie is stalking him, or Minhyuk is just too aware of him now. Like the way you are when you find out someone who you normally don’t talk to likes you, and suddenly you’re hyperaware of their every move.
He runs (read: walks as fast as he can while being as unsuspicious as possible) from where he was looking at pretty postcards to get for his mom to the nearest shelf that will hide him to look at… cigarettes (?) because yes, of course, he loves cigarettes and everything they do. He unconsciously presses himself behind the shelf as an attempt to hide himself from view. Minhyuk himself is not really sure why he’s so scared of Mr. Grey Hoodie, but at this point, it’s too late to pop up now without seeming like a complete weirdo.
He circles the store, hiding behind every display and shelf he can to remain out of sight. Minhyuk isn’t really sure why he’s doing this anymore, but too late now. He does his best to seem as short as possible, squatting about halfway, and pretending to be interested in the whiskey, chocolates, and assorted tourist memorabilia shelves that he all uses as props to hide behind.
It’s only finally (what feels like a lifetime to his poor thighs) later that Mr. Grey Hoodie leaves the store and empty-handed, to the pointless sacrifice of feeling in his thighs. It feels like an absolute punishment to him, but he can only let it go now.
When he can finally stand straight up and rubs his lower back that’s been complaining as well, it seems that even the store’s worker has forgotten about him because she lets out a small gasp of fright before greeting him again. He feels bad for her troubles and gets some postcards, a bottle opener fridge magnet for his dad, and a plain fridge magnet for Kihyun.
When he walks out with his bag, he remembers Jaehyun’s birthday. He debates turning around and finding something, but decides it isn’t worth it. Mainly Jaehyun who isn’t worth it, and Minhyuk likely won’t make it back in time anyway.
five.
Minhyuk is waiting for his ramen to cook when the trouble arises. The 7-Eleven is on the first floor, and it had certainly been a trek down here, but one that was worth it. He’d just bought his dinner, which consisted of two containers of instant ramen, a tuna triangle kimbap, and 3 corndogs. It’s not great, but it’s so late since he was supposed to leave Jeju for Gimpo that at this point he’s accepted his fate, he won’t be home in time to see his bed tonight. This is the best he’ll get. He’s standing off near the side of the counter when he sees the situation. The guy about to pay doesn’t seem to have his wallet, which is making the part-timer behind the counter anxious.
Instead of just not buying anything like a normal person (aka What Minhyuk Would Do), the guy in a grey hoodie (? he’s not sure if it’s his Mr. Grey Hoodie, but he’s so tired and hungry he wouldn’t care anymore if he did) sprints out of the store, making the guy look guilty as hell like he just tried to buy food without paying but chickened out at the last moment.
The part-timer looks to Minhyuk, almost as if to say, “You saw that too, right?” He looks so stressed that Minhyuk can’t help but emphasize with him; he’s been that part-timer before, and remembers how scared shitless he’d been in unpredicted situations like these too.
Minhyuk pulls his wallet out with a sigh, and says, “I’ll take it.”
The worker says, “Are you sure?”, but his eyes say, “Thank you so much.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Minhyuk shrugs a shoulder. It’s a container of milk, 2 containers of instant ramen,6 boiled eggs, and 2 precooked chicken breast pieces. It’s not like he can’t afford it, might as well if he can help this poor part-timer out. He’s been there and knows how helpful it would’ve been if someone had stepped in to help him out like he was doing now. After he pays he tells the part-timer to keep the items.
“If that guy comes back, just say someone else paid for them. If not, take them yourself or just reshelve them since none of them had been opened yet. Whatever you want, I’m giving them to you,” Minhyuk leaves with an encouraging smile.
As Minhyuk walks away with his unopened cup ramen and the rest of his food in his bag, he feels that maybe he’s been absolved of everything embarrassing he’s done during the day with this one good act. He sets the steaming paper bowl down beside the seat he’s deemed for himself to eat at, and finds that maybe random acts of kindness aren’t so bad after all. (And that maybe 7-Eleven’s convenience food wasn’t as bad as he remembered. Maybe that’s just the Kihyun built into him from being exposed to Kihyun for too long.)
When Hyunwoo runs back, breathless and with a wallet clutched in his hands, he’s super embarrassed. Not only has he embarrassed himself in front of that cute boy he’s kept running into throughout the day, but also ran off without giving the 7-Eleven worker a proper explanation. Now he looks like a thief.
He’s surprised that his items are set off to the side and that the worker is casually on his phone. Shouldn’t he be more stressed or something that someone ran off? But Hyunwoo never took anything, so maybe that’s why the worker was so casual about this.
The worker looks up and splits into a relaxed customer service smile, no hint of any tension like nothing ever happened at all. “The other man paid for you already,” Hyunwoo is working to catch his breath still, and can’t seem to remember anyone else in the store.
“What other man?” The worker only blinks at him.
“The other man inside the store. Heating his ramen over here?” It’s the gesturing towards the empty tabled nook in the corner that makes Hyunwoo recall that Oh right, the cute boy was here too .
The worker bags his items as he scrambles to remember anything before his sprint. “Here are your items sir. Have a good day!” This hint Hyunwoo can get, and he leaves the store while still trying to wrap his mind around what just happened.
six.
He slides into the seat next to him and plugs a charger in the wall socket—more like a table socket, in this case. His hands curl into his laptop and plug it in, almost catching in the sleeves of his grey sweater.
Minhyuk is so immersed in watching his Netflix show that he doesn't notice the new arrival until the person beside him taps him on the shoulder and asks if he can use one of the sockets on his side too.
He dips a nod and pulls out his earbuds. After being reenergized by the convenience store food, he’s now hyperaware again and too unfocused of the person beside him in a grey hoodie to continue watching his show. Minhyuk slides open Instagram and tries to act as natural as he can (which he normally thinks is pretty good? But he’s been trapped in this horrible airport for soon-to-be 12 hours and really doesn't know anymore).
This is getting dumb. Minhyuk is usually the outgoing one, the extroverted one. Enough is enough. He clears his throat, preparing to say something, but the other beats him to the punch.
“We’ve been, ah, running into each other a lot lately, huh?”
Minhyuk flushes red, thinks of the many mishaps the other doesn’t even know about like in front of Dunkin’ Donuts, or maybe at the first-floor gift store. Or had he noticed? Even worse (or better, depending on how you look at it), were there any instances where Minhyuk hadn’t noticed him?
“Ah,” Before Minhyuk falls too deep into his overthinking again, Mr. Grey Hoodie pulls him out. “I’m Hyunwoo, by the way. I guess if we’re going to be friends that’s what we should start with.”
“We’re going to be friends?” Stupid Minhyuk wants to put his foot into his mouth. Why is he like this? Why are people even friends with him? This is horrible.
“Yeah? I mean, I think we’re both on the same flight, right?” Here, he gestures at the large “GATE 13” they’re sitting in front of. “It's been delayed and looks like it’s going to continue that way for an unknown amount of time, so might as well, right? I mean, why not?” And the awkward way Hyunwoo ends off like he’s waiting for the rejection, scratching at the nape of his neck with a lopsided smile, is enough for Minhyuk.
“Of course, sorry. I was just surprised. I’m Minhyuk.”
“Minhyuk. Cool. So what were you talking about in the bathroom? So what is this cab driver story I heard all about in the bathroom?”
Minhyuk doesn’t have enough evidence yet to determine if the way that Hyunwoo can render him speechless and so embarrassed when he is known amongst his friends for being unbreakable and thick-skinned is a good or bad thing yet, but it sure is interesting.
As the clock ticks past midnight and he’s still in the airport splitting a heart-shaped jelly-filled donut and 3 Munchkin Cups between Hyunwoo and himself, he supposes this isn’t a terrible way to spend Valentine’s Day.
(Definitely leagues better compared to Jaehyun’s boring birthday party. Good thing he didn’t buy him that gift.)
bonus!
“Alright, and here is the famous bathroom in the ‘How Minhyuk and Hyunwoo met’ story! Here, I unknowingly seduced him with the stories of my numerous travels, and he was captivated forever,” Minhyuk ends with a flourish, and Hyunwoo hits him in the shoulder.
“More like: I was trying to piss in peace, and I heard this weirdo talking to himself. I felt pity towards him, that he was so lonely he needed to resort to a camera, and later approached him first.”
“Yes, see everyone! That’s how you snag a celebrity trainer! Just so happen to be on the same delayed return flight as him when he goes to shoot for the cover of Men’s Health and you’re doing your piece on ‘Jeju in the Winter’, act so lonely in the airport bathroom that you talk to an inanimate object until you’re caught by him, and boom! There you go.”
“Ya, shut up! Let’s go to the gift store so I can recount you hiding behind bottles of whiskey and duty-free chocolates because you were scared of me.”
“Hey, that’s not fair! What about the 7-Eleven fiasco?”
And so just like that, as Valentine's Day 3 years later was just as fun as the first time.