Work Text:
donghyuck is bored.
he’s so freaking bored.
donghyuck applied for a part-time job at the convenience down the street from his apartment literally just so he didn’t have to keep asking his parents for money every time he so much as wanted a new cd or a burger because all of the rest of his money goes towards pesky bills and rent.
he's nineteen and studying teaching for fucks sake, he didn't want to ask his parents' permission every time he wanted to meet renjun or mark for lunch.
if he wanted, he could get by systematically "borrowing" a few thousand won from johnny's wallet every now and then when the older is too busy acting like he's too cool to hang with his younger brother, but honestly johnny's started actually taking his wallet everywhere with him, sp donghyuck's kinda fucked.
so he gets the first job that presents itself to him. he marvelled, at first, wondering how he managed to get hired basically straight away by the kind old lady, mrs. seo, that runs the store.
but now he knows.
nobody in their right mind would want to work in these conditions.
and by conditions he means the absolute boredom that hits him as soon as he punches his attendance card for the day.
it's not the most popular convenience store in the world. save for the regulars that straggle in on the way to work or venture across the road in order to get their cigarette fix, donghyuck rarely sees anybody new.
right now, for example, he can name every single customer in the store. there's little yuna and her grandmother iseul, most likely buying a couple lottery tickets and a candy bar on the way home from school.
and there's jisung and yeojin, two teens that are always there to buy some kind of fizzy drink and a packet of crisps, maybe some sweets. donghyuck's not sure what they do when they've got their snacks, but it amuses him that the boy always looks perpetually nervous while yeojin seems to cackle at him in mockery every five minutes. donghyuck thinks they're a couple, but he doesn't like to pry. (read: based on his absolutely completely subtle spying on the pair of them, he is 99.99% certain that they at least have feelings for each other.)
at the very back of the store, the alcoholic old man, gihun, scans the beer aisle, two more drinks already in his arms. it always makes donghyuck sad when he comes in, once he got to the till only to find he didn't quite have enough money so he proceeded to beg donghyuck to let him have the beer. donghyuck didn't really want to feed the habit, but the man was so pitiful that he offered to pay the remaining money towards it for him. mrs. seo insisted on paying him back the money when she found out, but the sentiment still remained.
and that was it, just regulars in the store nothing new, nothing exciting. it's 4 o'clock on a friday afternoon and donghyuck is stuck behind the till waiting for somebody to make their way to him and give him their usual pitying greetings.
at least he'll be able to talk.
his eyes swing between the aisles, doing a systematic headcount of the customers while he tried to think of a way to give himself more work just so he could go back to stacking shelves.
yuna.
iseul.
jisung.
yeojin.
gihun.
yuna.
iseul.
jisung.
yeojin.
gihun.
yuna.
iseul.
oh.
donghyuck blinks as a flash of blue passes by the end of one of the aisles.
oh .
his prayers have been answered, he thinks as he surveys the back of a new customer .
it briefly crosses his mind that it is inconceivably sad how excited he is at the prospect of a new person to talk to on his shift.
the new figure has his slender back to donghyuck, he's tall, though it's hard to tell how tall as he bounces on the balls of his feet as he surveys the fridge. donghyuck narrows his eyes in an attempt to see what exactly the other is trying to buy but alas his eyesight is getting worse.
"good afternoon, donghyuck oppa," comes the sweet voice of little yuna, forcing donghyuck to take his eyes off of the blue haired boy and instead greet yuna and iseul, the little girl holding up a simple chocolate bar as her treat of the day.
"hi yuna," he greets, easily slipping into his usual easy smile., "how was school today."
the little girl shrugs, "boring. we had a spelling test today."
"oh?" donghyuck feigns interest, "did you do well?"
"she did fantastic!" yuna blushes as her grandmother sings her praises, "full marks, that's why we've popped in for a treat."
"full marks!" donghyuck exaggerates his voice with a look of surprise that makes yuna giggle, "that's amazing, well done!" he turns to iseul to ask, "lottery tickets today?"
"not today, donghyuckie," the woman says fondly, "i wasn't going to come in today, but i just had to treat yuna for doing so well."
"well, if that's the case," donghyuck says, leaning forward to stage whisper to yuna. "why don't you take the chocolate on the house, hm? consider it a present from oppa for doing so well!"
yuna squeals, clearly happy with the idea of a gift from donghyuck, but iseul hesitates, "donghyuckie, that's your money, i can pay for a chocolate bar just fine."
"no, ma'am, i insist," donghyuck flashes his winning smile and the older woman just rolls her eyes with a grin. "it's not like i've had anything to buy recently."
iseul considers it for a moment but eventually nods, encouraging yuna to thank donghyuck as the boy pulls out his own money to pay for the chocolate. "thank you, oppa," yuna says, voice achingly cute as she smiles up at him.
donghyuck reaches over the counter to pat her head. "now you keep studying and work hard, okay?"
the two say their thank yous again and donghyuck waves goodbye before busying himself with putting the money in the till.
he jumps when he looks up only to come face to face with a beautiful boy with blue hair. the boy doesn't say anything, looks ridiculously uninterested in everything around him as he places two canned espressos on the counter.
donghyuck goes into cashier mode, scanning the cans promptly as he speaks, "is that everything for you today, sir?"
the boy with blue hair blinks.
donghyuck raises an eyebrow.
the boy sniffs indifferently then shakes his head.
"do you need a bag?"
another shake of the head.
"that's 4000 won, please."
the boy wordlessly hands over the money and takes the drinks.
he sniffs again and bows slightly in thanks before turning on his heel and walking back out.
he was weird, donghyuck thinks, that was a weird encounter. but he doesn't think much of it, he's probably never going to see the beautiful, albeit strange, boy with blue hair again.
--
it's almost midnight on a saturday night and donghyuck's back behind the counter wishing to any god that exists that something will happen. at this point he would take something as simple as a cat walking past the window, just to feel something.
he's already placed every bit of stock that needs to be placed for the next day, and he's rearranged every counter display three times already.
donghyuck sighs, settles back on the stall mrs. seo is kind enough to let him sit on during quiet hours and throws an arm over his head as he looks up at the ceiling in disdain.
he stays like that for a while, he isn't sure how long. starts counting the ceiling tiles, just for some kind of awful entertainment.
there's a cough.
it wasn't him that coughed.
wait-
donghyuck looks down and is met with striking eyes set in a bored expression, five canned coffees on the counter.
“oh my god, hi!” donghyuck scrambles to stand up, taking hold of a can to scan it.
the blue haired boy tilts his head slightly, “hello.”
god, donghyuck thinks, did he have to sound like that. it's a deep voice, like velvet, that makes him feel warm somehow. he scans another canned coffee as he apologises for not seeing the other boy. “i’m donghyuck, by the way,” he says, “i’m here, like, everyday.”
“good to know.” the other boy says, watching the cans in donghyuck’s hands intently as the boy scans cans three and four.
donghyuck frowns, “do… you have a name?” he asks as he places the five cans back in front of the blue haired boy, “and that’s 10000 won.”
the blue haired boy grins, “everyone has a name, donghyuck.”
he walks out with 5 cans of coffee and all of donghyuck’s attention.
--
“honestly, donghyuck, he sounds like he doesn’t like you at all.” renjun huffs across the counter as he waits for donghyuck’s shift to end so they can go to their afternoon class. “he didn’t even tell you his name, for god’s sake!”
jeno chuckles from where he stands at the door, “i think it’s hilarious, honestly. imagine hyuck’s face as the guy walks out without telling him his name.”
“that’s stupid in itself,” renjun rolls his eyes, “why are you telling every weirdo that walks in the store your name?”
“it’s called building rapport.”
“it’s called being a dumbass.” renjun mocks, “seriously, they’re random customers, they’re not your friends.”
donghyuck sighs, “it’s really not that deep, renjun, my name’s literally on the wall behind me anyway.”
they stare at each other across the counter for a good few minutes while jeno simply looks between them with a resigned smile on his face. donghyuck smirks and renjun groans, turning away from the counter and tightening the strap of his bag on his shoulder, “whatever, whatever, are you ready to go?”
donghyuck shakes his head, “gotta wait for mark to come out from the back before i can go,” he gestures his head towards the door his coworker disappeared behind five minutes before.
“hyuckie, what colour hair did you say that guy had?”
“blue, why?”
jeno turns away from the window and grins, “he’s on his way in here.”
the look on donghyuck's face is enough to make jeno laugh in his face. renjun, ever the sceptic, checks for himself and smirks when, sure enough, there's a mop of blue hair coming his way.
by the time blue enters the convenience store, donghyuck and his friends are doing a terrible job at acting natural. donghyuck almost winces when he notices jeno pretending to survey a poster that doesn’t exist, the taller boy simply pointing to the empty expanse of wall in front of him.
if the blue haired boy notices, he doesn't say anything. just goes straight to - as usual - the fridge holding the canned coffee.
it's almost embarrassing how quiet his friends are as they wait for him to come to the counter. donghyuck's pretty sure renjun's holding his breath too, judging by how red his face looks.
donghyuck watches the boy reach out for one, two, three cans of coffee then begin to consider a fourth.
he's watching him put the fourth back when a hand clamps onto his shoulder.
"alright, hyuck, you can head out now." mark says, smiling as if he didnt watch donghyuck jump ten feet into the air, "i'm here to take over."
donghyuck turns to mark in a panic and pushes down on his shoulders with all his strength. "for the love of god mark, stay down." he practically growls as he turns back to the counter in time to watch the boy walk towards him.
mark seems to know what's good for him, as he stays sat on the floor staring up at donghyuck open mouthed. now that donghyuck thinks about it, he was probably in shock.
donghyuck ignores his colleague and smiles when the boy reaches him, "hello, the usual is it?"
the boy nods, placing his coffee's down for donghyuck to scan.
"still don't need a bag?" donghyuck asks.
the boy shakes his head, "backpack,” he offers as explanation, tapping the offending object with one hand.
"of course," donghyuck smiles easily, "6000 won?"
"of course," blue parrots, handing the money over and smiling back.
donghyuck mock salutes, "pleasure doing business with you, sir."
as blue walks out, renjun makes a show of walking into him 'accidentally', "oh! i didn't see you there… i'm sorry, i didn't catch your name…"
"i didn't throw it." blue smiles, then turns to the cashier again "oh and donghyuck?"
"yeah?"
"you can let your colleague stand up now."
donghyuck's left a blushing mess when the other boy winks before he turns to leave.
–
donghyuck is stacking shelves the next time he sees the other boy.
he’s in the biscuits aisle, sorting the packets in a rainbow pattern on the shelves, mostly because it annoys his boss. mark sits at the counter, head resting on his arms, blowing bubbles with chewing gum he took from the counter.
it’s the graveyard shift, nobody’s visited the store in hours and both boys are simply waiting for the minute they can lock up and go home to bed. donghyuck’s just finished his red section of shelves when mark raises his head with a lazy grin. “hey hyuck?” he calls across the store.
donghyuck hums non-committedly.
“your boyfriend’s about to walk in, look busy.”
donghyuck frowns at the biscuits, tries to figure out what exactly mark means by ‘boyfriend’. he turns to ask mark but he’s met with a familiar face, now sporting bright pink hair.
so much for calling him blue.
the boy smiles and donghyuck thinks it's the first time he’s seen the boy look anything other than indifferent. the pink haired boy walks past him, most likely to grab his usual canned coffees.
donghyuck should really tell him one day that it’s unhealthy to drink as much of that shit as he does.
the boy walks back down the aisle. pauses. looks at donghyuck for a second, considers him.
“you good?” donghyuck asks, customer service habits kicking in. “can i help you with anything?”
he smiles again, donghyuck has to admit it’s quite a pretty smile. “no, i found my coffee just fine, thank you.”
donghyuck nods awkwardly, the other boy’s gaze feeling hot on his skin. he turns back to his work.
“do you know yuna personally?” the boy asks.
donghyuck frowns, turns back to meet jaemin’s gaze, a curious expression on the pink haired boy’s face. “huh?” donghyuck asks, eloquently of course.
the boy chuckles, “the little girl? the one you were talking to about her spelling test? you gave her chocolate?”
“yeah, i know who you mean, she’s just a regular customer here… i guess i’m just confused why you’re asking?”
pink shrugs, “i don’t know, was just kinda nice of you, i guess.”
“thanks?” donghyuck replies, more like a question than sincere thanks. pink boy just smiles back at him, still disarmingly charming, before walking off to pay for his coffee. donghyuck watches him go in awestruck confusion and catches sight of his backpack.
strange, he thinks, pink boy has a backpack with his college’s logo on it.
that means the boy either goes to his college, or he steals university backpacks in his spare time.
honestly, at this point donghyuck thinks either option could be correct.
--
the next time donghyuck sees the pink-haired boy, it's not at all like the other times.
it's 10pm on a tuesday, donghyuck has two hours left of his shift and he's working alone because yeri called in sick at late notice.
he's sitting at the counter, bord out of his mind, snacking on a candy bar he bought quite literally to pass the time.
nobody ever comes in at this time, especially not on a tuesday, so donghyuck is rightfully startled when the convenience store door burst open and the pink boy storms in.
he looks mad as hell, scary even, as he makes his way to his favourite canned coffee.
donghyuck averts his gaze, makes sure not to watch as the boy strolls back towards the counter. only when the drink is on the counter does donghyuck look at the boy.
his hair is disheveled and one quick scan of his outfit confirms he's in pyjamas, if the baggy bright pink pants are anything to go by.
"can i sit in here?" the boy asks as he hands over his money.
donghyuck raises an eyebrow, "this isn't a coffee shop for you to do your work in, you know."
"trust me, i know, but all the real coffee shops are closed."
donghyuck lets a puff of amused air leave his nostrils.
the boy clasps his hands together, "please. i'll be quiet! i just need to finish this work before the deadline and my roommate sexiled me. please."
donghyuck sighs, "alright fine." he moves to the right to open the counter and the boy grins stepping behind it.
"cosy," he remarks as he squeezes past donghyuck to get to the corner of the behind-counter space. unceremoniously, he drops himself onto the floor, flinging his backpack next to him so he can retrieve his laptop.
that seems to be the end of conversation, so donghyuck goes back to leaning against the counter, only now his thoughts are accompanied by the tapping sound of pink boy's fingers against the laptop keys.
he manages to stay quiet for 5 minutes, constantly stealing quick glances at the boy on the floor.
eventually he speaks, "does your roommate sexile you a lot?"
the boy looks up at him with intense eyes. still typing away even with his gaze on donghyuck instead. "no." he says, then looks back at his work.
"is that why you're so underprepared for it?"
"you could say that, yeah."
the boy takes a sip of his canned coffee.
"you drink too much of that stuff."
"probably."
"aren't you worried about the effect it could have on your body?"
"not particularly, no. if i die, i die, i guess."
donghyuck scoffs, turns back to watching the rest of the store. "you're incredible."
"why thank you," comes the reply, and donghyuck doesn't have to look to know the boy is smirking.
donghyuck leaves him to work after that, in favour in cleaning up the small bit of mess he hadn't yet tidied as he was coming to the end of the shift.
every now and then pink boy would ask for another canned coffee, passing donghyuck some money. donghyuck doesn't really know why he goes and fetches it like he's some kind of personal barista for the boy, but he does it nonetheless.
he asks some more questions, mostly getting yes or no answers. (he even answered "no" when donghyuck asked his name again.)
eventually, the boy stands, laptop stashed away in his backpack, brushing the dust off his legs.
they bid their goodbyes as he walks towards the door. he's about to leave when he turns to donghyuck and says, "jaemin."
donghyuck furrows his brows and eloquently says, "huh?"
"my name." the boy, jaemin, chuckles. "my name is jaemin."
before donghyuck can say anything else, jaemin's gone.
--
"really, donghyuck, i don't think this obsession with this 'jaemin' guy is healthy." renjun complains when donghyuck wonders about him out loud for the fifth time that day as they walk across the university campus.
donghyuck rolls his eyes. "it's not an obsession, junnie, i'm just curious!"
"that's even worse!" renjun counters, "curiosity killed the cat, donghyuck."
"ah yes, but satisfaction brought it back, my dear."
"you're impossible," renjun shoves at donghyuck, although he's not really strong enough to actually do anything. that doesn't stop donghyuck from overdramatically tripping over his own feet and turning to renjun with a scandalised shout.
"i can't believe you'd attack me like that, junnie!"
"i can't believe i put up with you," renjun complains right back.
donghyuck gasps, "are you saying you don't love me?"
"i'm saying i don't love how impulsive you are," renjun explains, "you do these things, donghyuck. you get curious, throw yourself into things and then you get hurt and i have to put you back together again."
"i don't-"
"last month you spent a week and a half crying because you made out with yeji once and decided you were in love with her."
"i could've been…"
"you don't even like girls, donghyuck."
donghyuck simply huffs. walks with renjun in silence until they get to the library. he says goodbye to renjun under his breath before he enters, his friend leaving for his class.
he's scanning books on childcare when he sees the familiar flash of pink hair in the next aisle. "jaemin," he says before he can stop himself and just like the jaemin's pink head peaks around the corner.
"donghyuck." the boy greets with a curt nod, walking further into the aisle, towards donghyuck.
donghyuck is very much sure he looks stupid, gaping at jaemin in more awe the closer he gets. "you go to school here?"
"wow, great work sherlock," jaemin laughs, "what gave me away first? the fact im literally always wearing the school hoodie? the fact i sat and did my work in your convenience store for 2 hours last week?"
"the backpack," donghyuck murmurs as jaemin stops moving forwards. not that he had much choice, any closer and they would be chest to chest. donghyuck can feel jaemin's breath fan across has face as he speaks, "i noticed the logo on your backpack."
"and you still asked?" jaemin chuckled, "do you not think a caffeine addict could get into college, or something?"
donghyuck doesn't answer. he thinks he could probably count jaemin's eyelashes from here.
"are you working tonight?"
donghyuck hums. shakes his head softly. "worked this morning," his voice barely above a whisper, somehow he feels like talking any louder would be wrong.
jaemin leans closer, his breath hot on donghyuck's lips, "i guess i'll have to go to my favourite 'not a coffee shop' tomorrow then, after my class" he mumbles.
"what do you study?" donghyuck asks. he's not sure particularly why he asks that, he blames it on jaemin making him dumb.
jaemin lets an amused puff of air leave his nose. "something about computers." he replies, not really answering the question. at all. like usual. "and i need to get to class."
and just like that the space between their lips disappears and donghyuck feels chapped lips move against his own.
in the moment, donghyuck doesn't even question the strange turn of events. he lets his arms snake around jaemin's neck as he pushes into the kiss.
jaemin smirks into the kiss when he feels donghyuck wrap around him, taking it further by circling his waist and pressing their bodies flat against each other.
he pulls away a moment later, leaving donghyuck red faced and panting.
"i'll see you around, donghyuck."
before donghyuck has a chance to question what had just happened, or even say anything at all, jaemin had already disappeared down another aisle.
--
donghyuck sees jaemin at work the next day, as promised. he's right next to the fridges in the back corner of the store for most of the shift, trying to set up some new stock.
he's been stewing over his encounter with jaemin all day, in disbelief that jaemin really left him so quickly after a kiss that good.
he is so infuriated at being left high and dry that as soon as jaemin rounds the corner of the aisle to reach the fridges, donghyuck grabs him by the collar and throws him against the back wall, quickly caging the thin boy between his arms.
jaemin smiles as if he wasn't trapped at all, "good afternoon to you too, donghyuck. do you treat all of your customers like this?"
"what the fuck, jaemin?" donghyuck asks, ignoring the other boy's question. "you refuse to tell me your name or anything about yourself, actually, and then suddenly you kiss me in the middle of a library? what the fuck is that?"
"well actually i have told you my name, you literally just used it." comes jaemin's sarcastic reply.
donghyuck leans in, trying not to think about the fact that he is inches away from kissing jaemin once again. "seriously, jaemin, why the fuck did you do that?"
"because i felt like it," jaemin replies simply. "come on, you can't tell me you didn't feel it too? like you're not feeling it right now? i can see your eyes flickering to my lips, you know?"
donghyuck doesn't have to be watching jaemin's lips to know he's smirking. (he is looking at his lips, though.) he also knows what he's feeling.
nobody else is on the shop floor, mark's in the storage room checking stock. they're alone.
donghyuck closes the distance between them again, pressing jaemin into the wall as he moves his lips against his stupid smirk.
jaemin's quick to reciprocate, chapped lips opening to deepen the kiss as his hands press into donghyuck's waist.
donghyuck moans softly as jaemin's tongue pushes past his lips, exploring every crevice of his mouth as one if jaemin's hands slowly travels down to cup donghyuck's round ass.
"fuck jaemin," donghyuck murmurs against his lips and jaemin seems to take it as his cue to take control, spinning their bodies with ease so donghyuck's back slams against the wall.
donghyuck lets out an involuntary moan at the change of position that's, luckily, swallowed down by jaemin's urgent kiss. the boy has donghyuck pinned to the wall, one hand sneaking under donghyuck's shirt to explore the smooth expanse of his skin underneath.
jaemin breaks the kiss, only to latch his mouth onto donghyuck's neck, biting down gently on his collarbone. donghyuck gasps, holds back a moan.
jaemin's mouth works it's way back up to donghyuck's, capturing his lips in a messy kiss. donghyuck can feel the spit being shared between them, dripping down his chin, but he doesn't care, he just pulls jaemin closer their bodies rubbing together.
it's when jaemin's hand reaches for the button of his jeans the donghyuck finally pulls away. "no. no no no, you are not sucking my dick in the middle of my work place."
"worth a shot," jaemin pouts but pulls away, content to allow donghyuck respite. "this was fun," he says, stepping away from donghyuck to pick up two canned coffees and wiggle them in front of donghyuck, "can i pay for these then?"
mere minutes, maybe even seconds, after jaemin pays for his drinks and leaves, mark steps out of the storage room and takes in donghyuck's disheveled appearance.
"woah man, what happened to you?" mark asked, then, after catching sight of donghyuck's neck, "wait, dude, is that a hickey?"
donghyuck's just glad he didn't let jaemin suck his dick this time.
--
"do you have any siblings?"
"yes."
"do i get to know anything about them?"
"no."
jaemin comes into the store more often after that. they don't kiss again, but something's shifted and donghyuck thinks they might be friends.
friends that have shoved their tongues down each other's throats but donghyuck isn't one to complain.
he begins looking forward to his work shifts, because it's the only way he gets to see jaemin, who has never once asked for his number, or any other way to contact him for that matter.
right now, jaemin's sitting on the floor in the aisle donghyuck's working in, signature canned coffee in his hands as he gives donghyuck vague answers to any questions he has for him.
"why can't i know?" donghyuck asks, exasperated, as he organises chocolate bars. he's not sure how they get so messed up but he decided not to think about it a long time ago.
jaemin huffs, leans back so he's lying back on the floor, legs still crossed. "it's not that you can't know, i just - you know - don't want to tell you."
donghyuck frowns, looks down at jaemin who looks back up at him in curiosity. "but why don't you want to tell me? is it bad? are you a serial killer?"
"jesus christ, no, i'm not a serial killer."
"sounds like something a serial killer would say."
"donghyuck, i'm not a serial killer."
"okay, then why can't i know anything about you?" donghyuck presses, looking away from jaemin and back to his work. though, he starts putting the chocolate bars away a lot harsher than before.
jaemin groans, "why do you want to know? god, donghyuck, i'm just some random stranger that sits on the floor of your workplace for a couple of hours a day! do you need to know everything about me for us to do that?"
"some random stranger, huh?"
jaemin sighs, "donghyuck…"
"me being some random stranger didn't stop you from almost sucking my dick but you draw the line at my knowing if you have siblings." he's talking entirely too loud, mark is definitely listening to everything from where he's manning the counter and donghyuck's pretty sure yeri's probably listening from the next aisle over too.
"but i didn't suck your dick?"
"but you would've if i hadn't stopped you, and you know it."
jaemin lays in silence for a while then sits up. "i don't know what you want me to say, donghyuck, it's just too much for me…"
"can you leave?" donghyuck says, not sparing jaemin a glance.
jaemin sighs again and stands up, getting into donghyuck's space, "donghyuck, come on… at least look at me if you're gonna kick me out."
donghyuck whips his head around to look him dead in the eyes. "leave. if you don't want me to know anything about you, then i don't want to know you at all."
jaemin nods. he leaves without another word and donghyuck is left with the aching knowledge that renjun was right.
--
donghyuck hits a slump after that, everybody notices, even little yuna who gives him a hug everytime she sees him now.
renjun bites back an "i told you so" in favour of pity-buying him snacks and hot chocolates. in all honesty that makes donghyuck feel worse.
jaemin doesn't come back into the shop, its been two weeks and donghyuck has heard nothing from him.
not that he's worried.
fuck jaemin.
he gets news about jaemin from a pretty unlikely source: the two teenage regulars, jisung and yeojin.
they come to the counter one late tuesday afternoon, usual snacks and fizzy drinks on tow.
and three canned coffees.
donghyuck glares at the offending objects as he runs them up on the till. the gaze prompts a netvous laugh from jisung, "you okay? you're, uh, glaring at that coffee can pretty hard?"
"oh my god, jisung," yeojin scolds, "you can't just ask him that, he's clearly going through shit right now."
donghyuck shakes his head and offers a forced smile instead, "no no, it's fine, it's just… someone i know used to get those… every tuesday…"
jisung laughs again, nerves still very much present.
donghyuck raises his eyebrows, "you know jaemin, don't you?"
jisung sighs, "yes, please still sell me the coffees even though they're for him i think he'll kill me he's been craving them."
"i'm not gonna refuse to sell them to you jisung, i'd get fired."
jisung relaxes, leaning his weight into yeojin and wrapping an arm around her. the smaller girl rolls her eyes at the sudden weight but there's a small smile on her face.
donghyuck thinks they're cute.
he hates it.
"how do you even know jaemin?" he asks instead of commenting, "meet him when he crawled out of the sewers to live among us?"
jisung chuckles, handing over the money while yeojin collects up their food. "nah, he was my next door neighbour when we were kids."
"close enough," donghyuck says bitterly, gathering up the change to hand to jisung.
"he told me what happened, you know." jisung says, "he really doesn't mean to be like that, he's had a hard time talking to people since we were kids. i'd go far enough to say that me and chenle were his only friends, probably still are, considering you dont talk to him anymore."
donghyuck passes him his change but doesn't say anything.
"just think about trying to talk to him maybe?" jisung says, "honestly it was a miracle he even decided to talk to you he usually doesnt even do that."
"jisung really means that, we've been dating for two years and he still hasn't even said more than hello to me." yeojin tries to help.
"so i should be happy he even said hello and not question the fact he doesn't want me to know anything about him?"
jisung widens his eyes and raises his hands as if to placate him. "no no, i'm not saying that at all. jaemin's in the wrong here, i'm team donghyuck. i'm just saying… knowing jaemin so long… i sort of get why."
donghyuck sighs, "i don't even know how i would contact him anyway, or if he would want to contact me…"
"we can pass on a message…" yeojin offers, grinning at donghyuck.
jisung smirks when donghyuck sighs and pulls out some receipt paper and a pen. he scrawls out his number and passes it to jisung. "just tell him to call me, text me, anything that just lets me know he's alive…"
--
"oh, stop sulking,” mark complains as he prepares to take over donghyuck's shift. "so he didn't call, what's the big deal?"
"that's not the point," donghyuck mumbles collecting up his belongings to leave the convenience store after a longer than usual shift.
mark rolls his eyes, "well, be careful out there at least, it's raining and i know you never remember your umbrella. don't walk home like you always do, you'll catch a cold."
donghyuck doesn't dignify mark with an answer, he finds himself feeling rather sick whenever he proves himself correct.
the rain is pouring so hard that as soon as donghyuck steps onto the sidewalk his entire being is saturated with water.
but donghyuck can't focus on that.
instead, he focuses on the pink haired boy standing next to his car, umbrella in hand.
"donghyuck." jaemin calls into the heavy downpour, "let me give you a ride home."
donghyuck finds himself considering it for a moment, before he decides getting into the car means jaemin wins. "no thanks!" he bites, "i'll walk."
he turns away from jaemin in a sharp motion, beginning to walk home instead.
"oh come on!" jaemin shouts after him, "is your pride that important to you that you'll risk getting sick?"
donghyuck doesn't answer, just walks ahead, keeps his head down to shield his eyes from the rain as he goes. he hears jaemin groan behind him but he ignores it for the sake of walking faster.
he walks on, pretending not to notice the car that is taking a slow crawl beside him.
"donghyuck." jaemin calls out of his rolled down window. "please get in the car."
"no." donghyuck calls back, walking faster.
jaemin drives faster, just enough to pull over just ahead of donghyuck and get out of the car, slamming the door behind him. "for fuck's sake, donghyuck, quit being so stubborn."
donghyuck looks up and jaemin's right in front of him, just as soaked as he is, pink hair now sticking to his forehead.
"just let me take you home, donghyuck, please."
"im perfectly fine, thank you."
"donghyuck, please, i'm sorry, just get in the car."
donghyuck pushes past jaemin, tries desperately to walk away but jaemin captures his wrist.
“i have a sister.”
“what?” donghyuck turns around in shock, startling when he meets jaemin’s eyes. he can’t tell if it is rain or tears running down his face but his eyes are sparkling as they stare into donghyuck’s soul.
“i have a little sister. her name is sujin. she lives with my dad and stepmother in america.” jaemin says. “my parents broke up when i was five and my dad only sees me on holidays. my mum died two years ago, that’s why i don’t like talking about my family.”
“jaemin…”
“i study literature. i tell people i study computers because i like keeping my love for books to myself. i have an addiction to caffeine because i used to drink it all the time to stay up reading, in fact.”
“i don’t-”
“i never tell people things because i don’t like people. i don’t like small talk, i like actions. talking seems stupid to me, i just don’t understand getting to know people. jisung’s known me for twelve years and i still don’t know his girlfriend’s name, for fuck’s sake. but i also like you, and if small talk and sharing my…” he pulls a face, “feelings… gets you to like me too, then i’ll do that.”
donghyuck stares at him for a moment then laughs, loud and bright, echoing through the sound of the falling rain, “god, jaemin, why’d you have to say it all weird like that?”
“i just made a whole speech explaining i don’t like talking and yet here we are, still talking, when we could be making actions speak louder than words.”
“just say you want to kiss me, jaemin.”
jaemin doesn’t say anything, just uses his hand that still grips donghyuck’s wrist to pull him in. his other hand sliding around to grip the back of his neck to hold him in place as he crashes their lips together.
donghyuck’s own arms wrap around jaemin’s waist, lifting him softly from the ground as he deepens the kiss.
jaemin clicks his tongue when they pull away for air, “a kiss in the rain, how cliche.”
donghyuck thinks he rather likes a kiss in the rain, though, and pulls him in for another.