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If there were anything more boring that Jiseok could be doing right now, he wouldn’t know what it would be. As far as he’s concerned, he’s managed to land himself the most boring, menial job he possibly could have, and that’s saying a lot – considering the amount of people working in offices these days.
He glanced around, noting that anything that he could have done to keep himself busy has already been done. He already faced all of the shelves, double, triple, and quadruple checked how many items needed restocking, hell - he even went as far as to organize the money in the till, placing the worse-for-wear bills on the bottom, and the nicer ones on the top of the stack. That way, he thought, if he had to give out change, at least they were getting a nice bill.
Checking the clock for probably the 30th time in the past 15 minutes, he sighed heavily at the realization that his shift wouldn’t be over for another two hours. It’s currently 4:30AM, hardly anyone is awake or even coming in at this ungodly hour, but in a way, he was grateful for it. He didn’t exactly look forward to conversing with someone this late at night - or, early in the morning?
Being the only one on shift meant that if he needed a bathroom break, he’d have to close up shop for a few minutes. Nothing too drastic, just locking the door and flipping the open sign to closed, but he still didn’t like doing it. Somehow, he always managed to convince himself that the second he walked away, a horde of people would try to come rushing through the door, items flying off the shelves as a line wrapped around the small aisles of the convenience store. That never happened, of course, but his anxiety still gnawed away at him enough to convince himself - I can hold it just a little longer, can’t I? - even if his bladder said otherwise.
Regardless, tonight was different, because he was trying like hell to keep himself awake for an exam he has at 8, so naturally, he had been downing energy drinks left and right. Probably not his brightest idea, but he knew he wouldn’t get away with sleeping on the job - the student loans wouldn't pay themselves, you know - and he would have just enough time to get from work to his university to take the exam. That is, of course, if the bus comes on time, and Jiseok can only pray to whatever deity may be out there that things just work out for him, just this once.
He made his way over to the door, fumbling with the key-ring in his hand, and in the process, nearly managed to get a concussion from the unexpected patron practically slamming the door open, right into his face, or more specifically, the crown of his head. He stumbled back, but managed to not fully lose his balance, clutching his head and hissing at the soreness. He just hoped it didn’t actually concuss him, because he needed to take that exam - no matter what.
“Shit, I’m so sorry!” A voice, frantic, made its way to Jiseok’s ringing ears. He felt hands on his shoulders, helping him to fully balance himself. “Oh man, are you okay? Let me look,” The voice seemed a bit steadier now, and when Jiseok deigned to open his eyes, he nearly lost his balance yet again.
Not from the possible head trauma or anything, no, but rather the fact that the voice he had been hearing was coming from, what Jiseok could only guess, was Aphrodite’s son, real and in the flesh. His sharp jawline, dark and furrowed brows and his shoulder length blonde-locks just about knocked the wind out of him - not to mention the height difference - okay, it wasn’t THAT much, but if Jiseok had to guess, at least 4 or 5 inches.
Gently parting Jiseok’s hair, the man looked carefully over the spot where his head had been hit by the door, drawing in a breath before locking eyes with the man, who may or may not have been staring.
“You’re bleeding a bit,” The man said, “It’s not worthy of stitches, but it definitely doesn’t look pretty.”
“Wonderful,” Jiseok mumbled. Despite the man in front of him being drop-dead gorgeous, he was still a bit irritated about the whole thing. I mean, he was looking down for a reason - to find the right key – had the man not been looking at all when he burst through the door?
“Let me help,” The man said, glancing around the store. “Just - Give me a second!” And with that, he darted off down an aisle, and Jiseok probably could’ve watched his mop of blonde hair bouncing through the aisle if he had turned his head, but he didn’t really have the energy. Suddenly, any semblance of consciousness or alertness from the energy drinks had drained from him.
Only a moment later, the man returned with one of the small first-aid kits that they sell, taking the plastic wrapping off and popping open the case. He grabbed a square of gauze and re-parted Jiseok’s hair just-so, pressing the gauze down firmly, but not so hard that it could cause additional discomfort.
“Sorry, again..” The man said sheepishly. “I was in a bit of a rush, but I guess this is my lesson to slow down, huh?”
Jiseok huffed a laugh, arms crossed while he tried desperately to ignore how close they were standing at the moment. He avoided his eyes. “Yeah, lest you give someone a concussion for real next time,” he smiled.
“It’s barely a cut!” The man defended, and through Jiseok’s peripheral vision he could see his smile – god that smile. “As long as you apply some pressure, it’ll stop bleeding eventually. May want to take it easy when washing or styling your hair for a while, though.”
Jiseok hummed in acknowledgement, casting a glance up to meet the man’s gaze for only the second time, still leaving the breathless feeling in him when they locked eyes. “What’s your name?” He asked. Might as well make small talk if they’re going to be standing there for a few moments.
“Lee Jooyeon,” The blonde smiled, like the sunshine itself was beaming right out of him. Jiseok had to be in a coma or something. “What’s yours?”
“Kwak Jiseok,” He gave a small smile in return. “Do you go to school around here?”
Jooyeon shook his head, “Ah, no.. I uh, I work for my dad at the mechanic a few streets over. College wasn’t exactly.. In the plan, I guess.” He laughed a bit awkwardly. It wasn’t exactly normal for a kid his age - presumably around Jiseok’s? - to not be attending college, or at least have already graduated, but he understood that not everyone had the luck that he did, what with the few scholarships he managed to score.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Jiseok smiled in earnest. “Sometimes you’re better off just getting into the workforce right out of high school anyhow, I know I would have if I could. Unfortunately, you do need a degree to be a physicist, so..”
Jooyeon laughed at that, followed by an impressed ' oooh ' as he re-evaluated the boy below him. “Really? A physicist? Sorry, you just didn’t seem the type.”
And, in truth, he didn’t. The boy he’d only met just a few moments ago seemed like he may have been a language major, or something more literature-centric. Maybe a historian? What with his loose, dusty pink hoodie and his now-crooked glasses – he looked
cute
. Not that you can’t be smart and cute, but – what was he talking about again?
Jiseok quirked a brow at Jooyeon’s comment, “Yeah? I’ll have you know, I graduated summa cum laude from my high school, and got accepted into KAIST in only 11th grade.”
Now, Jooyeon seemed puzzled. “Summa cum wha-?”
“Summa cum laude,” Jiseok repeated with a slight drawl, dragging out the words, much to Jooyeon's amusement. “It means you graduated with the best possible grades, and the best grades overall for your entire graduating class.” Maybe Jooyeon was younger than Jiseok thought.
“Ah, right,” Jooyeon nodded, as if he did know that, but just wanted it confirmed. “And KAIST…?”
Jiseok giggled. Jooyeon kinda resembled a confused puppy, minus the fur, ears and tail, and he couldn’t help the fondness he felt for the boy in front of him. “Korea advanced institute of science and technology,” He said. “It has an incredibly low acceptance rate. Only the best of the best get to go.”
Nodding once more, Jooyeon hummed. Belatedly, he realized that Jiseok’s wound had probably stopped bleeding already, so he gently lifted the gauze from his head. From what he could see - which wasn’t much among the mess of raven hair - the bleeding had indeed stopped.
“Looks like you’re good to go now,” Jooyeon smiled, stepping away briefly to toss the gauze pad in the trash. “I’ll, uh, pay for this, too.” He gestured to the first-aid kit that he had set on a nearby ice-cup freezer.
Jiseok simply nodded, deciding to leave Jooyeon to the shopping he originally came here to do, making for the checkout to await Jooyeon’s arrival, when he remembered how he ended up in that position in the first place.
Shit.
“Uh, Jooyeon?” He called, grabbing his keys once more and jogging over to lock the door.
“Yeah? Something wrong?” Jooyeon responded, peeking out from an aisle to check on the boy.
“I just need to go to the bathroom, I’m locking up for a second but -” He fumbled with the lock, flipping the door sign from open to closed, “I’ll be right back!”
Jooyeon laughed as he ran off in a flurry, returning to his shopping. He had already grabbed a basket and quite a few energy drinks, plus some obligatory snacks. He grabbed a few things he knew his coworkers would like, that way they didn’t actually strangle him for buying only for himself. He’d made that mistake once – Gunil was kind enough about it, but he learned to fear Hyeongjun that day. He shuddered at the memory.
He managed to finish up shopping just as Jiseok was trotting back to the door, unlocking it and flipping the sign before getting back to the cash register.
“Find everything okay?” Jiseok asked in the most exaggerated customer service voice he could muster as Jooyeon sat his basket down on the counter. He relished in the laugh Jooyeon barked out in response, with a matching, over exaggerated “Yes” in response.
Jiseok didn’t think too much while he was scanning the items through, placing them into bags as per his usual routine. He asked Jooyeon if he wanted the receipt, to which he denied, and provided his exact amount of change due. He knew it was exact change only due to the fact that Jooyeon said a polite goodbye and left the store as he began counting.
However, in the cash, he also came across a slip of paper that brought a stupidly big grin to his face, despite it only being 3 words and, of course, a number.
”Call me maybe?”