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The dim light of old lamp slightly illuminated the room. The ringing of the silence of the night time, when all the people had been snoring in their beds for a long time, strained your hearing, thoughts and your whole being more and more every minute, so that Kevin involuntarily realized that from time to time he sighed heavily, just to fill this somewhat oppressive silence. But still, to be honest, he was partially aware that his sighs were caused not only by this, but also by the fact that he was now, for some reason, forced to stand in such a familiar and hated place behind the candy store's cash register when it was 4:37 in the morning and no one, not even a fool, would think of coming here.
The night shift seemed to Kevin the most useless thing in this world.
What, flashed in his head every minute spent in this emptiness, what kind of idiot would even-
But then, there was a soft ringing of a bell, which caused goosebumps on the body by the interrupted silence, and Kevin's gaze stared at the door.
Ah. It seems like an idiot will be found.
The young man's short sillhouette appeared blurry before his eyes, and Kevin had to blink a little to focus his vision, already accustomed to the emptiness of the night, on the figure.
The dark-haired young man, who did not even deign to change out of his pajamas, only casually throwing a bright green jacket over it, somehow even absently looked around the candy store, slightly straining his eyebrows. It was as if he himself did not remember why he had come.
Finally, his eyes settled on Kevin, and his lips broke into a slight smile. The latter raised an eyebrow at this gesture, watching the approaching youth.
"Hello?" Kevin's bewilderment was slightly visible in his greeting.
"Hellooo," he drawled, blinking strangely and smiling broadly. He walked over to the cash register and leaned against it, resting his chin on his palms.
"Ahem," Kevin frowned, moving away. "What would you like?"
The young man's smile did not leave his face, and he stared into Kevin's eyes, as if making a dramatic pause.
"I'd like, please, the candy that is standing in front of me right now," he said in a slightly laughing tone, narrowing his eyes.
Kevin opened his mouth, blinking senselessly. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, barely restraining himself so as not to drive this guy out of the candy store, and just stared at him, saying with his whole appearance, "Dude."
"Um," he said after a minute of silence, "This candy is not for sale. Sorry."
He could barely restrain himself from rolling his eyes.
"Oh," the young man seemed even embarrassed by such a sharp answer. "Okay?"
"Great," as if putting an end to this topic, Kevin firmly concluded.
"Then..." the second one said softly and not so confidently. "Then can I have something... red. Yes. Please?"
He looked at Kevin, smiling shyly. He sighed once again (it was amazing how many times a day he was able to sigh) and, taking the bag, went away to collect sweets, feeling the back of his head the gaze of a smiling young man.
"Streber," came suddenly from behind Kevin. He turned around.
"What?" was all he could say.
"That's my name," he simply replied, widening his smile and once again looking strangely at the second.
Kevin decided not to say out loud his opinion about this name, and therefore only turned back to his business. Only after a while did he ask a sudden question.
"Tell me, Streber," he began, pronouncing the young man's name as if transmitting all his irritation through it, "what keeps you awake at such a late hour? Why aren't you sleeping?"
Streber, to Kevin's surprise, did not answer the question for a long time. Then, uttering a short laugh, he answered with an exhalation:
"Thoughts, brother. A lot of thoughts. You know how it is, haha."
Kevin even felt his avoiding gaze on his back.
"Mmm," Kevin said briefly, and rather even to complete.
The sweet silence did not last long, and Streber spoke again, forcing Kevin to roll his eyes, unable to restrain himself any longer.
"The weather is surprisingly cold for summer, don't you think?" He began from afar, visibly trying to grab at straws to keep up the conversation.
"The weather? Seriously, man? The weather?" Kevin snorted. "And you couldn't think of anything better?"
Streber was visibly embarrassed, slightly downcast.
"Well, okay. Then what topic are you suggesting to me?" Streber asked with no noticeable irritation in his voice, but rather with curiosity.
"The one about why you suddenly decided to go to the candy store at four in the morning, let's say!" Kevin exclaimed, already returning to the cash register and putting the bag in front of Streber, who already was opening his mouth to answer.
"Well," he began, "um... And why are you so annoyed?" asked Streber, slyly narrowing his eyes. "On the contrary, it must be boring for you to sit here on the night shift when no one comes in?"
Kevin did not find what to answer, partly, perhaps, because he did not know the answer to this question himself, and decided to wrap the cards again.
"And you're avoiding the question," he said, grinning at Streber's confused expression for the first time in twenty-four hours.
"I... a sudden desire! And that's it!" He justified himself, amusingly pouting his lips in the likeness of a child, again causing a smile on Kevin's face.
"Lies," he rolled his eyes at him, barely restraining himself from grinning again.
"But it's not..." Streber began to justify himself.
"Bullshit," Kevin interrupted, "I can see that. You suck in acting."
"Alright!" He flashed somewhat charmingly. "What do you want me to say? That I came here just to see you?"
"At least it'd be true," Kevin chuckled, grinning wider and wider at Streber's flushed face.
"Okay. Let's say." He looked away at the floor, tapping his fingers on the cash register.
The whole situation was extremely ridiculous. A night shift, a young man in pajamas who came just to see Kevin, who, in turn, sees him for the first time, and now this strange desire to smile.
Okay, Kevin, come to your senses! You are Kevin, after all! You don't give sincere smiles to just anyone!
But one more look at the extremely embarrassed Streber's face made him smile again, forgetting about all his norms.
"How do you know me, anyway?" He asked a question, to which Streber tore his eyes off the floor and raised them to Kevin.
"How can I not know you," Streber said in a quiet and thoughtful voice, smiling into the void with a slight smile, then adding a little more loudly, "everyone knows you, after all. "Kevin the candy kid", huh?"
He kept smiling into Kevin's eyes, so that, despite all his efforts, he couldn't help but smile back at him, inwardly wondering why he felt this need to smile at this young man.
"So, Streber," unable to lower the corners of his lips even a little, Kevin said, "are you taking your candy, or...?"
"Oh yeah, candy!" As if just remembering about the bag, Streber grabbed it, blushing slightly.
"How much is that?" Streber asked again in the same quiet voice, as if by force raising his eyes to Kevin.
While he was paying, Kevin noticed a special tremor in Streber's movements when he carefully examined his night slippers and handed the money to the cash register. Then he just froze, squeezing and pinching the paper bag in his hands. Kevin raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Well? Are you... leaving..?"
"Uhoh! Oh damn! Damn! Yes, yes, I'm leaving!"
Streber fidgeted, still stubbornly avoiding Kevin's gaze. Having already turned around to leave, he suddenly froze again. Kevin, who was watching this with increasing surprise, sighed heavily when Streber remained motionless for two minutes.
"Dude," he began, "if you have something to say, then-"
But Kevin didn't have time to finish. Didn't have time because he was abruptly interrupted. Interrupted by Streber suddenly running up to him, who, leaning over the cash register, left a small kiss on Kevin's forehead, immediately disappearing, as if he had never been there.
Several minutes of deathly silence passed before Kevin heard a distinct click in his head, announcing that he had finally realized.
What. was. THAT?!
Okay. Alright. This needs to be sorted out. Just now, some unknown young man, too obviously head over heels in love with Kevin, left a kiss on his forehead.
On his forehead.
A fucking KISS.
Kevin blinked helplessly at nothing, feeling his face flush more and more, either from extreme embarrassment, or from anger and indignation (he still wanted to think about the latter).
Who does he think he is?! Walks in in the middle of the early morning, flirts, throws smiles, while making Kevin smile with him! This is unheard of! Did he really think Kevin would buy it?!
He was breathing fast. Kevin didn't even know how to justify his rapid heartbeat, breathing and flushed cheeks, unless...
Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. It can't be, he couldn't-
Then Kevin's gaze fell on a small piece of paper placed right on top of the money Streber had left. A number was written on it. The number, and a little doodle of Kevin's head, drawn in a funny comical style.
Just looking at this piece of paper made Kevin realize all the horror of his situation.
He fell in love.
Fell in love with an idiot.