Work Text:
"did you see the picture mark keeps in his locker?"
"of that model?" jinyoung nods, confirming that him and his manager are on the same page. "yeah, it's kind of weird, right?"
jinyoung and mark start their shift together and everyday, jinyoung peaks into the man's locker to see the photo of a very beautiful man stuck to the inside of the old metal door. it's obviously torn out of a magazine, and it's just so strange.
"who is that?" jinyoung finally asks one day, "the picture you keep in there, i mean."
mark, barely awake as it is, opens his locker more to remember what picture he's even talking about. "oh, it's my boyfriend."
and jinyoung doesn't believe him for a second. no offense to mark, he seems like a good enough guy, but he's sure that he couldn't pull the model on that page, and maybe mark is even weirder than he initially thought. so jinyoung nods, and goes back to minding his own business. he works next to mark like always, making only necessary work talk with him. he takes glances over at the man as they work, only confirming that mark definitely isn't dating that man.
mark tuan really isn't anything special. he's the quietest person jinyoung has ever worked with, so he doesn't know anything about him other than his first name, and he's pretty sure he's in his late 20s? he dresses in baggy clothes that hide most of his body, only leaving his tattooed forearms exposed, that is, if its the middle of the summer and if he isn't wearing a hoodie. he shows up to work alone, never dropped off by anyone, and leaves work without ever any mention of anyone waiting at home for him. and its not like jinyoung dislikes mark, he just doesn't stand out; and all jinyoung knows that if he were dating the man mark claims is his boyfriend, he would be showing him off everywhere he went. the torn out magazine photo just doesn't add up, to him.
mark shows up to work a few weeks later with a magazine, and maybe it's because jinyoung asked about it before, but mark shows it to him. the man from the locker picture is now on the front cover, and he's so beautiful that jinyoung might be able to understand mark's obsession with the man; the man really is handsome, his bright red hair somehow perfectly matches his very, very nice lips and he has big, brown, innocent eyes.
and then he calls him his boyfriend again, and reminds jinyoung of just how weird it is. "my boyfriend's first cover page."
"that's really cool, man." jinyoung is sure he shouldn't support these kinds of things, but if mark as any friends, he's sure they're all well aware of his "problem", so its not jinyoung's place to say anything to a guy who is only his coworker. he doesn't put the photo up in his locker, instead taking the magazine home with him at the end of shift, and maybe that's a good sign?
jinyoung looks up to the sound of the door bell, ready to greet the customer with the exact same uninterested greeting everyone receives, but the bright red hair he recognizes from the magazine cover just the other day stops him from saying anything.
"hi." the man hes seen every morning in a photo in his weird coworker's locker is standing in front of him. "is mark here?"
before jinyoung can say anything, mark seems to hear from where he's stocking a small isle and rushes out. he doesn't immediately notice the way jinyoung's mouth is hanging open, instead opting to pull his boyfriend into a hug.
"jinyoung?" mark does finally notice the look on his face, a look of genuine shock and confusion still plastered on his face as he watches the couple.
"dude, i thought you were really weird and just call this random model your boyfriend," jinyoung admits, "i didn't think he was real." he rubs the back of his neck, shooting a small, sorry smile to mark, who now, looks the same way jinyoung had.
"what the fuck?"
and despite mark's reaction, the beautiful man laughs so, so hard (and loud), throwing himself at mark, as he does. all mark can do is hold his boyfriend up, knowing he'll fall to the ground in giggles if given the opportunity.
"i told you, you need to dress better," is what the man finally tells mark once he's recovered from how funny he finds the entire situation. and the "angry" look on mark's face doesn't hide the way he looks at him with a fondness visible in his eyes (jinyoung didn't know people could actually look at a person, so obviously in love ((he's going to start a fight with his boyfriend when he gets home, about how he doesn't look at jinyoung like that))). he doesn't reply to him, instead putting his focus back on jinyoung. "this is my, very real, boyfriend- bambam."
mark's only request when they all leave work, that jinyoung needs to let everyone that he told how weird mark is, that bambam is, in fact real, and that he's not some freak. jinyoung agrees, and bows one more time, before he eagerly jogs to his car in the back of the parking lot, all out of embarrassment. out of his rearview mirror, he's able to see mark give into the piggyback ride to the car that he heard bambam begging for as he got in his car.