Chapter Text
“Cover my shift for me.” Taehyung regrets answering the call immediately.
“What the fuck, no.” It’s the fourth time this month he's being asked to cover his coworkers shift, the coworker who asks so he can leave to watch his boyfriends boxing matches. And it's not like his boyfriends any good either. He breaks a sweat as soon as he walks into the ring and spends all twelve rounds running around dodging hits. He's lucky if he even lands a single one on the other guy and more often than not half the crowd is gone by the time the whole thing is over.
“It's not like you have anything better to do. You're gonna go home and watch anime or read a book or maybe watch your neighbor's dog. I have important stuff to do and you'll make a little extra if you stay, come on.”
“Jay, I don't know how to tell you this but watching your boyfriend lose another boxing match because he treats it like a game of tag is not exactly ‘important stuff’.”
There's a scoff on the other end and Taehyung smirks a little, but it's wiped off when Jay says, “Well I’m not coming in so good luck explaining to the big man why we were closed all night. Oh and, it's truck driver night so you can’t exactly do that. Good luck.”
The call clicks off and Taehyung's left gaping because wow he really can't leave now. He’s sitting behind the counter tapping his fingers on it muttering to himself about how much he wishes he could knock some sense into that boy, muttering a soft “asshole” before a cough from in front of him draws him out.
“Oh I’m so sorry let me ring you up.”
___
It's slow after that. He had never worked the graveyard shift, the latest having been 11PM, and while he had expected it to be pretty lonely, by the time the clock hit 1AM, Taehyung had counted only four cars driving past. The drink machines in the back of the store made an occasional rumble, it was the only noise that could be heard and it was a soft lull that had him nodding off once in a while, his head slipping forward and off of his hand which he was leaning on.
It was in another one of these moments when his head fell too far forward and hit the counter, Taehyung waking up right away, the fluorescent store lights hurting his eyes a little bit, along with the dull ache in his forehead. He stood up and rubbed the spot before stretching his stiff limbs after having been hunched over for too long.
The stretch resulted in a series of concerning pops which reminded him he should really work on his posture unless she wanted to end up a hunchback at age 40, as well as it was enough to pull him out of his drowsy state. He reached under the table where his phone was placed and checked the time, 1:27AM. He still had approximately four hours left before whoever was on the morning shift came in and he was starting to feel a little crazy. The lack of things to do and people to talk to was so boring, especially with him being naturally outgoing, interacting with the customers was his favorite part of the day.
The silence and enclosed feeling in the store was suffocating, enough so that it dragged him outside for a bit, hoping the night air would provide him with a little motivation to not just close up the place and go home.
He sat on the ground outside and looked up at the clear sky, trying to make out any visible constellations, but his sixth grade obsession with space had not lasted long enough for him to still remember any besides the big dipper.
He looked down then and smiled a little, remembering just how excited he had been when his class took that trip to the planetarium. He remembers going home and screaming to his grandparents that he was going to grow up and be an astronaut so he could see all of space in person. He had memorized exactly how many moons every planet had, and could even name most of them too. He’d saved all of his allowance for two months and combined it with his birthday money to buy himself a telescope-- it wasn't a super expensive or nice one, it’d been bought second hand and was a little rickety, on of the legs was broken and it had to be held up with a pile of books, but it was enough to satiate his twelve year old self.
However, the smile fades slowly, the memory shifting from reminiscent to bittersweet because he has been so excited for his life as an astronaut but he never followed through. He dropped the dream when his sister said she wanted to be a doctor, and decided he would pursue something cheaper so their parents didn't have to worry about saving money for both of them. He had moved on to wanting to be a teacher next, but after working a whole summer in 8th grade as a babysitter, decided he didn't want to deal with kids unless they were his own, and then finally to a photographer, but that had been shut down after his father made a comment about how he felt sorry for his future partner for they would end up with a husband who was a dreamer, a man who had studied nothing useful.
There's a sick feeling in his stomach. A lump in his throat and he starts to beat himself up. For letting himself be so selfless, he had the grades all through highschool to get a scholarship good enough for a school where he could study something he wanted, he could have even minored in photography, something he’d always been passionate about, but he let everything his family ever said about his dreams imbed itself too deep, let the words fill the pot and boil until everything spilled and he just shut down, turned the fire off and put the lid on. He walked away over and over and instead focused on working. To get money so he could bet out of the house-- so he could walk away from the fire for good.
He shakes his head a bit then, tries to stop thinking about the what ifs and focuses his attention back to his phone where he sees a string of messages coming in from his least favorite contact.
from: annoying coworker (Jay😐😐😐😐😐)
TAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEE
i hope ur still at work
its almost 2 the drivers will start pulling in for the night
there should be about 5
have fun
oh also
my boyfriend won today so 🖕
??? wow thts gr8 did his opponent forfeit orrrr
from: annoying coworker (Jay😐😐😐😐😐)
🖕 shove it kim
___
He’d forgotten about the drivers. The gas station he works at happened to be located along a very busy driver route, so it had a rest stop that was always full towards the end of the week. Because he's never worked around the time when they come in, he's a little nervous, wonders if any of them will come in or if they'll all just stay in their trucks and sleep until the morning when they'll be off to wherever. He thinks living as a truck driver must be hard but at the same time he wonders if they feel free. If the feeling of getting in and driving off is as refreshing as it seems or if it loses its appeal after some time and is more draining than enjoyable.
He hears the first truck before he sees it. The purr of the engine gets louder and louder as it pulls into the designated slot, the driver maneuvering the huge vehicle into place before stopping the engine and getting out. Taehyung rises from his sitting position to head back inside behind the counter.
A few minutes later the bell on the door chimes and the man walks in, responds to Taehyung's greeting with a simple nod before he heads to the bathroom. He heads back outside after, but doesn't spare the cashier a second glance though it provides enough of a distraction from Taehyung to feel satisfied.
The next three drivers all do the same thing, get off, stretch, use the bathroom and then go back to their previous place in their vehicles. Taehyung's seated behind the counter watching something on his phone when he hears the bell ring again and on instinct looks up to see a much younger man than the previous ones who’d come in, with long, bright purple hair thats pulled back into a ponytail and a pair of headphones in both ears. He walks into the bathroom but instead of walking right back out like everyone else, he walks around the store and by the time he comes up to the counter, he's holding an array of drinks and snacks that he carefully places on the counter for Taehyung to scan.
“Ooh gummy bears, these are my favorite.” Taehyung looks up from where he was scanning the item to the costumer and notices that he is young, doesn't look over 21 and he has ears full of piercings as well as an eyebrow and a lip one, both shiny and silver making Taehyung slightly blush because wow he's hot.
“Ohhh really? They're mine too.” It's unfair, he thinks. That this man looks this good and has a voice that sounds like /that/-- smooth and melodic like it was made to recite poetry or serenade a lover on a picnic.
Taehyung doesn't realize he's staring until said pretty man smiles at him and holy shit he got prettier. He's got big teeth but they fit his face perfectly. His cheeks bunch up at the top of his cheekbones when he does and Taehyung has to physically drag his eyes away from him, feeling a warmness lay itself on his cheeks as he finishes scanning the last items before telling him his price. He reaches for the money and it's then that he notices the tattoos. The long sleeve he's wearing rolls up just enough that he sees what looks like a phrase. He grabs the money, maybe a little faster than he should have and works to get the change back, slightly frustrated that he got so flustered over seeing tattoos and piercings.
“I've never seen you here before, are you new?” god his voice is so beautiful.
“No, I've worked here for a while actually but I never work the night shift, I’m just covering.”
“Mmm did Jay sneak off to see his boyfriend box again?” WHY DID JAY HIDE THIS BEAUTIFUL MAN FROM ME?????
“You know Jay?” The man laughs at his question as he starts grabbing his items off the counter and pilling them onto his arms.
“Yeah I see him every time I come in and he's always on the phone with him, he said he was a boxer so..”
“Oh, well yeah he's there, said he won, though I highly doubt that. He's not very good.”
The man throws his head back in a soft laugh, and Taehyung feels himself unconsciously smiling at the sound.
When his eyes finally shift back to Taehyung's face, the smiles they both are wearing stay as they just stare until the door swings open again and the little bell rings, both of them blinking away the dryness in their eyes.
“Well I'll leave you to watch whatever you seemed to be enjoying before I got here. Bye.”
He walks out faster than Taehyung can think of a reply and watches as the purple hair dims in the darkness outside and the figure with the piercings goes back into his truck.
___
Taehyung begins requesting night shifts the following week. Every night when he goes home, all he can think about is purple hair and the sound of the most enticing voice he'd ever heard. It's maddening really because it had been less than a 5 minute conversation, they'd shared only a few sentences to each other and still every time he closed his eyes he pictures his smiling face.
The next time he works the graveyard shift he comes more prepared, he brings a book, a charger, some travel drawing supplies and his camera. In the dark of the summer nights, it was easy to photograph the sky with it, to see little specks of light so far away and while his infatuation with space had dimed, his love for photography never had.
He was looking through these shots for the night when the door opened and from over the shelves he could see a mop of purple, a lighter shade this time.
“Oh it's you again”
Taehyung fake pouted. “Wow you don't sound happy at all to see me, I'm hurt.”
“No no oh my god don't misunderstand I just thought, you know… that was like a one time thing, since you said you were covering.” He reached behind to rub the back of his neck. He's so cute, what the fuck.
“I’m just messing,” Taehyung giggled and he seems to relax a little. “It was a one time thing but I kind of like the quiet work, it's nice.” That was a complete lie.
“Oh that's cool, don't you get lonely though?”
Taehyung hummed, handing over the bagged items. “Yeah a little, but I usually bring some things to do so it's not too bad,”
“Glad to hear that then…”
“Taehyung. My name’s Kim Taehyung.”
“Well I’m glad to hear that Kim Taehyung, I’m Jeon Jeongguk.” even his name is hot??? He's so unfair omg. He begins backing up towards the door before he speaks again. “I'll see you soon… maybe?”
“Yeah maybe” Taehyung replies softly and Jeongguk gives him one more smile before walking out, though this time he turns around about half way to his truck and waves. Taehyung tries not to scream. As soon as Jeongguk is out of sight, Taehyung feels a flutter in his stomach, thinks maybe he's getting sick, perhaps the sushi he ate for dinner was bad, he dismisses the thought that the feeling could be butterflies for a certain Jeon Jeongguk.
It becomes a regular thing after that. Jeongguk will come in and buy some snacks that Taehyuung will take his time ringing up, just so he can postpone his exit long enough that they are able to have a small conversation, but it's still long enough that every time Jeongguk does leave, Taehyung feels like he might burst into flames.
Biology had taught Taehyung that butterflies evolved, from caterpillars to butterflies, he's just not sure if he missed a lesson because the ones in his stomach are starting to feel a lot less tiny and fluttery and a lot bigger and frenzied.
Dinosaurs, he concludes. The butterflies evolved into dinosaurs.