Chapter Text
The only actual time Yuta despised his job at Claire’s was when a group of middle schoolers came bustling in—all excited chatter and overcrowding the tightly packed store, looking but never really buying anything unless it was to use their ‘buy 3 get 3 free’ deal, which annoyed him to no end. He always knew they’d go home with more than just three items but chose to turn a blind’s eye every now and then, not like he hadn’t taken a few pieces for himself and written it off as defective or ‘lost’ merch. Yuta might be subjected to the hell that is retail work, but he also knew how to work around the system to benefit himself.
Luckily, he wasn’t dealing with that kind of torment today and instead was currently doing his favorite task; piercing ears for a first timer. The process usually was quick and easy to do, but Yuta made the mistake to absentmindedly look out the store window while the mother-daughter duo discussed the daughter’s choice of earrings to get. In that moment Yuta’s eyes happened to fall upon what he considered to be a modern deity existing amongst mere mortals.
The person in question was Lee Taeyong, the new Hot Topic employee, who was currently putting out new merch on the store’s display window. He had only been working there a week so far but had immediately drawn Yuta in right from the start. Hard not to when his face looked to be sculpted by the gods themselves; all sharp angles contrasted with the softest features and god Taeyong had these cute, doe-like eyes that—
“…Sir?”
Yuta snapped his eyes away from the enticing sight and back to the now frowning mother and waiting daughter. “I-ah, yes?” he stumbled, realizing embarrassingly how out of breath he sounded and ignored the snickering from the counter behind him. Yuta resisted the urge to flip off his coworker and flashed a big smile at the customers instead.
“We’re ready to get started,” the mother replied, tone clipped and clearly not pleased at his distracted state.
Yuta nodded and set to work on cleaning the young girl’s earlobes with an alcohol wipe and then placing reference dots before reaching for the piercing gun and disinfecting it.
Chancing another glance across, Yuta nearly choked, the piercing gun going limp in his hand, as Taeyong made eye contact with him and smiled sweetly with a little wave.
Pretty…
Yuta almost panicked at the passing thought, feeling his knees buckle dangerously but he’s able to compose himself without dropping the gun. He kindly smiled back at Taeyong and quickly returned his focus to the task at hand, all the while fighting the blush that threatened to take over his face.
Afterwards, while Jaemin rang them up, Yuta dares a look again but Taeyong had moved from his place at the display window and was now folding t-shirts at the front table, his back to Yuta.
Yuta’s shoulders sag disappointedly, a small sigh escaping his lips, and he goes back to working on whatever boring tasks needed attending to around the store.
εїз
How this…interest (in no way was Yuta going to call it a crush, at least not in front of anyone) in Taeyong came to be started exactly a week ago.
…
The day had been a normal one for the employees of Claire’s. Customers walked in; customers walked out. Yuta would answer a question, complete a purchase, pierce ears that were scheduled for the day, check his phone for the time or respond to messages from the group chat and repeat.
Around 2 PM the store was empty except for the three working there. Kunhang, a sweet but oddball of a guy, was currently checking ‘inventory’ in the back—an excuse to just take a nap, while Jaemin, who Yuta knew as a friend of Donghyuck and Mark’s, was currently on cashier duty. Yuta was with Jaemin in the front and spent it basically staring out the store’s entrance and praying no one walked in so they wouldn’t have to do their jobs.
Considering the time, Yuta wasn’t surprised for the lack of customers and was thankful for that. Glancing at the Hot Topic across from them, he in no way envied how busy the dark store appeared to be nor the reason why.
“Wow,” Jaemin mused, popping up at Yuta’s shoulder. “We never get that much traffic over here, not even for the 3 for 3.”
“Yeah…” Yuta trailed off. Taking notice of a guy around his age greeting customers as they stepped into the crowded store, all seeming to pause momentarily then smile shyly at him in return. Despite being a distance away, Yuta could see every detail on his face, and something about the strawberry pink hair and kind smile had transfixed him.
“Yuta?” Jaemin called, bringing Yuta back to their empty store. “What are you staring at?”
Yuta blinked, realizing he had been concentrating on the guy far longer than considered normal. Flustered, he turned to Jaemin and blurted, “What? I’m not staring at anyone!”
Jaemin glanced at the store then back at Yuta with a raised eyebrow, a sly grin splitting across his face. “I asked you what you’re staring at. Not who—wait, why are you blushing?”
“I’m not blushing!” Yuta said, his voice rising an octave higher.
Jaemin laughed, which caused Yuta’s face to flush a deeper red. Without saying a word, Jaemin leaned over to see Yuta’s line of sight. “Are you staring at him?” He pointed directly at the pink-headed guy, who was occupied talking to a customer as he showed them to a line of clothing racks further inside the store.
Yuta slapped Jaemin’s arm away, nearly shouting as he said, “No! Stop that, you can’t just point at people, Jaemin!” Jaemin didn’t seem the least bit concerned but he gave Yuta the decency of holding in his laughter. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Yuta took a breath to collect himself. “It’s almost 3, I’m going on my break.” He moved out from behind the counter, shooting the group chat a message and stalked out of the store, leaving Jaemin alone and very amused.
Kunhang came to the front not long after and stood alongside Jaemin, curious of the happy gleam in his eyes. “What did I miss?”
Jaemin grinned, pulling his phone out to send Donghyuck a message. “Yuta’s got a crush.”
…
By the time Yuta reached the Starbucks located inside the Barnes & Noble on the second floor, Johnny already had his drink waiting for him at their unofficial-official table.
“So what’s the emergency? It’s rare to see an SOS from you,” Johnny asked once Yuta sat down. Being an employee at Starbucks, he was usually the one waiting on his friends to arrive in between their breaks to chat while they got their coffee fix.
Yuta took a few sips of his iced americano before speaking, “the Hot Topic has a new employee.”
“Oh?” Johnny perked up in his seat. “Does someone have a little crush?” he teased, grinning at the pink lightly staining Yuta’s cheeks.
Yuta made a face. Crush. Could it even be called that? Yes, Yuta could admit he was weak when it came to a pretty face, but he knew next to nothing about the other except that he’s possibly the most beautiful man to ever exist.
Not liking the gleeful look on Johnny’s face, Yuta scowled and looked away. “Like you’re one to talk! How are things going with pretzel boy, huh? Is he still using dirty pick-up lines on you?”
Johnny’s eyes widened and he goes to counter Yuta about the aforementioned male when another voice joins in. “Pretzel boy? A Hot Topic Hottie? Are you guys keeping things from me now?” Jungwoo looked between the two curiously as he plopped down on the only other available seat with a pout.
“Considering you were recently caught by Renjun cutting off the heads of stuffed animals near the dumpsters like an actual serial killer? Yeah, I think we have a right to.”
“Hey!” Jungwoo smacked Yuta’s arm while Johnny attempted to—and failed to, conceal his laughter. “You don’t think I know how morally wrong that is? It’s company policy, though, so I just swallow my guilt down each time I do it.” He shook his head regretfully, despite knowing that they’re inanimate objects with no real feelings. It was the one flaw Jungwoo found working at Build-A-Bear. “You should have seen Shotaro’s face the first time he had to, poor kid.”
“I get having to actually destroy the damaged products before throwing them away, but does your whole process have to look like actual murder while doing it?”
Jungwoo shot Johnny a warning glare. “Quiet or I won’t let you get early access to any new collaborations that come in from now on.”
Johnny brought a hand to his chest, eyes glinting in what could either be amusement or fear; Yuta wasn’t sure which one. “Okay, okay. Let’s get back to Yuta’s crush.”
“It’s not a crush!” Yuta corrected, eyes narrowing. “And don’t think I haven’t forgotten about you and pretzel boy either.”
Johnny waved him off. “We can talk about Ten later. Your break isn’t that long,” he reminded him.
Yuta leaned back in his seat with his drink, nibbling on the straw. “Fine,” he conceded. “There’s not much to tell other than the guy is beyond gorgeous. You’ll see for yourselves soon enough.”
Johnny and Jungwoo share a dubious look, not at all convinced by Yuta’s suddenly cool demeanor. Their friend wasn’t the type to act dismissive of his own feelings in both his dating and personal life; if there was anyone who managed to accomplish turning their dreams into reality and not something to chase, Yuta was that person. Whoever this newcomer was must be something else if they had Yuta faltering with his decision to pursue them.
“Okaaay,” Jungwoo drawled. “So what’s the plan?”
Yuta raised an eyebrow at him. “The plan?”
“Yeah, you’re going to ask him out, right?”
“W-What?” he sputtered, the pink returning to his cheeks.
“Oh c’mon, Yuta.” Jungwoo rolled his eyes. “Are you telling me we’re here to talk about Hot Topic hottie once and be done with it? That doesn’t sound like you at all.”
Johnny hummed his agreement, lips curving upward as Yuta fidgeted in his seat under both their scrutinizing gazes. “He’s got a point.”
“I hadn’t really thought that far…” Yuta muttered at last.
“Well, you could start by getting his name. I’m sure that won’t be hard for you, Mr. Healing Smile.” Jungwoo challenged with a raised brow. “Like Johnny here with this Ten guy.”
Johnny’s face smoothed down to a genuine smile at the mention of the other. “I guess we can talk a little about that.”
Yuta couldn’t be happier that the attention was off him for the moment and sat forward to listen to Johnny while sipping the rest of his drink contently.
…
On his way back to the store, Yuta decided it couldn’t hurt to get a name and was working up the courage to go visit the Hot Topic—maybe make some small talk with Jisung if he was working today, and then introduce himself to the new guy when he heard someone speak from behind him.
“You work at the Claire’s across from us, right?” asked a deep, but pleasant voice.
Yuta missed his footing at the sudden question and stumbled face first into one of the plotted plants lining the hallways of the mall. “Ow, fuck!” he exclaimed, stepping back and holding where he stubbed his nose.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” The voice was much closer this time, and Yuta whirled around ready to snap at whomever startled him but halted at the sight of strawberry pink hair. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?” The Hot Topic employee’s round shiny eyes looked at him concerningly as he waited for Yuta’s response.
They’re so pretty… Yuta thought. Wait, no, not the time! Focus, don’t just stand there like an idiot, answer his question!
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine! I just wasn’t expecting anyone to talk to me,” he laughed, but it sounded forced and awkward, even to his ears. So, recalling the other’s earlier question, Yuta grinned and replied, “I do. How’d you know?”
The Hot Topic employee looked relieved, his shoulders relaxing as he breathed out a sigh. “That’s good, I’m really sorry. I’ll keep in mind not to sneak up on you again.” He rubbed the back of his neck and gestured to Yuta’s own, “and you’re wearing a purple lanyard that says ‘Claire’s’ all over it.”
Yuta peered down, realizing he had neglected to remove the lanyard when he had rushed out earlier. “Ah,” he released a short laugh. “I guess I forgot to take it off.” He looked back up just in time to catch the guy smiling. A bright and endearingly sweet smile that simultaneously had Yuta gone and made him want to continue to be the reason to receive such a smile.
The two stood in a slightly awkward silence for a few beats too long until Taeyong, still smiling, cleared his throat. “Well, I better get going. I’m Taeyong and I work across from you at the Hot Topic, stop by anytime.”
“Right, I need to too—get back to work, I mean.” Yuta nodded mindlessly and beamed a smile at Taeyong. “I’m Yuta by the way.”
Taeyong hummed pleasantly and said, “Nice to meet you, Yuta. I’ll see you around.” Then walked toward the escalators leading to where the food court was located above, leaving Yuta feeling like a pile of goo but with a wide grin on his face.
…
Returning back to work, Yuta doesn’t have much time to think about how cool of a name Taeyong (Taeyong!) is and how well it suits him, the high of his encounter fading once he saw there was now more people in the store than when he had left, but Jaemin and Kunhang were handling it.
“Jaemin says you have a crush,” Kunhang said conversationally as Yuta approached him.
“Wha—I do not!”
Kunhang nodded, doubtful. “Okay, okay. You don’t have to be so defensive, man. I was just telling you what he said.” Instead of waiting for a response, Kunhang walked back to the counter where a group of girls were waiting to make a purchase, and left Yuta alone.
Yuta felt his face grow warm, and although no one was around, he hid it in his hands and mentally screamed.
So maybe it was a crush, who cares, it probably wouldn’t amount to anything.
εїз
Presently, since Taeyong’s employment at Hot Topic, Yuta had talked to him about a handful of times, all in passing though. It turned out he was a good friend of Doyoung’s and had been previously working at the GameStop on the other side of the mall which explained why Yuta had never seen him until recently.
(“I did it at first to just get ahead of everyone else and preorder the new Animal Crossing game,” Taeyong admitted with a bashful laugh, and had Yuta wanting to swallow nails to stop himself from cooing at him. “But I ended up staying there for a while. Well, at least until I found a replacement and now I’m here.”
Yuta had to admit it was a smart tactic to gain perks and he would have done the same.)
…
When Yuta’s shift was finally done for the day, he clocked out with Jaemin and waved goodbye to Kunhang as it was his turn to close. Jaemin went on ahead of Yuta, heading to the Journeys on the second floor where Jeno worked to wait out the rest of his shift.
Walking out, Yuta paused. Taeyong was standing in between the two stores they worked at, phone in hand, and as soon as Yuta came into his peripheral view, he smiled at him.
“Hey,” Taeyong greeted with a friendly wave.
“Taeyong, hey!” Yuta smiled in return, unable to hide how happy he was at seeing the other. It was a first for them to get off at the same time; Taeyong’s schedule had yet to be finalized so he was working whatever shifts they put him on. Closing the remaining distance, Yuta pointed to the exit access down the end of the hall from them. “You going in the same direction?”
Taeyong dipped his head and said, “yep,” with the ‘p’ at the end making a popping noise with his lips.
Yuta had to physically hold himself back from letting any sounds slip out and simply hummed, shifting his backpack to the other shoulder.
They fell into step together, watching the other stores prepare to close up around them as they walked through the mall. One perk of working at a bow-infested, preteen centered store was that they closed an hour earlier than everyone else; something that Yuta rubbed in his friends’ faces every time they complained about closing.
Yuta flicked the forehead of a tall mall security as he strolled by on his Segway. Considering the smile on both their faces, Taeyong assumed they were friends and continued on. Though his pace slowed down as they went past the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, eyeing some of the displayed sweets longingly. Yuta made a mental note to buy him something from there one of these days. Johnny had mentioned offhandedly about Taeyong coming in and buying an absurd amount of their cubed sweet potato snacks in between his breaks and Yuta could only assume he had a sweet tooth. Cute.
“So how has your week gone so far?” Yuta decided to break the silence after a while and ask.
Taeyong shrugged but smiled. “As you’d expect as a fellow retail worker. Not bad, nothing great either.”
“Enough to keep you busy and engaged, but not stressful to the point you want to quit every shift?”
“Exactly!” Taeyong laughed as he agreed, and Yuta does not think it’s the loveliest sound he’s ever heard.
They spend a few more minutes making small talk, finding common ground among some topics until they reach the exit door. By the time they step out into the parking lot, the sky has been painted in a pleasant blend of pinks, purples, and oranges.
Yuta spotted his bike not far from them and turned to Taeyong, who was rummaging in his bag for his car keys. “Are you working tomorrow?”
“Yeah, same time as today,” Taeyong answered, raising his head up, keys now secured in his hand. “They finally gave me my official schedule.”
“That’s great! I am too, so I’ll see you then.” Yuta grinned and opened his backpack to pull out his helmet and slip on a patterned jacket. Getting to his bike, Yuta stored his backpack in the small glove box inside the seat. He paused as he climbed on, a thought coming to him. “Hey!” he called out to Taeyong, receiving a curious look in return. “I’ve been meaning to ask, but do you like working in this section?”
There was a small twinkle in Taeyong’s eyes as he nodded. “I think so, it’s much busier than the other side and everyone here so far seems nice.”
Yuta couldn’t help the cackle that came out of him while he put his helmet on. “Oh god, you’re in for it.” His bike roared to life and he gave Taeyong a wave with his hand. “Have a good evening!” and with that Yuta sped off.
“See ya!” Taeyong smiled after Yuta, finding the other man to be quite charming. Honestly speaking, he’s hoping their shifts will line up more so they could get to know each other better. Yuta was fun to talk to…and was Taeyong’s type.