Work Text:
The thing about Chenle being a business student and a kpop fan was that he thought it would be the brightest idea to start being a group order manager because it was “just applying his business knowledge to the real world” or “an easy way to get money without being a slave to capitalism”.
After a month of managing orders and packing mails, he soon realised that that was not the case, and that some people refuse to read your tncs no matter how many countless reminders you’ve sent to do so, and that maybe he doesn’t even like business at all.
Nevertheless, his love for zb1 was too big (and the money he was bringing in from managing group orders was also good enough that he didn’t have to get a part time job) for him to give up his side hustle.
“Fuck… Another pre order site dropped?” Chenle mumbled under his breath, zb1 had dropped yet another pre order site which meant another hour of his day was going to be spent on sorting claims and collecting payment.
“Chenle? Are you listening?” Renjun questioned, waving his hand in front of Chenle’s face when he realised Chenle was spacing out whilst staring at his phone.
Chenle sighed while shutting his phone off and turned to him, “yes... sorry, zb1 just dropped another site and I had to open a listing, you know the vibes.”
Renjun just nodded, he indeed knew the vibes. Having been Chenle’s friend for ages, he’s gotten used to Chenle randomly stopping mid-activity or conversation to pull out his phone and suddenly start furiously typing. He simply shrugged it off and continued with whatever he was talking about, “okay as I was saying..”
And just like that, a month had passed, with Chenle continuing to gom even though he “hated it” and “wished he never started his business”. Renjun knew it was all bullshit, but continued to lend his ear to whatever aspect of managing group orders Chenle chose to rant about that day. He knew he never meant it. He's heard all about Chenle’s favourite buyers, especially user @kkultarae whom he texts almost everyday, about how much he loves his online friends, and about Chenle’s beloved photocard collection. (If he’s caught Chenle flipping through it maybe one too many times, he doesn’t tell him).
The comeback era was coming to an end, with only fansigns left for him to open if he wished to, so he was pretty much just left with sending collection messages to his buyers. “Finally.. I'm done!” Chenle stretched and cracked his back. ‘Oh man this is gonna kill my back by the time I turn 30..’ he thought. He shut his laptop, finally free of the shackles of his managing group orders responsibilities till he had to start packing his buyers’ mail, but that was a problem for another day and for now he was a free man. “Why must managing group orders be so damn time consuming, I swear it wasn’t this bad last time.”
Renjun glanced over his shoulder, throwing him a look before returning his eyes back to his phone, watching whatever reel had popped up while waiting for Chenle to finish his gom work. “You signed up for it, you can literally quit anytime like you said you would. But something is telling me something or maybe.. someone is still keeping you there,” ending off with a shrug.
“Shut up… Anyway I’m starving, let’s go and grab dinner before it gets too late and turns into supper.” Chenle declares, standing up and pulling Renjun off the sofa together with him.
“Ah! For someone that says his back is gonna be the death of him, you don’t seem affected right now. What took you so long anyway, did your business take off or something?”
“Yea I guess I had more buyers this time, I think it's got something to do with me starting to source from China and Japan, product development or something.. What are you feeling for dinner? Since I took so long, you get to decide."
"What about that cute cafe at the end of the street? I heard they have great food and their lines aren’t that long?” Chenle grabs his keys and heads out the door, replying with a “sounds great lets go”.
True to Renjun’s words, the cafe was relatively quick to get in and they were seated quickly. Once they sat down, Chenle scrolled through twitter on his phone, seeing if there were any missing Ricky photocards he could buy. A waiter came up to their table to give them their menus and water which he usually wouldn’t pay much mind to if it weren’t for Renjun kicking him under the table.
“What?” he cried out in annoyance, looking up, expecting Renjun to be making a ‘get off your phone’ face, but the realisation of what was happening hit him faster than he could even look at Renjun’s face. His campus crush, Jisung, was right in front of him serving him water. Jisung might as well have poured that water on Chenle since that was what he was currently feeling. “O-oh hey Jisung, I didn’t know you worked here.”
“Yea haha just started, I’m pretty new so..” Jisung rubbed the back of his nape shyly and Chenle swore he felt his heart combusting. “Have you guys decided what to get yet? Or should I come back later?”
Renjun butts in, saving the day, "I think we’ll order in a bit, thanks.” Jisung nods and walks away, tending to other customers.
“Holy shit, that’s the guy I keep telling you about. I didn't think we’d see him here and much less when I was doing my gom stuff? Do you think he saw me scrolling on twitter?” Chenle panicked. He was debating whether he should stay or just walk out of the cafe right that moment along with his dignity, something about cutting the losses early or whatever he read online recently.
Renjun sighs, all too familiar with Chenle’s rushed thinking, “I know. Calm down Le, I don’t think he was paying that much attention to your phone and anyway he’s just doing his job.”
“Okay, yea, you’re right. Nothing to worry about.”
The meal continued as normal as any other meal between the two. When they were finished, Renjun waved to Jisung, signaling that they wanted to pay. Jisung brought the bill over, a shy smile plastered on his face, “hey, here’s your check. Hope everything was good?”
“Yup! It was great, thanks..” Chenle replied sheepishly, his eyes darting around the room, trying to avoid Jisung’s gaze.
“Cool. Cool. Well, um come again sometime?” His coworker and friend, Jaemin, raised an eyebrow at this, usually Jisung tried to keep the replies curt and wouldn’t stumble over his words, something was definitely up. After the pair left, he found Jisung wiping plates with a silly grin on his face. Jaemin took this opportunity to question the younger about his unusual behaviour, to which Jisung just replied with a pout, “hyung, it’s just a cute customer okay? Nothing special.”
Oh if only he knew...
On the way back to their apartment, Chenle’s phone buzzed with the specific ringer he set for messages on his gom account. He unlocked his phone and swiped through the notifications.
Telegram:
hanbinsdream: hi admin! is…
kkultarae: i'd give up my first…
kkultarae: 📷 1 photo
kkultarae: Stop have u seen…
hao1uvs: my address is…
X:
💭 started a thread:
260127 🎻💬…
Instagram:
ZEROBASEONE posted a new story
Oh right, he forgot to reply to kkultarae before heading for dinner. ‘I'll reply later… I’m sure he’ll understand’ he thought as he pressed on the latest notification, he’s pushed aside enough of his buyers’ messages for him to know better than to put it off.
hanbinsdream
hanbinsdream
hi admin! is it possible for me to do self collection? i can meet you on campus if you’re free, thanks!
rickyluvs
hi! okay, would fri 5 pm at cafe ludia be possible? i can’t do any earlier as i still have lectures
hanbinsdream
yup oki thank u!
jaemin
jaemin
can u do me a favour and meet my gom for me
jisung
sure when?
jaemin
fri 5 pm at cafe ludia
jisung
ok but u owe me one
When Chenle got back to his shared dorm with Renjun, he flopped onto his bed and finally took the time to reply to all his messages, especially kkultarae’s. He didn’t want to just reply to him offhandedly, but rather when he knew he was free for the rest of the night so they could properly talk.
kkultarae
kkultarae
Stop have u seen the new panda pcs??
[image attached]
i’d give up my firstborn for taerae’s
rickyluvs
wait why is ricky’s so cute
i have NO money man… i’ve been spending all my food on pcs and food 😢😢
kkultarae
sounds like it's time for you to go on a buying ban
rickyluvs
wow you just know me So well
kkultarae
of course! i’m your favourite buyer aren’t i 😁
rickyluvs
whatever puts you to sleep ig 🤷
And the night just continued with them texting each other till they had to go to sleep.
See, the thing is, Chenle might have had a little bitty crush on his favourite buyer. How could he not when the guy was so nice and sweet towards him? But he’s been taught about stranger danger and didn’t divulge kkultarae in any of his personal details no matter how many times he’s wanted to ask him for a meet up. The most that kkultarae knows is Chenle’s address and that was only because Chenle needed a Ricky photocard Bad.
That being said, they would text for hours till they had to fight the battle against sleepiness. Chenle knew they were similar in age if the university conversations had told him anything, and that based on the posts of his twitter account, kkultarae was lowkey built (which was just his type).
Despite not divulging his personal details, Chenle had however told him many of his secrets, one being his crush on Jisung. Now, he hadn’t said any names (it’s a personal detail!), but he had talked about how cute and good looking he was, and how he wished he could just talk to him if he could.
That night, he went to sleep peacefully (and maybe replayed the scene at the cafe in his mind a few times while cringing at himself).
Before he knew it, the day to meet his buyer rolled around and Chenle was heading to the cafe to meet with his buyer. He was secretly hoping that Jisung was on shift that day so that they could interact once more. He hadn't seen him recently as they didn’t share any classes, and he wanted a glimpse of his cute face again even if it was for a second.
hanbinsdream
rickyluvs
hi! i’ve reached, let me know what you’re wearing!
hanbinsdream
my friend is picking it up for me but he’s wearing an adidas jacket and black pants!
rickyluvs
ok! i’m wearing a white shirt and jeans
Chenle looked around the cafe trying to find someone that matches the description, and finally spotted someone in an all black outfit sitting near the window. He walked over and was about to ask if he was hanbinsdream but stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Wait, no way. Jisung knows hanbinsdream????’ Jisung, his campus crush and the waiter he wanted to be on shift, was here to pick up for hanbinsdream? He knew he said he wanted Jisung to be there but not like this.
On the other hand… Jisung spotted him and immediately thought ‘isn’t that the cute guy from a few days ago…? No way, is he the gom I'm supposed to meet for Jaemin? I mean, I saw him looking at zb1 posts the other day and he’s also wearing what Jaemin told me the gom would be wearing so maybe…’ his thoughts trailing off when he realised he was staring. Jisung immediately stood up to make his way to Chenle (much to the latter’s dismay as he was three seconds away from just bolting it out of there, already forming an excuse in his head as to why he hadn’t managed to pass the photocard to hanbinsdream’s friend).
“Hey, you’re the gom right? I'm picking up the items for hanbinsdream.”
“Y-yea… I'm Chenle, nice to meet you properly.”
“Properly..? Oh yea! We met here a few days ago, I almost didn’t recognise you. I mean, I did, but I- okay you know what, nevermind. Do you have the items?”
‘Oh right, his friend’s items.’ Chenle reached into his bag and took the photocards out, “1 apple music pob and 1 set of albums.”
“Yup, thanks! He’s gonna be so happy.” He replied with a smile.
“No worries, well.. I'm gonna head off now. See you around?” Chenle was about to step out of the cafe before he heard Jisung calling his name.
“Wait Chenle! Um, this is kinda random I know, and you can totally say no but would you be open to the idea of getting coffee or a meal or anything like that right now? We’re already here but if you’re busy then it’s okay, I’m just putting the offer out there.”
Chenle’s brain was running at a thousand thoughts per minute. “Coffee? Now?”
“Yea! but only if you’re free though. No pressure, seriously, I won't take it to heart.” Jisung’s ears were turning pinker as time passed, curse him and his weakness for cute boys.
“It’s just that you were really cute the other day and I was thinking about you these past few days wondering when I was going to see you again cause you haven’t appeared at any of my other shifts but I also thought that it might have been because you were busy but I even took up dinner shifts but you weren’t there. And now you’re here when I came to pick up Jaemin’s, I mean hanbinsdream’s items and-”
“I’d love to,” Chenle interrupted his rambling.
Jisung looked up from the floor, eyes wide, “really?”
“Yes, but let’s head to somewhere that isn’t your workplace.”
Jisung laughed, “yea you’re right, there’s another cafe nearby. We can head there instead.”
They headed over side by side, making small talk as they went. Their conversations felt easy, as if they had been friends beforehand, with everything that Jisung was saying feeling too familiar. However, Chenle just couldn’t put his finger on it but he's sure he'd figure it out sooner or later. Soon, they arrived at said cafe. They were quick to resume their conversation again after ordering, chatting about their majors, schoolwork, and how Chenle even got into managing group orders in the first place.
“I don’t know, I guess I was fed up with the other goms and had to take matters into my own hands. It may be hard but it’s worth it though, I met so many people through managing group orders.” Chenle shared. “Do you collect photocards too? Maybe we’ve crossed paths online before.”
“Yea, only this and that though, I'm more of a casual collector. Hmm actually, do you remember all your buyers? Or are they just usernames and biases to you?”
“To be honest, most are just usernames since it’s all I see when dealing with them. But there are some that I remember, those that make prompt payment and are really nice while texting me, or those that make small convo sometimes, or those who-.” He stopped mid-sentence, thinking of kkultarae, how he’d make Chenle smile when his notification came in, how they’d talk for hours on end not just about zb1, how he made him feel real feelings for someone who was behind a screen.
“Who?”
“Who makes me want to continue managing group orders, I have a few buyers turned friends that I really like. You probably haven’t heard of their user before but one of my favourites is this buyer named kkultarae.”
Jisung’s heart stopped.
Chenle continued, “he’s super understanding and nice, and he never rushes me, unlike some other buyers.. He texts me just over anything like schoolwork or meals, sends me tiktoks out of the blue, it sounds stupid but he genuinely makes my day sometimes when I see his notification. We don’t even talk about zb1 half the time anymore, just about like.. life in general. You probably think this is stupid, but he really feels like a real friend, like someone I know in real life.” His voice went softer towards the end.
Jisung was holding his breath at this point, Chenle was talking about him. Jisung’s online friend (crush?) was right in front of him, talking about him in the same way that he himself had made him feel. Realisation was hitting him hard.
“I'm sure he thinks the same as you.” “Do you really think so?” “Yeah, I know so. Also… I have to go to the bathroom real quick, please excuse me.” Jisung had to take the time to think about what he should do next, ‘should I tell Chenle the truth? But isn’t that too risky? What if he hates me for lying to him?' A myriad of questions were flooding his mind.
Chenle immediately picked up his phone to send a text to kkultarae as soon as Jisung walked away from the table, furiously typing before Jisung made his way back.
kkultarae
rickyluvs
BRO do u rmb how i told u ab my campus crush like a while back and all
so a buyer asked to self collect their items from me and like i said yes cause it was convenient and all
then i got to the meet up place and guess who’s there??? my freaking campus crush
apparently he was picking up his friend’s items??
THEN HE ASKED ME TO GET COFFEE? AND NOW WE’RE ON A SORTA DATE???
and he’s super duper cute in person and he’s such a good listener omg i swear this guy is soo my type i #NEEDTHATTT
he keeps smiling at me and looking at me with those eyes omg i want him so bad i’m so cooked
Omg WHERE ARE YOUU HE’S GONNA COME BACK SOON PLZZ SEND HELP RN.
kkultarae
um…. i’m closer than you think..
rickyluvs
???
what????
kkultarae
chenle… just… look up
Chenle’s head has never shot up faster than before, standing in front of him was Jisung. He looked at his phone, then back at Jisung, and back at his phone, then back at Jisung. ‘No fucking way…’ Chenle felt like he was about to pass out, or throw up, or both. He had just gushed about Jisung to kkultarae, and kkultarae to Jisung, and they’re both the same person? He’s going to be sick.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know how to tell you.. You just kept talking with those sparkles in your eyes and I didn't know how to stop you… Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, this must be the worst date ever. I'll just leave..” Jisung said as he was about to pack up his things and leave.
“Jisung.”
Jisung stopped packing and looked at Chenle, who now had a smile on his face. “What?”
“You're kkultarae.. the same one who texts me till 2 am even though he says he’s about to fall asleep.” Jisung nods. “The same one who checks up on me when I don't reply after a while to make sure nothing happened.” Another nod. “The same one I ranted about my campus crush to, while being said campus crush” “Hey in my defence I didn’t know it was me!” Chenle just had to laugh at that response, it was so kkultarae of him, he didn’t know how he hadn’t realised that they shared so many similarities till later. No wonder he thought that Jisung felt so familiar, it was the same person he’d text everyday.
Jisung’s eyes were glued to his shoes, “are you mad?” Chenle softly shook his head, taking the former’s hands into his own.
“No, actually I'm glad it was you. Honestly, I wanted to meet you for longer than you think but was too afraid to ask, and to think that you were right in front of me this whole time, even serving me at cafe ludia and being all cute.”
Jisung’s eyes finally lifted from the ground, finally meeting Chenle’s eyes. “You think I'm cute?”
“Duh, why else would I go on this date with you. I don’t just go on dates with anyone you know. This is literally the best possible outcome ever.”
A smile broke across Jisung’s face, “I'm glad. So… is the date going well?”
“Very much so, now sit down so I can continue talking about being a gom and my favourite buyer.”
While they were talking, Jisung chose to take off his jacket, hanging it on the backrest of the chair. “And yea I had to deal with this seller that-” Chenle suddenly halted his words. Was it him or did the room suddenly get a whole lot warmer?
“That?” Jisung asked, confused as to why Chenle suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
“Um… That… That didn’t want to send me any proof yea…” Chenle forced himself to finish his sentence, but honestly at this point he didn’t want to talk anymore. He'd rather do a more physical action, like feeling Jisung’s biceps.
Jisung continued to reply, unaware of why Chenle had suddenly gotten so quiet. “Why?”
“I don't know. Um Jisung… Have you always had those muscles?”
“Oh, yea! Jaemin brings me to the gym sometimes.” Internally, Chenle was punching the air, ‘God bless whoever this Jaemin is…’.
“Is it okay if I.. If I touch them?” and it clicked for Jisung, no wonder he was suddenly so quiet. “Aigoo, if you wanted a touch you could’ve said so. I won’t bite. Who knew you liked muscles so much that it’ll make you at a loss for words.”
“Stop it… Can I sit beside you then? Makes it easier for the both of us…”
“Yea I’ll even roll up my sleeves for you,” ending with a wink, making Chenle’s face burn up.
Chenle moved from his seat to the one beside Jisung, face still red as can be. However, he still sucked it up and sat, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do right?
-
“So are we irls now? Or do goms not wanna be friends with buyers?” Jisung questioned.
“Did you really just say irl in real life?” Chenle giggled, “but yes Jisung, I’m pretty sure goms are allowed to be friends with buyers, especially the extra cute ones.”
Jisung could feel himself burning up again, “okay, yea, um do you wanna like maybe gooutwithmeagain? Only if you wanna.”
“Yes I do, there’s a yoajung near my house if you’re down?”
“I'm free Sunday, I'll see you?”
“Sure will, kkultarae.” He takes his phone out to change Jisung’s contact name from kkultarae to jisung (kkultarae), adding a little heart next to it.
-
When Chenle entered Renjun and his shared dorm, he was immediately questioned. “You look peachier than usual, and you also came back later than normal. What's up?”
“It was kkultarae,” Chenle replied as he flopped onto the sofa.
Renjun immediately shot up from his desk, walking over to Chenle. “What? No way. I thought it was another one of your buyers you were meeting?”
“Yes way, and kkultarae is Jisung.”
“What? Are you joking.”
“I wish I were, but he was so cute and nice and he asked me out on a date and-”
Renjun cut off Chenle’s rambling mid-sentence. “Pause. Let me get this straight, you met your online best friend who turned out to be your campus crush, and he asked you out on a date?” He couldn’t believe his own words.
“Yes.. and we even talked about managing group orders and stuff and that’s how I found out he was kkultarae cause he literally exposed himself to me mid-date.”
“Dude… tell me you’re meeting him again cause no way.”
“We're meeting this sunday at that yoajung nearby.” He replied with a wide smile, already anticipating their date on Sunday.
“Just saying.. I knew this was gonna happen sooner or later, literally called it when I saw you grinning from ear to ear while texting him.” Renjun smirked, watching Chenle’s cheeks grow peachier at his teasing.
“Shut up…”
jisung (kkultarae) ❤️
jisung (kkultarae) ❤️
so do you have any extra taerae pcs to give to me 😁
chenle (rickyluvs) 🐱
No. but if ur lucky i’ll let you hold my hand on sunday
jisung (kkultarae) ❤️
hey haven’t you heard i’m super duper lucky
chenle (rickyluvs) 🐱
oh yea?
jisung (kkultarae) ❤️
yea! i just won the lottery 5 minutes ago
my prize was someone named chenle
Chenle squealed out loud, which earned him a pillow to his face that Renjun threw. “you’re so down bad…” Chenle might be down bad, but for Jisung, he’d be willing to be best friends with the floor if it meant he got to feel this way everyday.
jaemin
jisung
you don’t owe me one anymore hyung
jaemin
thanks..? but why
jisung
we’re kinda dating
jaemin
??? you’re dating my gom??
jisung
OUR gom
jaemin
this means you gotta give me discounts man… you’re like my gom-in law
jisung
???
he said no
jaemin
watch out, i hope ur happy being a TRAITOR
jisung
i am :)
jisung (kkultarae) ❤️
jisung (kkultarae) ❤️
good morning cutie
chenle (rickyluvs) 🐱
goodmorninggg, woke up thinking about you
jisung (kkultarae) ❤️
i can’t wait for sunday :( wish it were today
also.. my friend still wants discounts
chenle (rickyluvs) 🐱
me tooo but it’ll be worth it
tell him No
jisung (kkultarae) ❤️
he said he’s planning his revenge
chenle (rickyluvs) 🐱
it’s okay, for you anything is worth it
jisung (kkultarae) ❤️
shut up……
anything is worth it for you too <3
and if they were spending the rest of the week smiling at their texts like idiots in love, that was between them (and their best friends who had to witness their flirting).